Jo Jo Hookim

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JoJo Hookim (Joseph Hoo Kim, 1942 – 20 September 2018) was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Born to parents of Chinese and Chinese-Jewish heritage, Joseph Hoo Kim grew up in the Maxfield Avenue area of Kingston. He was the oldest of four brothers (to Ernest, Paul and Kenneth), who during the 1960s were involved in the jukebox and slot machine industry. In 1970, after the Jamaican government declared the gambling games illegal, Joseph and Ernest decided to turn to the music business and launched a sound-system named Channel One. In 1972, impressed by the rootsy style of producer Bunny Lee, Joseph decided to set up the Channel One Studios on Maxfield Avenue (West Kingston). Working on a four-track machine, Syd Bucknor became Lee's first sound engineer. One year later he was replaced by Joseph's brother Ernest. By this time they also had their own pressing plant and label-printing workshop. To gain experience, Hoo Kim decided to give every volunteer producer a free try. Working alongside the Hookims was the deejay I-Roy. Though they produced some strong records (Don't Give Up the Fight by Stranger & Gladdy — their first production, I Dig You, Baby by Alton Ellis, and Leroy Smart's Blackman), they did not meet with success until the mid-1970s. The studio used a house band, the Revolutionaries, from 1975, based around drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, and a rotating lineup of other players which included keyboard player Ansel Collins, and saxophonist Tommy McC

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