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Prince Buster

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Prince Buster, born Cecil Bustamente Campbell, was a Jamaican singer, writer and producer. He was born in 1938 on Orange Street in Kingston. As a young man he moved in the world of the sound systems, the mobile discos that played American rhythm and blues. He worked for Coxsone Dodd and then started his own sound system, Voice of the People. Because he could not get records from the United States, he decided to record music himself.

Music and breakthrough

In 1961 he released his first single and produced Oh Carolina by the Folkes Brothers, with drummers from the Count Ossie Group. Through the English label Blue Beat his music reached the British public. In the 1960s he recorded an enormous amount. Well-known ska songs from that time are Madness, Wash Wash, One Step Beyond and Al Capone. With Al Capone he reached the British top twenty in 1967. When the music became slower and more soulful, he also wrote rocksteady, for example on the album Judge Dread Rock Steady.

Influence

His records formed the basis of later ska and reggae. In England his work found a second life with the two-tone groups of the late 1970s. The band Madness took its name from his song Madness and also played One Step Beyond, the title of his song from 1964. In this way a line runs from Kingston in the 1960s to the youth culture of England.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Madness or Al Capone and notice the rhythm: the guitar strikes the offbeat, the bass walks along and the horns fill in. This is what early ska sounds like.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists