Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace

b. 1950, Rose Town, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Drummer Wallace began his career in 1964 and played with a variety of session groups including the Soul Vendors, the Sound Dimension and the Soul Brothers. These bands were frequently hired by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and Wallace worked with luminaries such as Lee Perry and Jackie Mittoo. As Mad Roy he was one of Jamaica’s early exponents of the new DJ style alongside Dennis Alcapone, U-Roy and King Stitt. In 1975 Wallace recorded, using the name Horsemouth, the track ‘Herb Vendor’, which was a hit for Larry Lawrence’s Ethnic Fight label. By 1976 Wallace played on sessions including Inner Circle’s Reggae Thing and demonstrated his writing ability when he penned the closing track, ‘This World’. He was also employed to play on sessions for Augustus Pablo, notably on his production of the late Hugh Mundell classic, Africa Must Be Free By 1983. The success of Jimmy Cliff in The Harder They Come inspired the filming of Theodoros Bafaloukas’ Rockers. Wallace accepted the lead role and starred alongside Richard ‘Dirty Harry’ Hall. The film was a who’s who of Jamaican reggae, featuring cameo appearances from many of the island’s top performers. In spite of the rave reviews, the film lacked the support it deserved and was not widely distributed. The legendary Jamaican One Love Peace Concert featured a personal appearance from Wallace as Jamaica’s newest film star. His celebrity status resulted in the studio bosses employing other drummers, but his fee enabled him to concentrate on his own projects. By the early 80s he had set up his own Horsemouth label and released ‘Reggae Music’ which established his resurgence as a vocalist. To promote the recording and secure a contract for his other sessions, he arrived in the UK in the autumn of 1981 and worked with Tapper Zukie, Errol Dunkley, Prince Far I and Junior Delgado. In 1982, with DJ Ranking Dread, the release of ‘If Nanny Was Here’ proved a hit in the dancehall.