HAPPINESS

MIKEY SPICE

  1. I'll Be There
  2. Happiness
  3. Open Your Eyes
  4. Signs And Wonder
  5. Chant Down Babylon
  6. Can You Be Mine
  7. Loving In Your Eyes
  8. Practice What You Preach
  9. Only You
  10. It Won't Be Long
  11. Party Song
  12. I'm Back
  13. I'm Back (Dub Version) 

Review by Chuck Foster, published in The Beat : 

Immediately reminiscent of Jack Radics, Richie Stephens and precursor-of-them-all Brook Benton, deep-voiced Mikey Spice presents a lovers selection intermixed with penetrating message tunes on “Happiness”. Although he might well score with his romantic ballads like “I’ll Be There”, “It Won’t Be Long” and “I’m Back” (do I detect a theme ?) – he even pulls of a Barry White cover (“Practice What You Preach”), no easy task – it’s the message tunes “Chant Down Babylon”, “Signs And Wonder” and “Open Your Eyes” that make me want to take that crucial second spin some CDs never get, a spin Mikey Spice passes with flying dreads. Although released out of the Netherlands, Spice is a Jamaican artist and these cuts were recorded at Grove studios in Ocho Rios by producer Barry O’Hare for the X-Rated label.

Review by Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, taken from “Reggae. The Rough Guide” : 

Included in the Barry O’Hare-produced debut set is Spice’s version of Barry White’s “Practice What You Preach”, a strong contender for the reggae vocal of 1995. Plenty of pure rub-up-a-girl music here, though tracks like “Signs And Wonder” and “Chant Down Babylon” have him handling ‘consciousness’ lyrics with aplomb.