Lowell "Sly" Dunbar (drums) and Robbie Shakespeare (bass) had become the premier Jamaican rhythm team in the mid-Seventies, the two of them anchoring a series of hit-making studio bands and forming the creative lynchpin of innovative reggae sounds all the way up to the present day.
1982/1983 The mixes Larry's does for Island with Sly and Robbie and Gwen Guthrie are among the most exciting records of that era. The Padlock mini-LP which was released in 1983 on the Garage label includes 'Hopscotch', 'Seventh heaven', 'Getting hot', 'Peanut butter' and ends with the brilliant title track 'Padlock'. The sleeve of the German Island pressing was done by Tony Wright, who was also responsible for Lee Perry's 'Return Of Superape' album.
Chirs Blackwell: Compass Point, a Blackwell property in the Bahamas, was developed in 1977-78 with a state of the art studio facility and comfortable lodgings so that producers and artists could immerse themselves in music totally. "Nassau has no character," Blackwell explained at the time. "That's useful for a studio because you can make a record for anywhere your head imagines. If you're recording in London or Kingston, the environment is bound to influence you. Nassau's like a blank canvas...there's a high ratio of original records made there."