When he died in 2014, John Holt left one of the largest cache of hit songs in reggae history. His son and grandson are determined to keep the Holt lineage alive.
The family name lives on with Realize, a five-song EP featuring his grandson Bamm and son Junior. Produced by Volts of Holt, it will be released on December 19.
It contains the title song and Luv by Bamm, who teams with his father on covers of Holt senior’s Police In Helicopter and Tribal War.
Junior Holt also does a version of Help Me Make It Through The Night, a Kris Kristofferson original his father did for his big-selling 1973 album, 1,000 Volts of Holt.
“It’s a wonderful feeling. It was a lotta fun working on di songs an’ making sure wi keep music in di family,” said Bamm, a rapper.
Tribal War was released in August when there was racial unrest in the United States, triggered by the controversial deaths of African-Americans Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement.
Police In Helicopter was a big hit for John Holt in 1983. Produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes, it featured the Roots Radics Band whose bassist Flabba Holt (no relation) played on the Bamm/Junior Holt version.
John Holt first became famous as a member of rock steady trio The Paragons, with whom he recorded classic songs like Wear You To The Ball, On The Beach and The Tide Is High. The latter was covered by rock group Blondie in 1980. It went number one in the United States.
As a solo act, his hits include Stick By Me, Strange Things and Ali Baba.
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