Toots & The Maytals’ ‘Pressure Drop’ Certified Silver In The UK
Nearly 55 years after its release, Pressure Drop, the seminal reggae hit by Toots & The Maytals, is now certified Silver in the United Kingdom.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced on Friday (August 23) that the 1969 track has surpassed 200,000 units, as measured by The Official Charts Company.
This milestone marks the second certification for the iconic Jamaican group in the UK, following their Gold-certified single 54-46 (Was My Number) , which has achieved 400,000 units.
Both songs were produced by Leslie Kong, a Chinese-Jamaican entrepreneur who operated Beverley’s Records. They were recorded after Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the band’s charismatic frontman, served a year in prison on a marijuana possession charge — an experience he later described as unjust and possibly motivated by a rival.
“When I got out of jail, I had a sense of injustice and a desire to make up for lost time,” Hibbert told The Guardian in a 2016 interview. “Ideas just started flowing.”
According to Toots, Pressure Drop emerged as a powerful anthem of karmic justice while he was on the guitar. “It’s a song about revenge, but in the form of karma: if you do bad things to innocent people, then bad things will happen to you. The title was a phrase I used to say. If someone done me wrong, rather than fight them like a warrior, I’d say: ‘The pressure’s going to drop on you.’”
Pressure Drop appeared on the group’s 1970 album Monkey Man (released in Jamaica by Beverley’s Records) and From the Roots (released in the UK by Trojan Records). It was later featured on the soundtrack of the classic 1972 film The Harder They Come, which played a significant role in the international success Toots enjoyed.
It’s been featured in other films over the years, including Landline (2017), Cymbeline (2014), Young Adult (2011), This is England (2006), and 50 First Dates (2004).
Most recently, it was featured in the BBC series This Town.
Added Hibbert: “It’s now been covered by everyone from the Specials to the Clash. That’s great, an honour, although I haven’t always been paid for everything that I have done. Whenever anyone rips me off I just think: ‘The pressure’s gonna drop on you.’ Ha ha. Usually, it does.”
Clifton “Jackie” Jackson, the band’s bassist, recalled that it was his and Toots’ first song together.
“Previously, I’d only worked with singers who laid down their vocals separately, but Toots prefers to record everything live,” Jackie said. “He loves the kick of singing right there – as the music is playing, as if he’s on stage. All the “Oh yeah yeah yeahs” on Pressure Drop were done by the group live. It sounded riotous in the studio – and that’s the vibe you hear on the record.”
Hibbert, born on December 8, 1942, passed away at age 77 in September 2020.
Toots & The Maytals’ other popular songs include Country Road, Funky Kingston, Time Tough, and Reggae Got Soul.