Cocoa Tea is sat on a small wicker chair in Bobby Digital's front garden. It's mid-afternoon and the studio hasn't come to life yet. Just one or two cars are parked outside and the street's quiet, much to the cameraman's relief. VP Records are filming a documentary about Bobby Digital and Cocoa Tea has travelled the thirty miles from Clarendon to be here, back at the place where so many of their hit singles and albums were made.
This album is his third for Bobby's Digital B label and it rounds up tracks that either hadn't been compiled or even released before, plus others that deserve another hearing. Lonesome Side and Waiting In Vain - a candidate for best-ever Bob Marley cover - head the hits list and it's hard to believe they were recorded eight years apart. The best music has a timeless quality and it was the search for this that brought artist and producer together in the studio, except they were intent on doing it with dancehall. Both had early involvement with sound-systems. Bobby owned one called Heatwave, whilst Cocoa learnt to sing with a mic in his hand, entertaining local dancehall crowds. When their turn came around they set out to make music of the people and for the people - music that would ease the pressure of everyday life and play in reggae dancehalls forever. They succeeded too, which is why there are reggae sound-systems, radio DJs and fans from around the world still playing Cocoa Tea's hits for Bobby Digital...
