REGORY ISAACS VOLUME II – OCTOBER 25Th
Kingston, JA/New York, NY – October 18, 2011 – (RAINE PR): Tad’s Record is once again partnering with Reggae icon Gregory Isaacs’ African Museum label for Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. II , which will be released on October 25th, marking the one year anniversary of Isaacs’ passing. Part proceeds from the album sales will be donated to the Gregory Isaacs Foundation, which was established by his widow June Isaacs earlier this year. Ms. Isaacs will also utilize the tribute album to launch a drug awareness campaign in memory of her husband, who battled drug addiction throughout his 42-year career.
Described by the New York Times as “the most exquisite vocalist in Reggae,” his smoothly haunting vocals and stirring lyrics about love, heart ache, and ghetto life garnered Isaacs – nicknamed the ‘Cool Ruler’ – international fame. Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. II is a two-disc collector’s item featuring over 40 singles from Isaacs’ illustrious catalogue including “My Number One,” “Front Door,” “Tune In,” and “Slavemaster” from the 1978 Jamaican cult classic film Rockers. Vol. II also includes an extended version of his 1982 international hit “Night Nurse.”
In 1973, Isaacs, along with Reggae singer Errol Dunkley, founded the African Museum Record label which produced his single “My Only Lover,” credited as being the first ‘lover’s rock’ styled Reggae single. “My Only Lover” is also included on Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. II.
“Gregory Isaacs is one of Reggae’s greatest artists. In 2008, Tad’s partnered with African Museum for ‘Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. I.’ Now that Gregory has joined the ancestors, we will see to it that his music lives on with Vol. II,” says Tad Dawkins, CEO and owner of Tad’s Record. “Gregory and I have a long musical history together, and I’m glad to honor him and celebrate his legacy.”
In memory of Isaacs, who died of lung cancer on October 25th, 2010, Tad’s and African Museum will donate a portion of the album’s sales to the Gregory Isaacs Foundation, founded on July 15, 2011, which would have been Isaacs’ 60th birthday. The foundation will support basic education and children’s charities in Jamaica.
“The foundation will be offering assistance to the St. Barnabas Basic School in Fletcher’s Land, the first school Gregory attended. We will be donating 2 toilets and a wash basin,” says June Isaacs, adding that the foundation will also be “donating school supplies and maybe a computer to Black Harmony Basic School in St. Catherine, and clothes and groceries to the Walkers Place of Safety in Kingston, which were institutions that Gregory assisted in his lifetime.”
In addition to foundation, Ms. Isaacs will utilize Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. II to launch an anti-drug campaign in the coming weeks, which will warn children of the dangers of illegal drugs. Gregory Isaacs’ career was shrouded by a crippling addiction to cocaine, which caused irreparable damage to his voice and led to over 20 arrests for drugs and drug-related crimes.
“Drugs are a debasing weapon,” Isaacs told The Telegraph in 2007. “It was the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid – the Cocaine High School.”
“November is Drug Awareness Month in Jamaica, I am working on editing some audio and video statements from Gregory about his own drug abuse to use as a message to kids to stay off drugs,” Ms. Isaacs says.
Gregory Isaacs -The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol. II will be available in stores and on all digital outlets on Tuesday, October 25th. Part proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the Gregory Isaacs Foundation. For more information, contact Tad’s Record (Miami) at 305-654-6130 or or Tad’s Record (Kingston) at 876-929-2563 or visit www.tadsrecord.com.
