Back in the late 80’s I wanted to branch out from the Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff etc. reggae which I knew in college. I still liked that stuff, but I wanted to go deeper. I started by buying any interesting reggae compilations I could find, and luckily for me, reggae is probably the most comped genre out there.

One of the first comps I came across was the 1987 Reggae Dance Hall Classics on Sleeping Bag Records. This record, which still sounds great today, was my first introduction to Frankie Paul, Nicodemus, Johnny Osbourne and most importantly (for me at least) Barrington Levy. From the very first verse of Levy’s track “Under Me Sensi” I was hooked and needed more. I’ve been seeking out Levy LPs and singles ever since.

Levy released his first record in 1977 (at the age of 14!) and remained near the top of the dancehall heap for the next 25 years. It was hard picking out just one tune but this one from 1990 “Come” is probably my favorite. Enjoy!