Aquarius Rock - The Hip Reggae World of Herman Chin-Loy
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CD £ 10.00  
2xLP £ 9.00  
Various Artists
Aquarius Rock - The Hip Reggae World of Herman Chin-Loy
PS45 / 2004 / Pressure Sounds
1.Aquarius Rock — Augustus Pablo & Herman
2.Darkest Night — James Eastwood
3.The Red Sea — Augustus Pablo
4.Alton's Official Daughter (Version 1) — Alton Ellis
5.Aquarius Dub — Herman
6.Alton's Official Daughter (Version 2) — Alton Ellis
7.Funky Aquarius (Aquarius Horns) — The Aquarians
8.Funky Strip — Charlie Boy
9.Iggy Iggy — Augustus Pablo & Herman
10.Road Runner — Sounds Unlimited
11.Pick Up The Pieces — Archie McKay
12.Song Of The East — Augustus Pablo
13.Middle East Skank — Sounds Unlimited
14.No More War — Beres
15.No More Version — Herman
16.Snowball And Pudding — Augustus Pablo
17.East Of The River Nile — Augustus Pablo
18.Soul Vibration — The Teacher
19.River Nile Version — Herman
20.Return Of Sabata — Dennis AlCapone
21.Sabata — Herman
22.Song My Mother Used To Sing — Dennis Brown
23.Groove With It — Leroy Parker
24.I Man — Herman
Information
Herman Chin Loy always had a sound that is as distinctive as any in reggae. Specialising in the quirky and the offbeat his Scorpio and Aquarius labels were responsible for some of the most innovative instrumentals in Jamaican music.

He was actually making instrumental records under the name of Augustus Pablo before a skinny young kid called Horace Swaby turned up in his shop holding a melodica!! Herman took him to the studio and gifted the name Augustus Pablo on the young Swaby. The rest is history.

Based in his Kingston record shop at Half Way Tree and deejaying at some of Kingston's coolest clubs Herman was perfectly placed to pick up on the 'street' vibes of many of his young hip customers in the early seventies.

What we have here are some of the liveliest funky reggae music that was ever made with a handful of vocal tracks including two different cuts of Alton Ellis' 'Alton's Official Daughter', Dennis Brown's classic 'Song My Mother Used To Sing' and the little known but very talented Archie Mckay with 'Pick Up The Pieces'. DJ Dennis AlCapone and super scat intros from Herman himself also feature and this album is a delight from start to finish.
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Reviews
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Herman's Official Scorcher !

I bought the Double Vinyl version of this and it is great. Herman Chin-Loy produced some excellent Reggae music in the early 70s and much of the best of it is assembled here. Some real highlights for me are the crucial Horns outing 'Funky Aquarius' and the super-scarce 'Road Runner'. Other favourites gathered are Augustus Pablo's earliest recordings, one of Dennis Brown's greatest ever tracks, the crucial instrumental 'Funky Strip' and no less than three versions of Alton Ellis's timeless 'Altons Official Daughter'. Although the material used was sourced from vinyl, sound quality throughout is mostly excellent with very little evidence of intrusive digital restoration. As with all Pressure Sounds releases, presentation and packaging is faultless. Very Highly recommended.

PS Don't miss the 10" released to coincide with this set. It includes both sides of three legendary Aquarius 7" releases, only four of which are on the album release. As such it's an essential companion to the album, and great value !
Dave Home
13th November 2004
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