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This is an account of the rise and fall of Studio One, and the
brave attempt to rise again from the damaging image setup after
Dodd passing on May 4, 2004. Damages done by his inexperience and
malicious wife Norma Dodd and her daughters in efforts to make sure
the other of Dodd's children would not receive their fair share of
the estate left behind by Clement Dodd. Mrs. Dodd first damaging
attempt was done by taking from the bank accounts over two hundred
thousand dollars on a weekly basis. This money was stored at her
home in Green Dale located in Spanish Town. She was making sure
that whenever the estate was shared there would be no funds
available. The will left my Mr. Dodd was adjusted after his death
to remove certain family members and forged signature of Dodd done
by Mrs. Dodd was placed on such changes in the will. Mrs. Dodd made
sure that someone would
This new book will get you acquainted with all the notable sound
systems in Jamaica and the rest of the world. The book will be
described as controversial only because it tells the truth and
nothing but the truth, so help whoever reads it. Dancehall was
before the 45RMP record format was invented. The name was then
Danc?in Hall-a place where dance was kept and partygoers danced to
live band music. Later, much later, with the introduction of Sound
System ? Danc?in Hall changed its name to Dancehall in the late
40?s. This book titled ?Dancehall Sound Systems? (The Good, The
Bad, and The Ugliest) is the ?bible? of Sound Systems not only in
Jamaica, but also all over the world. This 13-chapter book covering
over 460 pages is dedicated to four of the country's musical icons;
three of them were foundation members of the Skatalites and are no
longer around -They are Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook, and Don
Drummonds and to Johnny Moore the other living member of this
group. And special dedication to Sonny Bradshaw the only other
living musician included in that pantheon. You will learn of
Jamaica's history, geography, and culture- from Port Royal to
Negril. How and when Kingston became a city. You will experience
the nightlife of early Jamaica when guns were only seen in western
movies. You will get a feel of what a blues dance with a sound
system was like, compared to today's sidewalk systems, dutty wine
and feuding no talents so called Dancehall D.J?s. Introduction It
seems everybody is an expert on almost every subject that any
writer puts on paper. They claim to be professional on what is
professional, even though they have never seen the other side of
what is unprofessional. Whatever they know and see is what they
adopted from the people long gone. Anything that looks, sound, or
act different from their adopted inheritance is classified as
unprofessional. These kind of so called professionals have nothing
to give, or leave to society when they depart their existing life.
This book is about the Sound System History of Jamaica. It is about
the country, the people and the Artistes who made it possible. It
is about the men and women who were instrumental in taking the bold
steps to establish this unique Jamaican entertainment machinery. I
found it possible to divide the history into three parts, "The
Good" "The Bad" and "The Ugliest." Once again our history is
distorted by some of the information put on paper whether in books,
the new modern machinery the internet and comment made by a number
of people who try to fit in an era they don't belong or for the
wants of wanting to belong. Here is a note I read somewhere as
given by someone whom I thought knew the history of the subject in
this book. He claimed, and I quote, that from its genesis as a
public address system (P.A.) for political rallies, the sound
system went on to become the basis of an enterprising dancehall
scene. Here he discussed with others that the sound systems caught
on not only because they provided an alternative to the lack of
dancehall musicians, but also because they were more affordable to
employ than bands. He further stated that because of their low
cost, a group of friends could pool their savings, hire a sound
system, buy some refreshments, and make some extra money by keeping
a dance session and he also said during the same discussion, that
sound systems allowed people who were previously excluded because
of lower-class standing to enter the field of dance promotion and
that the sound systems were the black and poor people's phenomena,
because the black lower classes couldn't afford the band dance, and
this is what they had. All poor people had to do was pay a sound
system man about three or five pounds to bring his equipment, stick
it on the sidewalk, inside the yard, and bring in the boxes of beer
and you have a dance and make some money. End of quo] They always
take cheap shot at Jamaica's people to enhance their standing in
soc
This is an account of the rise and the fall of Studio One, also the
brave attempt to rise again from the damaging image setup after
Dodd passing on May 4, 2004 Damages done by his inexperience and
malicious wife Norma Dodd and her daughters in efforts to make sure
the other of Dodd's children would not receive their fair share of
the estate left behind by Clement Dodd. The funds Mrs. Dodd took
from the banks, (First The Victoria & Blake, Nova Scotia
branch, plus The New Kingston branch of The RBTT) in addition to
opening fictious accounts called "Beneficiary Account" where on
such account she and her daughter were the only two installed
signatures. All the cash drawn from these bank accounts in quick
succession were stored at her resident. After her death during
2010, the money was removed by one of her trusted helper, who was
later fired by her daughter Carol Dodd. Dodd used to play records
to the customers in his parents' shop, In 1954, he set up the
Downbeat Sound System When the American R&B craze ended in the
United States Dodd and his rivals were forced to begin recording
their own Jamaican music in order to meet the local demand for new
music. Initially these recordings were exclusively for a particular
sound system but the records quickly developed into an industry in
their own right. In 1959 he founded a record company called World
Disc. In 1963 he opened Studio One at Brentford Road, Kingston. It
was the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica. Here he
discovered Bob Marley, singing as a part of The Wailers. He gave
them a five year exclusive contract with 20 pounds for each song
recorded. Their song Simmer down, a Dodd production of a Bob Marley
song, was number one in Jamaica in February 1964. Marley was
invited to sleep in a back room at the studio for a while until
Marley left Studio One in 1968. During the late 1960s and early
1970s, the Studio One sound was virtually synonymous with the sound
of Rocksteady, and he attracted some of the best of Jamaican talent
to his stable over this time. Without the rock steady and ska that
he was so involved with there could have been no Reggae music
When I started this project to write an account of Jamaica's Reggae
Heritage, I first wrote a preface, I now suggest you once again
turn to this preface and read it one more time. A little slower,
this time, before you continue to read any further. After the book
was completed during February 2003, I was shocked to have read a
part of a book that was being sold on the market by a Jamaican
writer. I will quote a part of that book as I have read it where
the word Sebastian was repeatedly spell wrong. The next two
paragraphs are from this mistake of a book. As the only survivor of
that early period, Clement Coxsone Dodd is often said to have
invented the sound system concept. But according to the late Count
Matchukie, the first real Dance-hall sound system was Tom The Great
Sebastian, the ?nom de record? of the Chinese hardware merchant
Thomas Wong: ?There were other sets playing about the place, but
Tom was the first sound with an amplifier properly balanced for the
Dance-hall. Tom The Great Sebastian started getting competition
from Sir Coxsone Downbeat, Duke Reid ?The Trojan, ? and Lloyd (The
Matador) Daley. Tom was turned off by the violent rivalry among
systems downtown and opened The Silver Slipper Club at Cross Roads.
One night he committed suicide by gassing himself in his car,
supposedly over financial troubles. Shortly after the Silver
Slipper Club burnt to the ground? End of excerpt from a bad mistake
of a book] Tom (The Great) Sebastian did not own The Silver Slipper
Club. Mr. Ho, who also ran the "Esquire Restaurant" on the same
premises that now is called Silver Slipper Plaza, owned the club.
He employed Tom on a gate percentage basis. The club did not burn
to the ground, but was closed to make way for the Silver Slipper
Plaza. Finally, Tom did not commit suicide over financial troubles,
but over domestic problems. There are a large number of people who
would like to associate themselves with the early history of
Jamaica's music industry. They believe that you had to be standing
on the corner of Luke Lane and Charles Street in downtown Kingston.
Listening and sometimes dance to the sound of Tom The Great
Sebastian (Sound System) Most of these so-called want-to-be were
not old enough to realize what was happening concerning the new
rising sound systems. I was under parent control at that time and
will not lie to prove that I was there at the beginning. I was a
part of the early building of Jamaica's Music Heritage, I
contributed much more than most of these want- to- be's. I lived it
then, not later. I was always a disc jockey, starting with my
mother's RCA (His Master's Voice) table model gramophone. When I
started high school I realize my dreams when I was introduced to
Mr. Thomas Wong (Tom The Great Sebastian) and was taught the finer
points of being a Sound system disc jockey. The lesson I retained
the most was, as he told me. "You should not let the dance crowd
lead you, you have to be the leader, what you play is what they
have to enjoy" I was the third Disc Jockey for the Great Sebastian
Sound System and remained with Tom (The Great Sebastian), playing
at the Silver Slipper Club, Bournemouth Beach Club and many places
where we always performed to pack dance halls. During this period,
I met many Record producers, Artists and other Sound system
operators. It was after Mr. Thomas Wong (Tom The Great Sebastian)
untimely death that I decided to go it alone as a disc jockey. The
Silver Slipper Club closed to make way for the Silver Plaza, during
the late 1960s. I continued to operate The Great Sebastian Sound
System with the help of Mr. Thomas Wong's son. The Great Sebastian
Sound System played at the following nightclubs, The Blue Mist,
Champion House, The Baby Grand, Johnson's Drive Inn and a number of
other dance halls throughout Kingston and the countryside. The
Great Sebastian sound system ended when Mr. Thomas Wong's son
decided to close the Sound system business.
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