Henry "Junjo" Lawes

Henry "Junjo" Lawes was born in West Kingston, Jamaica in 1948. He originally started out wanting to be a singer, but failed to impress and it wasn't until 1978 that he got a break in the music business courtesy of singer Linval Thompson. The break however was not out front singing but behind the desk as he assisted Thompson with his self produced 'I Love Marijuana' album. The success and exposure of this album allowed Lawes to then enter the Channel One studio with the young, up-and-coming Barrington Levy in 1979. The pair worked well and quickly produced a series of hit singles that made Levy a star and gave Lawes a reputation as one of the hottest new producers around. Bounty Hunter, Levy's debut album, was also well received and became an immediate big seller. Off the back of this success, Lawes was able to form his own label, Volcano, and he began to work his way through a host of new clients. His raw, street-level sound and use of mainly pre-existing Studio One riddims replicated on new records by the Roots Radics or by Lawes' secondary studio group, guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith's High Times Band virtually defined dancehall in its predigital phase helping to cement his position as one of the most important and influential producers around.
Among these early releases he produced The Wailing Souls' 1980 classic "Fire House Rock" and its accompanying album of the same name as well as racking up hits for Yellowman. Josey Wales, Eek-a-Mouse, Michigan & Smiley, Charlie Chaplin, Clint Eastwood, Ranking Toyan, General Echo, and Nicodemus, among others.
As well as working with these new artists Lawes turned his hand to helping veteran singers, keeping a similar approach when working with updating their sounds for the new dancehall era. Some of these stars to benefit from his touch included Johnny Osbourne; check out "Ice Cream Love", John Holt, Black Uhuru's Don Carlos, Hugh Mundell, Alton Ellis, Junior Murvin, Leroy Smart, and Ken Boothe.
This approach and style produced some of the biggest Jamaican hits of the early '80s: not only the already mentioned Johnny Osbourne's "Ice Cream Love, but Eek-a-Mouse's "Wa Do Dem,"," Barrington Levy's "Prison Oval Rock," Michigan & Smiley's "Diseases," Michael Prophet's "Gunman" (perhaps Lawes' most famous original rhythm), Yellowman's numerous hits and the young Frankie Paul's debut smash "Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng". Paul quickly became one of Lawes' most popular protégés, spinning off a series of hits that established him as dancehall's biggest pure singer for a time. Lawes is also credited with helping launch the career of another popular dancehall staple, Cocoa Tea, at this time thanks to hits like "Rocking Dolly".
In 1985 Lawes relocated his operation to New York City, but ran unfortunately soon ran into problems which saw him jailed for the latter part of the '80s. This period of incarceration fell just as the sound of dancehall was being radically altered by the rise of ragga's all-electronic production In 1991 Lawes was released from prison and he returned to Jamaica. Major changes had taken place in the ever evolving music business while he was away and he tried to repeat his previous successes by working once again with a mixture of familiar faces and including Cocoa Tea, Yellowman, and Josey Wales plus some newer ones like Ninjaman, Shaka Shamba, and General T.K. This time round though nothing would match the stunning success of his earlier years, and he eventually wound up moving to Harlesden, North West London. It was here that Lawes met his premature end as he was shot to death by two men (supposed gang members) in a drive by shooting on June 14, 1999; the case remains unsolved.

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