Beltones

Beltones

Despite a number of big hits in the Reggae era The Beltones, with Bop or without Bop, never got around to making an album. They worked with Coxsone on and off over the years - but it was Harry J who took them to the top of the Reggae charts with ‘No More Heart Aches’, recorded it seems at Studio One. Trevor Shields, leader of the group, seems to be as puzzled as everyone else as to why an album never happened or why they couldn’t build on the great success they had both with Coxsone and Harry J.

Trevor was the songwriter for the group. ‘Smile Like An Angel’, the big hit for Coxsone, got all the hooks that ‘No More Heart Aches’ has and so it proves that the latter was no fluke. Even the b.side of ‘No More Heart Aches’ - ‘I’ll Follow You’ - is a great tune. Harry’s production showing that a different sound could be had at Studio One despite how popular Studio One was.

Trevor Shields went solo sometime in the early seventies recording for Coxsone tunes like ‘The Moon Is Playing Tricks On Me’ and ‘Life’. Later in the mid-seventies the group reformed as Trevor Shield and The Beltones and recorded once again for Harry J. Once again Harry showed that he could move with the times - but nothing matched the power of those big hits from the Reggae era."