“THEY CALL US LEGENDS” IS THE LATEST RELEASE FROM VETERAN SINGER/PRODUCER DANDY LIVINGSTONE!

Back in the mid-1960’s, West Indians and rebellious white British youth called Skinheads, rocked to the song Rudie A Message to You which was a hit in the United Kingdom for Jamaica singer Dandy Livingstone.

Livingstone returned to Jamaica in 1983 after 24 years living in the UK. But he has retained an underground following there and in Europe where he released his latest single, the self-produced They Call Us Legends.

A nod to pioneer Jamaican artists like Desmond Dekker, Millie Small and Bob Marley, it is the 76 year-old singer’s first new song in 40 years.

Despite the lengthy break, Livingstone has never been far from music.

“I write a lot and I always had tunes on the shelf. About a year ago, I decided to put them together,” he said.

They Call Us Legends is the first release from an album Livingstone plans to release soon. For the past year, he has worked with musician/producer Paul ‘Computer Paul’ Henton on a number of songs he composed.

According to Livingstone, the album is “three-quarter roots and ethnic. It’s not ice cream reggae.”

The Kingston-born Livingstone’s appetite for a second crack at recording was whetted by a handful of shows he did in the UK four years ago. The “response was tremendous” and in early 2018, he assembled a cast of musicians and began working at Henton’s studio in Kingston.

In April, They Call Us Legends was released by his Par Three Records which will also distribute the yet-titled album.

Born Robert Thompson, Livingstone had a solid career in the UK where he migrated from Jamaica in 1959. In addition to Rudie a Message to You, he scored with Suzanne Beware of The Devil in 1972.

Those songs were distributed by Trojan Records, an all-reggae company co-founded and operated by Jamaican Lee Gopthal.

Livingstone also had success as a producer. He produced singer Tony Tribe’s version of Neil Diamond’s Red, Red Wine which was a big hit in the UK in 1969.

UB40 covered Tribe’s version in 1983. It topped pop charts in the UK and United States.