Audley Rollen

Like many people, Audley Rollen was entranced when he first heard Mel Carter's ballad, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. It was a massive hit for the American singer in 1965, and Rollen is hoping for similar success with his reggae version, titled Hold Me, Thrill Me.

He co-produced it with Jason Farmer for I Need You, his album, which was released in July, 2022. For Rollen, the cover is a long time coming.

"I decided 20 years ago to cover Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and I got together with keyboard extraordinaire, Grammy-winning producer Jason Farmer and we produced and recorded the track, but at the time we had so much going on we could not come up with plans for completion and or a release date. And so we never did anything with it until now," Rollen explained.

Carter was not the first artist to score big with the song. Karen Chandler hit the charts in 1952 with her lush, mid-tempo version of the single which was written by Harry Noble.

Rollen, who is from Kingston, Jamaica, had recently started recording songs when he first heard the Carter rendition. He was floored.

"There were several things that immediately grabbed my attention. His delivery was superb, his vocal performance was great, and the way he formed and pronounced his words. Without a doubt, right then and there I knew I was listening to an exceptional talent, a great singer and a masterpiece," he said.

Rollen has been recording music for over 50 years. He was once a member of The Emotions, The Hippy Boys and Youth Professionals, bands that included future greats such as bassists Aston "Familyman" Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare, drummer Carlton Barrett and keyboardist Bernard "Touter" Harvey.

In the early 1970s as Rastafari and roots-reggae gripped Jamaica, Rollen had two hit songs with Repatriation is A Must and Hallelujah.

He migrated to the US in the mid-1970s, initially settling in Philadelphia. Now an ordained minister of religion, Rollen lives in South Florida.