Contents - Beth Lesser

One, 10 o’clock Monday, and Junjo arrange with the artists to be at the studio
at 10 o’clock on Monday, and he just throws the artists into the studio with
the Roots Radics, and Junjo is gone about his business. So, the production
was really done by Roots Radics band. But, Junjo used to find the artist. He
used to scout the artists.
“But, as far as being a producer of music, I would credit Junjo as the ‘executive’
producer and the Roots Radics as the producer. It was the Radics
who stayed by the console when the engineer was setting up and miking the
instruments. It was the Radics who worked with the artist to decide what to
play and helped him to find the right key, the right tempo. And it was the
Radics who hung around for the final mix.” Gladdy Anderson, the keyboard
player, was mainly responsible for taking the singer’s guide vocal and coming
up with the chords to support it, thus doing the arranging.
“[Junjo] usually have other guys that works with him that take care of the
studio works”, Burro recalls, “Mellon, Belo and Steve. Those guys do a lot of
the music works. Junjo was the one, now, sometimes he flies and gets the visa.
He was the boss.”
Yet, Junjo didn’t have to be there the whole time to exert his influence. As
Barnabas, one of Junjo’s preferred engineers describes it, “Junjo was the kind
of person who leave it up to the musicians a lot. But, every now and then,
he would come with a little idea that he had. He’s got a lot of vibes. He was
really a vibes person. He would just appear, and he didn’t have to say much.
The musicians, just by seeing him, would get a vibe, by seeing him just being
there.” Roots Radics bass player, Flabba Holt recalls, “Junjo, him have good
ideas. Him fun! Is a fun guy, man! Nice bredren to work with.”
Junjo understood how to make music. Lady Anne recalls him advising her,
“Anyway you record a song, that is the way the song is gonna come out – if
you move, that’s how it gonna come out. If you stiff, that’s how it sound.” But
he also understood marketing. “I remember [Junjo] used to tell me this when
I was young, very young, in the music,” Lady Ann adds. “‘If you force it upon
them, they will accept it.’”
As Junjo wasn’t a studio owner, he had to hustle to put together the money
to rent the location and pay musicians and engineers. That’s where the sound
came in handy. Dances were an important tool both for raising funds and
for promoting new releases. As long as Junjo was making the hits, the sound
would keep attracting crowds and the money would keep coming in to put
out more releases.
Junjo had everything going for him. He could work with just about any
artist he wished as he had a reputation for dealing with people fairly. Errol
Scorcher commented back in ‘82, “It’s like Junjo – why him have so many
artists, him deal people fair. If Junjo want to do a record now, him give me
two weeks in advance. Pay me two weeks! Him say, ‘Set yourself up and come
check me in two weeks’ and him just gone.”
Junjo didn’t pay royalties directly. He told the artist that he could col-
144 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall