His career could be likened to an album of tunes that serve as life’s very tutorials — for over a 50-year musical odyssey, vital lessons have been learned, and the melody maintained remains a key theme in the story of personal resolve and resilience. This is the makeup of Hal ‘Reggaeman’ Anthony — born Hal Anthony Lewinson — whose musical journey spans decades as a solo performer and as the founder and leader of the Fantells, first formed in Jamaica in 1975 and relaunched in South Florida in 2024 “to recapture,” he says, “the authenticity of reggae that has seemingly been lost.”
It has been an uncanny journey of particular notes. From his teens, music had a hypnotic lure — back in the days at Maxfield Avenue in Jamaica, in the community of Makka Land (across from Delacree Road), his uncle Norris Weir, lead singer of the group The Jamaicans (which included Tommy Cowan and Martin Williams), would rehearse at his grandmother’s house. “I loved what I heard,” he said, “and I just wanted to sing.”
He would soon begin rehearsing with the group The School Boys, put together by his uncle’s brother Lawrence Weir, Delroy Melody, and the late Jacob Miller. Music, as his passion, pulled him along with his professional pursuits — a supervisory managerial course at the University of the West Indies Extra-Mural Department after attending Kingston and St. Andrew Technical High Schools, and working at the Petrojam Oil Refinery and as aviation superintendent at the Norman Manley International Airport.
Living a full life, he kept on singing, and when the Fantells was formed with Leon Brown, Trevor Shields, and Laidley Brown, he was also a member of the group The Belltones with their popular hit “No More Heartache.”
The Fantells worked on the North Coast – and worked along with the Unique Vision and Fab 5 household bands for over seventeen years under manager Frankie Campbell. The list of the Fantells’ hit songs included Hooligan, Where You Gonna Run, and I Can’t Hide.
The Reggaeman’s journey then took him to the United States – to Maryland, singing and playing the guitar and touring across 50 states with Al Brown and the Inner Force Band. After five years in Maryland, he left for South Florida, creating the group Real Rock, which for five years was declared the number one band in South Florida by the Miami Times.
There was, sometime after, a name change to Real Rock. Trending with the times, it became the Millennium Band, touring Europe, South America, Japan, and other destinations with the likes of Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, Luciano, Leroy Sibbles, Lady Saw, Ken Boothe, and The Tennors (Ride Yu Donkey, Pressure and Slide) among others.
Yes… as you might still be wondering, Mr. Lewinson was and also remains a solo act, performing as Hal Reggaeman Anthony – recording four albums, two originals (Reggaeman a Come and Illumination – Oh Jah) and two with Willie Lindo (redoing the Gladiators’ greatest hits and the winning Jamaica Festival songs from 1966–1987).
Yes… doing solo, and performing and touring with a band, “is fun but hard work,” he says – all this, while working part-time as an electrician and installing fire alarms. This was life’s rhythm and beat… and he would simply keep on playing.
If all this was life’s unbroken melody, then it meant, as far as he was concerned, that the Fantells had to be brought together again.
It just had to be done – resurrected… for certain things to be corrected. “We received no royalties because producers at the time claimed the copyright,” he said, “so we were unable to claim royalties for over two albums of songs.”
Fantells regrouped in 2024 – now a team of three, with the Reggaeman still as lead and joined by Ted Greaves and Glenroy Davey. The proverbial first thing on the turntable was the recording of some of the old hit songs, with new material being done for producers Eugene Gray and Willie Lindo.
Yes… a new album was launched – Just for You – a mix of lovers rock and message music with cuts such as African Queen, No More Heartache, Hooligan, Empress, and Impossible. They’re also in studio working on a new single and music video, Ghetto Girl, a cover song by the original Fantells – and under the management of Copeland Forbes and son Colin Forbes, along with producer Eugene Gray, world tours are being organized.
“We’ve learnt a lot since,” insists Hal Reggaeman Anthony, “about production and the management of our music and assets. We’re making it easier on ourselves.”
February 2025 was a crowning moment for Hal Reggaeman Anthony, honoured for his contribution to reggae music in South Florida and around the world at the Jamaica International Music Awards.
It’s fitting… for the 50 years we have been moved… by the melody of the Reggaeman.
