JOHN HOLT’S 1973 ALBUM “1000 VOLTS OF HOLT” IS CERTIFIED GOLD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM!

The 1973 album 1000 Volts of Holt, by the late reggae singer John Holt, has been certified gold in the United Kingdom.

The certification, which was issued last Friday by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), represents a combination of sales and streaming figures totaling more than 100,000 units.

The 18-track set was first released on vinyl by Trojan Records. It was then re-released in the 1980s. A deluxe edition was released with 21 additional tracks in 2009, while a digital release of the set was issued in 2014.

The album was produced by British producer Tony Ashfield and consists of reggae covers of popular hits.

Help Me Make It Through the Night, a single from the set was a number six hit in the United Kingdom in 1974, where it spent 14 weeks on the chart. The song was originally recorded by American singer Kris Kristofferson in 1970.

Some of the tracks featured on 1000 Volts of Holt include Baby I’m a Want You, Morning of My Life, Just the Way You Are, Too Much Love, For the Love of You and I’d Love You to Want Me.

Holt, who was born in 1947, found fame as a member of The Paragons before going solo.

By the early 1970s, he was one of the biggest stars of reggae, and his work with producer Bunny Lee was key to his success. Stick By Me was the biggest selling Jamaican record of 1972, one of the songs that he recorded with Lee.

He had success back in Jamaica in 1976 with Up Park Camp (on a reworking of the Heptones’ Get in the Groove rhythm), and his success continued into the 1980s with tracks such as Police in Helicopter and Fat She Fat, recorded with producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes.

In 2004 he was conferred with the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) by the Jamaican Government for his contribution to Jamaican music.

His song Man Next Door has been covered by numerous other reggae artists, including Dennis Brown, UB40 and Horace Andy.

Holt died on 19 October 2014 in Wellington Hospital in London after battling colon cancer.