The Sensations
Band. Rocksteady, reggae
- Active
- 1960s-1970s
- Also known as
- Sensations
The Sensations were a rocksteady harmony group, one of the top-drawer vocal groups that recorded for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle, and a training ground for several singers who went on to solo careers.
Jimmy Riley formed the group in the mid-1960s with Cornell Campbell, Aaron "Bobby" Davis and Buster Riley, brother of the Techniques' Winston Riley. For Reid they had hits with "Everyday Is Just a Holiday" and "Those Guys," and their "Baby Love" became a dancehall favorite; their "A Thing Called Soul" was one of many Jamaican tributes to American soul. For Bunny Lee they made "Long Time Me No See You Girl" and a version of the Impressions' "Right On Time."
Jimmy Riley left in 1967, and the group carried on with changing lineups. When Winston Riley started producing in 1968, the Sensations, then featuring Johnny Osbourne, recorded "Warrior" for him, a riddim Bunny Wailer and Marcia Griffiths versioned more than twenty years later. Bobby Davis sang harmonies with Dave and Ansel Collins on their British tour after "Double Barrel," and Jackie Parris, also of the Sensations, joined them as drummer. Davis stayed in Britain, and departed at his home in London on April 21, 2024, at seventy-seven.
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Johnny Osbourne (member)
- Jimmy Riley (member)
- Cornell Campbell (member)
- Bunny "Striker" Lee (producer)
- Duke Reid (producer)
- Winston Riley (producer)
- Dave & Ansel Collins (collaborator)
- Treasure Isle (studio)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 64, 65.
- Patricia Meschino, "Legendary Jamaican Singer Jimmy Riley, 68, Dies in New York," Billboard, March 28, 2016, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7311601/legendary-jamaican-singer-jimmy-riley-68-dies-new-york. Wikipedia, citing David Katz's Solid Foundation, names the founding members. "Jimmy Riley," Wikipedia, accessed October 6, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Riley.
- Meschino, "Jimmy Riley, 68, Dies." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 62, 68 ("beautiful dancehall favourite"). The Treasure Isle single of "Everyday Is Just a Holiday" is dated 1969 on Discogs. "Sensations / Winston Wright: Everyday Is Just a Holiday / Moonlight Groover," Discogs, accessed October 6, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3644522-Sensations-Winston-Wright-Everyday-Is-Just-A-Holiday-Moonlight-Groover.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 80; Meschino, "Jimmy Riley, 68, Dies." Bradley lists the Sensations among Bunny Lee's rocksteady acts. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 171, 226.
- Meschino, "Jimmy Riley, 68, Dies."
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 116.
- Dave Barker's account in Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 250.
- "The Sensations Singer Bobby Davis Dies at 77," Jamaica Observer, April 24, 2024, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2024/04/24/sensations-singer-bobby-davis-dies-77, which calls him Harold "Bobby" Davis and adds that he organized auditions at Treasure Isle.
