“Money in My Pocket” was self-penned and first recorded by Dennis Brown for Joe Gibbs in 1972. Six years later Brown recut the song with Gibbs producing again — and the updated version proved far more successful. The Joe Gibbs–produced 1978 recording breached the UK pop charts on 3 March 1979 before peaking five weeks later, Trojan Records notes in its official audio release notes. It remains Brown’s only UK Top 10 hit, the Guardian records.
Chart success
The 1979 single on Joe Gibbs Record Globe — backed by “Runnings Irie” from Joe Gibbs & the Professionals — was the chart hit that brought Brown to the attention of the pop majors, Reggae Fever notes. It was, in the retailer’s words, “a perfect example of Dennis’s style” — the honeycoated voice gliding over Gibbs and Errol Thompson’s polished rhythm section. The success was part of a remarkable 1979 run that also included albums Words of Wisdom and the live set from Montreux.
Montreux 1979
Though Brown had been making hit songs since the late 1960s, he was not a big name outside reggae circles until an outstanding performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979 introduced the Crown Prince to a new audience. The concert — captured on video and later issued as Live at Montreux — featured “Money in My Pocket,” “Wolves and Leopards,” “Words of Wisdom” and “Milk and Honey,” X Ray Music records. Brown shared the bill with Peter Tosh; the second show ran deep into the night and ended with both artists and their musicians on stage together. “Dennis Brown had arrived in the minds of the European audiences,” the sleeve notes declare.
Why it matters
“Money in My Pocket” was the bridge. Chart success in Britain opened doors to A&M Records and international touring — and proved that the boy wonder from Studio One could hold a mainstream audience without surrendering his reggae identity.
Listen and dig deeper
- Browse Dennis Brown and Joe Gibbs in the Listen library, and play Visions of Dennis Brown and Words of Wisdom.
- Previously: Visions of Dennis Brown (1978). Next: Sly & Robbie and Taxi (1980s).
Sources: The Guardian — “Dennis Brown” (Dotun Adebayo, Jul 2, 1999); Reggae Fever — “Money In My Pocket” single notes; X Ray Music — Live at Montreux sleeve notes; Trojan Records — Dennis Brown biography.
Editor’s note: This entry is part of the JamaicansMusic online museum — a career timeline assembled from the archive. It is dated to the era it documents; every claim is drawn from the linked sources.