HOW TO BUY
9 Dennis
Alcapone Forever Version
STUDIO ONE, 1971
You say: “S1’s premier chatterer riding vintage rhythms in fine style.” Andrew Stockton, via e-mail
Dodd’s answer to U-Roy’s 1970 Version Galore set for Duke Reid, Forever Version is equally as good and similarly one of the most important records in JA deejay history. Dennis Alcapone was an original ‘singjay’ stylist, here exuberantly jive-talking over dancehall classics by Larry Marshall (Nanny Version), The Wailers (Dancing Version), The Heptones (Baby Version) and Carlton &The Shoes (Forever Version). Dennis’s lyrical dexterity is a marvel, whether he’s responding to snatches of the original vocals, hilariously subverting nursery rhymes or interjecting with his trademark high-pitched whoops. Go for 2015’s deluxe reissue and, as the OG deejay says: “Lick it back from the top, to the very last drop!”
8 Marcia
Griff iths At Studio One
STUDIO ONE, 1980
You say: “At Studio One highlights why Marcia is JA’s most gifted woman singer ever.” J. O’Sullivan @Sullivan_O6, via X
The undisputed Queen of Reggae, Griffiths began her singing career at S1 aged just 15, later scoring her first hit for Dodd in 1968 with the joyous rocksteady scorcher Feel Like Jumping. She soon found international fame with partner Bob Andy as singing duo Bob &Marcia, chalking up aUK Number 5 in 1970 with a stirring cover of Nina Simone’s Young, Gifted &Black, before joining Bob Marley’s I-Threes in ’74. But it’s this debut LP where Griffiths set out her stall, the intuitively soulful singer’s warm and expressive tones enveloping Andy-penned cuts such as Truly, Melody Life and Mark My Word. Marcia also features on SJ’s indispensable Studio One Women Vol. 1 & 2compilations.