Prince Buster

Sound system

Cecil Bustamente Campbell was born in Kingston on 24 May 1938. He worked for Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat sound system, handling security, ticket receipts, record sourcing and selecting. With backing from his family and a radio shop owner, Mr Wong, he then set up his own sound system, Voice of the People, and a record shop on Orange Street.

Voice of the People and Oh Carolina

Needing exclusive records for his sound, Buster moved into production. In 1961 he produced "Oh Carolina" by the Folkes Brothers, featuring Count Ossie's nyabinghi drummers. It was a Jamaican hit and was licensed in the UK to Melodisc's Blue Beat label, whose name became a British term for Jamaican ska. His own releases came out on his Voice of the People and Prince Buster labels in Jamaica and on Blue Beat and later Fab in the UK. In 1994 a UK court ruled in favour of John Folkes and Greensleeves in a dispute over the song's authorship, after Shaggy's 1993 cover topped the UK chart.

Ska records

Buster recorded many of his sides with the musicians who became the Skatalites, and produced early sides by the Maytals. "Madness" later gave the English band Madness its name; their 1979 debut "The Prince" was a tribute to him and carried a cover of "Madness". "Al Capone" reached No. 18 in the UK in February 1967 and spent 13 weeks on the chart. Its B-side, "One Step Beyond", became a UK Top 10 hit for Madness in 1979.

Rude boy era

In the early 1960s Buster conducted a record feud with Derrick Morgan after Morgan began recording for Leslie Kong, answering Morgan's "Blazing Fire" with further releases. In 1967 he released "Judge Dread", a satire of the rude boy records, and "Ten Commandments", which reached No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Later years

Buster received Jamaica's Order of Distinction in 2001. "Whine and Grine" reached No. 21 in the UK in 1998 after it was used in a Levi's advertisement. He died in Miami on 8 September 2016.