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Artist
The Skatalites
12+ albums
skareggaerocksteadyjamaicandub
about
The Skatalites are a Jamaican music group that played a major role in popularising ska, the first truly Jamaican music created by fusing boogie-woogie blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, mento, calypso, and African rhythms. They recorded many of their best known songs, including Guns of Navarone, in the period between 1964 and 1965, as well as played on records by Prince Buster and many other Jamaican artists. The founding members of the group were Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, Lloyd Brevett, Lloyd Knibb, Lester Sterling, Don Drummond, Jerome “Jah Jerry” Haynes, Jackie Mittoo, Johnny Moore and Jackie Opel. Trombonist Drummond's composition, Man In The Street, entered the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. He was not only the Skatalites' busiest composer, but was the most prolific in all of Ska, with at least 200 tunes to his name by 1965. On January 1, 1965, Drummond was jailed for the murder of his girlfriend, Anita 'Marguerita' Mahfood, and in August that year, the Skatalites played their last show. The break-up resulted in the formation of two supergroups, Jackie Mitto and the Soul Brothers (later the Soul Vendors and finally Sound Dimension) and Tommy McCook and the Supersonics. Drummond died in the Bellevue Asylum on May 6, 1969 at age 37. In June 1983, the Skatalites reformed for a reunion performance at the Sunsplash festival in Montego Bay in July. Between 1985 and 1988, the core members of the Skatalites emigrated, and eventually coalesced in the northeast of the United
top songs
albums
Ball Of Fire
Guns of Navarone: The Best of the Skatalites
Foundation Ska
From Paris With Love
Ska Kings of the First Wave with the Skatalites, The Ethiopians, And Don Drummond
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Legendary Skatalites in Dub
Hi-Bop Ska
The Legendary Skatalites In Dub
Lucky Seven
Roots Party
Greetings From Skamania
On The Right Track