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Early June 1999 the reggae massive was shocked when they heard of the shooting death of original Wailers member Junior Braithwaite. Unfortunately the senseless killing continues as two weeks later turned out that popular music producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes was shot dead in Harlesden, London UK. Another tragic incident which can be added to the extended list of similar violent crimes from the past which took the lives of Tenor Saw, Peter Tosh, Pan Head, Prince Far I, Hugh Mundell, Nitty Gritty, King Tubby and many more.Henry 'Junjo' Lawes - born and raised in the ghetto around Olympic Way, West Kingston, Jamaica - established himself as one of the most prolific and influential music producers in the first half of the eighties. 'Junjo' actually started his musical career as a singer but it was not until he turned over to production work that he drew notable attention of a broad audience. After having first ventured into production work with Linval Thompson 'Junjo' produced the first hit 45s from a teenage Barrington Levy and then his highly acclaimed debut album "Bounty Hunter". For this album he had employed the Roots Radics and young engineer Scientist. Barrington Levy's distinctive powerful voice in combination with the raw and uncompromising riddims provided by the Roots Radics and Scientist's innovative mixing style made Barrington Levy's debut album a huge success.It not only marked the start of a period in Jamaican music when Henry 'Junjo' Lawes was regarded the leading producer but it also launched Dancehall as a fully developed musical style. As 'Junjo' Lawes didn't have his own studio he usually used the Hookim brothers' Channel One Recording Studio at Maxfield Avenue, north of Spanish Town Road. After his successful collaboration with Barrington Levy more hits followed on his "Volcano" label. All deliveries were underpinned by the driving riddims from, first, the Roots Radics and then the High Times Band from guitarist Earl 'Chinna' Smith. One of the most striking hits was the very original "Wa Do Dem" by Eek-A-Mouse. This tune set another trend - now known as singjay - as it combined elements of singing and deejaying. Another important hit for 'Junjo' Lawes was the combination tune "Diseases", which was done by Papa Michigan & General Smiley, as this killer tune proved that the deejay partnership was not entirely reliant on original Studio One riddims. Furthermore Lawes worked with artists like Michael Prophet and Barry Brown and unmistakably demonstrated he could also handle these more orthodox singers with equally convincing results as can be witnessed when listening to Barry Brown's "Give Israel Another Try" and Michael Prophet's "Gunman", delivered across 'Junjo' Lawes's most enduring original riddim. Michael Prophet had established his name outside Jamaica thanks to some excellent roots recordings he did for artist/producer Vivian Jackson aka Yabby You, but it was his work for 'Junjo' that brought this fine singer to a broader and younger audience. However, despite the fact that he delivered convincing efforts with these more orthodox roots singers Henry 'Junjo' Lawes prefered to work with vocalists who had closer links to the dancehall circuit of Kingston amongst them Johnny Osbourne and former African Brothers member Tony Tuff. These two relative vets had made excellent cultural records during the seventies but had an open mind when Dancehall emerged. Especially Johnny Osbourne made a serious impact and became very popular with the Dancehall massive. Hard competition was given by the younger Dancehall singer par excellence Frankie Paul, whose 'Junjo' Lawes produced tunes "Pass The Tu Sheng Peng", "War Is In The Dance", "Jump No Fence" and "Dem Talk About" were among the best of his early years and are now regarded as Dancehall classics. John Holt was another veteran singer who took advantage of the rugged Lawes-produced Roots Radics riddims. His collaboration with 'Junjo' was very successful and brought him hits like "Ghetto Queen", "Police In Helicopter" and the truly superb updating of his all-time Studio One classic "A Love I Can Feel". But there were more established Jamaican artists to benefit from Henry Lawes' production work. Alton Ellis, Junior Murvin, Leroy Smart and Ken Boothe - to name a few - reached a new audience with their efforts across the modern Dancehall riddims provided by the Roots Radics or High Times Band.But the vintage act that was the most successful under the guidance of Henry Lawes was one of the most consistent Jamaican vocal-harmony groups, The Wailing Souls. Their partnership with 'Junjo' brought some truly great 12" singles - like e.g. "Kingdom Rise, Kingdom Fall" - on which the Wailing Souls combined their customary cultural concerns with some of the most brutal and inspired of the Junjo's riddims. Also represented on Lawes' labels were former Black Uhuru member Don Carlos and the late great Hugh Mundell, who had attracted notable attention with his Augustus Pablo produced recordings. These vocalists performed in a more declamatory style and cut strong records with Henry Lawes. Not only did 'Junjo' enjoy numerous hits with singers and vocal-harmony groups, he also had huge hits with practically every deejay who had established himself in the dancehall circuit. Josey Wales, Nicodemus, Early B, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Metro and Ranking Toyan are only a few examples of deejays who delivered some great Dancehall recordings when working with "Junjo" Lawes and his modern riddims. Junjo's pairing of Clint Eastwood with the U.K. deejay General Saint proved a winning formula. However, the best selling deejay for producer Henry Lawes was the most popular chatter of the era, the albino deejay Winston Foster aka Yellowman.Yellowman was reggae's figurehead during the period 1981-1984 as he consistently outselled vocalists and fellow deejays alike. Besides the fact that he knew how to ride what were the strongest riddims of the time Yellowman could seemingly effortless improvise lyrics in the dancehalls and in the studio. As Yellowman once said: "Junjo just call me an' say I must do an album, and I just listen to the riddims and the lyrics come to me."Before 'Junjo' left the island of Jamaica to settle down in New York in 1985 and then temporarily leaving the music business he launched a new singer from Clarendon who became well known in the digital age. The singer's name was Cocoa Tea and it's only the sometimes weak lyrics that prevent his 'Junjo' Lawes produced debut album - which includes tunes like "Rocking Dolly" and "Lost My Sonia" - from being essential.During the early years of dancehall reggae, Henry "Junjo" Lawes was the most important and influential producer around. His raw, street-level sound and use of pre-existing rhythms virtually defined dancehall in its predigital phase. Lawes produced many of the top DJs of the early '80s, and also helped more traditional reggae singers bridge their influences and the new style. Unfortunately, Lawes was also something of a star-crossed figure: he spent the latter half of the '80s in jail, halting his career just as the new, electronic ragga sound was changing the face of dancehall. Although Lawes returned to work in the '90s, he was no longer on the cutting edge, and tragedy struck in 1999 when he was gunned down in London.Lawes was born in West Kingston, Jamaica, circa 1948. After a failed attempt to enter the music business as a singer, he moved into production, getting his break behind the boards in 1978 courtesy of singer Linval Thompson. Thompson, by that time producing himself, tapped Lawes as his assistant on that year's I Love Marijuana album. Lawes was able to capitalize on the exposure, entering the Channel One studio with the young, up-and-coming Barrington Levy in 1979. With Lawes at the helm, Levy quickly spun off a series of smash singles that made him a star and Lawes one of the hottest new producers around. Levy's debut album, Bounty Hunter, was an immediate sensation as well, and featured a supporting cast that would come to dominate dancehall along with Lawes in the next few years: the instrumental backing band the Roots Radics, noted for their rough, rugged rhythms, and engineer Scientist, who would become one of the foremost dub mixers of the dancehall era.In the wake of his success with Levy, Lawes formed his own label, Volcano, and worked his way through a host of new clients. The Wailing Souls' 1980 classic "Fire House Rock" and its accompanying album of the same name solidified his credentials, and he soon racked up a string of smash hits producing the most popular DJ of the early '80s, Yellowman. In fact, Lawes worked with most of the hottest DJs of the era at one time or another: Josey Wales, Eek-a-Mouse, Michigan & Smiley, Charlie Chaplin, Clint Eastwood, Ranking Toyan, General Echo, and Nicodemus, among others. Many of Lawes' productions were "versions" of classic Studio One rhythms, grooves that were replicated on new records by the Roots Radics or by Lawes' secondary studio group, guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith's High Times Band. Lawes took a similar approach when working with veteran singers, updating their sounds for the new dancehall era; some of these included Johnny Osbourne, John Holt, Black Uhuru's Don Carlos, Hugh Mundell, Alton Ellis, Junior Murvin, Leroy Smart, and Ken Boothe, among others.Lawes' approach resulted in some of the biggest Jamaican hits of the early '80s: not only Yellowman's numerous hits, but Eek-a-Mouse's "Wa Do Dem," Johnny Osbourne's "Ice Cream Love," Barrington Levy's "Prison Oval Rock," Michigan & Smiley's "Diseases," Michael Prophet's "Gunman" (perhaps Lawes' most famous original rhythm), and the young Frankie Paul's breakout smash "Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng." Paul quickly became one of Lawes' most popular protégés, spinning off a series of hits that established him as dancehall's biggest pure singer for a time. In the mid-'80s, Lawes helped launch the career of another popular dancehall staple, Cocoa Tea, thanks to hits like "Rocking Dolly."In 1985, Lawes relocated his operation to New York City, but ran into problems with the law and spent several years in jail. In the meantime, the sound of dancehall was radically altered by the rise of all-electronic production, a sound dubbed ragga. By the time Lawes was released from prison and returned to Jamaica in 1991, the times were threatening to pass him by. He returned to work with a cast of familiar faces at first, including Cocoa Tea, Yellowman, and Josey Wales. He also tried his luck with some newer artists, among them Ninjaman, Shaka Shamba, and General T.K.. Nothing matched the staggering success of his earlier years, and he eventually wound up moving to London. It was in the Harlesden area of London that Lawes was shot to death by two men -- likely gang members -- on June 14, 1999; the case remains unsolved. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide