Contents - Beth Lesser

in anyway,” Explains Chris Sedgwick, one of the founders.
The first album that Greensleeves released was the classic 1978 deejay
LP, Dr Alimontado’s Best Dressed Chicken in Town, featuring a cover shot
of ‘Tado’, in his ragged cut offs, on a Kingston street, passing what appears
to be a soul boy in his ‘bell foot’ pants, and carrying a chicken wrapped in
newspaper. The vinyl inside was pure hardcore reggae, a collection of Dr. Alimonatado’s
self produced 45s spanning the decade.
The music was good, solid roots reggae, but the cover was truly inspired.
The record sold successfully to a new crowd, a young, under-twenty-five group
of record buyers who were mainly purchasing punk records. For many future
dancehall fans, Greensleeves was their first introduction to real yard style
reggae.
The older, long time reggae fans already got their music on ‘pre-release’,
imported from Jamaica. But a new generation of teenagers, both black and
white, was growing up in England, looking for something new and rebellious
to make their own. Dancehall was a good fit. “It was music their parents
wouldn’t like, it was anti establishment, it was anti police, it was pro ganja.
It had all the right ingredients,” recalls Tony McDermott. For all the people
who weren’t buying the 45s straight of the boat, Greensleeves came to represent
the true sound of Jamaica, albeit packaged in a format that anyone
abroad would be comfortable with.
With interesting, professionally designed covers, combined with authentic
music, Greensleeves quickly gained the trust of record purchasers. The Barrington
material just blew it wide open. Because, along with Barrington came
the whole package, Scientist, Junjo, Channel One, and the Roots Radics. And
Greensleeves practically had a monopoly on them at first. Knowing they had
struck gold, Greensleeves stuck closely to Junjo and Jah Life, continuing to
release their material as fast as they could produce it. Over the next couple of
years, Greensleeves put out the Toyan LP, How the West Was Won, The Wailing
Souls’, Firehouse Rock, along with work from Michael Prophet, Wayne
Jarrett, Eakamouse, Johnny Osbourne, Yellowman and many more, building
up a catalogue that tracked the developments in reggae over the next three
decades.
82 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall