Desmond Dacres was born on July 16th 1942 in Kingston Jamaica. After being orphaned at an early age, he moved out of the city to St. Thomas, before he eventually returned to the capital to take work as a welder.

Desmond tried in vain to set up a session with Beverley's Records producer Leslie Kong. Each time Kong would tell him to come back tomorrow and they would arrange something, but on Desmond's return he always gave him the cold shoulder.

One day Desmond got so fed up with the brush off, he forced his way into a back room at Beverely's Record & Ice Cream Parlour, where he came face to face with Kong and two of his biggest stars, Jimmy Cliff and Derrick Morgan.

After explaining his frustration to the producer, Kong asked Desmond to sing him one of his songs. Desmond replied with a rendition of Honour Your Mother And Father, which so impressed all those present, including pianist Theo Beckford, that Kong agreed to rehearse and record the young singer.

The session took place the following week, and Desmond cut two tunes, the aforementioned Honour Your Mother And Father, and it's eventual B side, Madgie. Desmond took the stage surname of Dekker, and when his debut single was released on Beverley's in 1963, it become a local hit.

Dekker returned to his welding and engineering apprenticeship, where he was progressing on to underwater welding, but managed to get a few days free to record further tracks for Kong. The next releases were Sinners Come On Home and Labour Day, followed by Parents and Dracula before Desmond teamed up with a quartet of singers know as the Four Aces.

The first session with the Aces also included the Maytals on additional harmonies, and resulted in the thundering King Of Ska and Jeserine. This line up of Desmond, Wilson James, Easton Barry Howard, Patrick Johnson and Clive Campbell cut further tunes such as It Was Only A Dream, Wise Man and the superb Mount Zion, before Johnson and Campbell left the group.

By 1966, the slimmed down line up had change their name to Desmond Dekker and the Aces, and were set to embark on one of the most productive periods of recording in Jamaican musical history. At the end of '66 they recorded the seminal 007 (Shanty Town), which slowly grew from a solid underground favourite into an international smash hit, reaching No.14 in the UK chart in July 1967.

By the time the record had become such a massive success, Dekker had already followed it up with a string of astonishing, self penned singles. These included It's A Shame, Mother Young Gal, Rudy Got Soul, Rude Boy Train, Sabotage and Pretty Africa. One of the most astonishing bursts of creativity that almost defies belief.

Desmond and the Aces finished second in the 1967 Jamaican Song Festival with Unity, but the following year went one better with the winning Intensified (which was arguably the weaker of the two entries).

Although further international success was not immediately forthcoming, the local hits continued with Hey Grandma, Mother Pepper, It Pays and the eerie Fu Manchu.

At the close of 1968, Dekker came up with Israelites, a biblically inspired song, telling of the hardships of earning an honest living. The record, which saw a shift from Dekker's previous rocksteady sound into reggae, followed the same path that 007 (Shanty Town) had taken, beginning as an underground hit, before blossoming into a huge international smash.

This time the impact was even greater, with the record reaching No.10 in America, and toppling Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Throught The Grapevine from the No.1 spot on the UK chart. If it wan't for the Beatles, Desmond would probably have enjoyed more than just a single week at the top.

Desmond travelled to the UK to promote the single, and after the success of the follow up It Mek, which reached No.7, he decided to settle in England, effectively ending his partnership with the Aces.

Further recordings were made with Desmond voicing rhythms laid in Jamaica, and resulted in the minor hit Pickney Gal in January 1970 (No.42).

His next major success came from fellow Kong protege Jimmy Cliff. Cliff had two songs rejected by Island Records, Let Your Yeah Be Yeah and You Can Get It If You Really Want, the latter of which he gave to Desmond.

The song gave Desmond his biggest UK success since Isrealites, eventually peaking at No.2 in August 1970. To further compound Island's error of judgement, the Pioneers took Let Your Yeah Be Yeah to No.5 the following summer.

Desmond was very close to Leslie Kong. The relationship was more like father and son than artist and producer, so when Kong died of a sudden heart attack in 1971, it hit Dekker very hard. The demise of Kong was effectively the demise of Desmond Dekker as a successful recording artist.

Eventually the name of Desmond Dekker began to disappear from the release sheets, and little was heard from him until 1975 when a re-issue of Israelites hit No.10 in the UK chart. This was followed up with Sing A Little Song, which gave Desmond his last UK chart entry, and peaked at No.16.

Internationally, he was an almost forgotten name by the end of the '70s, but the British 2-Tone boom saw a rekindled interest in his work there. In 1980 Desmond signed with independent label Stiff Records (who were also home to Madness), and he recorded an album of updated versions of his previous hits.

The album was something of a mixed bag. Obviously none of the tracks came close to the originals, but there were pleasant if unspectacular renditions of Israelites, Lickin' Stick and Rude Boy Train (on which Desmond plays Stylophone!).

As well as various members of the Equators, the line up of musicians on the Black And Dekker album included Jackie and George from the Pioneers, a young Roland Gift, and Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding from Graham Parker's The Rumour.

Two singles were taken from the album, but neither Israelites or Many Rivers To Cross made any impression on the charts.

The next album for Stiff was recorded at Compass Point studios in Nassau in 1981, and was a very different affair. Produced by Robert Palmer, it contained no sign of ska whatsoever, featuring instead a pop/reggae crossover hybrid. This didn't appeal to either the 2-Tone audience or the grass roots reggae market, and it subsequentley fell between two stools.

Desmond's final release for Stiff was a pleasant pop/reggae cut of the Heptones Book Of Rules in 1982. Although this was probably the most accomplished of all his Stiff releases, it was too late. The 2-Tone craze had moved on, and Desmond was again left without a record contract.

He returned to the live circuit, were he was always regarded as one of the most satisfying live acts, pumping out his ska and reggae hits to a new generation of fans, as well as die hards fom the early 70's.

By the mid '80's, he was bankrupt, but interest in his past glories was reawakened in 1985 with the sensational Trojan compilation The Original Reggae Hitsound Of Desmond Dekker And The Aces. Collecting many of his finest recordings the album was the perfect starting point for anyone approaching his music for the first time. Trojan were also responsible for for his next collection of new recordings.

In 1993, Desmond teamed up with Roddy Radiation, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding from the original Specials line up, and, along with Charlie 'H' from the Selecter on drums, cut the album King Of Kings.

The album contained a dozen versions of classic Jamaican songs, and Wings Of A Dove and Jamaica Ska were paired on a single release. This was followed by another new album, Moving On in the summer of 1996.

Although other Jamaican artists such as Millie, Ezz Reco, Prince Buster and the Skatalites had enjoyed international success before him, Dekker was the first Jamaican artist to make a continued impact on the national chart in the UK.

His success certainley paved the way for others to follow, and his records played a huge part in the reggae boom of the early '70s. Many people would have gained their introduction to the Jamaican sound through Desmond Dekker, and his role in the development of the music should not be understated.