February 24, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

Reggae legend travels from Jamaica to Queens to record his greatest album with Bullwackie.

I first encountered Horace Andy via his contributions as part of Massive Attack in the early 90s. What a great band, nurturing the fledgling talent of a young Tricky, and also bringing to light an undersung reggae legend. Andy’s real last name is Hinds, and he’s Justin Hinds’ younger cousin. While the 1972 collection Skylarking (not to be confused with a later collection of the same name) is a great introduction to his haunting falsetto vocal talents from his Studio One singles, Blood & Fire reissued his In The Light (1977) album with it’s dub version, and for years that was my favorite thing by him.

However, there’s so much more. Nearly everything he did was gold, but his peak is likely the recordings he did in the Bronx, New York City studio of Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes in 1982. Dance Hall Style is just six cuts, but it stretches out to over 41 minutes, and every cut is essential, including the excruciatingly beautiful “Spying Glass” (aka Live In The City), which he later redid with Massive Attack fourteen years later, and it still sounded fresh. Probably because his and other Bullwackie sessions, particularly the tracks that integrate dub into the songs, were a huge influence on the Bristol scene, Portishead, and what was later called, for better and worse, trip hop.

More song-based, from the same sessions is Exclusively, which is nearly as great. They should be released together as a deluxe package. Showcase (1980) is also highly recommended. Hell, how about a box set of everything he did? While we’re at it, everything from Wackie’s is worth hearing, and if you’re a fanatic, you can buy pretty much everything that was reissued on Rhythm & Sound’s Basic Channel label, including John Clarke, Sugar Minott, Wayne Jarrett, Prince Douglas, Milton Henry, and a bunch of dub by the Bullwackie’s All Stars.