Entertainment

Junior Delgado dies

JUNIOR DELGADO, A roots-reggae singer who enjoyed a purple patch during the 1970s, has died. Musicians close to Delgado said he passed away in London on Monday at the age of 49.

The cause of death was not given.

Delgado is best known for the dancehall hit Trickster, which introduced him to the mainstream in the mid 1970s. Later that decade, he had Top 20 hits in Merry Go Round and Fort Augusta which were produced by Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.

He also wrote songs for his good friend, Dennis Brown, Jacob Miller and Althea and Donna.

Saxophonist Dean Fraser, who played on Merry Go Round, remembered Delgado as a "hardcore protest singer". Added Fraser: "He never had many big hits in Jamaica but he always had a good following in England."

Delgado was born Oscar Delgado Hibbert at Luke Lane in downtown Kingston. In a 1994 interview with The Gleaner, he said his first recording was the song Reaction which came in 1970 for producer Joe Gibbs.

He continued to record for Gibbs as a solo act and with the harmony group, Time Unlimited, releasing several grassroots hits like African Sound and 23rd Psalms.

But, his first major hit came alongside the teenaged Brown with whom he struck up a solid partnership in the mid 1970s, recording a cover of The Heptones' Party Time, which was done for Brown's DEB label.

Trickster was Delgado's biggest hit song as a solo artiste for DEB, which was followed by Tition, a critique of corrupt politicians.

In the late 1970s, Delgado hooked up with Dunbar and Shakespeare, then the hottest production team in reggae with their revamped Taxi label. Merry Go Round and Fort Augusta remain two of Delgado's biggest hits.

Delgado lived in England for much of the last 20 years, touring Europe and working as a producer. Among the acts he produced for his Incredible Music label were singers Michael Rose, Frankie Paul and Yami Bolo.

­ Howard Campbell