Stranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole (born Wilburn Theodore Cole, 26 June 1942)
[Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 335] is a
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...
n singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of
ska in 1962 through to the present (2019).
Biography
Cole was born in
Kingston, Jamaica on 26 July 1942 and nicknamed "Stranger" by his family, as they considered that he didn't resemble any member of his family.
Cole was initially successful as a songwriter, writing "In and out the Window", which was a hit for Eric "Monty" Morris.
[Boehm, Mike (2001)]
StrangeJah in Laguna Reggae Musicians Will Perform at a Benefit to Provide Toys for Children at Orangewood
, ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', 21 December 1988, retrieved 30 August 2009 This success gave him the chance to make his recording debut in 1962, instantly finding success with singles such as "Rough and Tough" and "When You Call My Name" (a duet with
Patsy Todd) for producer
Arthur "Duke" Reid.
[Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 64] Further success followed with singles for Reid through to the mid-1960s, and he also worked with other producers at this time, including
Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (a duet with
Ken Boothe
Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...
on "Worlds Fair"), and
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...
.
Further duets included recordings with
Gladstone Anderson (on "Just Like a River")
[Leggett, Steve "]Stranger Cole Biography
A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified fo ...
, AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
and
Hortense Ellis, the tendency to record duets apparently due to his shyness when it came to singing alone.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s he recorded with several producers, including
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD (23 August 1941 – 6 October 2020), better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records ...
,
Lee "Scratch" Perry, and
Sonia Pottinger.
[Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 66-7] These included further material with Todd as "Stranger & Patsy." In 1971 he emigrated to England, where he toured extensively, and moved on again to Canada in 1973, settling in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
.
He worked as a machinist in the Tonka Toy factory in Toronto and later opened a record store the first Caribbean shop in Toronto's Kensington Market area His first album, ''"Forward" in the Land of Sunshine'', was released in 1976, with a handful of further albums released over the next ten years, mostly on his own label.
In 2006, Cole released his first album in twenty years, ''Morning Train'', a collaboration with
Jah Shaka. Cole is featured in the 2009 documentary ''Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae'', in which he and other stars of the rocksteady era reunited to record a new album of the same name, released in August 2009.
[Braun, Liz (2009)]
A pleasure getting to the roots of reggae
, ''Calgary Sun
The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was acq ...
'', 28 August 2009, retrieved 30 August 2009
Cole's sons, Squiddly and Marcus, followed him into a music career: Squiddly working as a
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...
for artists including
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until ...
and
Mutabaruka
Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...
;
and Marcus Cole (AKA ''KxritoXisen'') producing music for his father.
Discography
Albums
*''"Forward" in the Land of Sunshine'' (1976), Ron Lew
*''The First Ten Years'' (1978), Various Artists, Camelot
*''Capture Land'' (1978), with Chalawa, Green Weenie
*''The Patriot'' (1982), Stranger Cole
*''No More Fussing and Fighting'' (1986), Scorcher
*''Dramatic'' (2003), Stranger Cole & King Banana
*''Bangarang (the Best of)'' (2003),
Trojan
*''Morning Train'' (2006), Jah Shaka Music
*''Fabulous Songs of Miss Sonia Pottinger Vol.1'' (2008), Drum&Bass (Queen Patsy & Stranger Cole)
*''Ska 1959 – 1969'', Stranger Cole
*''Hice Gold'', Wacam
*''Storybook revisited, Stranger Cole ( 2019)
Singles
*"Rough and Tough" (1963), Blue Beat
*"Miss Dreamer" (1963), Blue Beat
*"Stranger at the Door" (1963),
Island
An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...
*"Last Love" (1963), Island
*"We Are Rolling" (1963), Island
*"Morning Star" (1963), Island
*"Thick in Love" (1963), R&B (Stranger and
Ken)
*"When You Call My Name" (1963), Blue Beat (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Senor & Senorita" (1963), Island (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Happy Go Lucky" (1964), Black Swan (B-side of
Theo Beckford
Theophilus Beckford (26 June 1935 – 19 February 2001) was a Jamaican pianist and one of the pioneers of Jamaican popular music during the transition from rhythm 'n' blues to Jamaican ska.
Biography
Beckford was born in 1935 in Trench Town, Kin ...
's "Take Your Time")
*"Uno Dos Tres" (1964), Black Swan
*"Summer Day" (1964), Black Swan
*"Boy Blue" (1964), Black Swan
*"Til My Dying Days" (1964), Island
*"Goodbye Peggy" (1964), Island
*"Out of Many" (1964), R&B
*"I Want to Go Home" (1964), Black Swan (Stranger & Ken)
*"Hey Little Girl" (1964), Black Swan (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Oh Oh I Need You" (1964), Island (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Tom Dick & Harry" (1964), Island (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Yeah Yeah Baby" (1964), Island (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Miss B" (1964), Island (Stranger & Patsy)
*"I'll Forgive You" (1964), R&B (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Millie Maw" (19??), Dutchess
*"Real Real" (19??), Dutchess
*"Love Thy Neighbour" (1965), Ska-Beat (B-side of
Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso OD or Rolando Alphonso "The Chief Musician" (12 January 1931 – 20 November 1998)Thompson, p. 262 was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of the Skatalites.
Biography
Born in Havana, Cuba, Alphonso c ...
's "Nuclear Weapon")
*"When the Party Is Over" (1965), Blue Beat
*"Koo Koo Doo" (1965), Island
*"Run Joe" (1965), Island
*"Pussy Cat" (1965), Island
*"Matilda" (1965), Blue Beat (B-side to Buster's All Stars' "Captain Burke")
*"Seven Days" (1965), Island (B-side to
Baba Brooks' "Independent Ska" – Stranger & Claudette)
*"We Shall Overcome" (1966), Dr. Bird
*"Drop the Ratchet" (1966), Dr. Bird
*"Loving Wine" (1966), Dr. Bird (B-side of
Tommy McCook's "Spanish Eyes" – Stranger &
Hortense
Hortense is a French feminine given name that comes from Latin meaning ''gardener''. It may refer to:
Persons
* Hortense Allart (1801–1879), Italian-French feminist writer and essayist
* Hortense de Beauharnais (1783–1837), stepdaughter of N ...
)
*"You Took My Love" (1967), Dr. Bird
*"Tell It To Me" (1967), Dr. Bird (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Down the Trainlines" (1967) Dr. Bird (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Jeboza Macoo" (1968), Island
*"Just Like a River" (1968), Amalgamated (Stranger Cole &
Gladstone Anderson)
*"Seeing is Knowing" (1968), Amalgamated (Stranger & Gladdy)
*"Love Me Today" (1968), Island (Stranger & Gladdy)
*"(Over and) Over Again" (1968), Island (Stranger & Gladdy)
*"What Mama Na Want She Get" (1969), Amalgamated
*"Glad You're Living" (1969), Duke
*"Pretty Cottage" (1969), Escort
*"Leana Leana" (1969), Escort
*"Last Flight to Reggae City" (1969) Unity (Stranger Cole & Tommy McCook & the Supersonics)
*"When I Get My Freedom" (1969), Unity
*"If We Should Ever Meet" (1969), Unity (B-side of
Lester Sterling's "Bangarang")
*"My Love" (1969), Escort (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Why Did You" (1969), Escort (Stranger & Patsy)
*"Give it To Me" (1969), Camel (B-side of
Delroy Wilson's "Sad Mood")
*"You Should Never Have to Come" (1969), Crab (B-side of
Ernest Wilson's "Freedom Train")
*"Tomorrow" (1970), Escort (B-side of Lloyd Clarke's "Chicken Thief")
*"Everyday Tomorrow" (1970), Camel
*"Loneliness" (1970), Escort
*"Little Things" (1970), Escort
*"Everything With You" (1970), Escort
*"Pussy" (1970), Escort
*"Lift Your Head Up High" (1970), Gas
*"Come Dance With Me" (1970),
Pama
*"Crying Every Night" (1971), Camel
*"Tomorrow" (1971), Clandisc (Stranger & Gladdy)
*"My Application" (1971), Supreme (Stranger & Gladdy)
*"My Confession" (1972), Jackpot
*"The House Where Bombo Lives" (1972), Pama
*"Mail Man" (1972), Tropical
*"Bringing in the Sheaves" (1972), Green Door (Hortense Ellis & Stranger Cole)
*"Mocking Bird" (197?) Count Shelly (Stranger Cole & Hortense)
*"Time is Now" (19??),
Wackies (12")
*"No More Fussing and Fighting" (198?), Roots (12")
*"Don't Play" (2007), Soul of Anbessa (7")
*"Crown Me" (????), Strange Jah (B-side of Baba Brooks' "Baba Brooks Special")
References
External links
Stranger Coleat Roots Archives
Discographyat discogs.com
at Jamaican Gleaner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Stranger
1945 births
Living people
Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica
Jamaican male singers
Jamaican reggae singers
Island Records artists
Trojan Records artists