Golden Rockers – Studio One

By 1980, Studio One was still leaning hard on the singer’s cut of reggae, and Golden Rockers catches that late-rooted moment in warm, unfussy style. The rhythms sit in that tough, mid-tempo pocket where the bass stays rounded and the guitar chop keeps everything moving, while the vocal roster reads like a roll call of Studio One heavyweights: Dennis Brown on “Stick By Me, ” Alton Ellis on “Room Full Of Tears, ” Cornell Campbell on “Queen Of Minstrel, ” and Horace Andy on “Don’t Try To Use Me. ” There’s plenty of deep soul in the set too, especially from Delroy Wilson and Ken Parker, but the closing stretch is where the project really locks in, with The Wailers’ “Chatter Box” and Val Bennett’s “Russians Are Coming” giving it that final lift of studio-born character.