IN what turned out to be their final meeting, on October 8, Roots Radics bassist Errol ‘Flabba Holt’ Carter recalls his ominous warning to drummer and longtime friend Lincoln ‘Style Rotterdam’ Scott.

“Mi sey, ‘Rotterdam, yuh a go country, tek care a yuhself ’cause only mi an’ yuh lef’. Next day, the man gone,” Holt told the Jamaica Observer.

The men, who formed the vaunted rhythm section of one of reggae’s great bands, spoke to each other for the last time at Mixing Lab studio in Kingston. Scott, 58, was killed at his home in Williamsfield, Manchester on October 9.

The Williamsfield police have made no arrest in the case. They found Scott’s body at his home in the district around 10:30 pm that evening, just minutes after receiving reports of gunshots coming from the rustic area.

On Monday, the lanky Carter was distraught at the loss of his close friend. But his mood changed each time he recalled the countless sessions and dates they played for over 30 years.

“A the prettiest drummer ever, yuh hear mi? When yuh si him play yuh drop over,” said an animated Carter. “Mi used to sey, ‘how yuh have suh much style’. A suh him get the name.”

Scott, from Chapleton, Clarendon, had recently left the Jamaica Military Band in 1978 when he first met Carter and rhythm guitarist Eric ‘Bingy Bunny’ Lamont. Carter and Lamont, both from west Kingston, formed the Roots Radics in 1974 and were looking for permanent members.

“Him did have a likkle soun’, so wi show him some tings an’ him jus’ start get wicked. An’ then wi meet Junjo,” Carter, 64, said.

‘Junjo’ was Henry Lawes, a colourful character largely rated as modern dancehall’s most successful producer. Working with the ‘Radics’ out of the famed Channel One studio in the 1980s, Lawes released a string of hit songs on his Volcano label that made stars out of acts like Barrington Levy (Spanish Town Rock, Looking my Love), Johnny Osbourne (Yo Yo, Ice Cream Love), Jah Thomas (Shoulder Move) and Michigan and Smiley (Diseases).

Carter and Scott’s distinctive patterns can also be heard on Freddie McGregor’s breakthrough Big Ship song and album; Bunny Wailers’ Rock and Groove and Cool Runnings, Gunman by Michael Prophet as well as a number of hit songs by Gregory Isaacs (Night Nurse, Private Secretary and Out Deh).

Carter, Lamont, Scott, keyboardist Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson and guitarist Noel ‘Sowell’ Bailey were the original Roots Radics. Lamont died in 1993, Johnson in 2009 and Bailey in July.

Along with guitarist Dwight Pinkney and Carter, Scott continued to record and tour with Wailer and roots group Israel Vibration during the 1990s. Scott divided his Radics duties with the Dub Syndicate, a band he formed with British impresario Adrian Sherwood, a decade earlier.

No funeral service for Lincoln ‘Style’ Scott has been set.