Junior Murvin – Cool Down The Heat (Greensleeves Records, 2025)
Cool Down The Heat is a top of the ladder posthumous set, produced and newly mixed by King Jammy. It gathers 1980s recordings from Junior Murvin, including fresh versions of “Police And Thieves” and other tracks making their streaming debut.
Jamaican singer Junior Murvin rose to prominence with the popular reggae song “Police And Thieves,” the 1976 single produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry and later covered by The Clash. This new compilation focuses on sessions from the following decade and presents material that had remained unreleased or unavailable in digital formats.
The album is Murvin’s third title for the U.K. label, following Muggers In The Street (1984, produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes) and Apartheid (1986, produced by Prince Jammy).
The recording took place at King Jammy’s Studio at 38 St. Lucia Avenue in Kingston’s Waterhouse neighborhood. The terrific track list includes the title cut, updated takes on fan favorites such as the Notting Hill Carnival anthem “Police And Thieves” and the Real Rock–driven “Cool Out Son” in a digital style, plus new productions including “Come From Far,” “Ism Schism,” “No Bed Of Roses,” and “Lion Mouth.”
Murvin Junior Smith grew up with his great-grandmother in Port Antonio, capital of Portland Parish, Jamaica. His earliest exposure to music came in church, where he helped the resident pipe organist by operating the pump.
A guitar from his aunt in the United States encouraged him to write songs through his school years, and his first success came with “Solomon,” a rocksteady hit recorded by Derrick Harriott. After relocating to Trench Town, Kingston, in the late 1960s, he worked amid leading artists including Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert, Delroy Wilson, and The Wailing Souls.
Influenced by American singers such as Curtis Mayfield, he performed as Junior Soul and collaborated with The Hippy Boys, The Falcons, and The Tornados, while also recording for producers Sonia Pottinger and Derrick Harriott. His breakthrough arrived in 1976 when he began working with Lee “Scratch” Perry at the Black Ark studio.
The debut album Police & Thieves followed in 1977 and brought international attention. Its title track peaked at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart, leading to an appearance on Top of the Pops. The song became a Notting Hill Carnival (a large Caribbean street party in London) staple after the 1976 disturbances, and reached new audiences through The Clash’s 1977 cover. Film placements extended its reach, notably in Theodoros Bafaloukos’s Rockers (1978) and Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).
Murvin continued recording for more than three decades and died in 2013 from complications of hypertension and diabetes.
Buy Cool Down The Heat.
Author: Joe Nash
