Wayne Wade: Run Come Rally and Man Of The Living
From: Black Is Our Colour [Prophet, 1976]

Some deep and soulful reggae in the house today with Wayne Wade’s debut release Black Is Our Colour. Produced by Yabby You, an artist who was also in the early stages of making a name for himself, the album showcased not only Wayne’s great vocals but also an impressively complex list of subject matters for a sixteen year old artist, rightly turning the Jamaican teenager into a star.

Run Come Rally is a perfect example of Wade’s roots style as his light as a feather vocals play with the dark tone of the song itself. This sombre tone is replicated in Yabby’s production which, though upbeat, is offset by minor keys, creating an underlying edge of unease.

Man Of The Living is the stand out track from the whole album for me. Once again Wade’s almost slightly ethereal vocals meshing beautifully with Yabby’s production as he makes a defiant stand. What I love about this album is the understated nature of the whole release, it’s only on repeated listens that you really get how much work is being done underneath the surface. Those mournful horns just kill me.

Apologies for the crackle and muffled sound – my copy of the LP is somewhat rinked to say the least. The good news is that the album has been reissued at a reasonable price so if you put your money down you can get a far sweeter copy than the one that’s rotating on my turntable.

Wade is still performing to this day and although I haven’t heard a lot of his more recent stuff I’d highly recommend checking out anything you find where he’s collaborating with Yabby You. Classic roots.