Herman Chin Loy (Trelawny, July 11, 1948[1]) is a Jamaican record producer, best known for his productions from the late 1960s and early 1970s of artists such as Augustus Pablo, Dennis Brown, Alton Ellis and Bruce Ruffin, and for the Aquarius and Scorpio labels that he ran. He is a Chinese Jamaican.
When Lloyd A. Chin Loy opened up Aquarius Record Store in 1969 in Half Way Tree, Kingston, he brought on his half brother Herman Chin-Loy who ran the record store end of the business. Herman Chin-Loy then dabbled in producing. His earliest productions were quirky, innovative instrumentals, using musicians such as Lloyd Charmers and The Hippy Boys on tracks such as "African Zulu", "Shang I",[2] "Reggae In The Fields", "Invasion", and "Inner Space".[3] He was the first producer to use the Now Generation band and the first to record Horace Swaby, whose recordings, like those of other keyboard players who recorded for Chin Loy, were released under the name Augustus Pablo, the success of Swaby's releases causing the name to stick.
In the early 1970s, Chin Loy also produced Dennis Brown, Alton Ellis, and Bruce Ruffin, whose "Rain" reached #19 in the UK singles chart.[2] Chin Loy was responsible for one of the first dub albums, Aquarius Dub, released in 1973, and mixed at Dynamic studio by Chin Loy himself.[2] A follow up, Aquarius Dub part 2 was released the following year.
Lloyd A. Chin Loy hired a Welshman, Mr. Rosser in the 1970s to build the first 24-track recording studio in Jamaica and probably the Caribbean. Herman Chin-Loy returned to reggae productions in 1979, scoring several hits in the early dancehall style with artists such as Little Roy, and Ernest Wilson.[2]