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Below are excerpts from the feature articles in Issue #120.
Order this issue to get the full stories.



 

"Dodd drop," as one of his oldest friends said, sadly and succinctly. The last of the pioneers is gone -- and with him, the end of an era. Not since the passings of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley has the death of a reggae figure garnered such instant and passionate reaction, filling the Internet with outpourings of shock and respect from all over the planet...


Not since the death of Michael Manley has the passing of a Jamaican notable received as much international press coverage as that of Clement "Sir Coxson" Dodd, who died May 4 at the age of 72. He had been a dominant cultural figure in Jamaica for over 50 years and lived long enough to become an interantional one as well...

If you happened to be walking down North Street in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday afternoon, May 22, you may not have taken special note of the funeral that was happening as you passed the Holy Trinity Cathedral, as funerals are typical of Saturday afternoons. You may have become a little curious, however, at the makeshift stage in the front courtyard on which the Alpha Boys' School Band was playing ska tunes...


 

Chris Wilson grew up in Jamaica during the ska and rocksteady eras listening to the top sounds of producers like Duke Reid and Clement "Coxson" Dodd. He started working for Heartbeat Records in the early '80s and was instrumental in developing the relationship between Studio One and Heartbeat...