Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

A song has to be really horrible and the production very poor for it not to sound at least passable when sung by Calvin 'Cocoa Tea' Scott. He is to a song what Dancehall Queen Carlene is to a low cut blouse; even if the material is not the greatest the presenter makes you look past the defects.

On Tune In, a reissue from Greensleeves as part of its 30-year anniversary retrospective, the material is as familiar as a warm cup of the favourite brew. There is the title track, two cuts on the immortal 'Real Rock' rhythm, Good Life and the 12-inch mix of Too Young with Buju Banton. Then there are three combinations with Charlie Chaplin, Sinner Burning, the dancehall cause Don't Turn It Off and social critique Heads of Government, among the remainder of the 14 tracks.

Still, there is a little sweetness missing from this Xterminator Records production. And it is in the familiar songs, as often the version on the CD does not sound as sweet as the one I am familiar with from dancehall and radio. It is not a matter of volume, either, it is just that some tweaking was done to songs like Tune In and Too Young in the versions that I am more familiar with. And just as a tea lover can tell when their brew is just off, as someone who was spellbound by his version of Ray Charles' Crying Time as a teenager, I can tell when I am not listening to the accustomed version of a Cocoa Tea song.

Not bad album

This lack of a defining sweetness does not, of course, make Tune In a bad album. On She Loves Me Now he finds several different ways to sing the chorus, exulting in the love of Malvina (come on Cocoa Tea. Malvina? Malvina? That's almost as unsexy as Agnes and Beatrice) repeatedly with very short verses in between, chortling 'woah!' every now and then.

Tune In, the album, is a mix of lovers' rock and incisive comment, Cocoa Tea's standard ad-libbing on stage is committed to wax on Criminality, a take-off of Black Uhuru's Solidarity. And he slings a mug at the then burgeoning tide of foul-mouthed deejays on Mek Dem a Gwaan So, tracing the motives for their tracing and other regrettable microphone activities to a desire for car, house and land.

Hmm. You can lead them to the song, Cocoa, but you can't make them tune in.

Track listing

1. Tune In

2. Mek Dem a Gwaan So

3. Love Me Truly

4. Good Life

5. Don't You Burn

6. She Loves Me Now

7. Over The Years

8. Caan Touch Dis

9. Sinner Burning (with Charlie Chaplin)

10. Hot Sweet Cocoa Tea

11. Criminality

12. Eighteen and Over

13. Don't Turn It Off (with Charlie Chaplin)

14. Heads of Government (with Charlie Chaplin)

15. Too Young (12 inch mix, with Buju Banton)