This Is Lovers Rock, by VP Records

This Is Lovers Rock

by VP Records

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1.	Alpha - Can't Get Over You 05:05	buy track
2.	Donna Rhoden - It's True 04:29	buy track
3.	Brown Sugar - I'm In Love With A Dreadlocks 03:12	buy track
4.	Sister Love - Goodbye Little Man 06:47	buy track
5.	Carol Thompson - I'm So Sorry 04:24	buy track
6.	Deborahe - Knight In Shining Armour 04:44	buy track
7.	Jean Adebambo - Paradise 05:22	buy track
8.	Peter Spence - Don't Leave Me Lonely 05:00	buy track
9.	Mellow Rose - Feel It (To Come Later) 02:49	buy track
10.	One Blood - Get In Touch (With Me) 06:28	buy track
11.	Maxine Harvey - Gimme Little Sign 03:47	buy track

about

As the lovers rock sound began to emerge out of London in the mid-'70s, the city's longstanding reggae label Greensleeves got wise and set up the Cool Rockers imprint to separate the sweet and the dreamy from the revolutionary music they usually traded in. The liner notes in their 2007 compilation This Is Lovers Rock are brief, informative, and surprisingly defensive about this move and the music. One listen to One Blood's slick and thin "Get in Touch (With Me)" or any number of the sugary tracks included here and it's easy to see this isn't the respected Gregory Isaacs or even Dennis Brown definition of lovers rock. This is soulful reggae that aims for polish no matter what the budget, with love being communicated through tenderness and delicate crooning. The title to key track "I'm in Love with a Dreadlocks" is the compilation's most dangerous moment, although that doesn't mean there isn't room for sass, like when Sister Love gets rid of a lover with "Goodbye Little Man." The breezy "Let's Dub It Up" from Junior Murvin sound-alike Dee Sharp is wonderful, and with Keith Douglas' "I Specialize in Good Girls" plus Sandra Cross covering the Mighty Diamonds' "Country Living," the set proves it knows its way around the lesser hits. Without Louisa Marks' "Caught You in a Lie," Janet Kay's "Silly Games," or all the Jamaican spawned tracks that followed in the U.K.'s footsteps, This Is Lovers Rock is hardly the definitive collection the title may imply, and as the liner notes point out, this gentle set won't sway the roots men or rude boys. Still, the sound quality is impressive, there are some desirable extended mixes, and enough prime material from reggae's underappreciated, softer side to warrant a recommendation. - David Jefferies

credits

released November 26, 2007

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Greensleeves Records Ltd.
Copyright © – Greensleeves Records Ltd.
Manufactured By – Sonopress
Liner Notes [October 2007] – Harry Hawke
Photography By – Richard Braine

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about

VP Records Queens, New York

Miles Ahead

NYC • MIA • KIN • LDN • TYO • JHB • RJ

With origins in Kingston, Jamaica in the late 1950s as Randy’s Record Mart, Vincent and Patricia Chin’s small used record business would grow to become one of the world’s largest independent record labels, with a catalog of 35,000 recordings. ... more