Published:Thursday | March 9, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The name Noel Simms may mean little to many persons, but once the name Skully is mentioned, most people, especially those in the vintage music circles, would know exactly who is being referred to.Skully created history in Jamaican popular music when...
Published:Tuesday | March 7, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
One of the seminal figures in reggae music, Johnny Golding, founder and publisher of Swing Magazine, the 'bible' of the burgeoning reggae music industry in the late 1960s to 1980s, celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday, February 26, in Bahir Dar,...
Published:Thursday | March 2, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The names Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler are somewhat interrelated insofar as it relates to popular music. Both men played important roles in helping each other to establish their careers.Both men also played important roles in establishing the...
Published:Friday | February 17, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Suggestive lyrics, or what some Jamaicans call slackness, have permeated Jamaican popular music for years, dating as far back as the mento era. The phenomenon has again been brought to the fore during the current running of the annual Grounation...
Published:Thursday | February 2, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
With technological advances on the upsurge and hundreds of small independent record companies springing up in America after World War II, aspiring black artistes and singing groups found convenient outlets to express their musical talents. A number...
Published:Friday | January 27, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Last Thursday, January 26, legendary Jamaican record producer Clement 'Sir Coxson' Dodd would have been 85 years old. Although Dodd's fame owes a lot to people like Jackie Mittoo, Delroy Wilson, and engineer Syd Bucknor, there is no denying that...
Published:Friday | January 20, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Songwriting is one of those aspects of Jamaican popular music that has been given scant respect. More often than not, it is the singers and the musicians that get the credit for the success of a recording, while the composers live in obscurity....
Published:Friday | January 20, 2017 | 10:08 AMRoy Black
The first annual Pre-Valentine's Day Red Rose for Gregory stage show takes place at the Constant Spring Golf Club on Sunday, February 12. It promises to be a never-to-be-forgotten experience that will feature some of the biggest stars currently in...
Published:Friday | January 13, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The works of the Chin's Calypso Sextet from the golden age of mento music and particularly the production skills of Ivan Chin for the group, bring into sharp focus the contribution made by several Chinese-Jamaican record producers to Jamaican...
Published:Thursday | January 5, 2017 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Alerth Rockford Bedasse was central to the mento era of Jamaican music. He was the lead vocalist and chief music arranger for perhaps the most popular mento aggregation: The Chins Calypso Quintet. Along with Count Lasher, Harold Richardson and The...
Published:Friday | December 30, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
December 25 is perhaps the most important date on the calendar. It was the day Christ was born and it is celebrated worldwide. It also marks the birth date of the Music Diaries in...
Published:Friday | December 30, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
As we exit the month of December 2016 and move into January 2017, we again remember the enormous contributions that Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke made to popular music internationally and the strange coincidences that dominated their lives.Both months are...
Published:Tuesday | December 27, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Known for their scintillating performances at home and abroad, top deejay Big Youth and reggae artiste and actress, Sister Carol, will be the headline acts to kick-start the commencement of the legendary Twelve Tribes of Israel's year of golden...
Published:Friday | December 23, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Music has become a part of almost every event, activity or celebration on earth. It is almost impossible to make a success of any event without some kind of musical accompaniment.Christmas celebrations and praises for the birth of the newborn King,...
Published:Friday | December 16, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The Jamaican guitarist Dwight Pinkney is known to many as an extraordinary talent who has thrilled millions worldwide with his guitar skills. Pinkney, who has completed 50 years in the music business, has played guitar on hundreds of Jamaican hit...
Published:Friday | December 9, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Jamaica gave to the world some six to seven different genres of music, more than any other country, with perhaps the United States being the only exception. It is nothing short of amazing when one considers Jamaica’s size compared to much...
Published:Friday | December 2, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Horace Andy belongs to a fraternity of singers that made Studio 1 the University of Ska and Rocksteady music during the 1960s and early 1970s.Entering the fray shortly after other stalwarts like Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Bob Andy, Delroy Wilson, Bob...
Published:Thursday | November 24, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
When Alton Ellis recorded Girl I've Got a Date at The Treasure Isle Studios in the mid-1960s, it may very well have been the inspiration behind at least two other recordings that made musical history in popular music. The recording was also one of...
Published:Friday | November 18, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The generally accepted view that the Clarendonians, a popular Jamaican recording duo of the 1960s, first recorded for Clement Dodd's Studio 1 label, runs contrary to a story related to me by Peter Austin, one half of the duo, during an interview...
Published:Thursday | November 17, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Overseas acts comprise close to a third of the on-stage performers at the upcoming One World Ska and Rocksteady Music Festival slated for the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Saturday, November 26. Of the 14 acts down to perform, two are from...
Published:Friday | November 11, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Just over a week ago - November 4, we observed the eighth anniversary of the passing of one of one of the pioneers of soca music, Byron Lee, and in tribute, the Music Diaries looks back at some of Lee's contribution to popular music.The Chinese-...
Published:Thursday | November 3, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
The success of the Jamaican barber Shawn Powis in the award-winning documentary, The Fade, rekindles memories of Pierino Roland Como, better known as Perry Como, one of the earliest and smoothest...
Published:Thursday | October 27, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
One of the most topical issues in music circles last week surrounds the celebrations connected with the 72nd birth anniversary of one of Jamaica's most celebrated music icons, the late Peter Tosh.The main celebration took the form of a tribute...
Published:Tuesday | October 25, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Some of the world's top performers in the ska and rocksteady music genres will be on stage at the first Annual One World Ska and Rocksteady Music Festival, scheduled to take place at the Hope Road-based Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in...
Published:Thursday | October 20, 2016 | 12:00 AMRoy Black
Although 'Smokey' Robinson was easily one of the main cornerstones of Motown Recording Company, the success of the institution and the immortalisation of the label, 'Motown', owes a lot to the exceptional array of talents that passed through its...
