U-Brown - Hit Sounds from Channel One

First things first: Hit Sounds From Channel One isn't a collection of U Brown tracks. It's a compilation of tracks from his Hit Sounds label, cut at Channel One at the tail end of the golden era of rockers reggae by the usual revolving cast suspects of JA-Team session players playing under the name of the Revolutionaries.

But it's important to remember that even at the height of the militant message rockers era, reggae remained Jamaican pop music, too. Brown's label apparently specialized in sweet soul crooners--mid-level names like Johnny Osbourne, Al Campbell, Delroy Wilson, and a young Sugar Minott the most prominent--and U Brown's old school toasting isn't exactly hard-edged on the opening "Weather Balloon." His "Me Chat You Rock" has triumphal horn punctuations over a spare riddim but it's merely serviceable, nowhere near as wonderful as the title. Read More