The legendary singer continued to visit Jamaican retail stores in New York City during the 1970s. One of his regular stops was Tad’s in The Bronx where he struck up a friendship with owner, Tad Dawkins.

Andy and Dawkins, then a fledgling producer, agreed to collaborate on a series of songs that resulted in ‘Horace Andy Showcase’, a solid 10-song album released in 1980.

In September, Tad’s International Record released ‘Horace Andy — Showcase: Deluxe Edition’, a repackaged version of the album released in September.

It contains vocal and dub versions of songs like ‘Cus Cus’, ‘Money Money’, ‘Something On My Mind’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ which Andy recorded during the 1970s, considered his most creative period.

The songs on ‘Showcase: Deluxe Edition’ are produced by Tad Dawkins, Joseph “Ranking Joe” Jackson, Jah Screw and Osbourne “King Tubby” Ruddock. They feature The Aggrovators, The Roots Radics and The Revolutionaries, three of reggae’s greatest bands.

“The original released product didn’t include the versions, so the Deluxe includes drum and bass versions to the songs. Horace Andy is a unique reggae artiste with a distinctive voice and there has been a high volume of requests for songs from him,” said Dawkins.

At the time of ‘Horace Andy Showcase’s release, dancehall music was gearing up to take over from roots-reggae in Jamaica. During the 1980s, sound systems were more interested in playing new-wave singers like Sugar Minott, Junior Reid and Tenor Saw.

That meant artistes like Andy — who lived in Connecticut at the time — were largely forgotten. He got a second wind in the late 1990s through his association with Massive Attack, an edgy British band from Bristol, England which sampled some of his songs including ‘You Are my Angel’ and ‘Spying Glass’.

Horace Andy was considered new wave in 1972 when his unique falsetto rang throughout Studio One. Socially-conscious songs like ‘Skylarking’, ‘Just Say Who’, and ‘See A Man’s Face’ made him a favourite among the booming roots-reggae movement.

Throughout the 1970s, he hit the charts with a number of songs for different producers including Derrick Harriott (‘Lonely Woman’), Bunny Lee (‘Zion Gate’, ‘Money Money’) and Channel One (‘Girl I Love You’).

‘Natty Dread A Weh She Want’, Andy’s collaboration with Tappa Zukie, was a strong seller in the United Kingdom in 1979.

(Photo: Teacher)