Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith, 22 November 1947, St. D'Acre, St.… Read Full Bio ↴Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith, 22 November 1947, St. D'Acre, St. Ann, Jamaica), is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. The singer who put the rude in rude boy, Max Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless. Yet innuendo was the least of the singer's stylings, previous to the release of his infamous "Wet Dream," Romeo had garnered a string of sweet hits with the vocal trio the Emotions. And once the nocturnal naughtiness faded, the singer established himself as one of the most important figures in the roots scene.
He left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, cleaning out irrigation ditches, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18; prompting a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to achieve a successful musical career.

In 1965 he joined up with Kenneth Knight and Lloyd Shakespeare in The Emotions, whilst also working as a record plugger for Ken Lack's Caltone label. The group were unsuccessful in auditions for other producers, but Lack offered them an audition after overhearing Smith singing to himself as he worked one day. In 1966, the group had their first hit, with the Lack-produced, "Buy You a Rainbow". The Emotions went on to have several hit singles and by 1968, the singer, by this point known as Max Romeo, felt confident enough to launch a solo career. Working with producer Bunny Lee, the young star recorded a number of pop songs, mainly love ballads, but they failed to be popular and so he returned to The Emotions, now recording for Phil Pratt. During this time he began work as a sales representative for Bunny Lee and did some recording with The Hippy Boys, which would later became The Upsetters.

Later on in 1968, Romeo wrote new lyrics for the rhythm track of Derrick Morgan's "Hold You Jack" and handed them over to Lee. Morgan, who was due to add his vocals to the track, ultimately gave it a miss, as did several other vocalists (including John Holt and Slim Smith), leading the producer to turn to Romeo to sing the lyrics he had written. The result, "Wet Dream", was an instant hit in Jamaica, although in the UK it was met with a BBC Radio ban, despite Romeo's somewhat-disingenuous claim that the song was actually about a roof that has a leak. Still, the ban only made it more popular and the single charted in the Top Ten, in the UK Singles Chart, spending almost six months therein, before featuring on his LP, A Dream, which included several follow-up singles in a similar vein, such as "Mini Skirt Version", "Fish in the Pot", "Belly Woman", and "Wine Her Goosie". A UK tour also met with Romeo being banned from performing at several venues, although many allowed him to play, the singer staying in the UK for eighteen months.

In 1970, Romeo returned to Jamaica and set-up Romax, an unsuccessful record label and sound system. Following which, he recorded several singles, mainly with old producer Bunny Lee, before going on to work a host of other producers including Niney Holness. This was followed by a period of which saw the release of a series of politically charged singles, most advocating the democratic socialist People's National Party (PNP), which chose his song, "Let The Power Fall On I", as their campaign theme for the 1972 Jamaican general election. Romeo joined the PNP Musical Bandwagon, travelling around Jamaica, playing on the back of a truck. After this, Romeo recorded a number of religious songs, until he worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, producing the classic singles "Three Blind Mice" (an adaptation of the nursery rhyme with lyrics about a police raid on a party), "Sipple Out Deh", and "Chase the Devil". A remixed version of "Sipple Out Deh", entitled "War Ina Babylon", was another popular track in the UK, the first fruits of his deal with Island Records, and was followed by an album of the same name, and a follow-up single "One Step Forward". Shortly after this the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which could not match the success of its predecessor. Perry's animosity towards Romeo was demonstrated by his single "White Belly Rat", with Perry also writing the word 'Judas' over a photograph of Romeo on the wall of his Black Ark studio.

He moved to New York City in 1978, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical, Reggae, which he also starred in. In 1980 he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) co-produced and played on Romeo's album, Holding Out My Love to You. The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. He returned to Jamaica in 1990, and began touring and recording more regularly.

He visited the UK again in 1992, recording the albums Far I Captain of My Ship and Our Rights with Jah Shaka. In 1995 he recorded Cross of the Gun with Tappa Zukie, and he joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1999 for the album Selassie I Forever.

His music has been sampled by other artists; The Prodigy sampled his track "Chase the Devil" for their 1992 UK Top Ten hit "Out of Space". Kanye West has also used samples from it to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release - The Black Album.

"Chase the Devil" is featured on the reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West in a popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004. Romeo's single "Sipple Out Deh" appeared in John Peel's Record Box.

- Albums:
A Dream (1970) Trojan
Let The Power Fall (1972) Dynamic
Revelation Time (1975) Black World
War Ina Babylon (1976) Island
Reconstruction (1979) Island
I Love My Music (1979) Wackies
Rondos (1980) King Kong
Holding Out My Love to You (1981) Shanachie
Transition (1989) Rohit
Fari - Captain of My Ship (1992) Jah Shaka
Our Rights (1992) Jah Shaka
Cross or the Gun (1995) Tappa Zukie
Selassie I Forever (1999) Mafia & Fluxy
Love Message (1999) Warriors
Something is Wrong (1999) Warriors
In This Time (2001) 3D (Max Romeo & Tribu Acustica)
Pocomania Songs (2007) Ariwa Sounds
- Compilations:
Max Romeo Meets Owen Gray At King Tubby's Studio (1984) Culture Press (with Owen Gray)
Max Romeo and the Upsetters (1989)
Wet Dream (1993) Crocodisc
McCabee Version (1995) Sonic Sounds
Open The Iron Gate (1999) Blood & Fire
The Many Moods of Max Romeo (1999) Jamaican Gold
Pray For Me: The Best of Max Romeo 1967-73 (2000) Trojan Records
Perilous Times (2000) Charmax
On The Beach (2001) Culture Press
The Coming of Jah (2002) Trojan
Ultimate Collection (2003) (compiled by David Katz)
Holy Zion (2003) Burning Bush
Wet Dream: The Best of Max Romeo (2004) Trojan
Crazy World of Dub (2005) Jamaican Recordings

One of Jamaica's most provocative lyricists, a singer who gave us such enduring songs as 'Chase The Devil' (which was sampled in the song 'Out of Space' by The Prodigy and the song 'Lucifer' by Jay-Z), 'Public Enemy Number One', 'One Step Forward' and 'Three Blind Mice'. It was Romeo who first introduced Britain to the concept of rude reggae with 'Wet Dream', which, despite a total radio ban, reached number 10 in the UK charts in May 1969.
In 1972 Romeo began working with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. 'Babylon Burning', 'Three Blind Mice' and 'The Coming Of Jah' all maintained his star status in Jamaica between 1972 and 1975. Revelation Time was one of the best albums of 1975, and 1976's War Ina Babylon was hailed by the rock press as an all-time classic reggae album. Two outstanding contributions that will remain classic recordings from the so-called ‘golden age’ of Jamaican reggae music.

Three Blind Mice
Max Romeo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I went to a party, last Saturday night
When I reached the party everything was right
Then Babylon raid, them raid, them raid
Me gets me 'fraid, me gets me 'fraid

It was like three blind mice
You could-a see how dem run
It was like three blind mice

You could-a see how dem run

Baddie sticks start flyin', man start to bawl
Some jump de fence, some put off defense
But it gets me 'fraid when Babylon raid

The police checked the deejay
Tell him to turn off sound
The crowd never like that
Them start gathering 'round

Let the music play
Let it play, let it play
Let the music play

It was like three blind mice
You could-a see how dem run
It was like three blind mice
No man no want go a jail

Let the music play
Let it play, let it play
Let the music play

Let the music play
Let it play, let it play

Overall Meaning

The song "Three Blind Mice" by Max Romeo talks about a party that took place on a Saturday night, where everything was right until the police came and ruined the fun. The term "Babylon" is used in the song, which refers to the government or authorities that were seen as corrupt by the Rastafarian community in Jamaica. The lyrics describe how people started running and scattering like blind mice when the police came to raid the party. The fear of getting arrested and going to jail is evident in the lines, "It was like three blind mice, No man no want go a jail."

The chorus of the song, "Let the music play, Let it play, let it play," is a message to the police to not stop the music and let the party go on. The music and dancing was an important part of the Rasta culture, and the police often tried to shut them down. The line, "The police checked the deejay, Tell him to turn off sound, The crowd never like that, Them start gathering 'round," shows the defiance of the partygoers towards the authorities. They wanted to continue dancing and having fun despite the presence of the police.

Overall, "Three Blind Mice" by Max Romeo is a protest song that sheds light on the discrimination faced by the Rastafarian community in Jamaica. It highlights how the authorities tried to suppress their culture and freedom through various means, including stopping the music that was an integral part of their way of life.

Line by Line Meaning

I went to a party, last Saturday night
I attended a party on the previous Saturday night

When I reached the party everything was right
The party was going well when I arrived

Then Babylon raid, them raid, them raid
The police arrived suddenly and began a raid

Me gets me 'fraid, me gets me 'fraid
I became frightened by the police raid

It was like three blind mice
The people at the party were running around aimlessly like blind mice

You could-a see how dem run
It was easy to see how they were running around

Baddie sticks start flyin', man start to bawl
People started throwing objects and screaming

Some jump de fence, some put off defense
Some ran and jumped over the fence while others tried to defend themselves

But it gets me 'fraid when Babylon raid
The police raid made me really scared

The police checked the deejay
The police checked the DJ

Tell him to turn off sound
They instructed him to stop playing music