Linval Thompson

You started off with Bunny Lee, didn't you?

"Yeah, tune like 'Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks' and 'Jah Dreader Than Dread'.

After those early days, what inspired you into production?

"Yeah, well, I started my own Thompson Sound label in Jamaica. Same time as I was singing for Bunny Lee, me do one LP and.....well after that me start to do me own LP - and LP name 'I Love Marijuana' - released on Trojan."

And after that came 2 albums on Burning Sounds?

"Yeah man, after that me just cool off."

"You've been pretty successful producing other acts like Eek A Mouse and Freddie McGregor. Does that mean you're dropping back your own career?

"Nah man me still a sing, ca me have a new LP coming out now. Me have the tracks lined up. Me also have three discos coming up, one by Dennis Brown, one by me, and one by Sugar Minott."

So you've been producing big-time artists?

"A just the vibes you know."

Have you got an album with the Meditations?

"Yeah, it's finished now."

Did you find it difficult going from singing to producing albums with established artists?

"Well, you know, like you see, me love the business and me really born in the business. And me say me better work in the business."

How old were you when you started off?

"About 16 or 17"

And how old are you now?

"28 October Gone."

You seem to have achieved a lot in that time with so many hits?

"Yeah man, me have plenty hit."

What other album have you got lined up?

"There's a lot of nice material. There's a next Viceroys, it bad, bad."

The Viceroys go back ages and and ages...

"They're singers man, singers."

There first album was one of the best of that year.

"This one now is better that that, it's murder. There's some hard stuff right now - Meditations, Freddie McGregor, Triston Palma and Horace Martin, Do you know Horace Martin?

Yeah, he's one of my favourite little known artists. He did 'Beautiful Dream'. 

"I think he do it over for the LP, but nuff people don't even about him too tuff."

I know he had four tunes on the 'Big Ben' label.

"Yeah, him bad - him sound good, he sound strong. But thrus not enough people know about him right, that's a problem. None of the companies want to to touch it, because they don't know nothing about him."

It seems to me that if the companies were clever, they'd  use their popular records to give themselves the change to expose the new stuff at the same time."

"Right"

At this rate, all they they'll be dealing with is stablished artists.

"Right, they need to bring on new artists. But Horace is not new really. He's been singing for a long time, but he never release nuff record, that's all. And the companies them don't lookin on the new artists, just interested in regular artists.

"Have you any DJ's on tape?"

"yeah, I have a DJ clash...Toyan...Captain Sinbad...U.Brown...Lee Van Van Cliff."

What about the new DJ like Squiddley?

"No, I have new DJ name Tingo him bad-small too."

I've never heard of him he must be brand new.

"Him bad, nobody don't know him but him bad. He come like Papa Tullo. I'm the first man to record Papa Tullo."

"At this point, the interview was rudely interrupted by some lady who claimed to be setting up an introduction to Eek A Mouse to CBS and A&M.