Desmond Dekker died...

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5018910.stm

Reggae legend Desmond Dekker dies

Reggae singer Desmond Dekker has died suddenly from a heart attack, aged 64.
Dekker, whose 1969 hit Israelites was the first reggae song to top the UK charts, collapsed at his Surrey home.

Manager Delroy Williams said the Jamaica-born performer had seemed fine when they met a day earlier, adding: "I don't think I will ever get over this."

Reggae DJ Daddy Ernie, of Choice FM in London, said: "Any history book that you pick up on reggae, Desmond Dekker's name will have to be in there."

He added: "People like Desmond Dekker only come along once in a lifetime. This is one of the pioneers that has passed away - his place is definitely cemented in reggae history."

Mark Lamarr, presenter of BBC Radio 2's Reggae Show, said: "He probably was the first reggae superstar to have hits outside Jamaica in the US and UK.

"I saw him live dozens of times and he couldn't do a bad show - he was always magnificent."

Peaceful

Mr Williams said Dekker had led the way for reggae stars such as Bob Marley.

"Desmond was the first legend, believe it or not," he said.

"When he released Israelites nobody had heard of Bob Marley - he paved the way for all of them."


HAVE YOUR SAY
Surely only second to Bob Marley in terms of importance of bringing reggae music to the masses
Mitchell Stirling, Rochester, UK
The star was divorced with a son and daughter.
He had been due to perform at the Respect Festival in Prague on 2 June, and numerous dates across Europe during the summer.

His last concert was at Leeds Metropolitan University on 11 May.

"He was at his peak fitness, he had this big tour coming up for this summer and he was looking forward to it - and then that was it," Mr Williams said.

"He died peacefully but it still hurts. I was his manager and his best friend. I don't think anyone knew how close we were - we go back so far."

He added: "I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye properly."

Chart-topper

Dekker was born on 16 July 1941 in Kingston, Jamaica, and began his working life as a welder before turning to singing full-time.


His band Desmond Dekker and the Aces topped the UK charts with Israelites, which also made the US top 10.
He moved to the UK in the '70s, later recording the hit You Can Get It If You Really Want, written by Jimmy Cliff.

The musician's popularity waned in the late '70s and '80s, and Dekker was declared bankrupt in 1984.

But a new version of Israelites was released in 1990 and used in television commercials, boosting the star's popularity.

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/5018910.stm

Published: 2006/05/26 12:53:03 GMT

© BBC MMVI

[chipheadwound]

Fuck, I just found out about this...

We were at his last gig the other week in Leeds... he was full of beans, and it was a great night out. Leather trousers and a huge belt buckle with his name in flashing LEDs... pure class!

Still dedicating songs to the skins as well!

I feel a night of old DD LPs and Appletons rum is in order...

[Bazza]

I saw Desmond Dekker twice back in the late 80s and he put on a great show both times. He'll be sadly missed.


The following article was written by Tony Parsons and appearred in yesterdays Mirror newspaper

SALUTE A TRUE GREAT

REST in peace Desmond Dekker, dead at 64 and gone too soon.

The first worldwide reggae star, he paved the way for a young man who worked next to him as a welder - Bob Marley.

Even more than this, Dekker gave the world its first taste of the magic of Jamaican music.

When he was at No.1 with Israelites in 1969, they called it rocksteady and later ska, and, later still, they called it reggae.

But like Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Toots And The Maytals, what Dekker ultimately made was folk music - sounds from the street by someone who knew them inside out.

The opening lines of Israelites must be among the most famous in music.

"Get up in the morning slaving for bread, sir/ So that every mouth can be fed..."

You understood those lines if you came from Liverpool or London, Kingston Jamaica or Kingston upon Thames.

The only thing that stopped that early reggae being the blues was the sheer joy in the music.

We had never heard anything like it and, in a land where fat, white comedians still routinely told racist jokes on prime-time TV, a generation fell in love with the sound of Jamaica - and nothing would ever be quite the same again.

I was a little white boy in a little white neighbourhood in the 60s and seeing Dekker sing was a lot like watching Ali fight or Pele play football.

The next time some idiot told you that blacks were innately inferior to whites, you simply did not believe them.

That's how the world changes - not with legislation passed by politicians but by touching the minds of men and women or the hearts of their children.

Desmond Dekker did his bit. He was beautiful.