Police and Thieves

Players on the track included Boris Gardiner (bass), Ernest Ranglin (guitar), Sly Dunbar (drums), Keith Sterling (keyboards), and Joe Cooper (organ), with backing vocals provided by Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones.

Released in Jamaica on Federal Records' Wild Flower subsidiary label (as "Police and Thief") it was issued in the UK by Island Records in July, and proved to be a bigger sales and club hit in England than in Murvin's and Perry's native Jamaica.

[1] In 2022, Pitchfork named it the 188th best song of the 1970s, saying "Falsetto is frequently used in reggae, but not often is there a track as gently piercing.

There's that perfect amount of echo, carrying Murvin's vocal improvisations and the humming chorus along, making them bounce off the walls and charge ever forward.

"[8] The English punk rock band Clash's punk/reggae version appeared on their eponymous debut album.

In the beginning of the song, Joe Strummer reinterprets the line "They're going through a tight wind" as a tribute to The Ramones, already an established American punk band and an influence on The Clash.

: Miami movie where it is performed by Dave Grohl, who is listed in the credits under the pseudonym "Sprechen Sie Deutsch".