Deaglan
New Member
DESMOND DEKKER & the Aces
Red Box, Harcourt St, Dublin 2
Tel: 01 4780225
Thursday March 17th.Doors 7.30pm
Tickets €24.50 available Ticketmaster and all usual outlets.
Reggae legend Desmond Dekker will play his first Irish show in over five years when he takes to the The Red Box stage on St Patrick’s Day - Thursday March 17th.
Famed for the hits ‘Israelites’ and ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ amongst others, Dekker will be accompanied by The Aces - an 8 piece band comprised of drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and a horn section. This show is to coincide with the release next month of an anthology CD on Trojan records.
One of the true giants of reggae music, he will be playing hits from across his forty year career.
Desmond Dekker Biography
Born Desmond Aldolphus Dacres in Kingston on 16th July 1943, his family moved to a farm in Danvers Pen in the parish of St. Thomas, where church life and gospel singing was central to Desmond’s upbringing. Sadly orphaned in their early teens, he and brother George returned to Kingston with their younger sister. Desmond then attended Alpha Boys School before becoming an apprentice welder at the South Camp Yard where another young trainee there went by the name of Bob Marley.
Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and Sam Cooke figured amongst young Desmond’s heroes and his workmates often remarked upon his special singing voice, By his teens it was second nature for him to write songs about everyday life in and around Trench Town.
In the early-1960s whilst making steady progress in his day-job, Desmond gradually found the courage to request an audition at Beverley’s – which put out some crucial cuts by artists such as Derrick Morgan and Jimmy Cliff . Getting the ear of the Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong proved to be a character-building process for Desmond: time after time the young hopeful arranged for an audition, only to be turned away at the appointed hour because Leslie was far too busy cooking up his next Jamaican chart-topper.
Finally the normally mild-mannered Desmond blew a fuse and stormed in on a private rehearsal session at Beverley’s and demanded to be heard. Such a bold move could have landed him in serious trouble, but instead it got him respect: Leslie and Derrick Morgan immediately recognised a big raw talent.
Derrick was soon using Desmond for backing vocals on his records, but it would be another two years before Kong was persuaded that young Dacres had himself come up with a couple of songs worth recording and selling.
Honour Your Mother And Father and ‘Madgie’ climbed to the top of Jamaica’s charts in 1963. As a result of this, Beverley’s offered him a two-year recording contract and, after much soul-searching and time spent in prayer, Desmond decided to try and earn a living from royalty points not welding joints. Graciously, his boss reassured him that there would always be a job for him back at the Yard. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Now renamed Desmond Dekker, his follow-up, ‘Sinners Come Home’ and ‘Labour For Learning’ also charted but this early success was then really consolidated by the classic King Of Ska hit on which he was backed by the Cherrypickers, better known as the Maytals. As 1963 drew to a close
Get Up Edina was another hit in Jamaica and backing him this time were the Four Aces - Winston Samuels, Patrick Johnson, Clive Campbell and Barry Howard. When Patrick quit in 1966 they became simply The Aces.
ONTO THE WORLD STAGE.
British distribution for Desmond’s very early singles came through Chris Blackwell, a Jamaican patrician who moved to London in 1962 and started up Island Records.
He was to help make Dekker into the world’s first reggae star. Looking around at the rude boy violence that was enveloping Trenchtown, Dekker wrote ‘007(Shanty Town)’ in 1966, seeing it climb to no. 14 in the UK singles chart. It would take another two years for Israelites to consolidate Desmond’s mainstream chart success in Britain and America, but back in Jamaica he was now the hottest act: two follow-up singles to 007 Rudie Got Soul and Rude Boy Train topped the charts over there and did quite well in the UK. Then he won the 1968 Jamaican Song Festival with Music Like Dirt (aka Intensified ).
He hit big when‘Israelites’ became a career-defining hit, reaching the US Top 10 in 1969. The early-1970s saw some big changes take place in Desmond’s life and career, some of them very traumatic. Firstly, he had moved permanently to Britain and was doing a lot of touring as well voicing over instrumental backing tracks sent over from Jamaica.
His next single was a real turnaround in that it was not written by him. Recording and releasing Jimmy Cliff’s You Can Get It If You Really Want as a single was producer Leslie Kong’s idea and Desmond took some persuading: ‘I enjoy singing my song in my words’ was his initial response but eventually he backed down and Kong was proved right . Cliff’s song was huge hit for him reaching number 2.
However, tragedy struck when his mentor Kong died of a heart attack. This left Dekker to record a series of lacklustre albums in the mid 70’s.
The late-1970s were quiet years for Desmond with just a few single releases out in Jamaica. Then came the 1979 2-Tone ska revival led by Jerry Dammers and bands such as the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, and the Beat.
Desmond’s Beverley era music was back in fashion (fused with punk) and he was soon signed to punk label Stiff. The result was an album called Black and Dekker featuring some re-recordings of his hits with Graham Parker’s group, the Rumour. This band backed him in the studio and on the road as he toured extensively during the 2-Tone boom. Robert Palmer produced his next album 1981’s Compass Point.
Some financially hard times lay ahead for Desmond when that boom went bust in the early-1980s. He left Stiff and re-joined Trojan for some good live-album releases. Then an interesting twist of fate came during 1990: this took the unusual form of a TV commercial for Maxell audio tape which with its witty use of Israelites as a jingle (‘Me ears are alight…..’) - raised Desmond’s profile once more.
Then in 1993 he went into the studio with the Specials to record the King Of Kings album on Trojan where he did covers of his heroes such as Derrick Morgan. This was followed by a solo project Moving On in 1996.
The new millennium finds Desmond Dekker youthful as ever and willingly performing to the delight of his huge and faithful following, which now spans two generations. The dance moves are still fluid and the voice mature and strong.
Red Box, Harcourt St, Dublin 2
Tel: 01 4780225
Thursday March 17th.Doors 7.30pm
Tickets €24.50 available Ticketmaster and all usual outlets.
Reggae legend Desmond Dekker will play his first Irish show in over five years when he takes to the The Red Box stage on St Patrick’s Day - Thursday March 17th.
Famed for the hits ‘Israelites’ and ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ amongst others, Dekker will be accompanied by The Aces - an 8 piece band comprised of drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and a horn section. This show is to coincide with the release next month of an anthology CD on Trojan records.
One of the true giants of reggae music, he will be playing hits from across his forty year career.
Desmond Dekker Biography
Born Desmond Aldolphus Dacres in Kingston on 16th July 1943, his family moved to a farm in Danvers Pen in the parish of St. Thomas, where church life and gospel singing was central to Desmond’s upbringing. Sadly orphaned in their early teens, he and brother George returned to Kingston with their younger sister. Desmond then attended Alpha Boys School before becoming an apprentice welder at the South Camp Yard where another young trainee there went by the name of Bob Marley.
Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and Sam Cooke figured amongst young Desmond’s heroes and his workmates often remarked upon his special singing voice, By his teens it was second nature for him to write songs about everyday life in and around Trench Town.
In the early-1960s whilst making steady progress in his day-job, Desmond gradually found the courage to request an audition at Beverley’s – which put out some crucial cuts by artists such as Derrick Morgan and Jimmy Cliff . Getting the ear of the Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong proved to be a character-building process for Desmond: time after time the young hopeful arranged for an audition, only to be turned away at the appointed hour because Leslie was far too busy cooking up his next Jamaican chart-topper.
Finally the normally mild-mannered Desmond blew a fuse and stormed in on a private rehearsal session at Beverley’s and demanded to be heard. Such a bold move could have landed him in serious trouble, but instead it got him respect: Leslie and Derrick Morgan immediately recognised a big raw talent.
Derrick was soon using Desmond for backing vocals on his records, but it would be another two years before Kong was persuaded that young Dacres had himself come up with a couple of songs worth recording and selling.
Honour Your Mother And Father and ‘Madgie’ climbed to the top of Jamaica’s charts in 1963. As a result of this, Beverley’s offered him a two-year recording contract and, after much soul-searching and time spent in prayer, Desmond decided to try and earn a living from royalty points not welding joints. Graciously, his boss reassured him that there would always be a job for him back at the Yard. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Now renamed Desmond Dekker, his follow-up, ‘Sinners Come Home’ and ‘Labour For Learning’ also charted but this early success was then really consolidated by the classic King Of Ska hit on which he was backed by the Cherrypickers, better known as the Maytals. As 1963 drew to a close
Get Up Edina was another hit in Jamaica and backing him this time were the Four Aces - Winston Samuels, Patrick Johnson, Clive Campbell and Barry Howard. When Patrick quit in 1966 they became simply The Aces.
ONTO THE WORLD STAGE.
British distribution for Desmond’s very early singles came through Chris Blackwell, a Jamaican patrician who moved to London in 1962 and started up Island Records.
He was to help make Dekker into the world’s first reggae star. Looking around at the rude boy violence that was enveloping Trenchtown, Dekker wrote ‘007(Shanty Town)’ in 1966, seeing it climb to no. 14 in the UK singles chart. It would take another two years for Israelites to consolidate Desmond’s mainstream chart success in Britain and America, but back in Jamaica he was now the hottest act: two follow-up singles to 007 Rudie Got Soul and Rude Boy Train topped the charts over there and did quite well in the UK. Then he won the 1968 Jamaican Song Festival with Music Like Dirt (aka Intensified ).
He hit big when‘Israelites’ became a career-defining hit, reaching the US Top 10 in 1969. The early-1970s saw some big changes take place in Desmond’s life and career, some of them very traumatic. Firstly, he had moved permanently to Britain and was doing a lot of touring as well voicing over instrumental backing tracks sent over from Jamaica.
His next single was a real turnaround in that it was not written by him. Recording and releasing Jimmy Cliff’s You Can Get It If You Really Want as a single was producer Leslie Kong’s idea and Desmond took some persuading: ‘I enjoy singing my song in my words’ was his initial response but eventually he backed down and Kong was proved right . Cliff’s song was huge hit for him reaching number 2.
However, tragedy struck when his mentor Kong died of a heart attack. This left Dekker to record a series of lacklustre albums in the mid 70’s.
The late-1970s were quiet years for Desmond with just a few single releases out in Jamaica. Then came the 1979 2-Tone ska revival led by Jerry Dammers and bands such as the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, and the Beat.
Desmond’s Beverley era music was back in fashion (fused with punk) and he was soon signed to punk label Stiff. The result was an album called Black and Dekker featuring some re-recordings of his hits with Graham Parker’s group, the Rumour. This band backed him in the studio and on the road as he toured extensively during the 2-Tone boom. Robert Palmer produced his next album 1981’s Compass Point.
Some financially hard times lay ahead for Desmond when that boom went bust in the early-1980s. He left Stiff and re-joined Trojan for some good live-album releases. Then an interesting twist of fate came during 1990: this took the unusual form of a TV commercial for Maxell audio tape which with its witty use of Israelites as a jingle (‘Me ears are alight…..’) - raised Desmond’s profile once more.
Then in 1993 he went into the studio with the Specials to record the King Of Kings album on Trojan where he did covers of his heroes such as Derrick Morgan. This was followed by a solo project Moving On in 1996.
The new millennium finds Desmond Dekker youthful as ever and willingly performing to the delight of his huge and faithful following, which now spans two generations. The dance moves are still fluid and the voice mature and strong.
