Description
For many Jamaican music fans, the name Delroy Melody is unknown, however for connoisseurs and lovers of roots reggae from the 1970's and 1980’s his music includes gems like his album “Dread Must Be Fed” and rare single like “Ease Up The Pressure”.
Delroy Melody (born Lassive Jones on may, 12th of 1954) started his musical education while attending Melrose Primary School and singing on the School Choir with fellow classmates Jacob Miller & Lawrence Weir. One day, Norris Weir (Lawrence Weir’s brother and member of The Jamaicans) suggested that they could put a group together because they sounded good on the choir and Lawrence could play the guitar very well. The group was named The Young Lads.
Early 1980, Delroy Melody met Ruddy Williams, owner of Black Beauty & Rudwill label. Ruddy have a tape with several heavyweight riddim played by The Studio One Band: Steelie (keyboard), Clevie (guitar), Pablove Black (organ & backing vocals with Delroy Melody), Brownie Brothers (drum), Sly Juice (percussion). The first riddim Delroy Melody heard was Ease Up The Pressure riddim, an adaptation of « Dennis Brown - Easy Take It Easy ». Delroy Melody loved the riddim so he started to write the Ease Up The Pressure lyrics. He was thinking about the bloody political election that happen at the same time in the country. Blood started to flow swifter than the river Nile, as tension rise between JLP and PNP factions. The 1980 general election was marked by over 800 murders. The song was recorded at Harry J studio with Sylvan Morris as engineer. Ease Up The Pressure was played by the PNP cars that travel the whole country to spread their political ideology. On october, 30 of 1980, the JLP won the general election. Ease Up The Pressure was banned from radio station because the song was associated to PNP party.
