R.I.P Desmond Dekker - 1941-2006

[Brandon Allin]

Desmond Dekker passed away this morning at the age of 64. Dekker, who was highly regarded as the "ska father", was the best-known Jamaican musician outside of his country, and one of the most popular within it. R.I.P. Desmond Adolphus Dacres: July 16, 1941 - May 25, 2006.

Biographical source: Wikipedia

[IAmAmazing]

Who is this guy?
please dont yell at me cuz i dont know.

[Rxbandit22]

Who is this guy?
please dont yell at me cuz i dont know.

Go look it up you idiot, google it.


RIP , the ska father.

[Brandon Allin]

Who is this guy?
please dont yell at me cuz i dont know.
Desmond Dekker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born: July 16, 1941
Kingston, Jamaica
Occupation: Singer and songwriter
Website: http://www.desmonddekker.com/

Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Adolphus Dacres in Kingston, Jamaica on July 16, 1941) is a ska and reggae singer and songwriter. Together with his backing group, The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had the first international Jamaican hit with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 (Shanty Town)" (1967), and "It Mek" (1968).

Before the ascent of Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker was the best-known Jamaican musician outside of his country, and one of the most popular within it. He was orphaned as a teenager. Dekker began working as a welder, singing around his workplace while his coworkers encouraged him. In 1961, he auditioned for Coxsone Dodd (Studio One) and Duke Reid (Treasure Isle). Neither were impressed by his talents, and the young man moved on to Leslie Kong's Beverley record label, where he auditioned before Derrick Morgan, then the label's biggest star. With Morgan's support, Dekker was signed but did not record until 1963, because Leslie Kong wanted to wait for the perfect song. Dekker's "Honour Your Father and Mother" was to be that song.

"Honour Your Father and Mother" was a hit, and was followed by "Sinners Come Home" and "Labour for Learning", as well as a name change (from Desmond Dacres to Desmond Dekker). His fourth hit, however, made him into one of the island's biggest stars. It was "King of Ska", a rowdy and jubilant song on which Dekker was backed by The Cherrypies (also known as The Maytals). The song remains well known among ska fans. Dekker then recruited four brothers, Carl, Patrick, Clive and Barry Howard, who became his backing band, known as The Four Aces.

Dekker and the Howards recorded a number of hits, including "Parents", "Get Up Edina", "This Woman" and "Mount Zion". Until 1967, Dekker's songs were polite and conveyed respectable, mainstream messages. In that year, however, he appeared on Derrick Morgan's "Tougher Than Tough", which helped begin a trend of popular songs glamourizing the violent rude boy culture. Dekker's own songs did not go to the extremes of many other popular tunes, though he did introduce lyrics which 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, and also became an established hero in the United Kingdom's mod scene. "007 (Shanty Town)" was a Top 15 hit in the UK, and he toured the country with a posse of mods following him.

Dekker continued with songs in the same vein, such as "Rude Boy Train" and "Rudie Got Soul", as well as continuing with his previous themes of religion and morality in songs like "It's a Shame", "Wise Man", "Hey Grandma", "Unity", "It Pays", "Mother's Young Girl" and "Sabotage". His "Pretty Africa" is a long-standing favorite among his fans, and may be the earliest popular song promoting repatriation. Many of the hits from this era came from his debut album, 007 (Shanty Town).

In 1968, Dekker's "Israelites" was released, appearing on both the US and UK charts, eventually topping the latter and peaking in the Top Ten of the former. He was the first Jamaican performer to enter US markets with pure Jamaican music, though he never repeated the feat. That same year saw the release of "Beautiful and Dangerous", "Writing on the Wall", "Music Like Dirt", "Bongo Girl" and "Shing a Ling".

1969 saw the release of "It Mek", which first saw only lukewarm success but was re-recorded and became a hit both in Jamaica and the UK. He also released "Problems" and "Pickney Gal", both of which were popular in Jamaica, but saw only limited success elsewhere.

In the 1970s, Dekker spent most of his time touring and moved to the UK, where he continued to record. Among his best known releases of this period was "You Can Get It If You Really Want", written by Jimmy Cliff, which Dekker had not wanted to record but was convinced by Leslie Kong. Kong, whose production had been an instrumental part of both Dekker's and Cliff's careers, died in 1971, and both his protegé's were lost for a period before returning to music.

Dekker continued recording, but with only limited success, until he began working with the production duo Bruce Anthony in 1974. His first hit with the pair was 1975's "Sing a Little Song", which was a British Top Ten. Dekker was unable to follow its success, however, and did not chart in the UK for some time, except for the top 10 recharting of "Israelites" in the UK in 1975. Dekker also found only a limited audience in Jamaica.

At the end of the 1970s, Dekker signed with Stiff Records, a punk label linked with the Two-Tone movement, a fusion of punk and ska. He recorded an album called Black & Dekker, which featured his previous hits backed by The Rumour, Graham Parker's backing band. His first single was "Israelites", a Top Ten Belgian hit, and was followed by "Please Don't Bend", Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Book of Rules". His next album was Compass Point, produced by Robert Palmer. Though Compass Point did not sell well, Dekker was still a popular live performer, and he toured with The Rumour. In the early 80s, as the Two Tone movement died out, he saw his fortunes dwindle, and he declared bankruptcy in 1984.

Only a single live album was released in the late 80s, but a new version of "Israelites" reawakened public interest in 1990, following its use in a Maxell ad. He re-recorded some old singles, and worked with The Specials for 1992's King of Kings's, which used hits from Dekker's musical heroes, including Derrick Morgan.

Desmond Dekker has also recently colaborated on a remix version of his classic "Israelites" with Reggae artist Apache Indian

Desmond Dekker is referenced in the Rancid song "Roots Radical" in the lyric, "The radio was playing/Desmond Dekker was singing/On the 43 bus as we climb up the hill"

[XxLoserDanxX]

Go look it up you idiot, google it.


RIP , the ska father.

wow you need to chill, he asked because he didnt know. im sure he didnt mean any disrespect.

[Jonathan Lally]

Go look it up you idiot, google it.


RIP , the ska father.

don't need to be such a dick about it, son. I didn't know who he was either, so I guess I'm just an idiot also.

[IAmAmazing]

O, i see y Brandon posted this then.
Im sure this guy influenced alot of ska out there.

Also...thanks for sticking up for me guys

[Scott Weber]

Yeah seriously, I had no idea who this guy was either. It'd probably mean more to the majority of our users if you gave a brief explanation in the news post, Brandon.

[thesewalls]

yea jonathan is an idiot too!!!!!!!!!!

[cahrishurr]

Go look it up you idiot, google it.


RIP , the ska father.

way to be a dickhead, geez

[asamovie]

rest in peace.

[Brandon Allin]

Yeah seriously, I had no idea who this guy was either. It'd probably mean more to the majority of our users if you gave a brief explanation in the news post, Brandon.
Done.

[romantic rights]

Go look it up you idiot, google it.


RIP , the ska father.


wow. way to be an ass.


man.... that sucks he died though :(

[PJ1336]

today is also the day bradley nowell died back in '96

[Brandon Allin]

today is also the day bradley nowell died back in '96
What a terribly sad day it is.

[danielplaysbass]

I honestly cannot believe that people didn't know who he was, dang.

such an amazing musician, RIP

[Ruggiero2oo8]

Rip

[Jonathan Lally]

I honestly cannot believe that people didn't know who he was, dang.

such an amazing musician, RIP

so amazing that no one knew. damn, that's the amazing I want to be also. kidding.

[forshadows]

i find it somewhat sickening that all you "scenesters" on this site know who JT whatever-the-fuck is from Hawthorne Homo and Bert from The Used and all those worthless pieces of shit are, and then turn around and say "Desmond Dekker, who the fuck is that? I'm a scenester, I usually know everyone's name, so I can look cool and talk to them at shows, but who the fuck is this guy?"

I'm sure you people like to say "oh I listen to a ton of music" to flex your "scene cred" but then when a real legendary musician comes along, you have no idea who it is.

The music scene is so ass-backwards nowadays that it is very fucking depressing.

People deserving recognition get none, and people who regurgitate the same shit over and over get recognition to the very mention of their name warrants 80 responses per thread

Desmond Dekker was legendary and I will miss him. It sucks that his death was the only reason for you people to be aware of his existence in the very first place.
chill the fuck out.

[El_Jeffe]

this is really devastating
Desmond was truly a musical hero in my eyes and has influenced so much of what i listen to today
the tunes the man created sound as fresh today as the day they had been written
much love

[sweetmik]

i find it somewhat sickening that all you "scenesters" on this site know who JT whatever-the-fuck is from Hawthorne Homo and Bert from The Used and all those worthless pieces of shit are, and then turn around and say "Desmond Dekker, who the fuck is that? I'm a scenester, I usually know everyone's name, so I can look cool and talk to them at shows, but who the fuck is this guy?"

I'm sure you people like to say "oh I listen to a ton of music" to flex your "scene cred" but then when a real legendary musician comes along, you have no idea who it is.

The music scene is so ass-backwards nowadays that it is very fucking depressing.

People deserving recognition get none, and people who regurgitate the same shit over and over get recognition to the very mention of their name warrants 80 responses per thread

Desmond Dekker was legendary and I will miss him. It sucks that his death was the only reason for you people to be aware of his existence in the very first place.

well said...at least towards the end.

[operator]

Did anyone else think at first this was refering to Wednesday night's episode of LOST?

[Scott Weber]

i find it somewhat sickening that all you "scenesters" on this site know who JT whatever-the-fuck is from Hawthorne Homo and Bert from The Used and all those worthless pieces of shit are, and then turn around and say "Desmond Dekker, who the fuck is that? I'm a scenester, I usually know everyone's name, so I can look cool and talk to them at shows, but who the fuck is this guy?"

I'm sure you people like to say "oh I listen to a ton of music" to flex your "scene cred" but then when a real legendary musician comes along, you have no idea who it is.

The music scene is so ass-backwards nowadays that it is very fucking depressing.

People deserving recognition get none, and people who regurgitate the same shit over and over get recognition to the very mention of their name warrants 80 responses per thread

Desmond Dekker was legendary and I will miss him. It sucks that his death was the only reason for you people to be aware of his existence in the very first place.
Settle the fuck down. Not everyone's musical upbringing was the same as yours. It's not about scene-cred or looking cool, it's about what you grew up listening to and what you're exposed to. I find your response sickening, personally.

[brandon new]

i find it somewhat sickening that all you "scenesters" on this site know who JT whatever-the-fuck is from Hawthorne Homo and Bert from The Used and all those worthless pieces of shit are, and then turn around and say "Desmond Dekker, who the fuck is that? I'm a scenester

uh, didnt you just contradict yourself, you little scenster you.

p.s.
hawthorne heights has sold more records than your band. and you listen to them

p.s.s
the used has also sold more records than your band. and you listen to them also

[jamison1386]

hh and the used suck, selling records doesnt necessarily mean the band has any talent or deserves the credit they get (key word: necessarily), sometimes, for example, hh and the used, they appeal to emo and/or young teens, they have no talent at all, but they still become famous cuz millions of kids listen to them....im sure dd sold more records the both of them combined, cuz he lasted for freakin decades, unlike hh and the used will....and i listen to metal/hardcore mostly, and even i know who desmond dekker is....freakin legendary....why would you post a comment on this thread if you dont know who he is? not sayin if you dont know him that you're an idiot, just sayin that you shouldnt post on something about someone that you dont know....RIP desmond dekker

[IAmHolocaust]

Shit.

Rest In Peace, our ska father.

[Frequency]

RIP man.

[anothernobody]

Why argue about who knows who he was, this man was a legend and if you missed out on that theres no need to comment.

R.I.P

[IAmAmazing]

i find it somewhat sickening that all you "scenesters" on this site know who JT whatever-the-fuck is from Hawthorne Homo and Bert from The Used and all those worthless pieces of shit are, and then turn around and say "Desmond Dekker, who the fuck is that? I'm a scenester, I usually know everyone's name, so I can look cool and talk to them at shows, but who the fuck is this guy?"

I'm sure you people like to say "oh I listen to a ton of music" to flex your "scene cred" but then when a real legendary musician comes along, you have no idea who it is.

The music scene is so ass-backwards nowadays that it is very fucking depressing.

People deserving recognition get none, and people who regurgitate the same shit over and over get recognition to the very mention of their name warrants 80 responses per thread

Desmond Dekker was legendary and I will miss him. It sucks that his death was the only reason for you people to be aware of his existence in the very first place.

actually I think HH and The Used also suck, but u really need to stop being an ass just because someone dosent know who someone is.

[fugitive_alien]

I remember hearing the "Israelites" tune somewhere but really have no idea who the guy is.
But RIP.

I actually read that as John Dekker first. (mild dyslexia)

on another note i think 64 is a pretty young age to die. considering now in the uk you have to be 68 to get your state pension!