Susan Cadogan ~ Althea & Donna ~ Janet Kay
Janet Kay Sings A Top Note In The Legendary Lovers Rock Tune “Silly Games” That Is A Thing of Natural Beauty & Wonderment
Five: Susan Cadogan ~ Hurts So Good, 1975. Written By The Wonderfully Raucous, Outrageous And Revolutionary Songstress Millie Jackson In 1973, Cadogan’s Version Reached No.4 In 1975. She Worked With Reggae Music Legend Lee ‘Scrath’ Perry. She Also Worked Intermittently As A Librarain At The University of The West Indies For Thirty Years. This Detail Helps Breakdown The Stereotype That Members of The Black Community Are Not Interested In Books And Learnin’, And Only Love Music. It Is Important To Have Greater Promotion of This Side of The Story.
Six: Althea & Donna, Uptown Top Ranking, 1978. A One Hit Wonder, Which Is Now A Classic. The BBC Reports That This Record Was Championed By The Late Legendary, Likeable, And Edgy Alternative Radio One DJ John Peel, Who Was Always Scoutin’ New Interestin’ Music Talent Back In The Day.
Seven: Janet Kay ~ Silly Games, 1979. Janet Entered The Guiness Book of Records As The First Black British Female Reggae Artist To Have A Recognised UK Reggae Hit (It A Reached No.2 In The Charts And Has Grown And Grown Ever Since To Become A Cultural Musical Classic) @Janet Kay. As A Talented Lace Maker She Is Featured In A Number of Fabric Craft Books. She Is Also An Actress And Has Appeared In A Number of Black Drama And Comedy Productions, Includin’ The Comedy No Problem And More Recently Steve McQueen’s Small Axe Series (Based On A Powerful Jamaican Proverb). As Sited In Everal McKenzie’s Excellent Book ‘Jamaica Proverbs & Culture Explained’ ~ “Small Axe Can Chop Down Big Tree” @smallaxe The Famous Top Note In Ms Kay’s Silly Games Is A Thing of Natural Beauty & Wonderment. On The (Slow) Dancefloor Many Always Try But Few Ever Achieve It.
Dennis Brown ~ Sugar Minnot ~ Gregory Issacs
Eight: Dennis Brown ~ Money In My Pocket (But I Just Can’t Get No Love). Bob Marley Called Dennis Brown “The Crown Prince of Reggae” And Declared Him One of His Favourite Reggae Artists. Dennis Started Out Singin’ Aged Just 9 Years Old. He Sadly Died of A Collapsed Lung Aged Just 42.
Nine: Sugar Minnot ~ Good Thing Goin’, 1981. This Is Another Reggae Classic Which Fills The Dancefloor. The BBC Credited Sugar Minnot As Havin’ A Gift For Re-writtin’ Pop Songs To A Reggae Beat And Startin’ That Very Well Known Tradition of Makin’ Reggae Versions of Pop Songs. This Song Was Originally Written For Michael Jackson. He Died In 2010 In St Andrews Parish Jamaica University Hospital Aged Just 54, Having Had A Long History of Heart & Chest Complaints.
Ten: Gregory Issacs ~ Night Nurse. This Is A Slow Dance, Reggae Classic, Floor-Filler. Issacs Loved His Style & Fashion, Often In A Suit, Shoes And A Fedora Hat. They Called Him The Ruler. Alas He Died From Lung Cancer Aged Just 59.
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