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119) The Harder They Come

Original Soundtrack

Posted Nov 01, 2003 12:00 AM

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The movie was a spicy Jamaican stew of Robin Hood, High Sierra and Easy Rider -- reggae singer turns outlaw hero, goes on the run with guns blazing -? with patois dialogue so thick that U.S. audiences needed subtitles. But the magic in the soundtrack needed no translation. The four tracks by the film's star, Jimmy Cliff, are paragons of Jamaican sunshine soul -? his spiritual ballad "Many Rivers to Cross" is one of the finest songs to come from the island ?- while the rest of the LP introduced Babylon to the deep roots and mighty voices of the Melodians, the Slickers and the unstoppable Toots and the Maytals.

Total album sales: Under 500,000

Peak chart position: 140

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