THE Slipe Road base of producer Gussie Clarke was, arguably, the hottest spot in Jamaican music during the 1990s. Singer J C Lodge and singer/songwriter Hopeton Lindo helped make his Anchor label a success.

On May 28, Lodge and Lindo met for the first time in over 20 years at Sport of Kings Theater, Gulfstream Racetrack in Hallandale, South Florida. She performed there at the Pluto And Friends show.

“It was a pleasure seeing J C after so many years. We embraced each other and said how we basically haven’t changed much in appearance. We also spoke about our careers and Errol, who is her husband and manager, and I talked about the possibility of doing work together in the future. It’s easy writing songs for her as she is a great artiste and an awesome person,” Lindo told the Jamaica Observer.

It was Lodge’s first show in Florida for some time. Her 45-minute set, which included the Lindo-co-written Telephone Love, was well-received by a full house of 1,200.

“After having gone through all the lockdowns, masking, quarantining, travel restrictions, three jabs, and COVID twice, being able to perform once more felt like a rebirth for me. I hadn’t been on stage in Florida for years so I was thrilled to have been included in the Pluto & Friends presentation to show that I am still very much alive and active,” she said.

The London-born Lodge joined the Music Works camp after initial triumphs for producer Joe Gibbs with Someone Loves You Honey and More Than Words Can Say. She described her time at Anchor as fruitful.

“There was never a dull moment at Anchor studio, which later became Music Works. Apart from the exciting creativity that buzzed when Gussie teamed up the best of the best musicians, there were Mikie Bennett, Hopeton Lindo, and Carlton Hines leading the team of writers; the quirky genius Steven Stanley polishing off the mixing; and I shared many enjoyable harmony sessions on my projects and others with Pam Hall, Nadine Sutherland, Dean Fraser, Brian & Tony Gold, and Mikey Bennett,” she recalled.

Anchor had several rivals for top reggae/dancehall label during the 1980s and 1990s. Others were Donovan Germain’s Penthouse Records, Patrick Roberts’ Shocking Vibes Records, the camps of Lloyd “King Jammy” James and his protégé Robert “Bobby Digital” Dixon.

In addition to Telephone Love, Anchor’s hit songs from that period included Lodge’s Selfish Lover, Champion Lover (Deborahe Glasgow), Rumours (Gregory Isaacs), Mr Loverman (Shabba Ranks), Big All Around (Gregory Isaacs and Dennis Brown), and Just A Little Bit Longer (Maxi Priest).

Lodge had a solid 2021 thanks to her song Over, which topped reggae charts in South Florida and New York. She is currently working on projects with a “well-known Jamaican producer”.

Lindo is working on an album for his Irie Pen Records and an EP for Taxi/One Pop Records.