"Police and Thieves" (a.k.a. "Police and Thief") is a reggae song first recorded by the falsetto singer Junior Murvin in 1976. It was covered by the punk band The Clash and included on their self-titled debut album released in 1977.
"Police and Thieves" | |
---|---|
Single by Junior Murvin | |
from the album Police and Thieves | |
B-side | "Grumbling Dub" |
Released | May 1976 (JA)/July 1976 (UK) |
Recorded | May 1976, Black Ark Studio, Kingston, Jamaica |
Genre | Reggae |
Length | 4:04 |
Label | Wild Flower/Island WIP 6316 |
Songwriter(s) | Junior Murvin, Lee "Scratch" Perry |
Producer(s) | Lee "Scratch" Perry |
The song was originally written by Junior Murvin. [1] Murvin approached Lee "Scratch" Perry in May 1976 and auditioned the song at Perry's Black Ark studio; Perry decided to record the song the same afternoon, and decided to alter the lyric slightly. Players on the track included Boris Gardiner (bass), Ernest Ranglin (guitar), Sly Dunbar (drums), Keith Sterling (keyboards), and Joe Cooper (organ), with backing vocals provided by Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones. [1]
The next day dub versions were mixed and versions with different lyrics recorded. The song, about gang war and police brutality, was out on the street in a couple of days, backed by The Upsetters' dub version "Grumbling Dub", and became a big hit in Jamaica. Released in Jamaica on Federal Records' Wild Flower subsidiary label (as "Police and Thief") it was issued in the UK by Island Records in July, and proved to be a bigger sales and club hit in England than in Murvin's and Perry's native Jamaica. [1] [2] It was also successful in the US, where it was issued on the Mango label. [1] Island also issued a 12-inch version with Jah Lion's deejay version "Soldier and Police War", and Glen DaCosta's saxophone version "Magic Touch" added. The song was included as the title track on Murvin's 1977 album. [1]
The song became an anthem in the UK in 1976 as the Notting Hill Carnival erupted into a riot. [1] [3] Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of the Clash were involved in the rioting, which inspired them to cover the song on their debut album, in a style that they called "'punk reggae', not 'white reggae'". [4]
It appeared in Ted Bafaloukos' 1978 film Rockers , and also in Guy Ritchie's 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels . The song has since been re-recorded by Murvin several times; A digital version appeared on a 1987 single produced by Prince Jammy, an acoustic version was included on the 2007 album Inna de Yard, and a new version was released in 2008 on a Ralston Brown-produced single. In 2019, French label Broken Stick Records released a 12" with a new vocal version by Murvin himself (recorded in 2006), a brand new deejay cut by U Roy, a melodica version and a dub version. [5]
Murvin's version became a Top 30 UK hit in 1980, peaking at no. 23. [6] It was named 'Reggae Single of the Year' by Black Echoes, and placed sixth in the NME 's end of year singles chart. [1]
In 2022, Pitchfork named it the 188th best song of the 1970s, saying "Falsetto is frequently used in reggae, but not often is there a track as gently piercing. There's that perfect amount of echo, carrying Murvin's vocal improvisations and the humming chorus along, making them bounce off the walls and charge ever forward." [7]
"Police & Thieves" | |
---|---|
Song by The Clash | |
from the album The Clash | |
Released | 8 April 1977 |
Recorded | March, 1977 |
Genre | Punk rock, reggae |
Length | 6:04 |
Label | CBS |
Songwriter(s) | Junior Murvin, Lee "Scratch" Perry |
Producer(s) | Micky Foote |
The English punk rock band Clash's punk/reggae version appeared on their eponymous debut album. The Clash's version, which is six minutes in length, is an example of a rock band incorporating reggae into their repertoire. [8] Murvin's first commentary was "They have destroyed Jah work!" [9] Perry considered that the Clash had "ruined" the song with their version, but later agreed to work with them nonetheless. [1]
The song had been a rehearsal room favourite of the band. It had not originally been planned for inclusion on The Clash, but an impromptu version the band started playing during a break in a recording session spurred the decision to finalize their own arrangement, record it, and include the finished article on their album.
In the beginning of the song, Joe Strummer reinterprets the line "They're going through a tight wind" as a tribute to The Ramones, already an established American punk band and an influence on The Clash. The lyric line appears in the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop".
Bob Marley was inspired to write his song "Punky Reggae Party" after hearing the Clash's version – his reaction after hearing it for the first time was "It is different, but me like how him feel it". [10]
The Clash's version appears on the soundtrack for the Wes Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums . The song also appears in the Reno 911!: Miami movie where it is performed by Dave Grohl, who is listed in the credits under the pseudonym "Sprechen Sie Deutsch".
Several other versions have been recorded, including several on tribute albums to the Clash. Jazz musician Billy Iuso covered it on his 2015 album Overstanding. [11]
The Clash were an English rock band that formed in London in 1976 and were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they used elements of reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly, and they contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that followed punk. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.
Lee "Scratch" Perry was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development of dub music with his early adoption of remixing and studio effects to create new instrumental or vocal versions of existing reggae tracks. He worked with and produced for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos, Max Romeo, Adrian Sherwood, Beastie Boys, Ari Up, The Clash, The Orb, and many others.
Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
"Punky Reggae Party" is a song by Bob Marley, recorded and released in 1977. Not appearing on any studio album, it was released in 1977 as a 12-inch single in Jamaica only on the Tuff Gong and Lee Perry's Black Art labels, as a B-side to the "Jamming" single on Chris Blackwell's Island Records label in some countries and was later released as a live single on Babylon by Bus. Subsequently, it appeared on a number of compilations and "Best of" albums as well as the Deluxe Edition of Exodus and the 2002 CD reissue of Legend.
The Clash is the debut studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash, released on 8 April 1977 through CBS Records. Recorded and mixed over three weeks in February 1977 for £4,000, it would go on to reach No. 12 on the UK charts, and has been included on many retrospective rankings as one of the greatest punk albums of all time.
Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, disco, and rap. For the first time, the band's songs were credited to the Clash as a group, rather than to Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The band agreed to a decrease in album royalties in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.
The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd.
The Essential Clash is a career-spanning greatest hits album by The Clash first released in 2003. It is part of the ongoing 'The Essential' Sony BMG compilation series. The album is dedicated to Joe Strummer, who died during its compilation.
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Lester Bullock, better known by the stage name Dillinger, is a Jamaican reggae artist. He was part of the second wave of deejay toasters who rose to prominence during the mid-1970s.
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Junior Murvin was a Jamaican reggae musician. He is best known for the single "Police and Thieves", produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1976.
Earl "Chinna" Smith, a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is most well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and as guitarist for Bob Marley & the Wailers, among others, and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums.
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Rockers is the soundtrack to the 1978 film of the same name. It was released in 1979 by Mango Records and includes some of the songs heard in the film by Jamaican reggae musicians such as Junior Murvin, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller. In 2024, Rolling Stone magazine named Rockers the 52nd greatest soundtrack of all time.
Jah Lloyd, aka Jah Lion, The Black Lion of Judah, and Jah Ali was a Jamaican reggae singer, deejay and producer.
Arkology is a compilation album by Lee "Scratch" Perry. Released in 1997, the album collects tracks produced by Perry and recorded at the Black Ark studio.