Born in Cuba in 1927, growing up in Jamaica before moving to London in 1960, Laurel Aitken is rightly remembered for the breadth of his musical styles and career, from stand out calypso and mento to killer ska releases for the likes of Blue Beat and on to all forms of reggae.
Tucked away in a cannon of literally hundreds of Aitken’s recordings is this one off release, the 1978 disco in icted Hoochie Choochie Man 12”, with the killer Sexy Boogie on the ip. Long a word of mouth for both reggae and the more left eld disco diggers, prices have seen recent copies go for well over 3 gure sums.
All fully licensed and remastered for reissue, here Sexy Boogie is moved to be the rightful main cut. Some 7 minutes of rolling, twisted disco reggae, with chop guitar, stabbed piano, an essential and relentless (wonky) groove, plus Laurel’s trademark silk tones, here used as a mantra for the dance oor.
Now moved to the B side, Hoochie Choochie Man is handed over to Soft Rocks mainman Piers Harrison for his editing expertise. Scapel in hand, the (oft annoying) vocals are cut to allow the anged guitar, hammond keys and drum and bass rhythm to just swing and ride to distraction.