Valentine's Day is the perfect day to celebrate the special genre of reggae music called Lovers Rock. The roots of Lovers Rock lie in the early days of reggae, with Jamaican singers such as Ken Boothe and John Holt enjoying international hits with reggae versions of well-known love songs. It was also a style that resonated with the London reggae scene and became an apolitical response to the conscious Rastafarian sound dominant in Jamaica at the time. Lovers Rock really gave a style and voice to the UK reggae scene as well as an opportunity for female artists who were sought after for this sound. Some of the Jamaican artists that had the most success with this genre in the late 70s and early 80s wereDennis Brown, Sugar Minott and of course Gregory Isaacs.
Queen Majesty will be exploring both UK and Jamaican Lovers Rock, with a special Gregory Isaacs set in celebration of the Valentine's Day release of The Love Box. Issacs, the Cool Ruler aka Lonely Lover, lives on with this first four-disc box set comprised of 80 love songs, some of which are pulled from the vault. This unprecedented compilation is the result of a unique collaboration between Tad’s Records and Isaacs’ own label, African Museum and can be purchased here. (via EastVillageRadio.com)
