Reggae Got Soul

this morning I posted  Maxi Priest's " Should I " as the latest in my egotistical series " Great Tracks By Artists That I Signed " ....well if you've got it  flaunt it I reckon ,and I've got great taste !
 It made me think about Reggae Music - how much I love it and what a sad state it seems to be in now.
 As I'm writing this I'm listening to the  recently-departed Cool Ruler - Gregory Isaacs ,oh man can he sing !
 I grew up listening to Soul as you know and I was a skinhead so I bought the old " Tighten Up " compilations - Volume 3 is still a classic compilation - but when I moved to Brighton I was introduced to a wide range of reggae in some of clubs I spent all my time in -I never missed  Brighton Soul Society on The Steen on Wednesday nights or The Crypt at Sussex University on a Thursday ,and never went to a lecture for 2 years.
 ( It may amaze you to know that I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Sussex University so I'm not just a handsome face ! )
 Of course one of the first Reggae artist I heard in Brighton  was Bob Marley who I still adore but I particularly loved the Roots Reggae vocal harmony groups like The Gladiators,The Mighty Diamonds and Culture ....then I discovered Dennis Brown's " Wolf & Leopard " album which is probably my favourite Reggae  album of all time.
 I loved Big Youth,Tapper Zukie,U-Roy and I-Roy ....those ear;ly " toasting " albums were seldom off my turntable , even though initially I couldn't understand a word .
 When I was at Virgin we had the Front Line label so I continued to listen to a lot of reggae and when I heard Maxi Priest I knew instantly that this guy was a superstar ...and I was right of course !
 His covers of " Some Guys Have All The Luck " and " Wild World " are two of the best cover versions ever and " Close To You " was a ground-breaking classic
 Maxi has just an amazing voice - I'd like to make an album with him now coz i was the best A&R guy he ever had ..............after all ,as Toots & The Maytals sang " Reggae Got Soul "
 Since Maxi there hasn't been a great new reggae vocalist - Garnett Silk looked like the real deal but he was murdered very young so never got the chance to fulfil his huge potential .
 I still love to listen to reggae but it's usually Gregory,Dennis ,Bob or Maxi or The Mighty Diamonds ,I'm not a fan of dancehall .
 I still believe that it would be possible for a new reggae superstar to emerge......after all ,as Toots sang " Reggae Got Soul "
Til tomorrow then X