Play Desmond Dekker Radio
Desmond Dekker
1,571,050 plays (173,988 listeners)
Listening now: titch1100
Desmond Dekker (b.July 16, 1941. d.May 25, 2006), was a Jamaican ska and reggae singer and songwriter. Together with his backing group, The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had the first international Jamaican hit, 
Israelites. Other hits include 007 (Shanty Town) (1967) and It Mek (1968). Before the ascent of Bob Marley, Dekker was the best-known Jamaican musician outside of his country, and one of the most popular within it.
Early days
He was born Desmond Adolphus Dacres in St. Andrew, Jamaica and grew up in Kingston, where he attended the Alpha Boys’ School. After his mother took ill and died, his father moved him to St. Mary’s, and then to St. Thomas, where he apprenticed as a tailor before returning to Kingston and taking a job as a welder, singing around his workplace while his co-workers encouraged him. In 1961 he auditioned for Coxsone Dodd (Studio One) and Duke Reid (Treasure Isle). Neither were impressed by his talents, and the young man moved on to Leslie Kong’s Beverley record label, where he auditioned before Derrick Morgan, then the label’s biggest star.
Early recording career
With Morgan’s support, Dekker was signed but did not record until 1963 because Leslie Kong wanted to wait for the perfect song, which “Honour Your Father and Mother” was felt to be.
Israelites. Other hits include 007 (Shanty Town) (1967) and It Mek (1968). Before the ascent of Bob Marley, Dekker was the best-known Jamaican musician outside of his country, and one of the most popular within it.Early days
He was born Desmond Adolphus Dacres in St. Andrew, Jamaica and grew up in Kingston, where he attended the Alpha Boys’ School. After his mother took ill and died, his father moved him to St. Mary’s, and then to St. Thomas, where he apprenticed as a tailor before returning to Kingston and taking a job as a welder, singing around his workplace while his co-workers encouraged him. In 1961 he auditioned for Coxsone Dodd (Studio One) and Duke Reid (Treasure Isle). Neither were impressed by his talents, and the young man moved on to Leslie Kong’s Beverley record label, where he auditioned before Derrick Morgan, then the label’s biggest star.
Early recording career
With Morgan’s support, Dekker was signed but did not record until 1963 because Leslie Kong wanted to wait for the perfect song, which “Honour Your Father and Mother” was felt to be.
Top Albums
-
This Is Crucial Reggae - Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $7.77
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
New
-
Israelites
Desmond Dekker Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $7.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $6.98
- eBay Search
-
Israelites: The Best Of Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.99
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Top Tracks
| 1 |
|
Israelites
full track
|
|||
| 2 |
|
007 (Shanty Town)
full track
|
|||
| 3 |
|
You Can Get It If You Really Want
full track
|
|||
| 4 |
|
||||
| 5 | |||||
| 6 |
|
It Mek
full track
|
|||
| 7 |
|
||||
| 8 |
|
Pickney Gal
full track
|
|||
| 8 |
|
Unity
full track
|
|||
| 10 |
|
Beautiful And Dangerous
full track
|
|||
| 10 |
|
Rude Boy Train
full track
|
|||
| 12 |
|
Honour Your Mother And Father
full track
|
|||
| 13 |
|
Wise Man
full track
|
|||
| 14 |
|
||||
| 15 |
|
Shoutbox
-
jinxnscooter wrote:
the absolute icon/iconic person in "rocksteady" dearly missed r.i.p. desmond
-
DrSikor wrote:
lol Desmond ADOLPHUS Dacres. the coolest Adolph ever i guess, respect
-
saranellas wrote:
bravissimo..
-
vmasud wrote:
Beautiful music, it puts me at peace
-
teddyrubmyskin wrote:
Not a rude boy, but can totally agree on tunes like these!
-
Tvistyyy wrote:
♥ ♥
-
Himmelhost wrote:
Israelites is damn catchy!
-
mathanretik wrote:
oh ohhhh sevennnnnn
-
thegreatgrigsby wrote:
Happy birthday!
-
chiftelos wrote:
come back, oh baby come back!
-
Tickserliese wrote:
oarh i love it ...so damn classic and genious
-
thatianah wrote:
PERFECT.
-
robertfjr wrote:
I was surprised to see no shouts on Dekker's Fu Man Chu!! My favorite of his songs.
-
scalamalx wrote:
...on a stick...
-
PxUnit wrote:
Uhg, I finally got good versions of Desmond Dekker songs. I had ones that had a bunch of white space between the songs that they wouldn't scrobble. My grandmother loves this guy, hah. Especially Israelites.
-
Psycho_Benny wrote:
genial
-
puella_1906 wrote:
Israelites <3 I love this song.
-
Delikatesike wrote:
good. very good!
-
wildfun wrote:
Oh, Mr. Dekker, you left us too soon. Truly some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard.
-
fredxmertz wrote:
i prefer the older version of Israelites... We Miss You, DD!
Videos
See more
Listeners
-
Hannes08-15
Listening now
to You Can Get It If You… -
MisterMackaye
Listening now
to Get Up Edina -
nkvd-sucks
Top Listener
-
dilda
Top Listener
-
samirtrad
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
cedricberli, iandt125lc, mishkaness and 5 other people added Desmond Dekker to their libraries. 2 hours ago
-
maxmachine77 connected Desmond Dekker to the group Multiculture. yesterday afternoon
-
lisa2603 and 12 other people added Desmond Dekker to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
-
Pamoliita tagged Desmond Dekker with jamaica, rocksteady and ska. Tuesday evening
-
Pamoliita, jasonnmills, scienceme and 37 other people added Desmond Dekker to their libraries. Tuesday evening
-
SKINIKS69 connected Desmond Dekker to the group Skinhead Dancefloor. last week
-
Sparks303, lassiter777, Urinator13 and 6 other people added Desmond Dekker to their libraries. last week
-
famar23 tagged Desmond Dekker with rocksteady, roots reggae, jamaica and 4 other tags. last week
-
jillfleischmann, torresTastic and chrispiss13 added Desmond Dekker to their libraries. last week
-
mishamaruseev tagged Desmond Dekker with rocksteady and ska. last week
Related Journals
-
Albums I Own.
by humorbot |
30 Aug 2009 | 2 comments
-
Tunes on Tuesday!
by MotherBuzz |
18 Aug 2009 | 2 comments
-
Best Reggae Albums Ever
by thomas10 |
13 Jul 2009 | 2 comments
Groups (56)
-
Old School Ska
52 members
-
Jamaican Rocksteady
375 members
-
rock steady
147 members
-
Skinhead Reggae
768 members
-
Original Ska
1,030 members
More Information
- Links
- Labels
Email Newsletter
Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Desmond Dekker from Universal Music.
