Never Give In by Pato Banton

Never Give In, Pato Banton's second album, came out on Greensleeves in 1987, and by then the Birmingham toaster already had a devoted following, built on the mic with the likes of Mad Professor and on the road across Britain, Europe and the States. He cut it with producers G.T. Haynes and Lesburn Thomas and his hometown's Studio Two Crew, and the grooves straddle two worlds: rootsy reggae on one side, the first stirrings of digital dancehall on the other, with a horn section jabbing in to keep everybody awake.

Banton sings and toasts his way through drugs and poverty with a comic's timing, never letting the jokes blunt the point, and critics loved his charm and his impressions, his mother most of all. Ranking Roger, Paul Shaffer and Steel Pulse all drop by. "Don't Sniff Coke" became the song people know him for, and a 20th anniversary edition turned up in 2007.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.