Wild World

Recorded in Jamaica for Maxi Priest’s 1987 album Maxi, with Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, and Willie Lindo handling the production work. The track was cut as a cover of Cat Stevens’ 1970 song and issued as a single in 1988. The song became Maxi Priest’s breakthrough hit in the United States and one of the defining singles of his early crossover run. In the UK, it reached No. 5 on the Official Singles Chart and spent 9 weeks on the chart. Wild World remains one of Maxi Priest’s signature recordings and the cover most closely associated with his mainstream profile. It helped establish him as a leading British reggae vocalist and continued to anchor later retrospectives and reissues of his work.