Maybe it was the kudos which come from being namechecked in a Clash song ("Clash City Rockers", as if you didn't know), but between 1977 and 1982, there was little escaping Prince Far I.

Michael James Williams was heading for his mid 30s and had already racked up a string of Jamaican hits with producers Bunny Lee ("The Great Booga Wooga") and Sir Coxsone Dodd ("Natty Farmyard"), when he first hit the international airwaves. But this former bouncer at Coxsone's studio on Brentford Road, Kingston (a profession from which he still bore the sears) originally recorded under the name King Cry Cry. Not untill Enos McLeod suggested he become Prince Far I, and the legendary Joe Gibbs began converting his vision into rhythm, did he finally establish himself as the voice of righteous apocalypse.

"Under Heavy Manners", recorded with Gibbs in 1977, was the Prince's breakthrough. Taking its title from an enormous hit single, itself documenting the Jamaican government's recent, ruthless, crackdown on violent crime, the album was a Rastafari manifesto, paving the path for the final fall of Babylon. Alongside Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" album, released the previous year, no more powerfully portentous recordings escaped Jamaica during that crucial era.

It was indeed a time when most Jamaicans believed the world was about to end - 1977, of course, was the year when the two sevensh clashed - and Prince Far I, with his somber sermons and doomladen delivery, was perfectly placed to document armageddon. If man was going to make it through the ensuing firestorm, he was going to need a lot more than a happy beat and a bagful of ganja - that was the knowledge which was instinctively inherent within the Prince's unique vocal style; that was the theme of his music.

He didn't sing, he didn't talk, and he positively refused to be called a toaster. Prince Far I was a chanter, the first and the best in reggae history, and behind him his backing band, the Roots Radics, thundered some of the roughest, most claustrophobic rhythms imaginable - the only kind of accompaniment the Prince's lyrics could possibly have required.

Like an electric hellfire baptist preacher, Prince Far I saw the studio as a pulpit, from where he would explode with righteous rage and warning. And though some Jamaican listeners wre put off by his proselytizing, it was an explosion which found fertile ground in Britain. That country itself was undergoing the purging spiritual renaissance of punk, and in its parallel partnership with reggae, Prince Far I's rebel music shook the established order of things to their core.

His version of the country and western standard "Deck Of Cards" was an especial hit on the London club scene - originally recorded by American Wink Martindale in the 1950s, the song had been reactivated just a couple of years before, for a major hit single. Prince Far I's reappropriation of such a cloyingly familiar song, translating homily to horror show, might have been a shrewd commercial move, but it was also a searing blow against the establishment's musical empire.

And he didn't stop there, "Under Heavy Manners" was followed by two albums which, even today, are regarded amongst the very cornerstones upon which modern reggae was erected, the self-produced "Black Man Time" and "Livity", and three more which saw Prince Far I literally rewriting the laws of dub and thythm, a trio of "Cry Tuff Dub Encounters".

Titled for the record label Prince Far I established from the proceeds of his hits, Cry Tuff was devoted to artists who shared his own love of Jah - Errol Holt, Carol Kalaphat, Bobby Melody and more. They, however, were primarily singers; the Cry Tuff Dub Encounters were statements of intent, heavy, metallic, skull crushing essays in bass, booming and echo, with just enough shattered shards of melody trailing through the wreckage to remind the listener that it used to be a song.

When English producer Adrian Sherwood first began formulating his On-U Sound dub deviation, Prince Far I was so close to his own vision that it was inevitable the two would link up. Sherwood's Hit Run label build its reputation around domestic releases for Cry Tuff 45s, while Prince Far I himself recorded several tracks with Sherwood and members of On-U superstars Creation Rebel and Dub Syndicate (His "Virgin" single was the first 10-inch release through Sherwood's newly formed On-U label).

The collaboration should have lasted forever. Instead it ended in 1983, when Prince Far I, having returned to Jamaica shortly before, was murdered during a burglary at his home. It was a tragedy whose ramifications are still felt in reggae today.

Prince Far I lives on record, of course, and on stage as well - in 1996, British electro reggae terrorists Dub Syndicate toured a live show constructed almost entirely from Prince Far I's vocal lines, around which they had constructed a whole new set of songs. It was a great idea, and a phenomenal show. And for anybody who caught Prince Far I during his late 1970s/early 1980s peak, it was also a devastating tribute.

By Dave Thompson

All tracks written by Michael Williams and published by New Town Sound Ltd. • Except Track 1 written by Joe Gibbs and published by Rocktone Music (ASCAP) and Track 7 written by (Williams/Tyler) • Published by New Town Sound Ltd. • Track 1 is taken from the 7" single of the same name, 1977 • Produced by Joe Gibbs • Recorded and mixed by Errol Thompson, at Joe Gibbs Studio • Musicians: The Professionals • Tracks 2-6 are taken from the album "Free From Sin", 1979 • Produced by Prince Far I • Engineered by Sylvan Morris and Errol Brown, at Harry J. Studios and Treasure Isle Studios • Musicians: The Roots Radics • Tracks 7-10 are taken from the album "Jamaican Heroes", 1980 • Produced by Prince Far I • Engineered by Crucial Bunny at Channel One Studio • Mixed by Dave Hunt and Prince Far I • Musicians: The Roots Radics, Sly & Robbie The Flying Lizards • Tracks 11-13 are taken from the album "Voice Of Thunder", 1981 • Produced by Prince Far I • Engineered by Barnabas and Maxie at Channel One Studios • Musicians: The Arabs • Tracks 14-15 are taken from the album "Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter IV", 1981 • Produced by Prince Far I • Engineered by Barnabas and Maxie at Channel One Studios • Musicians: The Arabs • Tracks 16-18 are taken from the album "Musical History", 1983 • Produced by Prince Far I • "They say Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica, but I discovered music".