Wayne '76 by Wayne McGhie

In 1976, Montego Bay’s Wayne McGhie recorded an extremely personal, self-penned, follow up to his now legendary 1970 Sounds of Joy LP, not only one of the first long playing albums by a black artist in Canada, but a recent immigrant from Jamaica. Amidst the hustle and bustle of an evolving Toronto city life with its growing Caribbean population, grinding gig work with the likes of Studio One keyboard king Jackie Mittoo, and a lack of deep support from the greater Canadian music industry and colonial mass media, Wayne’s '76 sessions never saw the light of day bar a small run two song 7” single.

Within a few short years, Wayne was battling overwhelming mental health challenges and unable to write, record or perform, an unfortunate condition that continued into the 1980s, but was eventually diagnosed and treated with medical attention and loving family care. Removed from the pioneering Jamaican-Canadian music community that he helped to build alongside Jo-Jo Bennett, Lloyd Delpratt, Bob & Wisdom, The Sheiks’ Val Bent and The Mighty Pope, Everton “Pablo” Paul, The Cougars, and Eddie Spencer, Wayne was far gone.

Meanwhile, in the 1990s, Wayne’s sound had been picked up by a younger generation of hip hop DJs and producers, helping to lay a rhythmic foundation for the movement’s “golden age.” Voluntary In Nature first connected with Wayne in 2004 during the process of an official reissue of his debut LP and the much celebrated Jamaica to Toronto: Soul, Funk, and Reggae 1967-1974 compilation from 2006, both released on Light In The Attic Records, but before he passed in 2017, Wayne's complete 1976 recordings, preserved on two 2" master tapes reels, were shared with Voluntary In Nature for release by McGhie himself, and his immediate family, with their full blessing, consent, love, and encouragement.

This is the first time Wayne’s unreleased album has been heard by the general public. After giving VIN its start way back in 2004, it is our utmost honour to launch this outlet for sharing with Wayne '76. Thank you Wim. I hope that the sound is sweet up there in soul heaven… (VIN 001)

A vinyl edition is currently in production.

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Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1946, Wayne McGhie was a singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and band leader who recorded and performed in Jamaica, England, the US, and his adopted home of Toronto, Canada, making history with his 1970 Sound of Joy LP, re-released by Light in the Attic Records in 2004 with help from Voluntary In Nature. Wayne passed on in 2017, but his musical legacy lives on.