Roy Samuel Reid (28 June 1942 – 27 November 1999), better known as I-Roy, was 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 ...

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), mobil ...

who had a very prolific career during the 1970s.

Biography

Born in 1944 in

Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica Saint Thomas, once known as ''Saint Thomas in the East'', is a suburban parish situated at the south eastern end of Jamaica, within the county of Surrey. It is the birthplace of the Right Honourable Paul Bogle, designated in 1969 as one of Jam ...

, Reid graduated from Dinthill Technical College before starting his musical career via his Soul Bunny sound system in 1968, running it on Victoria Pier on Wednesday afternoons, while working during the day as a government

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...

.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 124–127Greene, Jo-Ann
I-Roy Biography
,

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 ...

. Retrieved 28 April 2016I-Roy
, National Library of Jamaica. Retrieved 28 April 2016 He went on to work on the

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label= Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. T ...

-based Son's Junior sound system, where he was spotted by producer Harry Mudie, who renamed him 'I-Roy'. Deriving his name, and to some extent, his style from

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 ...

, Reid was also heavily influenced in his early career by Dennis Alcapone. In 1971 he recorded four tracks for Mudie, all releases as singles, "The Drifter" and "Heart Don't Leap" (both in combination with

Dennis Walks Dennis Vassell, better known as Dennis Walks, is a Jamaican reggae singer, best known for his work with Harry Mudie in the late 1960s and 1970s. His stage name was given to him by Roy Shirley. Life and career Walks first recorded in 1963 for D ...

), "Let Me Tell You Boy" (over the

Ebony Sisters Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

recording), and "Musical Pleasure". Reid and Mudie fell out over the details of a proposed European tour, and he went on to work on sound systems such as King Tubby's Home Town Hi-Fi, and recorded more material with many of the Island's top producers including Lloyd Campbell,

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 ...

, Derrick Harriott,

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

, Glen Brown,

Rupie Edwards Rupert Lloyd Edwards (born 4 July 1945) is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer. Biography Rupie Edwards was born in Goshen, in Saint Ann Parish.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 103–105 The fam ...

Byron Lee Byron Lee ,
''Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 October 2008. born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee ...

, and Keith Hudson. One of I-Roy's hits was "Sidewalk Killer" (1972), a take on Tommy McCook's original "Sidewalk Doctor", produced by Ruddy Redwood. One of his most productive partnerships was with

Gussie Clarke Augustus "Gussie" Clarke (born 1954) is a reggae producer who worked with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s and later set up his own Music Works studio. Career Clarke started working in the music industry by cutting dub pla ...

, who produced most of the tracks on his debut album, ''Presenting I Roy'' (1973), containing several hit singles recorded for the producer. I-Roy's lyrics were often humorous, incorporating elements of songs and nursery rhymes.Hebdige, Dick (1987) ''Cut `n' Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music'', Routledge, , p. 70 Hit singles with "Buck and the Preacher" and "Monkey Fashion" were followed by a second album, the mainly self-produced ''Hell and Sorrow'', which was sufficiently popular in the UK that Reid relocated there to promote his third album, ''The Many Moods of I-Roy'' (1974), performing regularly at the Roaring 20s club with Sir Coxsone's sound system, and playing live shows backed by Matumbi.Katz, David (2000)
I-Roy
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', 26 January 2000. Retrieved 28 April 2016 He returned to Jamaica, where, with the popularity of DJ records waning, he worked as house producer at

Channel One Studios Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica.Campbell, Howard (2014)Making magic at Channel One, ''Jamaica Observer'', 17 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014 The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and ...

, although his work was generally credited to the studio owners. In 1975, he returned with several Channel One-produced singles, before working again with Bunny Lee in what would be one of the most successful periods of his career. For several years from 1975, I-Roy engaged in an on-record slanging match with fellow DJ

Prince Jazzbo Linval Roy Carter (3 September 1951 – 11 September 2013), better known as Prince Jazzbo, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer. Career Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, and raised in Kingston, Linval Roy Carter (who would ...

, the two trading insults on successive singles, starting with I-Roy's "Straight to Jazzbo's Head", although in reality they were good friends. In 1976, I-Roy signed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

with whom he released five albums.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , pp.148–149 Later in 1975 he released the ''Truth & Rights'' album, compiling many of his hits from that year. In 1976, he was signed by

, who went on to release eight albums via various subsidiary labels, mainly utilising backing tracks played by

the Revolutionaries The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band. Career Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "R ...

. He also released other material in Jamaica, including the Alvin Ranglin-produced ''Best of I-Roy'' album in 1977. Reggae's move to the

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

era in the 1980s saw I-Roy's popularity decline, along with the quality of his output. This decline in popularity and recurring health problems led to financial problems and periods of homelessness during the later period of his life. In the early 1990s he started building his own studio in Spanish Town, but it was never completed. In October 1999, one of his two sons was killed in prison. On 27 November 1999 Reid died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

in a Spanish Town hospital, at the age of 55. Dub poet

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His ...

referred to I-Roy as "the mighty poet" in the track "Street 66" on the 1980

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Bass Culture ''Bass Culture'' is an album by dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1980 on the Island Records label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell (credited as Blackbeard). Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson and Webster Jo ...

''.Donnell, Alison & Lawson Welsh, Sarah (1996) ''The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature'', Routledge, , p. 374 He gained renewed attention when the song "Sidewalk Killer" was used in the 2004 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' in the radio station called K-Jah West Radio.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Presenting I Roy'' (1973), Gussie/ Trojan * ''Hell and Sorrow'' (1974), Trojan * ''Many Moods of I Roy'' (1974), Trojan * ''Truths & Rights'' (1975), Grounation * ''Step Forward Youth'' (1975), Live & Love - ''with Prince Jazzbo'' * ''Can't Conquer Rasta'' (1976), Justice * ''Crisus Time'' (1976), Caroline/Virgin * ''Dread Baldhead'' (1976), Klik * ''Ten Commandments'' (1977), Micron * ''Heart of a Lion'' (1977), Front Line * ''Musical Shark Attack'' (1977), Front Line * ''The Godfather'' (1977), Third World * ''The General'' (1977), Front Line * ''World on Fire'' (1978), Front Line * ''Cancer'' (1979), Virgin * ''African Herbsman'' (1979), Joe Gibbs * ''Hotter Yatta'' (1980),

Harry J Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass player be ...

* ''Whap'n Bap'n'' (1980), Virgin - produced by

Dennis Bovell Dennis Bovell (born 22 May 1953Huey, Steve"Dennis Bovell Biography" Allmusic. Retrieved 27 December 2014.) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in England. He was a member of the British reggae band Mat ...

* ''I Roy's Doctor Fish'' (1981), Imperial - also issued as ''The President'' (19??), Gorgon * ''Outer Limits'' (1983), Hawkeye * ''We Chat You Rock'' (1987), Trojan - with Jah Woosh * ''The Lyrics Man'' (1990), Witty's * ''Head To Head Clash'' (1990), Ujama - with Prince Jazzbo * ''Sound System Anthology'' (1993), King's Music

Compilations

* ''The Best Of'' (1977), GG's * ''Don't Check Me with No Lightweight Stuff'' (1997), Blood and Fire * ''Touting I Self'' (2001),

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

* ''Anthology 1969-1990'' (2012), Attack

References

External links