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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The Uniques

Band. Rocksteady

Active
1966-1973

The Uniques existed in two forms, and both were built around Slim Smith.

The first was formed in 1966 when Smith and Franklyn White left the Techniques and joined Roy Shirley, cutting a handful of singles, among them "Do Me Good," for Ken Lack's Caltone label before breaking up almost immediately.

The second, from late 1967, is the group that matters: Smith with Jimmy Riley, out of the Sensations, and Lloyd Charmers, with Cornell Campbell appearing on some sides. They worked mainly for Bunny Lee, and their records came out in Britain on Island. "People Rock Steady" was the debut, and "Watch This Sound," a version of Stephen Stills's "For What It's Worth," "Let Me Go Girl," "Gypsy Woman," "The Beatitude" and above all "My Conversation" followed. Smith's "emotion-racked high tenor" is what the group is remembered for, and the Rough Guide calls it a "supremely talented trio"; Songlines credits him with "Motown-worthy slickness and raw emotional passion."

"My Conversation" had a second life that mattered as much as its first: Jimmy Riley sold the riddim to Rupie Edwards, who cut a whole album of versions of it, Yamaha Skank, the first record built on a single riddim and the ancestor of a practice the entire industry later adopted.

The group folded in 1969 and its members went their own ways. Charmers recorded with the Hippy Boys and produced; Riley recorded for Bunny Lee and later produced Smith and Delroy Wilson, and is the father of Tarrus Riley. Smith, whose mental health had been deteriorating, departed in 1973. Jimmy Riley and Cornell Campbell revived the name in 1977 for the album Give Thanks, and again in 1997 with Al Campbell.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Katz names Shirley, Smith and Franklyn White as the first Uniques, recording for Sir JJ and Caltone. David Katz, "Roy Shirley," Guardian, August 28, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/28/worldmusic. The Rough Guide notes two early Uniques sides, "Evil Love" and "Facts Of Life," on which "Roy shares the vocal with Keith 'Slim' Smith." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 77. Wikipedia says the group disbanded after a few singles in 1966. "The Uniques (Jamaican group)," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uniques_(Jamaican_group). "Do Me Good" appeared on the Jontom label in 1965 and in Britain on Rio in 1966. "Tommy McCook & the Supersonics / The Uniques - Out of Space / Do Me Good," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/1662205.
  2. The Rough Guide says the sides with Smith on lead and "the harmonies of Jimmy Riley and Lloyd Charmers" were made "between 1967 and 1968 for Bunny Lee and his friend Winston Lowe," and names Campbell as a member of the Uniques in the rocksteady era. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 76-77, 153. Wikipedia, citing Larkin, dates the new lineup to late 1967. "The Uniques (Jamaican group)."
  3. The Rough Guide says Lowe's Tramp label "produced several hits by the Uniques." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 76. The British single of "People Rock Steady" was on Island, with Bunny Lee as producer. "The Uniques - People Rock Steady / Trying To Find A Home," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/5983064.
  4. The Rough Guide says the first of the group's records for Lee "was the timely 'People Rock Steady'; more hits followed, the most devastating in its impact being the massive 'My Conversation'/'The Beatitude'," and lists "Gypsy Woman," the Stills cover, "Let Me Go Girl" and "Watch This Sound." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 76-77. Wikipedia, citing Larkin, says the lineup debuted with "Watch This Sound." "The Uniques (Jamaican group)."
  5. The Rough Guide praises Smith's "emotion-racked high tenor" and calls the group's collected sides "definitive vocal group rocksteady" by a "supremely talented trio." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 77. "Absolutely the Uniques," review, Songlines, accessed November 5, 2026, https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/absolutely-the-uniques.
  6. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 331-32, dates the album to 1974 and describes it as "fourteen or so cuts" of "My Conversation." Edwards told Bradley that he bought the rhythm from "Martin Riley of the Uniques" (Jimmy Riley's given name) and that "although it's always said that Bunny Lee gave me that rhythm, he didn't," and that a one-rhythm album "had never been done before." Wikipedia, citing Larkin, says Lee sold it. "The Uniques (Jamaican group)." "Rupie Edwards - Yamaha Skank," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3886042.
  7. The Rough Guide quotes Max Romeo: "So I formed a band called the Hippy Boys." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 105. Charmers made the 1969 album House in Session with them. "Lloyd Charmers & The Hippy Boys - House In Session," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6876015. He launched his Splash label in the early 1970s. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 114-15. Trojan's compilation of the second lineup covers 1967-1969. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 78.
  8. Wikipedia says Riley recorded solo for Bunny Lee and then produced his own records and others by Slim Smith and Delroy Wilson. "Jimmy Riley," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Riley.
  9. The Rough Guide says the "mentally unstable singer" entered the Bellevue hospital in 1972 and died the following year. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 76, 103. Wikipedia gives October 9, 1972. "The Uniques (Jamaican group)."
  10. Wikipedia says Give Thanks was recorded in 1977 but not issued until 1979, and that Al Campbell joined Cornell Campbell and Riley in 1997. "The Uniques (Jamaican group)." Give Thanks, produced by Ossie Hibbert, appeared in 1979, and The Uniques on Charm in 1999. "The Uniques - Give Thanks," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4511143; "The Uniques - The Uniques," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/5349398.

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map