On April 15th England’s Necessary Mayhem label released their long awaited tribute to Gregory Isaacs. Necessary Mayhem Presents Gregory Isaacs Remixed is a 15 strong series of recordings by the cool ruler, based on original productions by Augustus “Gussie” Clark, reworked, restyled and refashioned by label owner Curtis Lynch Junior. Angus Taylor asked Lynch to take Reggaeville through the album track by track, giving the story behind each song.
JEALOUSY (70s STYLE) FEATURING DENNIS BROWN AND MACKA B
“Jealousy was on the Gregory and Dennis No Contest combination album. That’s one of my favourite album tracks which I always thought got overlooked so it was definitely one of the first tracks I wanted on the list! I wanted to be creative with it so everything has changed – the only thing that is the same as the original is the vocal. Now there’s an added vocal by Macka B. I just wanted it to sound “now” and like me – as heavy as possible, a ridiculous intro, crazy basslines. It was a good vibe. I had fun.”
REPORT TO ME (AWOL MIX)
“Report To Me was always a favourite because of the part where Gregory says “I passed by your house this morning at a quarter to three!” Who passes by someone’s house at a quarter to three??? I always found the lyrics really funny but at the same time he’s really serious about it! His vocal delivery is a typically old school Gregory vibe so for it to be here in this new style was like a vintage vibe. Again I tried to add more things to it but there’s a classical element in there as well (which actually features quite heavily across this album).”
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