Desmond Riley - Skinheads A Message To You / If I Had Wings HSRSS-0034

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INTRODUCING

THE SUPER RARE BOSS REGGAE ANTHEM

 DESMOND RILEY

“SKINHEADS, A MESSAGE TO YOU”

+

“IF I HAD WINGS”

7" VINYL 45 RPM
RELEASE JULY 4, 2025. 

RELEASE INFORMATION: 

Format: black 7" vinyl - 45 RPM – Stereo

Label: Harlem Shuffle Records

Sleeve: Black paper cover with round cut-outs on both sides

Both tracks were produced by Dandy Livingstone (also known as Brother Dan) in 1969 on the Downtown Records (a trojan sublabel dedicated to Dandy‘s productions) on two separate  singles:

-       DT-414 – Desmond Riley "Skinheads A Message To You" with Music Doctors "Going Strong" on the B side.

 -       DT-436 – Desmond Riley "If I Had Wings" with the great Audrey "You'll Lose A Good Thing" on the A side.

NOTE: Audrey’s "You'll Lose A Good Thing" is featured on our companion single also to be released on June 21, 2025.

Both tracks are very rare and very much in demand with original pressings commanding high prices on the vinyl market…

ABOUT DESMOND RILEY:

Sadly, nothing much is known about Desmond Riley besides the fact he recorded about 6 tracks for Dandy Livingstone on Trojan's Downtown label in 1969. He also recorded a single under the name Dessie & John for Downtown in the same year and another under the name Little Des on J-Dan released in 1970.  And that is all… Nothing before, nothing after.  Nevertheless,  Riley’s 1969 records were great Boss tracks aimed firmly at the Skinheads crowd in the United Kingdom. All of them very good, rare and highly collectable, some of them became Skinhead anthems such as our present single “Skinheads, A Message To You”, along with the great “Tear them” featured on our Hot Sauce 5 l.p., and “Boss Sound” under the name Dessie & John …

ABOUT DANDY LIVINGSTONE:

Robert Livingstone Thompson is a prolific Jamaican reggae singer, musician, writer and producer who had a profound influence on the British Reggae scene and its related artists in the 60s and mid 70s.

Most famously known as Dandy, Livingston had many other aliases such as Sugar, Boy Friday, Brother Dan, Down To Earth, Mr Most, Prince of Darkness, Robert Livingstone Thompson and in groups, Brother Dan All Stars, Music Doctors, Sugar 'N' Dandy and more.

Livingstone who was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1943 moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. He started recording for the London-based Carnival Records where he impersonated a Jamaican vocal duo by double-tracking his own voice, under the name Sugar & Dandy!

Dandy then signed with Giant in 1967 and released his debut album entitled "Rocksteady with Dandy" in 1968. Giant was a sublabel of the British record company “R&B Discs” owned by husband and wife Rita and Benny Isens, and was mostly dedicated to Dandy’s recordings and productions.

The same year he formed the duo Dandy & Audrey with Audrey Hall. Speaking of Audrey, the companion release of our present “Skinheads A Message To You” features two other rare Dandy productions, the fabulous “You'll Loose A Good Thing” and the very popular “Love Me Tonight”  by Audrey!

In 1968, Livingstone signed to Trojan Records, with whom he released his second successful album “Dandy Returns” and got his own Trojan sublabels, the highly collectable  Down Town Records and later the J Dan sublabel.

Dandy was extremely talented and prolific. He released 9 albums under his own name between 1967 and 1973 and countless singles including the monster hits "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", "Rudy A Message To You" and “Red, Red Wine” with Tony Tribe  just to name a few…

He returned to Jamaica at the beginning of the 1970s and has been living there ever since…

A SIDE: 

Title: Skinheads A Message To You

Artist: Desmond Riley
Genre: Skinhead Reggae
Produced by: Dandy Livingstone

"Skinheads A Message To You" is a quintessential example of the skinhead reggae subgenre that emerged in the UK during the late 1960s. The track features a driving rhythm, with piano bursts and facetious vocals delivering a pressing message: “Wear your boots but dont kick nobody, please be good and dont hurt nobody”. Fab! 

Its raw energy and authentic sound have made it a staple in Skinhead Reggae compilations and a top Boss Reggae anthem. The single is now super rare, highly collectible and very much in demand with original pressings commanding high prices on the vinyl market…

B SIDE: 

Title: If I had Wings
Artist: Desmond Riley
Genre: Rocksteady/Early Reggae
Produced by: Dandy Livingstone

"If I Had Wings" was initially released as the B side of Audrey "You'll Lose A Good Thing" and rightly so as it shares the exact same music albeit with very different lyrics. Riley’s comical lyrics being loosely taken from the traditional gospel "If I Had Wings Like A Dove".

“Wings” is a fun and energetic tune that blends the rhythm of Rocksteady with the emerging rhythms of early Reggae. Riley's tongue-in-cheek vocals are set against a backdrop of guitar riffs, heavy bass and steady drum patterns with horns and flute bursts. A fantastic B side for “Skinheads A Message To You” and quite rare too…