Clement "Coxsone" Dodd

Clement Seymour Dodd was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 26, 1932. His parents ran a liquor store, and the young Dodd got his first taste of DJing by playing American jazz records for their customers. He received the nickname Coxsone in tribute to his ability as a cricket player, after the English Yorkshire team's brightest star of the era. After completing his schooling, Dodd found temporary work as a laborer in the sugar cane fields of America's Deep South; while there, he fell in love with early R&B, especially the harder end of the shuffle-rhythm spectrum that would prove popular with many other Jamaican listeners.

Dodd returned home with a substantial addition to his record collection, and in 1954 he got in on the ground floor of an emerging sound system trend. Sound systems were essentially mobile DJ units with massive amplification power; they gave poor people access to records they couldn't afford to own, and they were less costly for club owners to book than full bands, whose musicians all required individual salaries. Dodd's system was known as Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, and quickly became one of the most popular in Jamaica rivaled chiefly by that of Duke Reid; at the height of his operation's success, Dodd had up to five units playing around Kingston on the same night. Competition between sound systems was intense, and Dodd made numerous record-buying trips to the U.S. in search of the latest, rarest, and most danceable tunes. During this era, Jamaican DJs started the scratching out the labels on their records, so that competitors wouldn't know what they were playing and couldn't duplicate their most popular selections. Dodd's theme song was a Willis "Gator" Jackson jump blues called "Later for Gator," which he retitled "Coxsone's Hop"; the story goes that Duke Reid finally discovered the song's true identity and first played it at a DJ battle with Dodd, who nearly passed out with shock.

As the '50s drew to a close, the tastes of black audiences in the U.S. were changing. R&B was moving toward either rock & roll or a smoother, more pop-oriented sound. Jamaican tastes, however, were not changing, and to satisfy demand for the kind of music their audiences wanted, sound system operators began to record local artists. At first, these records were used as exclusive content for the systems' live sets, but overwhelming demand led to copies of the records being pressed and offered for sale to the public. Dodd threw his hat in the ring in 1959, when he formed the first of his many record labels, Worldisc. His likely first production was "Shufflin' Jug," a calypso-style number by Clue J& his Blues Busters, and he also helmed what many consider the first true ska record, Theophilus Beckford's "Easy Snappin'," that year. 

Over the next few years, Dodd worked with the likes of Derrick Morgan, Derrick Harriot, Clancy Eccles, Alton Ellis. 

He also worked with Donald Drummond and Roland Alphonso, two jazz-trained instrumentalists that would go on to join The Skatalites, who served as the studio band for most of Dodd's early recordings, and made their name as the best instrumental ska ensemble in the business on their own sides. 

As his business grew and flourished, Dodd formed several other labels, mostly as a way to disguise the flood of product coming out under his name.

In 1963, Dodd opened the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica on Brentford Road in Kingston; officially called the Jamaican Recording and Publishing Studio, it came to be known as Studio One, which also served as the name of Dodd,s signature label from then on. With  The Skatalites serving as the house band Studio One turned out some of the era's best and biggest hits, with records by Delroy Wilson, Toots & Maytals, Lee "Scratch Perry" Perry, Bob Andy, and Bob Marley & The Wailers,  including their chart-topping debut smash, "Simmer Down." 

In the process, Studio One became an invaluable training ground for an entire generation of Jamaican musical talent. Dodd was constantly scouting for new talent, holding weekly auditions, and often provided vocal training for talented but raw singers. Studio one kept arrangers, producers, and musicians heavily occupied, giving them the practical know how that would help some set up their own operations in the years to come, and providing a strong foundation for the continued development of the country's recording industry.

During the latter half of the '60s, ska slowed down into Rocksteady. In spite of his earlier successes, it was during this period that Dodd truly hit his creative peak, and it remains the most often sampled portion of his extensive catalog. Helped out by new multi-track recording capabilities, which allowed for richer vocals and leaner, subtler arrangements, Dodd honed a signature sound that was soulful, organic, and rootsy, which grew into a sonic blueprint that would endure up to the reggae age. Some of Studio One's most prominent artists of the period included Alton Ellis, The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Jackie Mittoo, Delroy Wilson, Marcia Griffith and Ken Boothe, plus the ever-evolving, post-Skatalites studio band The Soul Brothers, then The Soul Venders, and by 1970 The Sound Demension.

With the introduction of reggae, Dodd was no longer on the cutting edge of production techniques by the early '70s, and his frantic recording pace finally began to slow down a bit. Still, his skills were perfectly suited to the roots reggae era, and he continued to produce some of the era's biggest stars: Burning Spear, Horace Andy, Dennis Brown, Dennis Alcapone, and Freddie McGregor, whose early album Bobby Bobylon is widely considered to be one of Dodd's finest latter-day works. 

As roots reggae gave way to dancehall in the early '80s, Dodd initially kept pace via his work with the likes of Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne, Frankie Paul, and Michigan & Smiley, among others. 

However, amid shifts in popular taste and political unrest, he soon decided to move his operations to New York City, opening both a studio and a music store in Brooklyn. He returned to Jamaica on occasion and continued to produce records from time to time, though without the widespread success of old. In 1991, two all-star concerts in Jamaica celebrated Dodd's 35th anniversary in the music business and featured many of his old cohorts; meanwhile, the Heartbeat label, a subsidiary of Rounder, secured CD reissue rights to the vast Studio One catalog, releasing both various-artists compilations and individual artist collections. In 1993, Dodd embarked on a lengthy legal battle to collect unpaid royalties related to samples of material from his vast back catalog that were lifted without credit or permission; by 2000, he'd shifted his attention from individual producers to big-time distributors like the VP label. In 2004 Coxsone returned to Jamaica for a celebration in his honor in recognition for his contribution to Jamaican culture. The storied Brentford Road in Kingston that served as home to his recording studio that was so pivotal to the development of reggae was renamed Studio One Boulevard. Tragically,

Derrick Morgan

Derrick Morgan was born 27 March 1940, Mocho, Claredon, Jamaica. Morgan is a musical artist popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He performed Ska, Rock Steady and Skinhead Reggae. In 1957 Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent show held at the Palace Theatre in Kingston. Morgan entered the recording studio for the first time when Duke Reid was looking for talent to record for his Treasure Isle record label. Morgan cut  "Lover Boy", a.k.a. "S-Corner Rock", and "Oh My".

                                        

In 1960 Morgan became the only artist ever to fill the places from one to seven on the Jamaican pop chart simultaneously. Among those hits were "Don't Call Me Daddy", "In My Heart", "Be Still", and "Meekly Wait.

In 1961 Morgan released the Leslie Kong production of “Don’t You Know”, later titled “Housewives Choice” by a local DJ. This was a duet with Millicent Patsy Todd.

"Housewives’ Choice" began the legendary rivalry between Morgan and Prince Buster, who accused Morgan of stealing his ideas. Buster quickly released "Blackhead Chiney Man". Morgan returned with the classic "Blazing Fire", in which he warns Buster to "Live and let others live, and your days will be much longer. You said it. Now it’s the Blazing Fire". Buster shot back with, "Watch It Blackhead", which Morgan countered with "No Raise No Praise" and "Still Insist". Followers of the two artists often clashed, and eventually the government had to step in with a staged photo shoot depicting the rivals as friends.

Morgan had a major success in 1962 with "Forward March", a song celebrating Jamaican independence from Great Britain

In the mid-1960s, when Ska evolved into the cooler, more soulful Rocksteady, Morgan continued to release top quality material, including the seminal rude boy classic, "Tougher Than Tough", "Do the Beng Beng", "Conquering Ruler", and a cover of Ben E. King’s hit, "Seven Letters". Produced by Bunny Lee. "Seven Letters" is often cited as the first true reggae single

In 1969 Morgan cut the famous skinhead anthem "Moon Hop".

Morgan still performs at Ska revival shows across the world – often backed by Skatalites’s Guitarist Lynn Taitt.

Desmond Dekker

Desmond Dekker was born Desmond Adolphus Dacres on July 16, 1941, in the St. Andrew suburb of Kingston, Jamaica. Following his mother's death, Dekker moved around the country before finally settling in Kingston, where he worked in a welding shop. He began displaying his singing talents while at work, and his co-workers encouraged him to pursue a musical career, particularly in the ska, reggae and rocksteady genres.
In his late-teens, Dekker started auditioning for Jamaican record labels and found success at age 20 after auditioning for Derrick Morgan, who was at that time Beverley's record label's biggest star. Although he was signed to the label in 1961, Dekker did not begin recording until 1963. It was around then that he changed his name and released his first hit in 1963, "Honour Your Mother and Father."

Dekker rose to fame rapidly. With his 1964 hit, "King of Ska," With backing vocals from The Cherrypies known as The Maytals, which made him one of Jamaica's biggest stars.

This was followed by the release of the tracks "Sinners Come Home" and "Labour for Learning”.

Soon after its release, Dekker recruited four men, Clive Campbell, Barry Howard, Carl Howard and Patrick Howard, to be his backup singers; The Four Aces, who later shortened their name to the Aces. The Aces, recorded a number of hits with Dekker, “Rude Boy Train” and “Rudie Got Soul” made Dekker a hero of Jamaica's rough urban 'rude boy' culture.

Desmond Dekker and The Aces recorded a number of Jamaican hits including "Parents", "Get Up Edina", "This Woman" and "Mount Zion". 

The themes of Dekker's songs during the first four years of his career dealt with the moral, cultural and social issues of mainstream Jamaican culture: respect for your parents, religious morality and education. In 1967 he appeared on Derrick Morgan 's "Tougher Than Tough", which helped begin a trend of popular songs commenting on the Rude Boy subculture, which was rooted in Jamaican ghetto life where opportunities for advancement were limited and life was economically difficult.

Dekker's own songs did not go to the extremes of many other popular rude boy songs which reflected the violence and social problems associated with ghetto life though he did introduce lyrics that resonated with the rude boys starting with one of his best-known songs, "007 (Shanty Town)". The song established Dekker as a rude boy icon in Jamaica and also became a favorite dance track for the young working-class men and women of the United Kingdom's Mod scene. "007 (Shanty Town)" was a Top 15 hit in the UK and his UK concerts were attended by a large following of mods wherever he played.

Dekker continued to release rude boy songs such as "It's a Shame", "Wise Man", "Hey Grandma", "Unity", "If It Pays", "Mother's Young Girl", "Sabotage" and "Pretty Africa". Many of the hits from this era came from his debut album, 007 (Shanty Town).

                                         

In 1968 Dekker's "Israelites" was released, eventually topping the UK Single Chart in April 1969 and peaking in the Top Ten of the Us Billboard Hot 100 in June 1969.

Dekker was the first Jamaican artist to have a hit record in the US with a form and style that was purely Jamaican. That same year saw the release of "Beautiful and Dangerous", "Writing on the Wall", "Music Like Dirt (Intensified '68)" (which won the 1968 Jamaica Independence Festival Song Contest), "Bongo Girl" and "Shing a Ling". 

1969 saw the release of "It Mek" which became a hit both in Jamaica and the UK. Dekker also released "Problems" and "Pickney Gal"; both of which were popular in Jamaica although only "Pickney Gal" managed to chart in the UK Top 50. In 1969 Dekker took permanent residency in the UK.

By the end of the 1960s, Dekker had won the Golden Trophy award, presented annually to Jamaica's top singer, five times. His song "007 (Shanty Town)" made it onto the soundtrack of the 1972 Jamaica reggae film The Harder They Come. Dekker moved to England in the early 1970s and signed with Staff Records, an influential new-wave label. Throughout the 1970s, Dekker toured regularly and continued to produce hits. Among them was his version of Jamaica reggae star Jimmy Cliff’s “ You Can Get It If You Really Want”.

Dekker Participated in several collaborations and worked with a ska revival band, The Specials, on an album.

Dekker died of a heart attack on May 25, 2006, at his home in Surrey, England, one week before he was set to begin a European tour. He was 64 years old at the time. Dekker was divorced and survived by two children, a son and daughter.

Phyllis Dillion

Phyllis Dillon was born in 1948 in Linstead, St. Catherine, Jamaica. Dillion began singing in talent contests. It was during a performance at the Glass Bucket Club in Kingston, Jamaica with the group The Vulcans, that Duke Reid's session guitarist Lynn Taitt discovered Dillon.

Dillon was 19 when she recorded her first record for Duke Reid. In 1967, Reid released Dillon's "Don’t Stay Away", an original composition featuring Tommy McCook and the Supersonics as the backing band.

. While most of Dillon’s subsequent recordings would be covers of popular and obscure American songs including Bettye Swann’s "Make Me Yours", Perry Como’s "Tulips and Heather," The Grass Roots’ “Midnight Confessions” and Stephen Stills’s  “Love the One You’re With”.

Another original song, "It’s Rocking Time" would later be turned into the Alton Ellis’ hit "Rocksteady".

While these early recordings demonstrate Dillon's mastery of the Rocksteady sound, a much slower, soulful, response to the sultry weather that made ska's upbeat rhythm and tempo undesirable even impracticable, it was no indication of her greatest performance, 1967’s “Perfidia”, a 1940 song written by Alberto Domínguez and made popular by the Cuban bandleader, Xavier.

Patsy Millicent Todd

Patsy Millicent Todd

For most of the early 1960s, Millicent 'Patsy' Todd was the teen star of Ska. She recorded numerous duets with vocalist Derrick Morgan and Stranger Cole. Her biggest hits with Stranger Cole included the “When I Call Your Name” and “Give Me The Right”, which were done for producer Arthur 'Duke' Reid.

Todd was born in the west Kingston community of Fletcher's Land, the child of a Cuban father and Jamaican mother. She had no recording experience when Derrick Morgan approached her to record “Love Not To Brag” for Reid in 1959. At the time, she was 15 years old and a student at the All Saints All-Age School.

Her neighbor, Cecil 'Prince Buster' Campbell, was her musical connection. Derrick Morgan, who was three years older, was a rising star. “Love Not To Brag” did well, but it was “Housewife's Choice” that scored big and helped establish Kong's Beverley's Records.

Todd went on to even greater acclaim with Cole, who also hailed from west Kingston. They recorded “When I Call Your Name” and “Give Me The Right” taking off on radio and at dances.
Derrick Morgan and Patsy Todd also recorded "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" and "Feel So Fine"

Other recordings included "Love so divine", "Its So Hard Without You", and "Don't Want To be Hurt" with Stranger Cole.

Todd also recorded as a solo act for producer Sonia Pottinger, and performed with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires in the US. She was among a handful of female acts that stood out in the Ska period. As the Ska craze waned, Todd felt it was time to call it a day. "We weren't being paid, it was like working for nothing. Artists were getting something like £5 a side those days," she explained. Todd has not been given her due as a pioneer, but says she has never felt slighted. "To be honest, it's not something I ever think about," she said. Her last major performance took place in 2005 at the popular Stars R Us oldies series in Kingston, on which she reunited with Morgan and Cole.

The Soulettes

The Soulettes were a Vocal trio comprised of Rita Marley, Marlene Gifford and her cousin Constantine 'Vision' Walker. One day Rita found out that the Wailers passed by their house everyday. She decided to talk to them and when they passed by the next time, they sung, "What's Your Name" by Sam & Dave. Peter Tosh invited them afterwards to come to the studio. In 1964 The Soulettes began recording for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One. In 1964 they cut "Friends And Lovers" with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as backing vocals. Rita Anderson of that trio pairs with Bob on a duet called "Oh My Darling" also in 1964 and  “Sugar and Spice” with Roland Al and the Soul Brothers. 

 

 

They make occasional stage show appearances, but concentrated primarily on daily rehearsals to polish their sound, influenced in particular by the harmonic style of the Impressions. In 1965 The Soulettes began releasing singles with Lee Perry. “Please Don’t Go”, “That Ain’t Right”/”One More chance”, and “opportunity” in 1965

In 1966 they released “A Deh Pon Dem”, “Lala Lover”, “I Want To Be”, and “Nice Time”/” Play Play play” with The Wailers.

 

During 1966 The soulettes also released  “Don’t Care What people Say”/”Tighten Up”, “Doctor Dick” with Lee Perry, and “Rub & Squeeze” also with Lee Perry, and “Baby Come On Home” with Tony Gregory

 

“Dum Dum” followed these singles in 1967

In 1968 the group lost a member, so Nora Dean joined Rita and Cecile Campbell. They released "King Street" and "Barbwire" in 1969.

Regrettably, as the group was about to tour Canada in support of their hit, "Let It Be", Nora was taken ill and replaced by Hortense Lewis. 

In 1969 the lineup was revised: Rita Marley, Hortense Lewis and Cecile Campbell. In 1970 they released an LP called "Jamaica Magic" with the mento singer Lloyd Wilks. The LP includes tracks include 4 familiar mento selections (like Banana Boat (Day-O) / Star-O), plus 8 originals written by Cornel Lumiere. The music is best described as easy listening as played by a jazz combo. The last recording found was “Same Thing” in