A. African Brothers – A Di System
B. Gimme Gimme African Love
Greensleeves – GRED 148

More info @ Discogs

Our journey starts with a 1979 Greensleeves release by the African Brothers, featuring the roots tune A Di System on the A-side. Back then, Greensleeves was a young imprint just two years into its journey, but they were already busy signing UK-produced sessions alongside top-tier licensed Jamaican tracks. Don’t confuse this group with the famous Jamaican trio that featured Sugar Minott. This was a strictly British outfit built around Jah Bunny and the legendary Dennis Bovell, two foundational players who also anchor the history of Matumbi.

During the late seventies, Matumbi locked into a major contract with EMI imprint Harvest Records, which claimed exclusive rights to the Matumbi name. The musicians used clever aliases to bypass corporate restrictions and drop independent music without the major label taking a cut. The African Brothers moniker became their vehicle for the raw underground. While Matumbi was steering toward a polished, commercial lovers rock sound for the British charts, the players still needed to feed the gritty sound systems demanding heavy dubplates. These underground riddims landed on Main Line Records, a tiny independent outlet run by Jah Bunny that even pressed up the rare seven-inch Gimme Gimme African Love back in 1977, which actually features right here on the B-side of this twelve-inch platter.

Dennis Bovell was a brilliant artist and engineer, but his most significant legacy comes from his visionary production work. His massive impact on British music eventually brought him an MBE in 2021. For this specific release, Jah Bunny took control as producer and arranger. He solidified his reputation in the seventies as the drummer for Matumbi, which stood out as a premier British reggae band known for their 1979 hit Point of View and the theme for the BBC television show Empire Road. Donaldson stepped into the group around 1976 to replace original drummer Euton Jones, and when Matumbi split in the early eighties, he brought his heavy style to The Cimarons.

A1. Donney Thompson – Set Me Free
A2. Mikey Ranks / Donney Thompson – Set Me Free (Part 2)
B. Donney Thompson – Rocking Time
Must Dance – MD 003

More info @ Discogs

Moving on to the second twelve-inch plate, we run into some highly obscure talent. Singer Donney Thompson takes center stage on this release, earning credits as co-producer, co-arranger, and lead vocalist on all three tracks. He is joined by a deejay who goes by the name Mikey Ranks. Hard info on both artists remains scarce, but we know Thompson dropped a tune called Rocking Time back in 1979. This timeline proves his working relationship with Jah Bunny went back at least four years, and that vintage track actually occupies the B-side here.

The A-side label proudly states ‘Roots Stylee’, which fits the spiritual theme of Set Me Free. Sound system heads will instantly recognize the melody and rhythm as a direct version of Slavemaster by the reggae legend Gregory Isaacs. Donney delivers a passionate vocal about his deep desire for freedom, while Mikey Ranks rides the version with a chat about Gregory spending time behind bars. Flip the record over to find Rocking Time, marked as ‘Lovers Stylee’, which offers a relaxed, down-to-earth vibe all about the dancing and romancing inna de dance.

The musical thread connecting both of these twelve-inch plates is Jah Bunny, and there is a good chance that Donney Thompson was actually just another clever alias for the producer himself. The label credits Must Dance Recording Studio as the tracking location. When you step back and look at the whole picture, a resident producer, a studio matching the label name, and in-house publishing through Main Line Music, it reveals a perfect example of a self-contained micro-operation. This independent, do-it-yourself mentality completely defined the landscape of the UK reggae underground during the early 1980s.