World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Israel Vibration

Band. Reggae

Active
1976-present

Israel Vibration was the roots harmony trio of Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin (born 1955), Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig (1955–2020), and Cecil "Skelly" Spence (1952–2022). All three contracted polio as children during the epidemic that spread through Jamaica in the 1950s, and all three met as patients at the Mona Rehabilitation Centre in Saint Andrew.

They did not form a group there. Craig attended Alpha Boys School and ran away at fourteen. Spence played with the band Hot Lickers and appeared on Jamaican television at twelve, and was dropped from the national wheelchair basketball team in 1969 after converting to Rastafari. Spence and Craig met again in Kingston in the early 1970s and sought out Bulgin, then working as a tailor. They sang in the streets for several years, rehearsing without instruments: "We would just sing and work amongst ourselves," Bulgin recalled, with him and Craig handling most of the harmony parts. A first recording, "Bad Intention," produced by Ernest Hoo Kim, was never released.

Hugh Booth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel heard them singing in wooded ground outside Kingston where Craig and Bulgin had made a home, and the organization financed a session at Treasure Isle. The result, "Why Worry," appeared on the Twelve Tribes' Orthodox label late in 1976 and brought support slots with Dennis Brown, Inner Circle, and Bob Marley. Tommy Cowan then took them on, releasing "The Same Song" as a single on his Top Ranking label in 1977, with Roger and Ian Lewis of Inner Circle among the musicians, and the album of the same name in 1978. A dub counterpart, Israel Tafari, followed. EMI's Harvest reissued the album in Britain and put out Unconquered People in 1979. For Why You So Craven, whose title track was aimed at Cowan, they worked with Henry "Junjo" Lawes.

The group moved to New York in 1982 and broke up, each member attempting a solo career. They reformed in 1987 and approached Gary "Doctor Dread" Himelfarb of RAS Records, who had turned them down individually but signed the trio. Strength of My Life was recorded outside Washington in 1988 with the Roots Radics, who backed the group from then on, and more than a dozen RAS albums followed.

Craig left in 1997 for a solo career and released Another Moses in 1999; Bulgin and Spence carried on as a duo. Craig departed on March 23, 2020. Spence departed in New York on August 26, 2022, at sixty-nine; the cause was lung cancer. Bulgin is the surviving member.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Jamaica Observer says they "met as polio patients at the Mona Rehabilitation Centre in St Andrew during the late 1950s." "Israel Vibration's 'Skelly' Spence Dies at 69 Years Old," Jamaica Observer, August 27, 2022, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/israel-vibrations-skelly-spence-dies-at-69-years-old/. The Rough Guide, which names them Cecil "Skeleton" Spence, Albert "Apple" Craig, and Lascelles "Wiss" Bulgrin, says they "originally met when housed in a home for polio sufferers." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 204.
  2. Wikipedia, citing Dave Thompson's Reggae & Caribbean Music (2002). "Israel Vibration," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Vibration.
  3. Wikipedia, citing Thompson. "Israel Vibration."
  4. Angus Taylor, "Israel Vibration: Interview with Lascelle 'Wiss' Bulgin, Part I: The History," Reggaeville, February 28, 2025, https://reggaeville.com/artist-details/israel-vibration/news/view/israel-vibration-interview-with-lascelle-wiss-bulgin-part-i-the-history.
  5. Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says "Bad Intention" was recorded at Channel One in 1975; it does not name Ernest Hoo Kim. "Israel Vibration."
  6. Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says Hugh Booth overheard them in a wooded area where Apple and Wiss lived and that the Twelve Tribes funded the recording. "Israel Vibration."
  7. The Rough Guide dates "Why Worry" (Orthodox) to "the tail end of 1976." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 204. The support slots are from Wikipedia, citing Thompson. "Israel Vibration."
  8. The Rough Guide dates the single "The Same Song" (Top Ranking) to 1977 and calls the album their "stunning debut." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 204, 206. It lists Top Ranking among Tommy Cowan's labels. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 65. The Observer calls "The Same Song" a 1978 single produced by Cowan. "Skelly Spence Dies at 69." Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says members of Inner Circle backed them on it. "Israel Vibration." Bradley also names Israel Vibration among the acts Jack Ruby worked with. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 366.
  9. The Rough Guide describes Israel Tafari (Top Ranking) as "weighty versions to eight of the ten vocals" from what it calls their Why Worry album, with rhythms by the Fatman Riddim Section. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 241. Discogs credits the 1978 LP to the Fatman Ridim Section. "Fatman Ridim Section: Israel Tafari," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/580217.
  10. Discogs lists the Harvest edition of The Same Song in Britain in 1979 (SHSP 4099), but dates Unconquered People to 1980 on the group's own Israel Vibes label, with no Harvest issue. "Israel Vibration: The Same Song," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/139877; "Israel Vibration: Unconquered People," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/139880. The Rough Guide lists it on Israel Vibes in Jamaica and Greensleeves in Britain. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 206. Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says Harvest released it in 1980. "Israel Vibration."
  11. The Rough Guide calls it "the meeting of the most cultural of groups and the producer usually associated with hardcore dancehall" and lists it on Lawes's Volcano label. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 206. Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says the group left the album unfinished and Lawes had the Tamlins complete it. "Israel Vibration."
  12. Wikipedia, citing Thompson and the Washington Post, says they moved to seek medical care and that Bulgin released Mr Sunshine in 1985. "Israel Vibration."
  13. Wikipedia, citing Thompson. "Israel Vibration."
  14. Wikipedia, citing Thompson, says they were flown to Washington to record at the Lion and Fox studios in College Park, Maryland. "Israel Vibration." The Observer says their fortunes changed once they began working with the Roots Radics. "Skelly Spence Dies at 69."
  15. Reggaeville dates his departure to 1997 and Another Moses to 1999. Gardy Stein, "RIP Apple Gabriel: Founding Member of Israel Vibration," Reggaeville, March 26, 2020, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/apple-gabriel/news/view/rip-apple-gabriel-founding-member-of-israel-vibration/.
  16. Reggaeville gives Craig's dates as April 24, 1955, to March 23, 2020. Stein, "RIP Apple Gabriel." The Observer says Spence died at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn of lung cancer at sixty-nine. "Skelly Spence Dies at 69."

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