CONTACT:
Angela Bell –Management/Publicity
The Itals c/o Ital Records
PO Box 2117
Washington, DC 20013
1-877-541-8543 USA
e-mail:  theitals@hotmail.com    

DATE: April 1, 2001
  
 
HEADLINE:

Pioneer Roots Reggae Greats--The Itals have reunited & release hot new single on new label

The 21st century marks 7 albums and 25 years of Reggae excellence for one of Jamaica’s 
pioneer reggae harmony groups.  Keith Porter, Ronnie Davis, and Lloyd Ricketts, known 
internationally as The Itals, are reunited and promoting their hot new single entitled 
“Nearer” set to hit radio airwaves April 15th.  The single is being released on Porter’s 
own, Ital label based in Washington, DC.  

The group first broke in Jamaica with the release of “In A Dis Ya Time”, which went 
to #1 on Jamaican charts.  The song was extremely popular in Jamaican communities 
abroad and was then released in New York City. Their second album “Brutal Out Deh”, 
released in 1982, “was a stunner” wrote NY Times critic Robert Palmer.  He also writes, 
“The Itals blend is one of the sweetest, most melodious in all popular music.”  Their 
third album, Give Me Power was critically acclaimed, and “Rasta Philosophy”, won a 
Grammy nomination for the best reggae album of 1987.  They soon released “Cool 
and Dread”, proving once again that “The Itals remain at the heights others are still 
trying to reach…”, (Pulse Magazine’s music critic Doug Wendt).  Their fifth album 
release of early singles and several rare pre-Itals tracks entitled "Early Recordings" was 
described as “a collector’s feast”.

The Itals 1991 release, “Easy to Catch”, dramatically moved up to number twelve on 
Billboard’s World Music Charts.  In 1998, while maintaining their rock solid 
authenticity, they released their 7th album “Modern Age”.

In 2001, the timely reunion of original members Keith Porter, Ronnie Davis, Lloyd 
Ricketts, and the release of their hot new single “Nearer”, affirms their critically 
acclaimed history, and showcases the authentic roots rock reggae sound of Jamaica.  
In the patois of Jamaica's Rastafarians, the word 'ital' means pure, natural and 
unprocessed. These adjectives also describe the sound and message of one of roots 
rock reggae’s legends, The Itals.