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Skylarking (Horace Andy song)

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"Skylarking"
Single by Horace Andy
from the album Skylarking
B-side"Skylarking Version"
Released1971
GenreReggae
Length2:49
LabelBongo Man
Songwriter(s)H. Hinds (Horace Andy)
Producer(s)Coxsone Dodd

"Skylarking" is a single by Jamaican singer and songwriter Horace Andy, produced by Studio One founder Coxsone Dodd.[1] The song, lyrically an admonishment of loitering youths who expect handouts, has been described as Andy's signature tune.[1][2] It was first issued, rendered "Sky Larking", on Dodd's Jamaica Today - The Seventies compilation in 1971.[3] The song became a popular sound system hit, prompting a release as a single on the Studio One subsidiary Bongo Man.[4] It topped the Jamaican singles chart published in The Gleaner in August 1972.[2][3] Andy cut the song again in 1974 for Bunny Lee, who licensed the recording to the UK-based Venture Records.[3] A 1992 cover by Garnett Silk revived the song's popularity in Jamaica.[3] Andy sings excerpts from "Skylarking", as well as his later song "Money Money" (1980), on Massive Attack's "Five Man Army" (1991).[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Cartwright, Garth (11 April 2022). "Horace Andy: '3D is a brilliant young man. But Massive Attack work slow'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Chart". The Gleaner. 20 August 1972. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Thompson, Dave (2002). Reggae & Caribbean Music. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-655-6.
  4. ^ Kennedy, Biko. "Bring it Back: Horace Andy 'Skylarking'". Jamaicans Music. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  5. ^ Zuberi, Nabeel (2001). Sounds English: Transnational Popular Musi. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780252026201. Retrieved 20 January 2025.