The Melodians are a

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

band formed in the Greenwich Town area of

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, in 1963, by Tony Brevett (born 1949,

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

The Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone (song), Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Bus ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Lloyd Brevett Lloyd Brevett OD (1 August 1931 – 3 May 2012) was a Jamaican double bassist, songwriter, and a founding member of The Skatalites. He was a Rastafarian, and the uncle of The Melodians member, Tony Brevett.Tony Brevett's Unheralded Greatness
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013 Renford Cogle assisted with

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and

arranging In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

material.

Career

Trevor McNaughton had the idea of putting a group together and contacted the then 14-year-old Tony Brevett, who had already had success in local talent shows. Brevett recruited his friend Brent Dowe and the group was formed, with Brevett taking on lead vocal duties. Bramwell Brown and Renford Cogle also had short stints in the group in its early days, and Cogle became one of the group's main songwriters. The group recorded some material with

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 ...

before

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 ...

introduced them to

Coxsone Dodd Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent ...

's Studio One

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

where in 1966 they recorded "Lay It On" (one of the first records to reflect the shift from ska to rocksteady), "Meet Me", "I Should Have Made It Up" and "Let's Join Hands (Together)". Lead vocal duties were now shared between Brevett and Dowe. From 1967 to 1968 they had a number of

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

Duke Reid Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Tr ...

Treasure Isle Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Tr ...

, including "You Have Caught Me", "Expo 67", "I'll Get Along Without You", and "You Don't Need Me". After recording "Swing and Dine" for

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Sonia Pottinger Sonia Eloise Pottinger OD ( Durrant; 21 June 1931 – 3 November 2010)Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 316 Rivers of Babylon "Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari movement, Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group the Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms Psalm 19, 19 and Psalm 137, ...

" for

Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was a Jamaican reggae producer. Early life Kong was born into a Chinese-Jamaican family. He had a "relatively comfortable upbringing" and attended St. George's College in Kingston. Career ...

. This

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

became an

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

of the

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

movement, and was featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

The Harder They Come ''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world ...

''. In the early 1970s Brevett also recorded as a solo artist, having his greatest success with "Don't Get Weary". After Kong's death in 1971, they recorded for Lee Perry and

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

's Dynamic Studios. In 1973, Brent Dowe left the group for a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

career. The group reformed briefly a few years later, and again in the early 1980s. The Melodians regrouped again in the 1990s as part of the

roots revival A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware lyr ...

. In 1992 they recorded "Song of Love", which was issued on the

Tappa Zukie Tapper Zukie (or Tappa Zukie) (born David Sinclair, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica) is a roots reggae deejay and producer.Greene, Jo-AnnTapper Zukie Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-15 Biography Tapper was the nickname given to him by his gran ...

label. Throughout the later 1990s they continued touring internationally, including appearing at the

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival was an annual music festival held every June on the weekend of (or the weekend following) the summer solstice. It was last held at the Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, C ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 2002. In 2005 The Melodians embarked on a West Coast tour. The death of Tony Brevett in 2013 left McNaughton as the only surviving original member. McNaughton toured as a solo artist in 2014 and subsequently recruited Taurus Alphonso (formerly of the Mellow Tones) and Winston Dias (formerly of The Movers) to form a new Melodians line-up.Campbell, Howard (2015)
Return of the Melodians
, ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015 As of February 2015, the group were recording a new album in Florida with producer

Willie Lindo Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and d ...

. ''The Return of the Melodians'' was released in May 2017 and went on to reach no. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Reggae Albums chart. In February 2017, the Melodians received an 'Iconic Award' from the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA).Melodians Trevor McNaughton is dead
, ''

'', 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018

Deaths

Brent Dowe

On the evening of 29 January 2006, after a rehearsal in preparation for a performance to take place the following weekend at the Jamaican Prime Minister’s residence, Brent Dowe suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 59. The remaining original members Tony Brevett and Trevor McNaughton continued touring in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

backed by the Yellow Wall Dub Squad.

Tony Brevett

On 25 October 2013 Tony Brevett died from cancer after being admitted to hospital in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in August.Campbell, Howard (2013)
The Melodians' Tony Brevett dies
, ''

'', 26 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013 He was 64 years old.

Trevor McNaughton

McNaughton, the last surviving original member of the group, died on 20 November 2018 at the Kendrick Rehabilitation Hospital in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

, from respiratory failure. He was 77, and had been admitted to hospital the previous month.

Partial discography

Albums

*''Rivers of Babylon'' (1970),

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 18 ...

*''Sweet Sensation'' (1976), Trojan *''Sweet Sensation: The Original Reggae Hit Sound'' (1980),

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

*''Irie Feelings'' (1983), Ras *''Premeditation'' (1986), Skynote *''The Return of the Melodians'' (2017), TWT Music

Compilation albums

*''Swing and Dine'' (1993), Heartbeat *''Rivers of Babylon'' (1997), Trojan *''Sweet Sensation: The Best of the Melodians'' (2003), Trojan

Compilation appearances

*''

The Rough Guide to Reggae ''The Rough Guide to Reggae'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 1997. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the album broadly covers the reggae genre originating in Jamaica. The album was curated by Steve Ba ...

'' (1997),

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competi ...

References

External links

* * *
Discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melodians, The Jamaican reggae musical groups Rocksteady musical groups Trojan Records artists