The “Victory” CD – VICTORY OVER VIOLENCE
Violent behaviour has been visible since the beginning of time affecting every creature from the tiniest ant to the roaring lion, oh and of course, the supposedly intelligent human being. Violent behaviour transcends race, colour, sex and creed and more often then not ends in great harm or even death. The focus of “Victory” is violence as it affects the black community and the dire need to put an end to the senseless gun violence that has plagued the community and is typically depicted as a result of black on black aggression.
Backstage Productions International is a Toronto based multimedia company that has picked up on the issue of black on black violence in hopes of eradicating the immoral acts of murder and homicide. The vessel that Backstage Productions is utilizing to transport this message is Reggae music in the form of a compilation album entitled “Victory”. This star-studded CD features some of the greatest Reggae performers of all time. Leroy Brown sings two roots Reggae songs on this CD that embody the message of Victory over violence - “What A Fire” and “Prayer Of Peace” - timeless classics and some of Leroy’s greatest works to date. Reggae poet Winston McAnuff reinforces the message of the compilation with his powerful contribution “Peace”. Glen Washington sings, “The Way You Hold Me”, and is in superb form on this compilation. Glen performs three songs in total with my personal favourite being, “That Smile”, for it appeals to the positive side of humanity - providing a sign of hope for all. Leroy Gibbon, “Mr. Blue Ribbon”, gives you two solid songs that showcase his great versatility. Stranjah Cole proves once again that vintage roots will never die - no matter what the wicked try. Leroy Junior adds a beautiful love song to this album giving it a perfect balance. Nana Maclean performs, “Got To Move On”, to ensure that people keep the faith. The band Chalawa delivers two deadly Reggae Instrumentals, “Fire Dub” and “Exodus Dub”, that will keep you rockin’, moving and grooving, because the rhythm is so soothing. Kenny B sings, “God Bless The Children”, originally recorded by the prince of reggae, Dennis Brown. This album is a must have! So remember, “If you love violence, you will go down in silence” - practice Victory Over Violence - One Love.
Johnny Slackings (notes from the CD jacket)
Backstage Productions International is very pleased to be presenting this fabulous collection of Reggae titles for such a worthy campaign - the support of Victory over Violence. The Victory CD features some of Reggae Music’s top artists including Sly & Robbie, Leroy Brown, Glen Washington, Stranjah Cole, Winston McAnuff and upstart Kenny “B” Blake. In assembling the CD we chose titles that we felt provide a message of hope, love, peace and compassion, while maintaining that up-beat groove that is synonymous with Reggae Music. It was a real challenge to compile only 15 tracks from our extensive Reggae catalogue and we apologize for passing over so many of the other great recordings that are in our catalogue.
Getting down to business, Trilogy Records will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every CD to a scholarship fund set up for today’s inner city youth, as a gesture of our support against the ever increasing violence we see in our cities, particularly gun violence. The scholarship fund will serve as a memorial in the names of those youth that have been killed as a result of gun violence. We are particularly proud to be working with Tropicana Community Services, a nonprofit social service agency in Toronto, which was incorporated on March 26, 1980. Tropicana has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to youth since its incorporation and we are pleased to be associated with such an outstanding community organization and are confident that the spirit and message connected with the Victory CD will be heard and will surely have an impact. We are particularly grateful to our musical friends featured on the CD and to all those who have supported the campaign, particularly Selwyn Harris, Edward George, Fred Lamberti and WORLDFEST Toronto. Perhaps Canadian Reggae and Juno Award winner Leroy Brown captures the spirit of the Victory CD and sums it up best, “It saddens me, especially being a father, to see so much violence within our youth. We must use every means possible to correct this grave problem. It is time for all communities to band together and lead through example, and at all cost, find the root of this problem and make our cities safer places to live.”
Thank you for listening and supporting this initiative.
Sincerely,
TRILOGY RECORDS INTERNATIONAL
Steve Thomson, President
