Known for hard-hitting songs like Jah Live Forever and My Bredren, Doniki shows a different side to his artistry on The Last Thing On My Mind. He covered that ballad — originally done by country singer Tom Paxton — with Rosie B.

Their version is produced by Earl Messam, a Jamaican who is a veteran of the Philadelphia reggae scene. It is from Champions In Action, a compilation album released by Messam’s Wildfire Records.

Messam said Doniki, who died in 2016, was not keen to record a reggae take on the song, which has been covered by Neil Diamond, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton.

“Him sey him is a roots an’ culture artiste an’ wasn’t interested. But wi convince him to do it an’ him liked how it sound,” Messam told Observer Online.

The Clarendon-born Messam was a fledgling producer when he first met the promising Doniki during the early 1980s at Tuff Gong Recording studio. He was impressed by the Trench Town-reared artiste’s songwriting talent and began recording songs by him shortly after.

Many of their collaborations have been released by Wildfire Records, a company that has worked with other veteran acts like Roland Burrell, Ken Boothe and Pat Kelly. Doniki (real name Donald Willis) was still working with Messam when he died at age 49.

In 2025, Wildfire Records released Best Of Doniki, an album co-produced by the singer and Messam.

— Howard Campbell