VP Records, Skengdon ‘Wake the Town’ with classic reissues

VP Records is ready to launch a 2025 reissue series honouring the Skengdon label and its founder, Jamaican producer Kenneth ‘Skengdon’ Black, through its 17 North Parade imprint. A key figure in the digital dancehall era and founder of Stereo Mars sound system with Danny Dread, Black worked with artistes like Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, Nicodemus, Little John, and Tenor Saw, whose rise was closely tied to Stereo Mars and Black’s sharp eye for talent.

With the help of music executive, historian, and cultural curator Maxine Stowe, VP Records is proud to celebrate and honour the work of the famed sound system owner and producer. The first release, Wake The Town, is scheduled for release May 23. Originally issued posthumously in 1989 and produced by Sugar Minott with Black as executive producer, the album features some of Tenor Saw’s final recordings made at SKD studio in Miami. His signature vocal style cuts through the brilliantly lo-fi musical aesthetic Skengdon is known for, backed by Roots Radics musicians and mixed by Crucial Bunny.

Tenor Saw, whose real name was Clive Bright, was born on December 6, 1966. An influential figure in the dancehall, he had several hit songs, including the classic, Ring the Alarm, which was released in 1985. On August 13, 1988, Tenor Saw died after a hit-and-run crash in Houston, Texas.

The reissue campaign kicks off by reintroducing Tenor Saw’s Wake The Town album, followed by singles from Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, and more to be announced

Forty years ago, in 1985, Kenneth Black introduced the brand new sound, Stereo Mars, at the legendary Skateland in Half-Way Tree. Featuring an all-star lineup of deejays and singers such as Super Cat, Nicodemus, Burro Banton, Tenor Saw, and more, with Danny Dread at the controls, this session captured all the live energy and vibrancy of the golden era of ‘80s dancehall.

Black’s journey began in the mid-70s as a deejay and dance promoter, where he brought some of the top sounds to his hometowns of Clarendon and Manchester. During this period, Black established his close collaborator, ace selector Danny Dread, who, at the time, was working with Papa Roots sound system. The Stereo Mars sound system emerged from this foundational relationship, becoming a powerful influence in the dancehall scene and helping to elevate Black’s continued partnership with Sugar Minott and Maxine Stowe of Youthman Promotion.

Also in 1985, Black began releasing music on his newly founded label Skengdon, utilising the vocal talents of the aforementioned deejays, plus singers such as Junior Delgado, Cocoa Tea, Gregory Isaacs, and many more, all riding raw, stripped-back, digital dancehall riddims built at Black’s new state-of-the-art recording facility, Diamond Studio Centre (SKD), in Miami, Florida.

The studio became a hub for innovative music production, and together with his assembled team of engineers and musicians – including Anthony ‘Crucial Bunny’ Graham, Oswald ‘Chunny’ Palmer, Steelie & Clevie, and Jackie Mittoo – they were instrumental in creating the rich catalogue of works, yielding more than 150 singles and 10 albums.