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There’s nothing worse than music lovers missing out on music they’d enjoy listening to, so here at Cruise International Records / Cruise Digital, we’re on a crusade to make sure older and newer top class music of various styles finds its audience.

I Roy (Super Roy) Flying High

Born in 1944 in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, Reid graduated from Dinthill Technical College before starting his musical career via his Soul Bunny sound system in 1968, running it on Victoria Pier on Wednesday afternoons, while working during the day as a government accountant.

He went on to work on the Spanish Town-based Son’s Junior sound system, where he was spotted by producer Harry Mudie, who renamed him ‘I-Roy’

Deriving his name, and to some extent his style, from U-Roy, Reid was also heavily influenced in his early career by Dennis Alcapone. In 1971 he recorded four tracks for Mudie, all releases as singles, “The Drifter” and “Heart Don’t Leap” (both in combination with Dennis Walks), “Let Me Tell You Boy” (over the Ebony Sisters recording), and “Musical Pleasure”. Reid and Mudie fell out over the details of a proposed European tour, and he went on to work on sound systems such as King Tubby’s Home Town Hi-Fi, and recorded more material with many of the Island’s top producers including Lloyd Campbell, Bunny Lee, Derrick Harriott, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Glen Brown, Rupie Edwards, Byron Lee, and Keith Hudson. One of I-Roy’s hits was “Sidewalk Killer” (1972), a take on Tommy McCook’s original “Sidewalk Doctor”, produced by Ruddy Redwood. One of his most productive partnerships was with Gussie Clarke, who produced most of the tracks on his debut album, Presenting I Roy (1973), containing several hit singles recorded for the producer.

I-Roy’s lyrics were often humorous, incorporating elements of songs and nursery rhymes.