Here’s another of those reggae deep cuts that passed me by at the time – and once again it’s by a female artist who flew under the radar.

The peak of Yvonne Sterling’s career came in the early Seventies, and this song, Oh Jah, is my favourite from1978.

She made her debut four years earlier with a song called If You Love Me (Let Me Know), and Yvonne is probably best known for her duets with Dennis Brown like There’s A Reward.

Yvonne was trying to revive her career when she died at the age of 65 in Jamaica following a stroke in 2021.

After years of obscurity Yvonne had just hit the headlines – in an unwanted way – when she lost her home in St Andrew as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Eta.

She was helped out by reggae fans in Brazil, where she apparently maintained a strong following, when they staged a benefit concert to raise funds for the reggae singer – enabling her to find a new home.

“I am feeling much better,” she told the Jamaica Gleaner in what would sadly be her final interview. “I just want some studio work now and some performances to uplift myself some more.”

Elsewhere in that interview, she talked about her lifelong passion for making music. “The happiest time in my life really is when I am working in the studio or when I am onstage doing live performances,” she said.

“So these things happening to me now, it’s going to make a big difference in my life. I am not just thinking about the money that I will earn, but I am saying my whole life will be happier.”

A poignant epitaph for a sadly underrated artist.