The Mighty Striker Shoots At Hits

The Moll-Selekta label presents a compilation of vintage tracks from legendary Jamaican producer Bunny "Striker" Lee (b. Edward O'Sullivan Lee). Along with Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (Studio One), he is probably the Jamaican producer with the largest reservoir of songs. In the rock steady and roots reggae years, from 1967 up until the late 1970s, he produced one hit after another. With his productions shooting into the charts with clockwork regularity, his colleagues and competitors nicknamed him "Striker." the Mighty Striker Shoots at Hits celebrates the boomtime of roots reggae from 1973-1979 in it's many guises. Roots ballads by Jackie Edwards and Honey Boy meet up with the considerably tougher roots rockers Barry Brown and Johnny Clarke. Some are originals, others are cover versions but each and every one is a hit. Jackie Edwards, the man with the silken soul voice, wrote hits for the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s. Johnny Clarke enriches this collection with a track heavily influenced by Hopeton Lewis' rock steady classic "Rocka Shocka." Horace Andy was a product of the Studio One talent school, and the original 12" version of "I Don't Want to Be Left Outside," also known as "Zion Gate," has spawned numerous dancehall covers. Barry Brown also has a fair few Studio One hits to his name. His combative protest songs earned him the title of "the Bob Dylan of reggae." These two tracks are testimony to his Rastafarian beliefs and spiritual influence, inseparable from the social critique in his lyrics. Hortense Ellis is one of reggae's great female vocalists. The cover version of her brother's (Alton Ellis) classic hit "I'm Still in Love" is rhythmically similar and lyrically close to the original. Delroy Wilson was a star in the Studio One firmament, and one of the finest reggae singers ever to set foot in a Jamaican studio. Leroy Smart's first recording sessions were in the early 1970s with Jimmy Radway and Bunny Lee, and later with Joseph Hookim at Channel One. His hits raised him to the level of cult status and his live appearances were the source of animated controversy. The hard working Don of reggae still divides opinion today, but "Love in My Heart" should calm the most agitated of souls. Other artists include: Cornell Campbell, Roy Shirley, Ras Murray and Ronnie Davis.