Admiral Bailey (born Glendon Bailey,
Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican
dancehall deejay
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
who enjoyed his greatest success between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. He now lives in Jamaica. He has been described as "the hottest dancehall star of the late 1980s".
[Kevin O'Brien Chang & Wayne Chen (1998) ''Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music'', Ian Randle Publishers, , p. 189]
Career
Bailey had worked on
U-Roy
Ewart Beckford OD (21 September 1942 – 17 February 2021), known by the stage name U-Roy, was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of toasting.Jo-Ann GreeneU-Roy Biography, AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2013. U-Roy was known for a melodic style ...
's ''King Sturgav Hi-Fi''
sound system and was taken to
King Jammy
Lloyd James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub ma ...
's studio in Waterhouse by
Josey Wales.
[Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p.6-7] He started a string of hits with a duet with
Chaka Demus, "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer", which was followed by "Politician" (based on
Larry Marshall's 1969 hit "Throw Me Corn"), "Chatty Chatty Mouth", "Ballot Box" (with Josey Wales) and, in 1987, the
slack "Punaany" (with a lyric that included "Gimme Punaany, Want punaany, Any punaany is the same punaany"), which was initially banned from radio play until it was re-recorded with a less offensive lyric, retitled "Healthy Body".
His debut album, ''Kill Them With It'', was released in 1987 and he went on to record for producers such as Papa Biggy and
Donovan Germain. He recorded further for
Penthouse Records Donovan Germain (born 7 March 1952 in Jamaica) is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era.
Biography
Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The V ...
("Help") in 1990 and
Bobby Digital ("Ah Nuh Sin") in 1991. In 1993, he began working with Jammy again. In the 1990s he became known as a "clean" deejay, eschewing the slackness of many of his contemporaries.
He recorded with
Byron Lee
Byron Lee ,
''Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 October 2008.
on some of the latter's big
soca hits, and even starred in television commercials for banks.
Discography
* ''Kill Them With It'' (1987) Jammys/Live & Love
* ''Dancehall Showcase Vol. 2: M.C.'s Clash'' (1987) Mango (with
Tonto Irie
Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Comanche or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and telev ...
)
* ''Undisputed'' (1988) Dynamic
* ''Ram Up You Party'' (1988) Powerhouse
* ''Science Again'' (1989) Rohit
* ''Born Champion'' (1991) Jammys/Live & Love
* ''Original'' (1991)
VP
* ''Mi Big Up'' (1992) VP
* ''Undisputed Champion'' (1993) Rhino
* ''Best of Reggae: Live'' (2006) Super Power
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Admiral
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Jamaican dancehall musicians
Jamaican reggae musicians
Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica
VP Records artists
Rhino Records artists