Skylarking (Horace Andy song)

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"Skylarking"
SkylarkingHoraceAndy.jpg
Single by Horace Andy
from the album Skylarking
B-side "Skylarking Version"
Released1971
Genre Reggae
Length2:49
Label Bongo Man
Songwriter(s) H. Hinds (Horace Andy)
Producer(s) Coxsone Dodd

"Skylarking" is a single by Jamaican singer and songwriter Horace Andy, produced by Studio One founder Coxsone Dodd. [1] The song, lyrically an admonishment of loitering youths who expect handouts, has been described as Andy's signature tune. [1] [2] It was first issued, rendered "Sky Larking", on Dodd's Jamaica Today - The Seventies compilation in 1971. [3] The song became a popular sound system hit, prompting a release as a single on the Studio One subsidiary Bongo Man. [4] It topped the Jamaican singles chart published in The Gleaner in August 1972. [2] [3] Andy cut the song again in 1974 for Bunny Lee, who licensed the recording to the UK-based Venture Records [3] A 1992 cover by Garnett Silk revived the song's popularity in Jamaica. [3] Andy sings excerpts from "Skylarking", as well as his later song "Money Money" (1980), on Massive Attack's "Five Man Army" (1991). [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 Cartwright, Garth (11 April 2022). "Horace Andy: '3D is a brilliant young man. But Massive Attack work slow'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Chart". The Gleaner. 20 August 1972. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Thompson, Dave (2002). Reggae & Caribbean Music. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Backbeat Books. ISBN   0-87930-655-6.
  4. Kennedy, Biko. "Bring it Back: Horace Andy 'Skylarking'". Jamaicans Music. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  5. Zuberi, Nabeel (2001). Sounds English: Transnational Popular Musi. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 154. ISBN   9780252026201 . Retrieved 20 January 2025.