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In 1976, Levy formed a band with his cousin, Everton Dacres, called the Mighty Multitude; the pair released "My Black Girl"
in1977. Levy established his solo career the next year with "A Long Time Since We Don't Have No Love"; though the single was
afailure, the fourteen year old was a popular performer at Jamaican dancehalls. Soon, Levy met Junjo Lawes and Hyman
Wright,both record producers, and recorded several singles with the Roots Radics, including "Al Yah We Deh", "Looking My
Love","Englishman", "Wedding Ring Aside" and "Collie Weed", all of which became hits and established Levy ...read more
In 1976, Levy formed a band with his cousin, Everton Dacres, called the Mighty Multitude; the pair released "My Black Girl"
in1977. Levy established his solo career the next year with "A Long Time Since We Don't Have No Love"; though the single was
afailure, the fourteen year old was a popular performer at Jamaican dancehalls. Soon, Levy met Junjo Lawes and Hyman
Wright,both record producers, and recorded several singles with the Roots Radics, including "Al Yah We Deh", "Looking My
Love","Englishman", "Wedding Ring Aside" and "Collie Weed", all of which became hits and established Levy's career.
Levy's next few singles were similarly successful, including "Shine Eye Girl", "Wicked Intention", "Jumpy Girl", "Skylarking"
(byHorace Andy), "Disco Music", "Reggae Music", "Never Tear My Love Apart", "Jah", "You Made Me So Happy" and "When
You'reYoung and in Love". Levy then recorded several duets with Toyan, Jah Thomas and Trinity, and memorably appeared at
ReggaeSunsplash in 1980 and 1981. Though LPs were not terribly important in Jamaica at the time, Levy released three albums
before1980: Bounty Hunter, Shine Eye Gal (United Kingdom) and Englishman, a critically acclaimed record.
By 1980's Robin Hood, Levy was one of the biggest Jamaican stars, and saw his international fame growing as well, especially
inEngland. Taking a break from albums, Levy then released a series of hit singles, including "Mary Long Tongue", "In the
Dark","Too Poor", "I Have a Problem", "Even Tide Fire a Disaster", "I'm Not in Love", "You Have It", "Love of Jah", "Under Mi
Sensi","Tomorrow Is Another Day", "Robberman", "Black Roses", "My Woman" and "Money Move".
Levy returned to LPs with Lifestyle and Money Move, followed by a British hit album called Here I Come; Levy received the
BestVocalist prize at the British Reggae Awards.
The late 1980s saw Levy, now in his twenties, slow down his output, though he continued to perform and record until 1988.
In1993, Levy tried to break in the United States with Barrington, but Levy and his label, MCA Records, did not have a
goodrelationship and he soon left. In the 1990s, Levy continued to release periodic hits in Jamaica, and more rarely in the UK.
In1998, he released Living Dangerously, which included a dynamic collaboration with one of Jamaica's most prolific
deejays,Bounty Killer. The release was one of Levy's most successful singles since the start of the 90's, and allowed him the
opportunityto be identified by members of the younger generation of dancehall patrons.
After the death of Sublime's Bradley Nowell in 1996, Barrington and the remaining members got together to record several
songsand toured. Levy was only involved in a handful of shows, but his contribution to their 1999 release "Right Back", under the
newmoniker Long Beach Dub All Stars was considered the best of the album. He seemed to give the band what they needed, a
greatfront man.
Levy was featured on a 1999 track by the Rascalz titled "Top Of The World", also featuring K-os. Levy also appeared on
twosingles by rapper Shyne (notably Shyne's 2000 debut single, "Bad Boyz"), and on a track for drum'n'bass artist Aphrodite's
2000album Aftershock. In 2004, he contributed to a track on the album White People by Handsome Boy Modeling School, a
project byPrince Paul and Dan the Automator. Most recently, Levy made a guest appearance on the single "No Fuss" by Red-1 of
theRascalz, from his 2007 album Beg For Nothing. « hide |
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