Rockers is a 1978 Jamaican film by Theodoros Bafaloukos. Several popular reggae artists star in the movie, including Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth, Dillinger, Robbie Shakespeare, and Jacob Miller. Rockers was originally intended to be a documentary but blossomed into a full-length feature showing the reggae culture at its peak. The film features authentic culture, characters and mannerisms. The main rocker Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, for example, is shown living with his actual wife and kids and in his own home. The recording studios shown are the famous Harry J Studios and Channel One Studios, where many roots reggae artists recorded during the 1970s including Bob Marley. The film includes Kiddus I's recording of "Graduation In Zion" at Harry J's, which he happened to be recording when Bafaloukos visited the studio and a scene where Robbie arranges a session for the protagonist at Channel One. It also features Randy's Record Mart, the largest Jamaican music store of its time, and Joe Gibbs Record Manufacturing Co. With a budget of JA$500,000 (about $40,000 ), Rockers was completed in two months. The film premiered at the 1978 San Francisco Film Festival and had a theatrical release in the US in 1980.

Plot

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, plans to make some extra money selling and distributing contemporary regae records. He buys an orange-red 175 motorcycle to carry them to the sound systems, bodegas, clubs and even (dance) parties around the island. His friend Jah Wise paints a Lion of Judah on both sides of the gas tank. The film starts as a loose interpretation of Vittorio de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief and turns into a reggae interpretation of the Robin Hood myth.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film was released in 1979 by Mango Records and includes only some of the songs heard in the film. In 2024, Rolling Stone magazine named it the 52nd greatest soundtrack of all time.

Legacy

Samples of the film's dialogue were used in the early 1990s jungle track, "Babylon" by Splash, "Terrorist Dub" by Californian ragga-metal band Insolence, in the track "Zion Youth" from the 1995 album Second Light by Dreadzone and in 2012 in the song "Smoke" by Inner Terrestrials. In 2018, Wallace, Kiddus I, and Big Youth came together to perform two shows in São Paulo, Brazil, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the film. In 2019, Italian singer Alborosie released "Living Dread", a cover of Black Uhuru's "Anthem". The music video recreates scenes from the film Rockers and features Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, the film's original star.