In the early 1980s, Henry "Junjo" Lawes was the most prolific producer on the island. Working with the Roots Radics at Channel One, he produced a significant number of deejay albums by Franky Paul, Yellowman, Captain Sinbad, and many more.
His productions eventually came to define the new dancehall genre, sometimes referred to as early dancehall, and reached a wide audience thanks to Greensleeves who released his works in Europe.
Taken from Captain Sinbad's most successful album, The Seven Voyages of Captain Sinbad (1982), the lyrics from his song The Eye of the Tiger are based upon the eponymous film, continuing the Jamaican habit of linking music with film refences.
The riddim is the same as Johnny Osbourne's No Lollipop No Sweet So for his Fally Lover LP. It's part of the heavy, rub-a-dub riddims of which the Roots Radics produced many. And it works great for Captain Sinbad.
The deejay sails over the riddim as he makes references to the film, Jamaican-izing the content, he presents himself as "Pupa Sinbad the sailor man".
His rhymes are interrupted by with his well-known oink!, ribit!, bwoi! interjections, which have become the deejay's trade-mark.
Captain Sinbad's energy keeps you hooked as you'll find yourself nodding in rhythm with Flabba Holt's bassline, and with other songs such as Bam Salute, All Over Me, Construction Plan, all mixed by Scientist, it's no surprise that the album has become a Channel One classic.
The cover is a true work of art designed by Tommy McDermott, who illustrated many other Greensleeves covers. Greensleeves thankfully repressed it in 2007 and The Eye of the Tiger is of those that still sound fresh no matter how many times you've played it.
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