Roy Shirley

Ainsworth Roy Rushton Shirley (18 July 1944 – July 2008), better known simply as Roy Shirley, and also known as King Roy Shirley and The High Priest, was a Jamaican singer whose career spanned the ska, rocksteady and reggae eras, and whose "Hold Them" is regarded by some as the first ever rocksteady song. He was also one of the original members of The Uniques.

Biography

Shirley was born on North Street in Kingston, Jamaica, on 18 July 1944, and grew up in Trench Town, where he attended the Boys Town school, and after singing in his local church choir began his career performing in talent contests. His second prize performance on Vere Johns' talent show brought him to the attention of then Minister of Culture Edward Seaga and bandleader Byron Lee, who gave him work on shows that they promoted.

Slim Smith

Slim Smith (born Keith Smith, 1948, Kingston, Jamaica, died 1973) was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide (1997), Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".

Biography

Smith first came to prominence as a member of the Victors Youth Band, who were highly praised at the 1964 Jamaican Festival. He subsequently became a founding member and lead vocalist of The Techniques, who recorded primarily with Duke Reid for his Treasure Isle label. In 1964 they recorded several songs for Byron Lee, two of which, "Don't Do It" and "No One", were included on the The Real Jamaica Ska LP released by Epic Records and co-produced by Curtis Mayfield. After the Techniques disbanded in 1965, he formed The Uniques, who released a handful of singles including the R&B influenced "Do Me Good" released on Ken Lack's Caltone records in 1966.

In 1969 Slim Smith commenced recording for Prince Buster and Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label, the main rival to Duke Reid. His Studio One recordings brilliantly highlight his passionate, soulful voice, which had an almost manic edge, and confirm him as one of Jamaica's greatest singers. His hits from this period include "The New Boss", "Hip Hug" and "Rougher Yet", many of which were later compiled for the album Born To Love. In 1967 he formed a new version of The Uniques, and commenced his association with producer Bunny Lee. They topped the Jamaican hit parade with "Let Me Go Girl", but after recording one album, Absolutely The Uniques, Smith left the group, staying with Lee to concentrate on a solo career.

Glen Adams

Glen Adams (27 November 1945 – 17 December 2010) was a Jamaican musician, composer, arranger, engineer, producer, based since the mid-1970s in Brooklyn, New York City.

Career

Adams' mother was from Kingston and his father from St. Vincent; the two met while working in Curaçao. Adams' first break in the music business came as a teenager, when he appeared as a singer in a vocal group on Radio Jamaica's Opportunity Knocks show hosted by Vere Johns. Later performing on the same show as a solo singer which led to appearances on cabaret shows and performances in Kingston and St. Andrews at weekends. Adams' older sister Yvonne was also a popular singer and he was spotted by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd while rehearsing a song that she had written called "Wonder Thirst". Coxsone took him into the Federal Recording Studio to record the track in 1960. Although not officially released as a single at the time, the song became a popular dub plate on sound systems, and the title of the song became his nickname.

Craig David

Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1999 featuring on the single "Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut album, Born to Do It, was released in 2000, after which he has released a further five studio albums and worked with a variety of artists such as Tinchy Stryder, Kano, Jay Sean, Rita Ora and Sting. David has 14 UK Top 10 singles, and six UK Top 20 albums, selling over 13 million records worldwide as a solo artist.

David has been nominated for twelve Brit Awards: three times for Best British Male, and twice received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Early life

David was born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Tina (née Loftus), a retail assistant at Superdrug, and George David, a carpenter, and grew up in the Holyrood estate. David's father is Afro-Grenadian and David's mother is Anglo-Jewish and related to the founders of the Accurist watch-making company; David's maternal grandfather was an Orthodox Jew and his maternal grandmother a convert to Judaism. David's parents separated when he was eight and he was raised by his mother. He attended Bellemoor School and Southampton City College.

Bits and Pieces

"Bits and Pieces" is a song by 1960s quintet The Dave Clark Five. The single hit number two in the UK and number four in the US. The song was a success in other countries too. It was number two in Australia and number one in Canada and Ireland. It reached number four in the Netherlands. In Germany it only reached the 20th place though.

Lead vocals are sung by Mike Smith, who also wrote the song. The song is in antiphonal style, Mike Smith singing a solo line and the whole group responding. The drums have a very prominent part in the accompaniment.

Robert Christgau, writing in 1969, called the song "a wonderfully serviceable rock throwaway, raucous and meaningless, perfect for shouting into the night."

Cover versions

The Jax, better known as Buster, released a cover version as a single in 1980.

The Supremes recorded two Dave Clark Five songs, "Bits and Pieces" and "Because", on their 1964 album A Bit of Liverpool (ignoring the fact The Dave Clark Five came from Tottenham instead of Liverpool).