Police and Thieves
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Police & Thieves" is a well known reggae composition written by Lee Perry and Junior Murvin and first recorded in the Jamaican reggae version with the falsetto singer Junior Murvin from 1976 and one year later in the punk-reggae version with The Clash.
Junior Murvin version
The song was originally written by Junior Murvin. Murvin approached Lee "Scratch" Perry in May 1976 and auditioned the song at Perry's Black Ark studio; Perry decided to record the song the same afternoon, and decided to alter the lyric slightly. Players on the track included Boris Gardiner (bass), Ernest Ranglin (guitar), Sly Dunbar (drums), Keith Sterling (keyboards), and Joe Cooper (organ), with backing vocals provided by Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones.
The next day dub versions were mixed and versions with different lyrics recorded. The song, about gang war and police brutality, was out on the street in a couple of days, backed by The Upsetters' dub version "Grumbling Dub", and became a big hit in Jamaica. Released in Jamaica on Federal Records' Wild Flower subsidiary label (as "Police and Thief") it was issued in the UK by Island Records in July, and proved to be a bigger sales and club hit in England than in Murvin's and Perry's native Jamaica. It was also successful in the US, where it was issued on the Mango label. Island also issued a 12-inch version with Jah Lion's deejay version "Soldier and Police War", and Glen DaCosta's saxophone version "Magic Touch" added.
It was named 'Reggae Single of the Year' by Black Echoes, and placed sixth in the NME 's end of year singles chart. The song was included as the title track on Murvin's 1977 album.
The song became an anthem in the UK in 1976 as the Notting Hill Carnival erupted into a riot. Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of the Clash were involved in the rioting, which inspired them to cover the song on their debut album, in a style that they called "'punk reggae', not 'white reggae'".
Murvin's version became a Top 30 UK hit in 1980, peaking at no. 23. It appeared in Ted Bafaloukos' 1978 film Rockers, and also in Guy Ritchie's 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The song has since been re-recorded by Murvin several times; A digital version appeared on a 1987 single produced by Prince Jammy, an acoustic version was included on the 2007 album Inna de Yard, and a new version was released in 2008 on a Ralston Brown-produced single. In 2019, french label Broken Stick Records released a 12" with a new vocal version by Murvin himself (recorded in 2006), a brand new deejay cut by U Roy, a melodica version and a dub version.
