TWO Japanese women compiled and illegally sold a greatest hits album by dancehall pioneers Steely and Clevie one year prior to the January release of Digital Revolution an official anthology album, Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne told Splash.

It underscored the problem of consumers using technology to “tek” music, Browne said in an interview last week, ahead of the official pre-release of Anthology — a three-disc set inclusive of DVD.

“I didn’t expect that to happen,” he stated about the two women whom he met briefly. The women compiled some 70 hits on an album shortly after the September 2009 passing of Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson, the other, the other half of Steely and Clevie Productions.

Browne saw the unofficial album for sale in a popular Japanese reggae magazine and ordered them via an intermediary to cease and desist.

Browne didn’t sue due to legal costs in Japan and furthermore he couldn’t emotionally allow himself to quickly release an official album. He “needed to take time off” to reflect on his lost friend whom he knew professionally since 1973. Steely died in New York, USA. He had been admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia after having recovered from kidney complications in December 2008.

Reggae album sales have been down in 2010 over 2009, but Browne said that music is more widespread than ever before “it’s just not being purchased”. He appealed for consumers to purchase music legally in order to support the industry and artistes.

Digital Revolution is a three-disc collector’s edition that includes 42 of their most influential and biggest hits on discs 1 and 2. Disc 3 is a DVD that contains a 1988 interview and studio demonstration with Steely and Clevie filmed for the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, as well as a 2005 interview with the producers sponsored by Red Bull Academy.

Steely and Clevie were pioneers of dancehall reggae’s digital age. They built a reputation as producers who were also musicians with Steely on keyboards and Clevie on drums. The duo rose to prominence as the house band at King Jammy’s studio at the time when drum machines were first introduced on reggae records.

They quickly became Jamaica’s hottest production team and together forged a sound that would rule the dancehall scene for decades. Their imprint logged numerous top Jamaican standards and multiple US crossover radio hits from 1989 to 2005.

The Digital Revolution CDs contain tunes which have become the soundtrack for the period in which these two musicians and producers rose to prominence. The tracks include Ram Dance Hall — Tiger, Hortical Don — Ninjaman, Retreat —Cutty Ranks, Caan Dun — Shabba Ranks, Sonia Come Back — Cocoa Tea, Shower Me With Your Love — Singing Melody and Poco Man Jam — Gregory Peck.

Other artistes who have made it onto this anthology reads likes the who’s who of the music fraternity — Baby Wayne, Beres Hammond, Cobra, Junior Tucker, Garnett Silk, Dawn Penn, General Degree, Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Sean Paul.