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Mikey Dread, predictably enough, was one of the first reggae artists that I collected records by, mainly due to his close relationship with The Clash from 1980.

One of my favourite records by The Clash was 'Bankrobber' with 'Rockers Galore' (a toasters version of 'Bankrobber' by Mikey Dread) as the B-side.

Predictably enough (again) I purchased the Mikey Dread album, 'Dread At The Controls', which was released in the U.K on Trojan.

I went on to collect more Mikey Dread records, including the masterpiece albums, 'African Anthems', 'World War III', and this 12” record ‘Break Down The Walls / Jumping Master’ that is uploaded onto this YouTube post today.

Those Mikey Dread albums and this 12” single are still amongst my 'go to' records, and are still placed on the turntable every now and again throughout the many years that I have had them in my collection.

Both ‘World War III’ and ‘Break Down The Walls / Jumping Master’ featured the heavyweight musical backing of Roots Radics, a tight ex Channel One session band, also at various times known as The Morwells and The Arabs.

The nucleus of Roots Radics were Errol ‘Flabba’ Holt on the bass, Eric ‘Bingy Bunny’ Lamont on the guitar and Lincoln ‘Style’ Scott as the drummer.

The Roots Radics developed a stripped down, no thrills, but incredibly heavy sound that was preferred within the developing ‘Dancehall’ scene from 1980.

That years ultra-violent Jamaican election, cocaine replacing collie weed as the gangster controlled garrisons’ drug mules ‘drug to sell’ of choice mixed up with the continuing and increasing I.M.F debt added to the Islands sound systems becoming even more edgy than they would have previously been. Even for Jamaican sound system standards.

The Roots Radics sparse, darker sound suited this environment, more so than the previous decades heavy hitters, the sound of the Aggravators and the Professionals (a studio band that some of the Roots Radics skirted around from time to time).

Roots Radics backed up hundreds of reggae artists in the early 1980’s, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Prince Far I, Wailing Souls, Sugar Minott, Eek A Mouse, Barrington Levi and of course Mikey Dread to name a few.

Henry Junjo Lawes and Scientist, along with Linval Thompson all used Roots Radics as the backing band for sessions, so if you own any early 12” single on the Greensleeves record label, it will be more than likely that the Roots Radics would be on that record.

The Roots Radics also supplied the backbone of Singers And Players, a loose collective of reggae artists from Jamaica and the UK producing some incredible work for Adrian Sherwoods’ On U Sound record label.

The Clash showcased Mikey Dread further by including him as a support act on a UK tour (16 Tons Tour) and added his toasting skills (backed up by The Clash not the Roots Radics) on the triple album ‘Sarndinista!’.

The following text of Mikey Dreads’ earlier life has been ripped off from Wiki.

Born in Port Antonio, one of five children, and from an early age, Campbell showed a natural aptitude for engineering and electronics. As a teenager, he performed with the Safari and Sound of Music sound systems, and worked on his high school's radio station.

He studied electrical engineering at the College of Arts, Science and Technology, and in 1976, started out as an engineer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation.

Campbell wasn't impressed that the JBC's playlists mainly consisted of bland, foreign pop music at a time when some of the most potent reggae was being recorded in Jamaica. He convinced his JBC bosses to give him his own radio program called Dread at the Controls, where he played almost exclusively reggae.

Before long, Campbell (now using the DJ name Mikey Dread) had the most popular program on the JBC. Well known for its fun and adventurous sonic style, Dread at the Controls became a hit all over Jamaica. Examples of Mikey Dread's distinctive radio chatter can be heard on the ‘African Anthem Dubwise’ album.

He also began working as a recording artist, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing his signature tune ‘Dread at the Controls’, also recording for Sonia Pottinger and Joe Gibbs, and performing with the Socialist Roots sound system.

Inevitably, JBC's conservative management and Campbell clashed, and he quit in protest in 1978, becoming an engineer at the Treasure Isle studio, where he began an association with producer Carlton Patterson.

By the late 1970s he had started his own DATC label, working with artists such as Edi Fitzroy, Sugar Minott, and Earl Sixteen, as well as producing his own work and releasing albums like ‘Evolutionary Rockers’ (released in the UK by Trojan as ‘Dread at the Controls’), and ‘World War III’, along with ‘Jungle Safari’…

This YouTube post is dedicated to Ella H for no particular reason.