While organising her archives in South Florida three years ago, Peggy Quattro was surprised at the extent of material she had with Reggae Report, the popular magazine she has operated since 1983.

She decided to compile some of it for Reggae Trilogy: 200+ 80s +90s Artist Headshots – Vol 1, an ebook released in 2019. Though reviews were strong, COVID-19 affected the wide-scale promotion Quattro had in mind, but she continues to pitch a product that reflects on two powerful decades of dancehall/reggae.

Reggae Trilogy has 13 chapters, but the Ohio-born Quattro told the Jamaica Observer that its main feature are headshots of artistes from that period. These are glossy black and white photos sent out by record companies to promote new music or shows.

She estimates collecting as many as 1,000 headshots at Reggae Report. Over 200 of them are in Reggae Trilogy, and she has plans to portray the rest in possible volumes two and three.

“The headshots tell the stories of the 80s and the 90s by their fashions, the locations where most of them were shot, most likely in Jamaica,” said Quattro.

Fans of reggae from that period can find photos of marquee acts such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Sly and Robbie, Third World, Jimmy Cliff, Aswad and Steel Pulse. There are also pics of reggae artistes from the United States and Africa who were emerging at the time.

Given the success of American bands like Rebelution, Stick Figure and SOJA in the past 10 years, Quattro thinks a look back at pioneers like Spearhead (now known as Michael Franti and Spearhead) and The Killer Bees is timely.

“It shows how much reggae has grown in 20 years,” she said.

Quattro said it took her nine months of tedious writing to complete Reggae Trilogy which is divided into chapters such as Where Are They Now, and behind-the-scenes which looks at influential non-artistes like engineer/producer Lloyd “King Jammys” James and Miami disc jockey, Clint O’Neil.

Peggy Quattro is from a musical family who were big into folk, country and bluegrass. She got into Motown and The Beatles in her teens, but it was not until she lived in Nurnberg, Germany from 1974 to 1980, that she discovered reggae and Jamaican culture.

Returning to South Florida, Quattro found work as a personal assistant to Don Taylor, Marley’s former manager who was at the time managing Jimmy Cliff. Marley died on May 11, 1981, her first day on the job, but the ties she established during her time with Taylor encouraged her to move into show promotion and eventually, publishing.

Reggae Report was launched as a single sheet newsletter in the summer of 1983. At its peak during the 1990s, It was a monthly glossy that sold in 48 countries as well as major outlets such as Barnes And Noble.