RIP The Cool Ruler

Sad news reached us yesterday of the passing of one of reggae's true greats, the inimitable Gregory Isaacs. With tributes and eulogies popping up in every corner of the internet, it felt only right to post something here. I was lucky enough to catch the man perform a number of times, most recently at the Big Chill festival. With a back catalogue as rich as you'd expect from someone who has over 50 years of archive material, his performances were always ones to treasure. My enduring memory of his legacy however is probably his most well known tune. Having ran a monthly event for 7 years, it was a familiar experience to get the old "last tune, mate" off an over-zealous bouncer, eager to get paid and get home. One particular bouncer was a sucker for a bit of reggae, in particular Mr Isaacs himself...so whilst he was ushering the crowd out of the door, I'd always slyly drop "Night Nurse". He could never resist abandoning his post and having a skank on the dancefloor with the remaining stragglers. This happened every night for around 18 months. A fitting tribute to the power of the man's music I feel! As a blog post though, I've opted for a personal favourite (sorry Bayo!)...RIP