Double 12″ Spin #86 – Junior Murvin / Wailing Souls –

Disc 1
A. Junior Murvin – Bad Man Possé
B. Ridim Request To All Possé – Smokers Possé
Label: Dread At The Controls – DATCD 009

More info @ Discogs

We kick things off with a massive tune from Junior Murvin called Bad Man Possé. The track was guided by a true reggae icon, Michael Campbell, whom everybody knows as Mikey Dread. This 12″ platter hit the shops back in 1982 through Mikey’s UK label Dread At The Controls. You could grab it on standard black vinyl, but it also came pressed on yellow wax, which is the exact copy spin on the turntable today.

The Roots Radics laid down the riddim tracks over at Channel One, and Murvin voiced his parts at Aquarius Studios. On Side A you get the full extended vocal cut of Bad Man Possé, while Side B flips over to a solid dub called Bad Man Posse Version. Lyrically, the track tackles the rising street gang violence and badman culture in Kingston during the early eighties. Mikey Dread pairs Murvin’s soaring falsetto with a weight-heavy bassline and wild sound effects.

The singer entered the world as Murvin Junior Smith. Historians still debate his actual birth year, with some pointing to 1946 and others claiming 1949. His birthplace remains just as uncertain, split between Saint James and Swift River in Portland. But we know him grow up in Port Antonio under the care of his grandmother and great-grandmother after his father died in his infancy and his mother moved over to England. Young Murvin built his vocal range by copying American R&B balladeers like Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole, laying down the foundation for his signature falsetto style.

He later packed up for Montego Bay to study auto mechanics, but local talent contests quickly pulled him onto the stage. An aunt from America mailed him a guitar, and that spark led him to start writing his own material. Back in his early days, he recorded under the name Junior Soul for producers Sonia Pottinger and Derrick Harriott. He stayed busy in Kingston gigging with outfits like the Hippy Boys, the Mighty Falcons, and the Tornadoes, working the club scene right through the shift from rocksteady into early reggae.

His big international break landed in 1976 when he auditioned again for Lee “Scratch” Perry. Perry cut Police and Thieves at his Black Ark studio. The tune exploded across Jamaica and Great Britain, becoming an anthem tied to the Notting Hill Carnival riots that summer. When punk band The Clash covered it on their debut album, the song reached a global audience. The companion 1977 LP Police & Thieves, released on Island Records, stands strong as one of Perry’s absolute masterworks, featuring essential cuts like Roots Train, Tedious, and False Teachin’.

Through the 1980s, Murvin linked up with top producers like Joe Gibbs, Errol Thompson, Mikey Dread, Henry “Junjo” Lawes, Prince Jammy, and King Tubby. He scoring local hits with anthems like Miss Kushie, Cool Out Son, I’m in Love, Bad Man Possé, and Muggers in the Street. His final studio album Signs and Wonders dropped in 1989. Murvin kept touring Europe and performing with the Jah Postles band for years after. On December 2, 2013, he passed away in Port Antonio while undergoing care for diabetes and high blood pressure.

Now, let’s talk about the man behind the desk for that 1982 release, Mikey Dread. Born Michael George Campbell on June 4, 1954 in Port Antonio, he caught the sound bug early on. That passion for electronics and engineering led him to the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, where he hosted the legendary radio show ‘Dread at the Controls’.

When he stepped away from radio, Campbell poured his energy into recording his own material and producing other talent. His blend of singing and chatting became a cornerstone for the emerging singjay style. He launched his own label, Dread At The Controls, to drop his output. In 1979 he unleashed debut LPs like Dread at the Controls, which dem re-released as Evolutionary Rockers, along with dub gems like African Anthem (The Mikey Dread Show Dubwise) and At The Control Dubwise.

Mikey Dread was famous for sharp technical polish, adventurous mixing, and heavy dub elements. During this period, he produced heavyweight artists like Sugar Minott, Earl Sixteen, and Carlton Patterson. He even crossed over to rock royalty, touring with The Clash and working on their Sandinista! album, including the hit track Bankrobber.

His studio time with Murvin produced the landmark Bad Man Possé album in 1982, which Campbell produced and arranged top to bottom. Mikey Dread stayed active in music right up until March 15, 2008, when he passed away in Stamford, Connecticut from a brain tumor.

Disc 2
A. Wailing Souls – Who For Say Is The Best
B. Uncredited – Version
Label: Rockers Forever

More info @ Discogs

Moving on to the second 12″ single brings us to a lesser-known gem from the Wailing Souls dating back to 1983. This one hit the streets on the Rockers Forever label out of Brooklyn, New York. The A-side delivers the vocal mix, while the B-side flips to the dub version. Production credit on the center label points to Henricka Richard as Dougie, a name we will get into shortly.

The Wailing Souls represent one of the ultimate vocal harmony groups out of Jamaica, coming together in Kingston during the late sixties. Their original line-up featured Winston “Pipe” Matthews leading the way alongside Lloyd “Bread” McDonald, Oswald Downer, and Norman “Fats” Sewell. Every one of dem learned their craft under Joe Higgs, who played a key role coaching group vocalists across West Kingston. Starting out as The Renegades, they changed their name to The Wailing Souls around 1968. Through all the decades and roster changes, Pipe and Bread remained the steady core of the group.

Their first crucial sessions took place at Studio One under Coxsone Dodd. The premier selection from this era came together on the 1975 album Wailing Souls, which collectors regard as the definitive summary of their Studio One catalog. To avoid confusion with The Wailers, the group recorded under various aliases like Classics, Pipe & The Pipers, and Atarra.

By the mid-1970s, Downer and Sewell exited, making room for Rudolph “Garth” Dennis and George “Buddy” Haye. In 1977, the group took matters into their own hands and launched the Massive label. A major highlight on Massive was their 1979 album Wild Suspense, which later scored a wider global release via Island/Mango, bringing the group international recognition. Alongside their independent work, they built a tight partnership with Joseph “Joe Joe” Hoo Kim at Channel One, cutting a string of roots classics backed by The Revolutionaries.

At the turn of the 1980s, they joined forces with producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes, yielding the influential Fire House Rock album, a pivotal release bridging roots reggae into early dancehall. Around the same time, they dropped Wailing, produced by Linval Thompson, another stone-cold classic in their catalog. They also worked closely with riddim masters Sly & Robbie. Their Sly & Robbie sessions produced hits like Old Broom and Sweet Sugar Plum. By 1984, Dennis and Haye departed once more, leaving Matthews and McDonald to continue as the core duo.

From the 1990s onward, The Wailing Souls earned international acclaim, securing multiple Grammy nominations while touring globally and dropping fresh material. Across six decades, their recording journey spanned rocksteady, roots, rub-a-dub, and dancehall with equal power.

As for the producer behind this 1983 12″, Henricka Richard, also listed as Henricka Richards and credited as “Henricka Richard as Dougie”, was active behind the board through the early eighties and nineties. Truth be told, precious little is known about the person behind the name.

However, that “as Dougie” credit appears across a notable run of 12″ singles and LPs on the Brooklyn-based Rockers Forever label during the rub-a-dub and early dancehall era. Notable releases include Horace Andy’s album The Big Bad Man, Junior Reid’s Poor Man Transportation, Little John’s Slice Of Cake, Phillip Frazer’s Reggae Explosion, Wayne Smith’s Mad Over Me and Sluggy Ranks’ No Money Na Run.