Reggae legend Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Dacres) passed today from a heart attack at the age of 64. Most of the younglings out there probably don’t know Desmond’s work, but for those who do know, he will be missed. Dekker was a welder turned musician and the first artist to popularize reggae and Jamaican ska music outside of Jamaica. The song that put him on the map was “King of Ska” a blasting tune of jubilance backed up by The Cherrypies (aka, the Maytals). A legend by all means, his 1968 hit “Israelites” was the first reggae song to top the charts in the US and the UK.
One of my favorite Dekker songs was “You Can Get It If You Really Want” written by Jimmy Cliff. If you have one of your own, by all means, add it in the comment section. I was joking when I said the younglings don’t know about Desmond, because obviously everyone knows Double D. Dekker influenced the Clash and the Sex Pistols with his “rude boy” antics. Finally, when you are named by your buddy Paul on the ‘White Album’, “Desmond has a barrel in the market place, Molly is a singer in the band”, everyone knows who you are. Sing “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”!
(Photo compliments of the Bluebeat Lounge)
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