Horace Andy has remained a much-loved figure among Reggae fans throughout his 50-year musical career with songs featured heavily at British punky reggae parties. In recent decades he became known to wider audiences as guest vocalist on all British trip hop masters Massive Attack’s albums.
Few singers have better mirrored the mercurial sound of dub than Horace Andy. Finding prominence in the mid-1970s, the Jamaican singer’s vibrato-heavy falsetto has become one of dub’s defining features.
The legacy of Andy’s voice is reflected in his music’s history. His exceptional voice has matured over the past five decades into a richer tenor. His first collaboration with British dub pioneer, Adrian Sherwood- The Midnight Rocker is the perfect showcase for this late-career sound, revisiting a selection of Andy’s earlier materials in addition to six new tracks.
The Midnight Rocker album was carefully assembled by Andy and producer Sherwood over several years. On its release earlier in 2022 it received rave reviews from outlets around the world including Daily Bandcamp in the U.S. and Mojo, the Guardian, The Wire, Uncut and the Quietus in the UK to name but a few and has gone through more than a half dozen pressings.
Horace Andy was born Horace Hinds February 19, 1951, in Kingston, Jamaica. Andy, also known as “Sleepy,” has become an enduring voice on the Jamaican music scene. His signature early 1970s hit, “Skylarking,” defined his ability to deliver songs of Black determination and social commentary, but he could equally deliver songs of love.
Andy worked with producer George “Phil” Pratt on his first single, “This Is a Black Man’s Country,” in 1967. His cousin, Justin Hinds, was starting to enjoy some success at that time, but Andy would not gain notice until working with noted Jamaican producer Clement “Coxsone” Dodd in 1970. “Got To Be Sure” became his first release for Dodd’s Studio One. Dodd gave him the stage name Horace Andy – a reference to popular singer Bob Andy. With Dodd, Andy went on to record “See A Man’s Face,” the well-received “Mr. Bassie” and the breakthrough hit “Skylarking,” among other songs. “Skylarking,” which encouraged wayward youth to clean up their act, was released as a single and topped the Jamaican record charts, becoming a signature tune for Andy.
Although American R&B singers were Andy’s early influences, he also comments: “I wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix, to play the guitar like him! I didn’t see myself as having a great voice. I didn’t know I’d be a great singer.”
Andy has consistently recorded and performed around the world and has remained relevant in reggae subgenres such as roots reggae, rock steady, lover’s rock and dancehall, recording with some of the all-time great reggae producers including Bunny “Striker” Lee, Niney Holness, Tapper Zukie, Lloyd Barnes, and Steely & Clevie.
In 1990, he was discovered by the Bristol based trip-hop band Massive Attack, who cited Andy’s work as a major influence. He recorded the song “One Love” for their 1991 debut album ‘Blue Lines’, and the band’s popularity exposed Andy to a younger generation of fans, many of whom continue to seek out his earlier work. After Massive Attack launched their own label, Melankolic, they released Skylarking, a compilation of Andy’s career hits. Andy is the only singer of Massive Attack’s rotating group of guest artists to appear on each one of the band’s albums. He also appeared on the British group Dub Pistols’ 2001 album ‘Six Million Ways to Live’, and on the Easy Star All-Stars’ 2006 Radiohead tribute ‘Radiodread’.
Ultimately, Midnight Rocker is a worthy addition to both Horace Andy and Adrian Sherwood’s massive catalogues. Sherwood has managed to get the best out of Horace Andy. The ten tracks on this album are stamped with quality all over with every track benefitting from superb musicianship, carefully crafted production work and Horace Andy’s still great sounding vocals.
