Roots, Rock, Reggae

Reggae music star Jimmy Cliff scrawled out his message--"love and justice"--on record albums of an estimated 250 fans yesterday afternoon in the Coop. The Jamaican singer, in town for a concert at the Orpheum Theater, told onlookers he enjoys signing albums because it "psyches me up for a performance."

Cliff expressed surprise when informed that his movie "The Harder They Come" has played on weekends at the Orson Welles Theater for over four years and smiled broadly as one ecstatic fan claimed that she had seen the film 41 times.

"Survival--that's the name of the game," Cliff said in explaining that about half of the movie--including many ghetto scenes--was autobiographical.

Cliff said he prefers live tours, telling fans that he "loves to communicate, to feel the wonders of the spirit--get a high off seeing people excited at my concerts."