KINGSTON, Jamaica — During a 2017 interview with the Observer Online, Freddie McGregor recalled the day he knew his big break had come. He was listening to the final cut of Bobby Babylon, a song he recorded for producer, Clement Dodd, at Studio One.

“Missa Dodd sey, ‘Jackson, a it dis, yuh nuh. Is a hit dis’,” said McGregor, who celebrates his 70th birthday on June 27.

Bobby Babylon hit reggae charts in 1979. It came after years of toil at Studio One for the Clarendon-born singer, who had recorded songs like I Don’t Know, which were popular in the dancehalls.