ROYCO INC. 7" 45 RPM
DKR-101 - I-ROY - SET THE CAPTIVES FREE/BUBBLING JUG VERSION
DKR-111 - I-ROY - FIRE IN A WIRE/WARLORD OF ZENDA VERSION
Throughout the 1970's, I-Roy recorded for tons of producers, and eventually began bartering with many of them for cuts of rhythms to voice himself on, as his own productions. Through his popularity in the UK, I-Roy got a deal with Virgin Records to release many of these new self-productions. Tucked away on these albums are this pair of wicked tunes, prime for release on singles, and here they are. 'Set the Captives Free' was originally released on the 'World on Fire' LP, a very tough rhythm. The voice of Freddie McKay is heard singing behind I-Roy, and despite our best efforts, we were still unable to find out more about this mystery vocal! On the flip of this single is the killer horns dub to this rhythm, called 'Bubbling Jug', which was released on I-Roy's 'Cancer' dub LP. Apparently this dub and the Freddie McKay vocal were run on dubplate by Jah Shaka back in the day. The second single is 'Fire in a Wire', originally released on I-Roy's 'The General' vocal & dub double-album, and as a 12-inch single. Here we have the album cuts, vocal and it's dub, entitled 'Warlord of Zenda' (presumably named after the novel/film 'The Prisoner of Zenda'). These tunes are re-presented on the Royco Inc. label, I-Roy's own original label used in the early 1970's.
DKR-112 - HORACE MARTIN - BAD BOYS 7" *PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED*
DKR-113 - DOUGLAS BOOTHE - HOLY MT. ZION 7" *PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED*
Winston "Prince Huntley" Dakin has quietly been an integral part of the Kingston reggae scene for nearly 40 years. Operating the Modernize Printery on Nelson Road, off Maxfield Avenue, and a stone's throw from Channel 1 studio, Huntley printed the labels for thousands of reggae records in the past four decades. In addition, Huntley is an accomplished producer and artist, all along issuing a steady stream of tunes on his main imprints such as Modernize Music, Greedy Puppy and others. One of our favorite early '80s tunes is produced by Huntley and voiced by his long time spar Horace Martin, called 'Me Rule.' A very tough rhythm with killer synths, this was reissued not long ago. When we did some printing work in Jamaica with Huntley not long ago, we got to talking about his catalog and when discussing 'Me Rule', were overjoyed to find out that there were unreleased cuts on the rhythm. So we ran off the master tapes and gave them a listen, and found these two killer cuts. Horace Martin's second voicing on the rhythm, titled 'Bad Boys', is a reality tune about the runnings of the day, while another one of Huntley's longtime spars, Douglas Boothe, voiced 'Holy Mt. Zion', some classic repatriation lyrics. Both tunes come with different and unique dub versions as well. We will have some more surprises from the Prince Huntley catalog coming in the future, so keep an eye out!
Sound Clips:
Horace Martin - Bad Boys
Horace Martin - It's a Shame Version (Bad Boys Dub)
Douglas Boothe - Holy Mt. Zion
Douglas Boothe - Zion Dub
I-Roy - Fire in a Wire
I-Roy - Warlord of Zenda Dub (Fire in a Wire Version)
I-Roy - Set the Captives Free
I-Roy - Bubbling Jug (Set the Captives Free Version)
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