Johnny Osbourne - Can't Buy Love

At the end of the 1970s, Coxsone reached back to his productions from the previous decade and used rocksteady riddims to voice some of the biggest singers of the moment.

These productions have given birth to albums that have become true classics, with many listed amongst the artist's best, such as Lone Ranger's On the Other Side of Dub, Sugar Minott's Live Loving and in this case, Johnny Osbourne's Truth and Rights.

Johnny Osbourne is one of the few truly versatile singers as he has proved to us throughout time, releasing crucial material on rocksteady riddims, roots, rub-a-dub, and digital.

Can't Buy Love is the third track from his Truth and Rights album. Coxsone uses the Soul Vendor's Swing Easy riddim, one of the most popular ever with countless versions recorded.

In this song, he delivers a soulful love balad, expressing the strength of his love, an attempt to convince the girl here that "Money can't buy my love".

There are many references to the Beatles' Can't Buy Me Love here with the famous line "Diamonds can't buy my love" before he humorously adds :

"Money can buy you a new bed spring but the money can't buy you love".

Johnny Osbourne's singing gently follows the horns from original rocksteady instrumental creating a brilliantly catchy song.

With all songs from the album being at least of equal strength, it's no surprise that Truth and Rights has become a true classic in reggae music.