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Discs Dread at the Controls was the debut album, which contains some strong material. I have to say Mikey Dreads style takes some getting used to, his pitch is quite nasal and whiney and can grate with the weaker tracks World War Three is also widely available and worth checking out, as is "Jumping Master", which uses a really tough rythm, notable also for namechecking much of the talent of the day Other stuff, apparently still deejays on the radio, I think he lives in the UK. |
Mikey Dread
An unusual career path, Mikey Dread, AKA Michael "Dread" Campbell was well known to Jamaicans as a pioneering deejay on JBC.
It might be amazing to consider that during Reggae's hey day, Jamaicans could seldom hear home grown talent on the mainstream radio stations, instead they were spoon fed American hits. The reason being, I suppose, political. Much of reggae's strength drew from the tradition of protest song, the unsavoury facets of life in Jamaica usually found its way onto record.
Mikey Dread therefore was a trailblazer, his Dread at the Controls show gained a large audience. He displayed a deep knowledge of the history of the music as well as current developments on the scene.
Making his debut with Lee "Scratch" Perry, Mikey Dread recorded an album named after his JBC show, which is widely available and contains the classic "Barber Saloon".