JUNIOR BYRON Vinyl & CDs

Review: Most are familiar with Junior Byron's brilliant 1983 single "Dance to the Music", but few are well acquainted with the boogie/reggae fusionist's '85 jam "Trying to Hold On". Helpfully, Cultures of Soul has decided to reissue it for the first time, accompanying the original vocal version - a super-sweet, spaced-out synth-boogie workout complete with a thrillingly soulful and sun-kissed reggae vocal from the effervescent Byron - and stripped back "Version" (intergalactic boogie-dub of the highest order) with a fresh rework from Gerd Janson. The Running Back chief does a brilliant job in combining elements of both versions, adding more dub effects and emphasizing Byron's brilliant vocal in all the right places. It's a stunning rework of a little-known classic.