Joseph "Jo Jo" Hoo Kim (10 December 1942 – 20 September 2018) was a Jamaican
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
record producer best known for his productions in the 1970s at his Channel One Studios.
Career
Born to parents of Chinese heritage, Joseph Hoo Kim grew up in the Maxfield Avenue area of
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
. Retrieved 21 September 2018 He was the oldest of four brothers (to Ernest, Paul and Kenneth), who during the 1960s were involved in the jukebox and slot machine industry. In 1970, after the Jamaican government declared the gambling games illegal, Joseph and Ernest decided to turn to the music business and launched a sound-system named Channel One. In 1972, impressed by the rootsy style of producer Bunny Lee, Joseph decided to set up the Channel One Studios on Maxfield Avenue (West
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
). Working on a four-track machine, Syd Bucknor became Lee's first sound engineer. One year later he was replaced by Joseph's brother Ernest. By this time they also had their own pressing plant and label-printing workshop. To gain experience, Hoo Kim decided to give every volunteer producer a free try. Working alongside the Hookims was the deejay
I-Roy
Roy Samuel Reid (28 June 1942 – 27 November 1999), better known as I-Roy, was a Jamaican deejay who had a very prolific career during the 1970s.
Biography
Born in 1944 in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, Reid graduated from Dinthill Technical C ...
.
Though they produced some strong records (''Don't Give Up the Fight'' by
Stranger
A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified ...
& Gladdy — their first production, ''I Dig You, Baby'' by
, and Leroy Smart's ''Blackman''), they did not meet with success until the mid-1970s. The studio used a house band, the Revolutionaries, from 1975, based around drummer
Sly Dunbar
Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.
Biography
Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...
and bassist
Robbie Shakespeare
Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as ...
, and a rotating line-up of other players which included keyboard player
Ansel Collins
Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins.
Biography
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Tommy McCook. Dunbar developed the studio's sound by initiating a clapping snare drum beat under certain bass notes, then moving flying cymbals on by doubling rim shots, playing a major role in developing the roots-heavy sound soon to be called "rockers".
Channel One's biggest commercial success, "Right Time", by The Mighty Diamonds, was released in 1975, and included on the group's 1976's Hoo Kim-produced album of the same name. However, many other big names came to record in the studio: Leroy Smart,
Delroy Wilson
Delroy George Wilson CD (5 October 1948 – 6 March 1995)
Greene, Jo-Ann, " Delroy Wilson Biography, allmusic.com, Macrovision Corporation
was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. Wilson is often regarded as Jamaica's first child s ...
,
Black Uhuru
Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful per ...
,
Horace Andy
Horace Andy (born Horace Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass" and "Five Man Army" with English tri ...
Junior Byles
Kenneth Byles (born 2 February 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica), also known as "Junior Byles", "Chubby", or "King Chubby", is a Jamaican reggae singer.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books,
Biography
The Versatiles
Nam ...
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
and
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
have all distributed their productions at one time or another.
Hoo Kim was the first producer to introduce the re-use of old
Studio One Studio One or Studio 1 may refer to:
* Studio One (software), digital audio workstation software, developed by PreSonus
* ''Studio One'' (American TV series), a 1948–1958 American television anthology series
* ''Studio One'' (Emirati TV progra ...
rhythms for new productions. Though a very controversial practice in the beginning, it eventually became widespread, and laid the foundation for the early
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
sound. In 1976, he brought out the first mix combining versions sung and DJed on the same single with "Truly" by The Jays and Ranking Trevor, a standard for the dancehall culture in the 1980s. This record was also the first Jamaican 12-inch single.
Entering a depression after his brother Paul was shot to death during a robbery in 1977, Joseph Hoo Kim's productions became less numerous. At this time, he left Jamaica to escape the violence on the island and established himself professionally in New York. Then in 1979, he renovated his Jamaican studio and began returning there every month to supervise new productions. With Ernest, he opened a subsidiary studio in New York in the early 1980s where many DJs recorded. Among them were Barrington Levy and Barry Brown. In the early 1980s, he launched the "Showdown series" with "clash" albums where each face of an LP was dedicated to one of two dueling DJs. When the
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
entered the digital era, he withdrew from the Jamaican music business, shut down both studios and settled in New York permanently.
He later operated a pressing plant in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
Hoo Kim died on 20 September 2018 in New York, aged 76, after suffering from
liver cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...
Jamaica Observer
''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...
'', 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018
Discography
*Various Artists – 1983 – ''General For All General: Dance Hall Style'' – Hitbound
*Various Artists – 1984 – ''Hypocrite Inna Dance Hall Style'' – Hitbound
*Various Artists – 1984 – ''Sly & Robbie Presents The Unmetered Taxi'' – Channel One
*Various Artists – ''Special Request To All Bad Boys'' – Hitbound
*Various Artists – ''Special Request To All Lovers Boys & Girls'' – Hitbound
*Various Artists – ''1976–1979 – Hit Bound: The Revolutionary Sound Of Channel One'' – Heartbeat Records (1989)
*Various Artists – ''1974–1978 – Channel One Well Charged'' –
Pressure Sounds
Pressure Sounds is a British DIY record label, specializing in releasing reggae music. Run by Pete Holdsworth, it is one of the most enduring reggae labels in the UK, specializing in reissuing obsolete tunes. It was originally a subsidiary o ...
(1997)
*Various Artists – ''When The Dances Were Changing (Hitbound Selection)'' – Pressure Sounds (1998)
*Various Artists – ''Channel One Story (Reggae Anthology) I Shot The Deputy'' – VP Records (2004)