CLINTON LINDSAY » Entries tagged with "Millie Small"
MILLIE SMALL : JAMAICA’S TRAILBLAZER!
Millie Small— THIS year, singer Millie Small celebrates more than 50 years of musical history. Her My Boy Lollipop was an international hit in 1964. It was a ska cover of American singer Barbie Gaye’s minor hit, My Girl Lollipop . Small’s version went to number two in the United Kingdom and United States and made her an overnight star. The Clarendon-born singer’s song also broke ska big in the UK where it was embraced by working-class white … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, Featured
LOOKING BACK – HOW JAMAICA’S POPULAR MUSIC FLOODED THE OVERSEAS MARKET IN THE 1960’s!
By Roy Black— Laurel Aitken— Laying the foundation for the dissemination of Jamaica’s popular music to the outside world is the focus of this retrospective. Last week, the Music Diaries paid tribute to Jimmy James, one of the entertainers who were central to that process. James, however, was by no means alone. In fact, his role of opening the floodgates for the arrival of a multitude of Jamaican stars in the United Kingdom may have been overshadowed by several others, with Laurel Aitken, Millie Small, Desmond Dekker, Wilfred ‘Jackie’ Edwards, Prince Buster, record producer Chris Blackwell and record label owner Emile Shalit, being the main contenders. It all happened between 1960 and 1967. Laurel Aitken was the first to make the move when he migrated to the United Kingdom (UK), in 1960, to capitalize on … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS
RICHIE STEPHENS IS BUILDING A SKA NATION!
By Howard Campbell— Richie Stephens and the Ska Nation Band.– The ska craze had died down in Jamaica when Richie Stephens (Stephenson) was born in 1966. Though recognized as one of dancehall’s elder statesmen, he has always been a ska man at heart. “I grew up seeing people dancing happily to ska. I always wanted to have a band of nine musicians with me out front doing my thing,” he told the Jamaica Observer. Stephens fulfilled that dream by … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS
ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING FILM-MAKER, BARRY MORROW, YEARNS TO DO MOVIE ON BOB MARLEY!
BY HOWARD CAMPBELL—- Top: Barry Morrow on the set of his latest film, Smitten, in northern Italy. Bottom: Reggae legend Bob Marley— IT was the summer of 1974 and, according to film-maker Barry Morrow, “every long-haired youth in the US was digging (Eric) Clapton’s hit, I Shot The Sheriff ”. Not long after, those youth, which included Morrow, discovered that the song was written and originally done the previous year by Bob Marley and The Wailers. Yesterday was 35 years since Marley died from cancer at age 36. I Shot The Sheriff struck a chord with Morrow, who later won an Academy award for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer of the 1988 film, Rain Man. By mid-1974, Marley had completed Natty Dread, his first solo album which would be released in October that year by Island Records. In … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS
SONNY ROBERTS – A PIONEER OF JAMAICAN MUSIC IN ENGLAND GETS HIS DUE RECOGNITION!
By Howard Campbell— Top: Sonny Roberts Bottom: Millie Small, Chris Blackwell and Wilfred Jackie Edwards– OF the many Jamaicans who made their mark in the British music industry during the 1960’s and 1970’s, Sonny Roberts may be the most unheralded. Roberts finally gets his due this evening at the 18th Tribute To The Greats show at the Chinese Benevolent Association in St Andrew. Dubbed ‘The British Connection’, it honours a number of Jamaicans who helped put Caribbean music on the map in the United Kingdom. Roberts, who moved to the UK in the late 1950s, was the first Jamaican to open a recording studio in that country. Though he rubbed shoulders in those early days with other pioneers including Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Trojan Records founder Lee Gopthal, Roberts’ trailblazing feats is not as … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
A SALUTE TO THE “BRITISH CONNECTION” IN KINGSTON, AUGUST 1!
By Howard Campbell— (From left) Keith Goodison; producer Sonny Roberts; Dandy Livingstone, singer/producer; emcee and radio personality Norma Brown-Bell; and organizer Kingsley Goodison at the launch of Tribute To The Greats at Cuddy’z in New Kingston, on Thursday evening.— MEMORIES of Swinging Sixties London filled Cuddy’z in New Kingston Thursday evening, where the 18th Tribute To The Greats was launched. Set for August 1 at the Chinese Benevolent Association’s headquarters in St Andrew, this year’s event is dubbed ‘The British Connection’. It recognizes Jamaican artists, music producers, sound system operators and record company owners who made their mark in the United Kingdom. Three of the awardees were at the function: producer Sonny Roberts, who operated Planetone and Orbitone Records, singer/producer Dandy Livingstone and singer Pam Hall. Guest speaker Clyde McKenzie told the gathering that the Jamaican … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
“CHEERLEADER” CRACKS BILLBOARD TOP TEN, GOES GOLD FOR OMI!
By Kevin Jackson— Omi— SINGER Omi has broken into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in the United States, making him the seventh Jamaican artist to do so. The Felix Jaehn remix of his 2012 single, Cheerleader, jumps from number 11 to number seven this week. The single is in its eighth week on the main Billboard singles list, and its 12th week at the top of Billboard’s Digital Reggae Singles chart. To date, Cheerleader has sold over 641,098 copies in the US and has been certified gold. Omi (real name Omar Passley) joins an elite list of Jamaicans who have made the Billboard 100. The others are: * Millie Small (in 1964 with My Boy Lollipop, which reached number two); * Desmond Dekker and the Aces (in 1969 with Israelites which reached … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
REMEMBERING THE LEGACY OF DESMOND DEKKER!
Desmond Dekker— At the crack of dawn on Labor Day earlier this week, thousands of Jamaicans embarked on their various chores, totally oblivious of the fact that one of the most iconic musical figures – Desmond Dekker, who labored incessantly to develop and internationalize Jamaica’s popular music – had passed away on that same date back in 2006. Dekker, perhaps, had very few equals insofar as it relates to bringing Jamaica’s music to the attention of an international audience. He was the first to have created a real impact with the reggae recording Israelites (originally titled Poor Mi Israelite), even before Bob Marley’s forays of the early 1970’s for producer Chris Blackwell. Millie Small, some five years before Dekker made his mark, had set the stage with the ska-oriented piece My Boy Lollipop. Although considered Jamaican, it … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
THE DOCUMENTARY “WOMEN IN REGGAE” LOOKS AT BRITISH FEMALE SINGERS!
Top: (L) Janet Kay & (R) Kofi Bottom:L-R Sandra Cross, producer Donald Harper , Carroll Thompson—- A documentary about the woman’s role in British reggae is expected to be released in early 2016. Women in Reggae is the title of the project being produced by Trelawny-born Donald Harper, who has worked in the music industry since 1990. The 52-year-old Harper is an associate tutor at the University of Leicester. Women in Reggae is part of a thesis for his PhD. It focuses on first-generation British singers such as Janet Kay, Sandra Cross, Carroll Thompson and Kofi who made a mark during the late 1970s and the 1980s. “Interestingly, my first inclination was to develop a documentary project around females in reggae in general, regardless of territory. As you can imagine, this would be a massive undertaking,” … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
NEW BOOK SALUTES THE “SONG BIRDS – PIONEERING WOMEN IN JAMAICAN MUSIC!”
By Howard Campbell— Top: WHEN it comes to the history of early reggae, Heather Augustyn’s interest has no bounds. For the past decade, the American journalist/teacher has written extensively on the music’s roots—-. Songbirds: Pioneering Women of Reggae is her latest literary effort. Released in September, it is Augustyn’s look at the role women played in the formative years of Jamaican music. The Indiana native interviewed several of these trailblazers including My Boy Lollipop singer Millie Small and Enid … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
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