Moment of silence: R.I.P. Desmond Dekker

Okay, me and Mr. Read went to see him last year at the Knitting Factory and he put on an AMAZING show. There is nothing like watching a room full of skinheads (the good, ska/rocksteady loving kind) sing EVERY single DD song and show an old brotha enough love to bring a tear to my eye. Pay your respects...

REGGAE-PUNK PIONEER DESMOND DEKKER DIES AT 64
DESMOND DEKKER, the Kingston singer whose haunting, strident "Israelites" was the first Jamaican reggae hit to cross over to international success, died May 25th of a heart attack in his Surrey, England, home. He was 64, and was to begin a European tour this week. Born an orphan in Kinston, Jamaica, Dekker passed an audition with the Beverley's record label in 1961 and had a string of regional hits, such as "King of Ska," before reinventing himself as a rebel "rude boy" in 1967. His hits in that vein, including "007 (Shanty Town)" and "Tougher Than Tough," made him a key influence on the SEX PISTOLS and the CLASH. "He had a nice spirit -- very soulful and a very good songwriter," says TOOTS HIBBERT of the MAYTALS, who befriended Dekker while recording in Kingston in the '60s. "He should have gotten a lot more credit, but that's the way it goes sometimes."