John Masouri – författare

Pressure Drop chronicles reggae's most tumultuous and influential decade. Beginning in 1970 and unfolding both in Britain and Jamaica, reggae flourished against a backdrop of political upheaval, gang warfare, Black Nationalism, racial and class discrimination and grinding poverty.The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory. Including an extensive analysis of the decade's major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Sly & Robbie, Dennis Bovell, Don Letts and members of the Specials, as well as first-hand anecdotes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

This full-blooded story of The Wailers puts the life, music and death of the legendary Bob Marley into a razor-sharp new perspective.The Wailers played with Marley on all of the hit singles and albums that made him a legend, yet their story since his death is a little-known saga of betrayal, greed and murder that is told here in its entirety for the first time.Written in collaboration with Aston ''Family Man'' Barrett and other surviving band members, the book explores Marley''s colourful journey from downtown Kingston onto the world stage. It covers the assassination attempt on Marley''s life, his exile in London, the kidnapping and decapitation of the Barretts'' father, and the death by gunfire of both Peter Tosh and drummer Carlton Barrett.Bitter acrimony followed Marley''s own death from cancer as the iconic singer''s legacy was parlayed into a multi-million dollar industry.

'A masterwork' - Roger SteffensPeter Tosh: the rude boy, the radical,the Rasta. A founding member of The Wailers and a compelling recording artistin his own right, Tosh was much more than Bob Marley's bandmate. Anuncompromising firebrand, he was Jamaica's most controversial star.In this, the very first and definitivebiography of Tosh, esteemed reggae journalist John Masouri explores one ofreggae's most extraordinary stories. This story ended in violence in 1987, whenTosh was brutally murdered. In the aftermath, rumours swirled about hisinvolvement in Kingston's criminal underworld.Steppin' Razor draws on hundreds ofinterviews with those who knew Peter Tosh best, including Bunny Wailer andother close associates. Tracing Tosh's recording career from The Wailers tointernational acclaim, Masouri details his encounters with Eric Clapton and JoeCocker and his volatile relationships with Bob Marley and Lee 'Scratch' Perry.Tosh's darker side is also revealed - from his fascination with the occult to,in unprecedented detail, the events surrounding his tragic, untimely andmysterious death.