Chaka Demus thrilled ‘Murder She Wrote’ gets new recognition

Recently, news broke that 94-year-old actress Angela Lansbury, star of the TV series ' Murder, She Wrote', heard the popular single of the same name (minus the comma) by Chaka Demus and Pliers for the first time earlier this month.

Lansbury said she was "thrilled to be part of reggae music", and Chaka Demus said that gives him a good feeling.

"As a matter of fact, it is a great feeling to know that this lady who is in her 90s, and is just being introduced to reggae, can make a statement like that. This is a great achievement for Chaka Demus and Pliers," he said, adding that he was a big fan of the show, which ran from 1984 to 1996. "We use to watch the show. It was all about detective work and we love it. Yeah man."

It was during an interview on a CBC radio show that the host, Tom Power, played the single to Lansbury. He asked her if she had ever heard it.

"That is reggae dancehall masters Chaka Demus and Pliers. That's their song, Murder She Wrote," Power said.

Lansbury commented "That's very funny. Who are they? What are they? A group?" She was told they were "sort of like legends in reggae music."

"Oh, reggae. Oh, I'm thrilled to be part of reggae, of course," Lansbury said.

Chaka Demus said that the song title came about because Pliers "was fooling around a girl named Maxine" who told him that she was pregnant.

"Him wait nine months, 10 months and no baby can't come. So me say well this is 'murder she wrote' and so Pliers go and do a song with that title for producer Harry J," he said.

He did his part of the song originally as a solo piece for Bobby Digital, and then they combined the two songs and recorded it for producer Sly Dunbar, and that's when the synergy kicked in and a hit was made.

Murder She Wrote, from their 1993 album, Tease Me, became the duo's biggest hit single, surpassing even their successes as solo artistes prior to collaborating together.

In Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury starred as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. She was nominated for 10 Golden Globes and 12 Emmy Awards for her work on the show.