Delroy Wilson

Delroy George Wilson  October 5 1948 – March 6 1995 Kingston, Jamaica

During his time at Boys Town Primary School, Delroy Wilson began recording at the age of thirteen. His first single, “Emy Lou,” was released in 1962 by record producer Clement “Coxson” Dodd. He recorded a number of ska hits during his early years, including the Lee Perry-written “Joe Liges”. Perry also moved on to write “Spit in the Sky”, which was another attack on Prince Buster. There were more singles that followed, including “One Two Three”, “I Shall Not Remove”, “Look Who Is Back Again” (a duet with Slim Smith), and the only anti-Buster song, “Prince Pharaoh,” which featured Dodd himself as the singer. In Jamaica, he was the first child star.

Around the time that ska was transitioning to rocksteady, his voice matured and he produced numerous hits, including one of the first rocksteady records, “Dancing Mood”, “Jerk in Time” (with the Wailers), “Feel Good All Over”, “I’m Not a King”, “True Believer in Love”, “Rain From the Skies”, “Conquer Me” and “Riding for a Fall” are just a few of the songs. In a duet with Ken Boothe on a rhythm originally cut by The Conquerors for Sonia Pottinger, “Won’t You Come Home” has become one of the most popular Jamaican tracks of all time. When he left Studio One, he recorded for other labels, with varying degrees of success, and started his own label, W&C. With tracks such as “This Old Heart of Mine”, “Footsteps of Another Man”, and “Better Must Come”, he enjoyed success with Bunny Lee in the late 1960s and early 1970s.” His double A-side “It Hurts”/”Put Yourself in My Place” was a skinhead favourite and narrowly missed UK chart success. For maverick producer Keith Hudson, he recorded a version of “Run Run”, a song he had originally recorded for Dodd.

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