'Here I Come' creeps to success

• Tad Dawkins remembers Dennis Brown

Here I Come was an underground hit for Dennis Brown's DEB label when it was first released in 1979. When producer Tad Dawkins heard it, he knew the song had the potential for bigger things.

"It was too slow an' it neva soun' right so wi speed it up. Then wi draw fi Sly (Dunbar) who play a wicked one-drop wid the synth drums," Dawkins told The Sunday Gleaner.

Dunbar's bass partner, Robbie Shakespeare, also played on the revamped Here I Come, which was released by Dawkins's Tad's Records in 1984.

It became the signature intro for Brown's live shows.

"I call it a sleeper 'cause it neva hit when wi release it, but him start use it in him shows an' it jus' tek off," he explained.

Dawkins said he first met Brown in the mid-1970s when he (Dawkins) was a student at Bronx Community College in New York City.

Brown, then a hot act, was in the Big Apple for a show at the Stardust Ballroom in The Bronx.

Lasting friendship

After leaving school, Dawkins worked at Brad's, a leading reggae distributor in New York. It was while there that he and Brown's paths crossed again, and they quickly struck up a friendship.

Here I Come was one of the earliest productions for the Kingston-born Dawkins, who had lived in the United States since 1972. He had produced an album by the Blues Busters, but it was with Brown that he got his first taste of acclaim.

In addition to Here I Come, he produced If This World Were Mine, You Are, and Easy, Take It Easy, which are found on Satisfaction Feeling, a recently released Tad's compilation featuring some of Brown's biggest hits from the 1980s.

The album also looks at Dennis Brown the producer. Oh Girl, Like It Like That, and Don't Want To Be A General, songs Brown produced while living in England, are included.

Dawkins also worked with two of Brown's close friends, Gregory Isaacs and George Nooks. He helped produce Nooks's 2005 album, George Nooks Sings Dennis Brown.

Now in his early 50s, Dawkins returned to Jamaica 10 years ago and operates Tad's Records in Kingston and Montego Bay. It has become a leading distributor, Vybz Kartel's Pon Di Gaza 2.0 one of the company's biggest recent releases.

For Dawkins, nothing compares

to working with Dennis Brown.

"He was an excellent singer, excellent songwriter ... . Humble!" he exclaimed.

"He was always willing to please."