Yellowman: Zungguzungguguzungguzeng [GREENSLEEVES]

Why you'll love it

This Greensleeves reissue, pressed in the Czech Republic, brings back one of the records that defined early dancehall. The title track is Yellowman's signature song, the one he still performs on every tour and the most requested tune for dubplates.

This edition

• Pressed in the Czech Republic

About the album

The title came to Yellowman in the studio. Winston Foster heard the riddim, opened his mouth and the word came out, rhymed on the spot with no lyrics written beforehand, and he has said since that it can mean anything at all. Greensleeves put the single out first, and the album followed in June 1983.

Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, the biggest producer of the era, ran the sessions, and the Roots Radics laid down the rolling, roomy rub-a-dub rhythms. Yellowman's longtime partner Fathead turns up on many of the tracks, trading lines and ad-libs. "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" takes its title from the spaghetti western, "Rub A Dub Play" and "Who Can Make The Dance Ram" are built for the sound system, and "Take Me To Jamaica" and "Friday Night Jamboree" are pure good-time toasting.

Forty-odd years on, the title track sits firmly in the reggae and dancehall canon. We've checked the spelling of it four times for this page, and we'd still recommend simply pointing at it at the counter.

Also at Kops: more Yellowman on vinyl · browse Reggae & Caribbean

Tracklist

Listen

On Greensleeves (cat# VPGSRL7124), a reissue of the 1983 album.