For the illustrated, what stands out are Tony McDermott's classic album covers for recording engineer Scientist. Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires features a cacophony of monsters and ghouls, depicted like a scene from the myth of Orpheus, except the boat sailing down the River Styx supports Scientist and a Jamaican soundsystem.
On the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 170 th Street in New York City's Jamaica, Queens neighbourhood lies a record store with a humble, retro blue and yellow frontage. " VP Records: Miles Ahead in Reggae," it reads. Named after its founders Vincent "Randy" Chin and Patricia "Miss Pat" Chin, the store was first opened by the pair in the Jamaica area in 1979 after they relocated from their home country of Jamaica.
Musician Frank Benbini is most probably known best as the drummer from Fun Lovin' Criminals and a latter incarnation of UB40, although as this documentary (which Benbini executive produced) reveals, he's got a lot of different irons on the proverbial fire; these include a beat combo called Uncle Frank and a reggae group called Radio Riddler. There are other side projects as well, musical and music-adjacent the occasional bit of barbering with an old friend from Leicester with whom he co-owns a salon,
Marvin was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He moved to London as a child and started out playing in various London-based bands. In America, playing with blues and R&B legends like T-Bone Walker, Billy Preston and Ike and Tina Turner. On Feb. 14, 1977, Marvin was invited to join both Stevie Wonder's band and Bob Marley and the Wailers. He accepted Bob Marley's offer and debuted with the band on the acclaimed "Exodus" LP as lead guitarist.
One of London's reggae pioneers is due to receive a blue heritage plaque ahead of this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival. Barrington Von Adams, better known as Daddy Vego, founded his People's Sound System and People's Sound Record Shop in Notting Hill after arriving in the UK from Jamaica in 1956. After playing for seven years at the Roaring Twenties Club in London's West End, he became a central force in the country's emerging reggae scene.