Desmond Dekker

Desmond Dekker; Desmond Adolphus Dacres actually (* July 16, 1941 in Kingston, Jamaica; † 25 May 2006 in Surrey, England) was next to Laurel Aitken and Prince Buster as well ( but the not quite so well known in the then Ska ) Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff one of the greatest Jamaican ska singer and composer.

Life

Dekker had already lost as a teenager parents. After training at the Alpha Boys School was followed by a teaching and professional activity as a welder. Inter alia Bob Marley he began his musical career in 1963 in the Jamaican capital Kingston. First, the music producer Coxsone Dodd rejected him (Studio One) and Duke Reid from, but then gave him a chance Leslie Kong, and took with him the ska number Honor your Father and your Mother on. A year later, Dekker was accompanied on "King of Ska " from the " Cherrypies ", better known as The Maytals. Dekker then presented his own background vocals troops together: the " Aces ", consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard. Sometimes he was also of the " Four Aces " Easton Barrington Howard and his three brothers, Carl, Patrick, Clive and support. From the mid - to the Endsechzigern Dekker had an impressive series of successes with 20 number one hits in the Jamaican charts.

1967 Dekker sang together with his half-brother George (later of The Pioneers ) in the background on Derrick Morgan's Tougher Than Tough, which is commonly accepted as the first rocksteady song. The song is dedicated to the theme of the Rude boys, rival gangster gangs that wreak havoc in Kingston. This theme was also the focus of Dekkers own, inspired by James Bond films Piece 007 ( Shanty Town), which should be a top 15 hit in the UK. Dekker was a friend of Paul McCartney since he Ob- La -Da let him arise from the so-called " White Album " in song Ob- La - Di, . He finished with Unity in second place at the annual Jamaican Festival Song, which he won with Intensified the following year.

In 1968 he succeeded with his most famous song The Israelites international breakthrough. The song was still being produced in Jamaica and was the first Jamaican worldwide hit. Israelites reached No. 1 in 1969, both in England and in Germany and is a top 10 success in the United States. Theme of the song is the poverty of the population and the resulting violence. The song was followed by It Mek, a top 10 success in Germany and England. It Mek can roughly with " why it happened " to be translated and was inspired by an experience of his sister Elaine, who had fallen in front of her house by a wall and had screamed for ice water.

In the 1970s, Dekker took the written piece by Jimmy Cliff You Can Get It if You Really Want from the movie " The Harder They Come ", which reached number two in England. His Pretty Africa is perhaps the first song that the Rastafarian theme " Back to Africa " is dedicated to. Sing a Little Song of 1975 was once again a top 10 single in England. In the following years, not a great success more should be granted him both in England and in Jamaica. In the era of the "2- Tone Ska ", he released the album "Black & Dekker ", but this was a commercial flop. 1984 even had to declare bankruptcy Dekker. In 1993 he took, together with the 2-Tone band The Specials, the album "King of Kings " on.

Desmond Dekker was since the 1970s in the English county of Surrey at home. He died just two weeks after a gig in Leeds, northern England, on 25 May 2006 at his home in Surrey at the age of 64 of a heart attack, without having previously suffered from heart problems. In June of the same year Dekker wanted to go back on tour. He was divorced and left a son and a daughter.

Discography

Singles

• Honour Your Mother & Father ( 1963)
• Jeserene ( with The Four Aces 1964)
• King of Ska (1964 )
• Rudy Got Soul ( with The Aces 1966)
• 007 ( Shanty Town) (1967 )
• Unity ( with The Aces 1967)
• Hey Grandma ( 1967)
• Rude Boy Train ( 1967)
• Pretty Africa ( 1967)
• Sabotage ( 1967)
• Intensified (Music Like Dirt ) ( 1968)
• Beautiful and Dangerous ( 1968)
• Writing on the Wall ( 1968)
• Bongo Girl ( 1968)
• Shing a Ling (1968 )
• It Mek (1968)
• Israelites (1968 )
• Fu Man Chu ( with The Aces ) ( 1968)
• Problem ( 1969)
• Pickney Gal ( 1969)
• You Can Get It if You Really Want (1970 )
• The Song We Used to Sing ( 1971)
• It Gotta Be So ( 1973)
• Everybody Join Hands (1973 )
• Sing a Little Song (1973, 1975)
• Roots Rock (1977 )
• Rude Boy Train ( 1980)
• Honour Your Mother & Father / B sites (1989/2003)
• The Israelites (feat. General Levy, 1990)

Albums

• Action! (1967)
• This Is Desmond Dekkar (1969 )
• You Can Get It If You Really Want (1970 )
• Black & Dekker (1980 )
• Compass Point (1981 )
• Profiles (1981)
• King of Ska [ Varese ] (1991 )
• Music Like Dirt ( 1992)
• King of Kings (1993 )
• Moving Out (1996 )
• Intensified (1997)
• Writing on the Wall ( 1998)
• Halfway to Paradise (2000)

Compilations

• Israelites (1969 )
• Double Dekker (1974 )
• Sweet 16 Hits (1978 )
• Desmond Dekker and the Aces (1985 )
• 20 Golden Pieces ( 1987)
• Official Live & Rare (1987 )
• Greatest Hits (1988 )
• The Best of & The Rest of Desmond Dekker (1989 )
• King of Ska [ Trojan ] (1991 )
• Rockin ' Steady: The Best of Desmond Dekker (1992 )
• Israelites: 20 Greatest Hits (1993 )
• Black & Dekker / Compass Point (1994 )
• Shanty Town Original ( 1994)
• Archives ( 1996)
• First Time for a Long Time: Rarities ... (1997)
• The Original Rude Boy (1997)
• Israelites: The Best of Desmond Dekker ... (1998)
• Desmond Dekker (2000)
• Best of Desmond Dekker (2000)
• Desmond Dekker and the Aces " Action! " ... (2000)
• Gold ( 2000)
• Israelites: Anthology 1963-1999 (2001)
• The Best of Desmond Dekker: The Israelites (2001)
• Israelites: The Best of Desmond Dekker (2002)
• Rudy Got Soul: The Complete Early Years ... (2003)
• The Essential Desmond Dekker (30 June 2006 )
• This Is Desmond Dekker ( Bonus Tracks ) (22 September 2006)