KINGSTON, Jamaica-

Toots and the Maytals and Bob Marley and the Wailers have each earned new certifications from the British Phonographic Industry.

Pressure Drop by Toots and the Maytals was certified silver on Friday (200,000 units) while Stir it Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers racked up a gold certification for sales and streaming equivalent to 400,000 units.

Pressure Drop helped launch the band’s career outside Jamaica when the song was featured on the soundtrack to the 1972 film The Harder They Come, which introduced reggae to much of the world.

Among those who have covered the song include Keith Richards, Robert Palmer, and The Clash.

A version of Pressure Drop which was recorded by Izzy Stradlin, peaked at #47 in Australia, #40 in Sweden and #45 in the UK in 1992.

In an interview in 2016 with British publication The Guardian, songwriter Frederick “Toots” Hibbert said that Pressure Drop was a song about karmic justice.

“It’s a song about revenge, but in the form of karma: If you do bad things to innocent people, then bad things will happen to you. The title was a phrase I used to say. If someone done me wrong, rather than fight them like a warrior, I’d say: ‘The pressure’s going to drop on you,” Hibbert stated.

Toots and the Maytals earned a gold certification in 2023 for 54-46.

Stir it Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers, was first recorded in 1967. In 1972, it was covered by American singer Johnny Nash, whose version reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1973, Marley and his band performed Stir It Up on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 during their first trip to the UK, singing live over a Chris Blackwell overdubbed backing track.

Stir It Up was the first Marley-written song to be successful outside Jamaica.  It is the sixth gold-certified single for Marley in the United Kingdom.  The previous ones were Waiting in Vain, Redemption Song, the double sided One Love/People Get Ready, Jammin and Is This Love, credited to LVNDSCAPE and Leon Boliver featuring Bob Marley.