I can’t believe that I missed the news that Junior Murvin a very talented reggae star passed away in early December aged 67. Thank you to Record Collector magazine for including a suitable tribute in their ‘Not Forgotten’ section. The song which brought him to my attention was “Police And Thieves” from 1976. The song remains one of my all time favourites. I still have the CD version of the album of the same name. The song was written by Murvin with some lyrical tweaks from Lee Perry about the Yardie turf wars in Jamaica. But it also resonated strongly with British youth, particularly punks in 1976-77 against a backdrop of riots at the Notting Hill Carnival which for me was largely sparked by ridiculously hard-line and provocative policing from the Metropolitan Police. The Clash also recorded a rather excellent cover of the song, but the original, produced by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry remains the best. I used to have Junior’s ‘Muggers On The Streets’ album from 1984 on vinyl. My thoughts go out to Junior’s family friends and fans. RIP Junior Murvin.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 