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

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

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.