Horace Andy, a seasoned reggae artist who received the Icon Award at the JaRIA Awards Ceremony in Kingston on Easter Monday, used the chance to express his feelings towards late producer Edward “Bunny Striker” Lee Sr. whom he described as the “wickedest” in the music industry just before singing his hit song Skylarking.
In his speech, Andy reflected on his early career in music before discussing the late Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd, whom he commended, However, the musician spoke of both Lee Bunny Lee and Trojan records being the opposite of Dodd. He noted that the British Reggae company and Bunny Lee had owed him 40 years of supposedly unpaid royalties.
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“Mr Dodd, although dem seh him is not di best, him is di best becaw him pay wi. Fi real. Bunny Lee a di wickedest, him an Trojan. Him an trojan dem, dem dony pay wi fi 40 years. Forty years I don’t get nuttn, in dis business!” he remarked.
However, the artist repeatedly emphasized his gratitude for receiving the honor—his first in many years.
“The first award was 1974, yuh si how long… mi nuh get no more enuh. I don’t know why. I really give thanks,” he told those in attendance at the event, which was held at the Jamaica Conference Centre.
He continued, “I remember the days when me and Dennis [Brown], Freddie McGregor… we used to drink sugar and water outta di butter pan and dem ting deh wi eat an guh sing. Wi used to pray fi a almond drop offa di almond tree. People wi give thanks, Selassie I know.”
Horace Andy has criticized Bunny Lee and Trojan for the second time in the past year while praising Sir Coxone.
Andy, whose birth name is Horace Hinds, revealed to The Guardian in a previous interview that Dodd, who gave him his stage name and allowed him into Studio One where he learned “everything,” chose him and produced his biggest hit, Skylarking, in 1971.
The Guardian news shared that Horace had reacted angrily and brutally when Bunny “Striker” Lee was referenced.
“Bunny Lee not a producer but a financier. And he never pays me! Not a penny! And he sells all my recordings to Trojan Records in England and I never see a royalty statement after all these years, yet they issue my songs on CD and vinyl and in boxes,” he remarked.
Trojan Records, which was co-founded in 1967 by Chris Blackwell of Island Records and a Jamaican named Lee Gopthal, was in charge of marketing and releasing some of the greatest ska and reggae tracks in the UK. Along with Skylarking, these songs featured Double Barrel by Dave Barker and Ansel Collins, Everything I Own by Ken Boothe, Israelites by Desmond Dekker and The Aces, Wonderful World and Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff, and Red Red Wine by Tony Tribe, among many more.
Trojan Records, which has been sold off multiple times since its founder Lee Gopthal declared bankruptcy in 1975, is now owned by BMG and is therefore a unit of the fourth-largest record company in the world.
According to the story, a BMG official had responded to inquiries by stating that, “although it’s true that Bunny Lee and Trojan had an arrangement for a number of albums starring Horace Andy back in the 1970s, this has long since expired and rights reverted to Bunny.”
None of the records, in BMG’s words, “have appeared on Trojan during BMG’s tenure (though a best-of compilation was in fact released via BMG in 2016). ” According to the Guardian, the corporation directs him to Bunny Lee’s estate executors while also promising to get in touch with Andy “to clarify these issues.”
The 1972 song Skylarking was a criticism of the children idling on the corner pleading for money. The late Garnet Silk also did a cover of the song in the year 1993.
According to Andy in a Gleaner interview, the original recording of Skylarking was made at Studio One in 1974 and was inspired by his observations of the youths there who were allegedly “looking for handouts,” a practice he admittedly engaged in as a teenager before attending Ethiopian World Federation meetings at the age of 17.
Skylarking wasn’t initially made available as a single, but after appearing on Dodd’s Jamaica Today album, song gained popularity among sound systems and was eventually made available as a single.
Horace continued to produce music for Dodd and recorded songs including Love of a Woman, Something on My Mind, Every Tongue Shall Tell, and Just Say Who.
Horace collaborated with Bunny Lee in the mid-1970s and re-recorded Skylarking. He also released a number of songs, including Don’t Try To Use Me, You Are My Angel, Zion Gate, I’ve Got to Get Away, and a new version of Something on My Mind.
