The first single I ever bought was either Johnny Nash – ‘You Got Soul’ or Desmond Dekker – ‘Israelites’, which was rereleased, as I seem to remember, and became a hit the second time around. I didn’t understand why everyone went mad for it when I had it for years the first time around. I didn’t really understand the patois in the song because my family wasn’t from Jamaica, they were from Grenada. But my entire peer group at the time became rude boys! That’s what we liked and understood. So this, and also ‘It Mek’ as well, were seminal tunes which you could buy for six shillings, which these days would amount to 32-and-a-half pence! I bought many bluebeat, reggae and ska singles from that point on. I bought these from Webster’s record shop under the arches at Shepherd’s Bush Market where all the rude boys, early skinheads and mods used to hang out and hear all the latest releases that came in. That was coupled with the fact I was also an avid listener of the radio and, to this day, I love ’60s pop because I used to listen to Radio Caroline and then Radio 1 as well in those days. As my tastes became more refined, I got more into the black thing. From there I didn’t listen to much radio at that point because I was immersed in the world of black America and Jamaica.
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