Prince Buster

Born May 24 1938, Kingston, Jamaica. Died September 8, 2016, Miami, Florida, USA. After following original selecter The Great Sebastian he was hired by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd to help on his Down Beat sound system, eventually helping Dodd identify the singles that Duke Reid was importing for his rival system and assisting production of his recordings. His very first recording session in 1960 produced "Oh Carolina", one of the all-time classics of Jamaican music, with vocals by the Folkes Brothers and added musical accompaniment from Count Ossie. Inventive and innovative for the times, the record still sounds every bit as exciting. Soon went on to establish his own own Voice Of The People sound system, record label and shop. Buster produced countless records featuring either himself or virtually every top act of the time backed by the Prince Buster's All Stars, initially Buster's Group, defining from blues/shuffle origins a huge contribution to the ska era with classic after rousing classic, first on his [l=WildBells] and [l=Buster Wild Bells] labels, followed by [l=Voice Of The People], [l=Soulsville Center], [l=Islam], [l=Olive Blossom Records], [l=Prince Buster] and [l=Prince Buster Records Shack] labels, which were concurrently released in the UK on [l=Blue Beat], [l=Fab] and his own name UK label, moving gradually into rocksteady and reggae. Prince Buster also enjoyed repeated success thanks to the undying respect bestowed by generations of ska revivalists that saw him make a comeback virtually every decade, starting with the ska revival craze of 1979-80 when UK groups Madness, The Specials, The Beat, The Selecter and Bad Manners all paid tribute.