GREGORY ANTHONY ISAACS was born in Jamaica in 1951 and made his first recording as a teenager. He formed the African Museum record label and shop with his friend and fellow artist Errol Dunkley at the turn of the Seventies. He cut his first hit, ‘My Only Lover’, for the label, which is now regarded as the first lovers’ rock record ever made.

Our compilation focusses on Isaacs’ most prolific and successful years working with Jamaica’s top producers including Alvin Ranglin, Winston Holness, Gussie Clarke, Lloyd Campbell and Lee “Scratch” Perry. He scored a string of hits including ‘All I Have Is Love’, Black A Kill Black’, ‘Sinner Man’ and ‘Slave Master’, all featured here. Isaacs would emerge from the Seventies as one of reggae music’s international superstars alongside Bob Marley.

His mid-late Seventies output laid the foundations for what was to become Dancehall and he continued to pioneer reggae music well into the Eighties and beyond. In 1982 he released ‘Night Nurse’ which struck a chord with the wider public and was used in TV commercials for the cold & flu remedy. Simply Red covered the song in 1997 to huge acclaim. Isaacs last big splash came in 2008 when he received a Grammy nomination for his album Brand New Me.

“The most exquisite vocalist in reggae.” New York Times