Producers Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes and Linval Thompson, who were critical in shaping modern dancehall, are the subjects of reissue albums from Greensleeves Records. Today, two dub titles, Junjo Presents: Wins The World Cup and Linval Presents Space Invaders, will be released.
They showcase the talents of the Roots Radics Band which played on countless hit songs by Lawes and Thompson at the Channel One studio in Kingston.
Hopeton ‘Scientist’ Brown was the engineer on both albums. In May, Greensleeves will release three ‘Junjo Presents’ titles: Junjo Presents: Big Showdown, Junjo Presents: Heavyweight Dub Champion, and Junjo Presents: The Evil Curse of Vampires.Linval Presents: Encounter Pac-Men also hits the market next month.
A flamboyant figure, Junjo Lawes ruled the dancehall scene during the early 1980’s with Yellowman and Barrington Levy as the main acts for his Volcano label.
Lawes was murdered in London in June 1999. He was 39 years old.
Thompson worked closely with Lawes and the “Radics”. As a singer, he was known for songs like Ease Up and Train To Zion; he produced a number of quality albums by Levy and Freddie McGregor.
Lawes and Thompson’s projects helped put London’s Greensleeves Records on the map at a time when dancehall music was becoming popular in the United Kingdom.
Greensleeves is now owned by VP Records.
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