This constant reinterpretation and referencing has made Ellis a major but little-known influence in the trajectory of dancehall, reggae and hip hop. 'Diseases' is notably used in Yellowman's hit song 'Zungguzungguguzungguzeng', which has in turn has been sampled and reinterpreted by a long list of popular hip-hop artists, including KRS-One, The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Sublime, and Blackstar. The recognizable three-note descending horn line was reinterpreted by Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, and eventually became known as the 'Diseases' reggae riddim. The 'Mad Mad' riddim (the track 'Mad Mad' by Alton Ellis and the Sound Dimension band was released in 1968 on the Coxsone label) has been reused or sampled by many hip-hop, dancehall and reggae producers and artists. At the start of his career Ellis recorded with his younger sister Hortense early tracks with Hortense like 'Don't Gamble With Love' (1965) were still in the R&B style. Ellis continued to work for Dodd and also recorded for his arch-rival, Duke Reid on his Treasure Isle label.
When Holt joined The Paragons, Ellis formed a new group, The Flames. Ellis remained in Kingston, working as a printer and after losing his job, he restarted his music career, initially forming a new duo with John Holt. The duo split after Parkins won a major talent contest and moved to the United States. The duo also recorded R&B tracks for Vincent Chin's Randy's label including 'Let Me Dream'. Further releases in the R&B style followed: 'Lullabye Angel', 'I Know It All', 'I'm Never Gonna Cry' and 'Yours'. This initial success was followed by the release of 'My Heaven', which like 'Muriel' was a slow R&B ballad with the instrumental triplets and vocal harmonizing common to the ballads of that period. Ellis and Parkins recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, initially in the R&B style, having a hit in 1960 with 'Muriel' (from Dodd's first commercially oriented recording session at Federal studios), a song Ellis had written while working as a labourer on a building site.
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