Tony Tribe

Kingston to London

Anthony Patrick Orlando Mossop was born in Kingston on October 9, 1943, and first sang on stage at the city's Ward Theatre when he was nine. He moved to Britain in 1956 and worked in the post room of the Jamaican High Commission in London. In the mid-60s he fronted the Soul Seekers, a gospel group out of a Camberwell church, then went solo as Tony Kingston. His 1967 Decca single "Mama Come On Home" later caught on in the northern soul clubs.

Red Red Wine

In 1969, as Tony Tribe, he cut a reggae version of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" for Dandy Livingstone on Trojan's Downtown label, backed with the Rudies' "Blues." The label misprinted his name as Tony Tripe. Carried by Britain's skinheads, it reached No. 46 and became Trojan's first UK chart hit, and he played it on Top of the Pops. That September he sang at the Caribbean Music Festival at Wembley with Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, Max Romeo and the Skatalites, the first big reggae show in Britain.

UB40

UB40 knew his record, not Neil Diamond's, and thought the "N Diamond" in the writing credit was a Jamaican artist. Their 1983 cover went to No. 1 in the UK and, in 1988, on the Billboard Hot 100.

Canada

For years the story went that he died in a car crash around 1970. In fact he moved to Canada in 1972 and went back to the name Tony Kingston. "I Am the Preacher," his version of Deep Purple's "Hallelujah," made the RPM chart, and the album Tongue Tied came out in 1973. He died in a car accident in 1979 and is buried in Toronto.