Barry Brown

Born around 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica, Barry Brown entered the recording scene with an early single titled ‘Girl You’re Always On My Mind,’ helmed by producer Bunny Lee, yet it attracted minimal notice. His forceful, roots-oriented delivery—often likened to Linval Thompson—quickly drew attention overseas. A breakthrough arrived in 1979 when ‘Step It Up Youthman’ became a hit, prompting an album bearing the same title. The resulting profile prompted a wave of additional Barry Brown tracks to surface, among them ‘Put Down Your Guns,’ ‘We Can’t Live Like This,’ ‘Big Big Pollution,’ ‘Politician’ and ‘Conscious Girl.’ By the following year his voice featured on several disco-mix sides cut alongside prominent deejays, including Jah Thomas on ‘Jealous Lover,’ Ranking Joe on ‘Don’t Take No Steps’ and Ranking Toyan on ‘Peace And Love.’ After voicing ‘Separation’ for Linval Thompson and ‘Things And Time’ for Sugar Minott, Brown turned to self-production. His first effort under this arrangement, ‘Cool Pon Your Corner,’ was soon followed by an album spotlighting the standout track ‘Jah Jah Fire.’ Two further self-produced numbers from 1981, ‘Problems Get You Down’ and ‘Physical Fitness,’ failed to register. A 1983 session at the historic Studio One yielded the ten-inch disco-mix coupling ‘Give Love’ with ‘Far East,’ rekindling interest that led to subsequent singles such as ‘Dreadful Day’ and ‘Serious Man.’ In 1984 he aligned with prevailing dance rhythms on ‘Belly Move,’ voiced in tandem with deejay Charlie Chaplin. Although later releases no longer dominated the charts, Brown maintained a steady output of strong material.