Lowe had moved to Canada in the mid-1970s from Kingston, Jamaica. Soon after arriving in Toronto, he became a bass player for touring reggae recording artists. He often accompanied them at Toronto's Bamboo club on Queen St.W. and other venues. Lowe was a founding member of "Culture Shock", a popular Toronto reggae band. Johnson had long admired Lowe and was delighted when they started touring together full-time, adding the bass sound that Johnson (himself a bass player) had been looking for in the string of bass players he had hired before asking Lowe. As quoted in The Globe & Mail, Johnson explained, "His bass sound became how I envisioned Big Sugar's sound- a blend of blues and rock anchored by his reggae groove.". In later years Johnson spoke of their unique musical language, "...so much of our connection was unspoken. We didn't work things through musically. If I played a little something, he would play a little something back. It was a very symbiotic relationship.".