One night back in the early 1980s, Isaiah Laing of Sting promoters, Supreme Promotions, kept a dance at Spanish Town Prison Oval, a stone’s throw from Spanish Town Adult Correctional Centre, featuring the now legendary Jamaican producer Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes’ soundsystem, Volcano Sound.
To be one of the top Sounds on the island, Junjo and his crew had to walk with some serious music, exclusive dubplates, one-away specials and an exceptional set of DJs. Ahead of this particular dance, one of Jamaica’s biggest stars, Barrington Levy, had recorded something particularly special on acetate for the Volcano crew, the ensuing recording became known as “Prison Oval Rock”, famously licked over in recent years by Chronixx as “Spanish Town Rocking” in 2016.
Laing recalled to The Gleaner in 2003, “The prisoners came out and started dancing on the roof; they were lighting newspapers, and Barrington Levy was just singing,” he said, his eyes lighting up at the memory.” Levy also had fond memories of the night too, “Da dance deh was a huge dance over Prison Oval, believe you me, my Lord, it shot!”
Due to popular demand a single and then an album of the same name soon followed and in 1985, Prison Oval Rock was unleashed on Junjo’s ‘Jah Guidance’ imprint. To celebrate this incredible album VP Records has dug deep in the archives to create this 40th Anniversary edition, painstakingly compiling and remastering every single track plus alternate mixes, dubs and edits, offering an epic thirty-nine tracks. Special request to all the super fans!
Produced by Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes | Backed by the Roots Radics | Recorded at Channel One. Barrington Levy first burst onto the reggae scene in early 1979. Very young and very precocious, he was one of the first artists to transfer the live excitement of the dancehall, both its joyous, upbeat celebrations and its sombre, brooding introspection, straight to record.
Over the ensuing years, his music has continued to grow and mature, for there is no substitute for untrammelled talent, ambition and determination. One of the few dancehall vocalists to have enjoyed real, lasting success, Barrington Levy’s long career echoes the achievements of the legendary Jamaican vocalists of the sixties and seventies, and he stands proud as a man whose popularity has always been rooted in talent and substance.
His music continues to grow and mature, and the former ‘teen reggae star’ has more than earned his place in the roll call of Jamaica’s classic vocalists.
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Dane Bogle ([email protected])
Natasha Von Castle ([email protected])
