Gregory Issacs, the Cool Ruler
One of
Jamaica's most beloved vocalists whose career stretched over 30 years.
From the heady days of reggae through lovers rock, a genre he virtually
invented, his talent reached into the modern age. Born in the
Fletcher's Land area of Kingston, Jamaica, on July 15, 1951, Isaacs
arrived in the music business via the talent show circuit, a tried and
true formula for many of the island's budding singing stars. Byron Lee
was the first in the industry to spot his talent and brought him and
Winston Sinclair into the studio to record the duet "Another
Heartbreak" in 1968. Sadly, it went nowhere, and Isaacs decided
to try
his fortunes with a new vocal trio, the Concords. They set up home at
Rupie Edwards' Success label, and over the next couple of years
released a number of singles, including one with Prince Buster, but
none caught the attention of the Jamaican public.
In 1970, the
Concords folded and Isaacs struggled on alone. His initial
self-productions were similarly unsuccessful, while further cuts with
Edwards did no better. Between 1973 and 1976
alone, the singer released more material than most artists do in a
lifetime, virtually all of it timeless classics. Isaacs' early albums
inevitably gathered up strings of these hits, while usually also
including a few new songs. By now, Isaacs
was too big a talent to ignore, and in 1978 he signed with Virgin's
Frontline label. That same year, the singer had a featured role in the
classic Rockers movie. Inexplicably, however, as Isaacs was poised on
the brink of international success, he failed to set the rest of the
world alight. His debut Frontline album, the excellent Cool Ruler,
barely ruffled a feather outside Jamaica. It did, however, provide most
of the material for Slum: Gregory Isaacs in Dub, which boasted fat
rhythms by the Revolutionaries, keyboardist Ansel Collins with Prince
Jammy, and Isaacs himself behind the mixing board. Cool Ruler's
follow-up, 1979's Soon Forward, was filled with hits that would soon
become classics. The Lonely Lover,
and its follow-up, 1981's More Gregory, both boast the Roots Radics and
a host of Jamaican hits that range from lovers rock to deep roots and
on to the emerging dancehall sound. No wonder the singer was a
hands-down success at the first Reggae Sunsplash. It was at this point
that Island stepped up to the plate and signed the singer to their
Mango imprint.
On the Mango
label Isaacs immediately repaid his new label's faith with his biggest
hit of all, "Night Nurse." The
song titled his Mango debut, another masterpiece, and again featured
the steaming Roots Radics. Amazingly, as the song spread around the
world, the singer sat whiling his time away in a Jamaican jail as the
result of a drug arrest. He was released later in 1982 and immediately
entered the studio to record Out Deh
with producers Errol Brown and Flabba Holt. Once again able to
take the stage, Isaacs played a series of awe-inspiring shows over the
next year, captured on both 1983's Live at Reggae Sunsplash and the
following year's Live at the Academy Brixton albums. The Ted
Dawson-produced Easy and All I Have
Is Love, Love, Love, for
example, certainly have their charms, but are hardly crucial. But that
didn't mean the hits had dried up. Those 500 records are albums only,
not singles, and the shops (and charts) continued to overflow with
Isaacs' 45s. And the rise of ragga just added hot new producers to the
singer's packed recording diary.
In 1987 Isaacs
collaborated with the equally sweet-singing DJ Sugar Minott for the
Double Dose album. Isaacs swiftly found himself a dancehall hero. It
was during this period that Isaacs also recorded an album for King
Tubby. Warning boasts the magnificent rhythms of the Firehouse Crew,
and a dark atmosphere of foreboding slinks through the entire set. It
was not released at the time and only came to light after the great
man's murder in 1989. By then, Isaacs had already stormed the world,
digital or otherwise, with the 1988 Gussie Clarke-produced "Rumours" . The masterful Red Rose for Gregory boasts a
clutch of hits beside equally sublime non-45 tracks, all cut for
Clarke. The pair's follow-up, 1989's I.O.U., is arguably an even
stronger album. That same year, Clarke reunited Isaacs and Brown for
the No Contest album. Isaacs continued to cut seminal singles with
Clarke, while also recording with a host of other producers. In 1990,
the singer joined forces with Niney Holness for the excellent On the
Dance Floor album. The next year saw Fatis at the controls for Call Me
Collect, which boasts Sly & Robbie and Clevie, while Bobby
Digital
adds his unique production sound to 1991's Set Me Free. And having
inked a deal with RAS in the U.S., that label's head, Doctor Dread,
oversaw 1992's memorable Pardon Me.
Philip Burrell was in the
producer's chair for 1994's Midnight Confidential album.
The singer began the
new millennium with aplomb on Father and Son, which, true to the title,
features Isaacs and his son Kevin.
The duets are gorgeous, while the younger Isaacs is given plenty of
room to prove that his talent is equal to his dad's. The next year, I Found Love marked the second
time the two worked together. In between times, the singer continued to
impress audiences live, and his recorded output continued sporadically
during the remainder of the decade. However, by 2007 he had reportedly
lost his teeth due to crack cocaine addiction, and he was later
diagnosed with lung cancer, which spread and ultimately took his life.
Gregory Isaacs died at his home in London on October 25, 2010 at the
age of 59.
Luciano
A superstar
in his native Jamaica, Luciano combines his love of
God and beauty into a soulful, spiritual blend of rock and
R&B-tinged reggae. Born Jepther McClymont in Davey Town on October
20, 1964, he began his musical career singing in church and moved to
Kingston to pursue music professionally. After McClymont had worked
with prominent reggae producers like Herman Chin-Loy and labels like
Aquarius and Sky High, Homer Harris of Blue Mountain
changed McClymont's name. Now known as Luciano, he released singles
for labels like Big Ship, New Name Muzik, and Sky High, and began
working with longtime producer Phillip "Fattis" Burrell. However, the
pressures of constant recording and performing caused him to leave the
music scene in 1993 to regroup and reconsider his life. His return,
1995's Where
There Is Life reflected Luciano's sabbatical with
its spiritual, contemplative style, and found critical acclaim for its
artistic integrity and stylistic diversity. Luciano's sacred approach to
life and music fills his other albums, including 1996's After
All, 1997's Messenger, and 1999's Champions
in Action. Great Controversy was issued two years
later, as was A New Day. Serve Jah was issued in 2002,
followed by 2003's Tell It from the Heart. Lessons of Life from 2003 teamed the
singer with the hot production crew Fat Eyes, while 2005's Upright featured the
production of DJ Flava and marked Luciano's first release on
the Kingston label. His 2006 release Child of a King was introduced by
the Jamaican hit single "Remember When." God Is Greater Than
Man
arrived in 2007, with Jah Is My Navigator following in early 2008.
Cocoa Tea
Cocoa Tea was born Calvin Scott on September 3, 1959 in Rocky
Point, a small town in Clarendon Jamaica. Tea was one of the few
early dancehall stars to carve out a consistent, productive career as
the genre evolved over the years. His cool-toned, laid-back vocals were
perfect for sweet, smooth lovers rock, and gave him a distinct identity
amid his more aggressive peers. Still, he was also capable of
toughening up his sound on his cultural protest material, which was
often sharply perceptive. He sang in his church and school choirs as a
youth, and made his first recordings for producer Willie Francis in
1974 at the mere age of 14; one single, "Searching in the Hills," was
released under his given name, but went nowhere. He spent the next few
years working as a racehorse jockey, then as a fisherman; during the
latter occupation, he began to rediscover his musical ambitions,
performing with the traveling sound systems that passed through local
dancehalls.
In 1983, he moved to Kingston and adopted the performing name Cocoa
Tea, after the Jamaican term for hot chocolate. He soon met top
dancehall producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and recorded a series of hit
singles that included "Rocking
Dolly," "I Lost My Sonia," "Informer," and "Can't Stop Cocoa Tea."
His first album, Weh Dem a Go Do...Can't Stop Coco Tea, was released in
1985 and compiled many of his previous successes (a slightly different
version, Rocking Dolly, was later issued in the U.S.). Lawes moved his
operation to New York, and King Jammy became Tea's primary producer
just as he was beginning to expand his focus to Rastafarian lyrical
themes. The results included two albums, 1986's The Marshall and 1987's
Come Again, and hit singles in those two title tracks, "Tune In," and
"Settle Down," among others.
In 1989, a supergroup featuring Tea, Shabba Ranks, and Home T recorded
together under the auspices of both King Jammy and Gussie Clarke. The
resulting album, Holding On, was a major hit in Jamaica, as were the
singles "Pirates Anthem" and "Who She Love." Still an extremely
viable solo artist, Tea recorded the biggest socially conscious hit of
his career to date, "Riker's Island,"
in 1991, and supported it with an album of the same name. His strident
anti-Gulf War commentaries "Oil Ting" and "No Blood for Oil" were
banned on radio in Jamaica and the U.K.; the latter was included on a
second supergroup album, Another One for the Road, for which Cutty
Ranks replaced Shabba. Tea's next major solo hit was the lovers rock
tune "Good Life," produced by
Philip "Fatis" Burrell. He was able to maintain a steady, solid level
of popularity into the late '90s, with hits for Burrell (1996's "Israel King," 1997's King Sporty
cover "I'm Not a King") and Bobby "Digital" Dixon (1995's "Holy Mount
Zion"), plus a collaboration with Cutty Ranks on the 1997 Bob Marley
cover "Waiting in Vain." Much of his mid-'90s material was collected on
Holy Mount Zion, which was released in 1997 by the legendary Motown
label. Further albums included 1998's One Way and 2001's Feel the
Power.
U-Roy
Known as the Originator, U-Roy wasn't the first DJ, nor even the first
to cut a record, but he was the first to shake the nation and he
originated a style so distinctly unique that he single-handedly changed
his homeland's music scene forever. Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town,
Jamaica on September 21, 1942, he received his famous moniker from a
young family member unable to correctly pronounce Ewart and the
nickname stuck.
U-Roy's rise to fame was slow, and took almost a decade. He began back
in 1961, DJing at the Doctor Dickie's Dynamite sound system.
Eventually, he moved onto the Sir Mike the Musical Thunderstorm outfit,
and then in 1968 to the Sir George the Atomic sound system. The
mechanic was just beginning his musical experiments that eventually led
him to develop dub, and at the moment he was giving his proto-dub
experimental discs to a handful of his favorite DJs. The following
year, King Tubby launched his own Hi-Fi sound system and brought in
U-Roy as his top DJ. By then, the DJ had established himself as one of
the premier talents of the sound system scene. Producer Keith Hudson
was the first to recognize the possibilities and took U-Roy into the
studio in late 1969 to cut the song "Dynamic Fashion Way." However, the
tape lay in the studio while the producer went off on a trip to the
U.S. and the DJ went off to try his luck elsewhere. Lee Perry paired
U-Roy with Peter Tosh and recorded "Selassie," a version of Ras Michael
& the Sons of Negus' "Ethiopian National Anthem." U-Roy cut
one more single with Perry ("O.K. Corral") then moved on to Keith
Hudson, for whom he recorded "Dynamic Fashion Way," and Bunny Lee, with
whom he cut "King of the Road." He next linked with producer Lloyd
Daley for two singles, "Scandal" and "Sound of the Wise," which like
their predecessors,created a stir amongst the grassroots sound system
crowds, but barely registered beyond them.
John Holt would change all that. One night early in 1970, he attended a
sound system party and caught U-Roy DJing. The singer was blown away,
not least of all because the chatterer was exhorting the enthusiastic
crowd over Holt's own hit "Wear You to the Ball." The first
release, "Wake the Town," did exactly that and an aroused Jamaica
swiftly sent the single to the top of the charts. That song was a
version of Alton Ellis' "Girl I've Got a Date"; the next, "Rule the
Nation," was cut over the Techniques' "Love Is Not a Gamble," and that
single was as prophetic as the first. It, too, slammed up the chart, as
did its follow-up, "Wear You to the Ball." For a month and a half, all
three singles boldly stood astride the top three spots in the Jamaican
charts.
Every producer in town was now vying to record DJs, pillaging through
their back catalogs for appropriate rhythms. In U-Roy's wake came a
flood of young hopefuls, Dennis Alcapone, I- Roy, Big Youth, Scotty,
Lizzy, U-Roy Junior, and many, many others. Many of these early
progenitors of the DJ scene, U-Roy included, can by found on the Trojan
label compilation With a Flick of My Musical Wrist. U-Roy himself would
never again place three singles at the top of the chart, but he
continued to have smash hits and made his way happily around the
studios. He recorded a number of notable songs for producer Alvin
Ranglin, including "Way Down South" (a version of Billy Dyce's hit
"Take Warning") and "Nana Banana." Working with Glen Brown, he cut
"Number One in the World" over the much-versioned "Dirty Harry" rhythm,
while also recording intriguing offerings for Niney Holness and Lloyd
Daley.
In 1982, he appeared at Reggae Sunsplash for the first time and a song
from his powerful set can be heard on the Best of Festival -- Day One
compilation. In 1983, the DJ was behind the superb King Stur-Gav Hi Fi
Lee Unlimited album, a live session recorded at his own sound system
that featured a clutch of crucial DJs from Dillinger to the young
Beenie Man, his two favorite protégés Charlie Chaplin and
Josey Wales, as well as U-Roy himself. He returned to Reggae Sunsplash
in 1985, 1987 and1990.
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