Michael Chung (1950 – 28 December 2021) also known as Mao Chung, was a Jamaican musician who played keyboards, guitar and percussion instruments. He was also an arranger and record producer of

Jamaican music The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Reggae is especially popular through the international fame of Bob Marle ...

, and worked with a wide array of musicians, notably Lee Perry and

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

Life and career

Chung was born in Christiana,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, in 1950. He was of

Chinese Jamaican Chinese Jamaicans are Jamaicans of Chinese ancestry, which include descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another moment of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the descendants of ea ...

descent, and grew up on Tewari Crescent in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. He later moved with his family to the

Vineyard Town Vineyard Town is a neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispan ...

area of the city, attending St. George's College.Campbell, Howard (2014)
The Chung connection
, ''

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 ...

'', 6 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014 He began his career in music as the guitarist for the Mighty Mystics, The Virtues (1967–69), Generation Gap, and the Federal Studios house band the

Now Generation Band The Now Generation Band (or NOWGEN) was a Jamaican reggae band during the late 1960s into the 1970s. Beginning as a dance band on the road, they gradually undertook more recording dates and, in 1972, quit road work to concentrate on studio work. ...

,In tune: classic Jamaican bands
", ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 29 July 2008, retrieved 4 May 2010 before playing with artists such as Jacob Miller and Inner Circle in the 1970s.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 59-60 As a member of Word, Sound and Power from 1978, along with

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

, he backed

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

on ''

Mystic Man ''Mystic Man'' is the fourth studio album by Peter Tosh. All songs were composed by Peter Tosh. It was released in 1979 by Rolling Stones Records (his second album for the label), EMI, and Intel Diplo (in Jamaica). The album's cover photo, by A ...

'', ''

Wanted Dread and Alive ''Wanted Dread & Alive'' is the fifth studio album by the Jamaican reggae musician Peter Tosh. It was released in 1981 in two different versions, one for Jamaica and the USA (EMI America) and one for Europe (Rolling Stones Records). It was reis ...

'', and ''

Bush Doctor ''Bush Doctor'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae singer Peter Tosh. It was released in 1978 on Rolling Stones Records. The album features Mick Jagger as guest vocalist on one song, while Keith Richards plays guitar on two tracks. The ...

'', playing guitar and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 58-9 He played for Lee Perry's band

The Upsetters The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Cox ...

(?-1975?-?), and the

Compass Point All Stars Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producer ...

(

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

). He often accompanied

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

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 ...

on their

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

and played guitar for

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 ...

on their albums ''

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

'', ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'' and ''Chill Out''. He worked with many Jamaican and international artists, including

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

, Big Mountain,

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

Garnett Silk Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994) was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, howeve ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

and

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

.Sinead O'Connor touched by reggae, Rasta faith
, '' Herald-Tribune'', 11 August 2005, retrieved 4 May 2010 Chung was the brother of keyboardist/producer

Geoffrey Chung Geoffrey Aloysius Chung (1950 – 13 October 1995) was a Jamaican musician, recording engineer, and record producer. Biography Chung was born in 1950 in Kingston, Jamaica.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of ...

, and had one daughter. He died from

myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, anemi ...

in Kingston, Jamaica on 28 December 2021, at the age of 71.

Collaborations

With

* ''

Warm Leatherette "Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project the Normal, released in 1978. The Normal original Overview The lyrics of "Warm Leatherette" reference J. G. Ballard's controversial 1973 novel ''Crash'', which had heavily influenced Dani ...

'' (Island Records, 1980) * '' Nightclubbing'' (Island Records, 1981) * ''

Living My Life ''Living My Life'' is the autobiography of Lithuanian-born anarchist Emma Goldman, who became internationally renowned as an activist based in the United States. It was published in two volumes in 1931 (Alfred A. Knopf) and 1934 (Garden City Publ ...

'' (Island Records, 1982) * ''

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

'' (PIAS Recordings, 2008) With

* '' Equal Rights'' (EMI, 1977) * ''

'' (EMI, 1978) * ''

'' (EMI, 1979) * '' Wanted Dread & Alive'' (Capitol Records, 1981) * '' Mama Africa'' (EMI, 1983) With

* ''

Sheffield Steel ''Sheffield Steel'' is the eighth studio album by Joe Cocker, produced by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin, with Sly and Robbie, Wally Badarou, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson, a.k.a. the Compass Point Allstars, a studio ...

'' (Island Records, 1982) With

* '' Throw Down Your Arms'' (Chocolate and Vanilla, 2005)

References

External links

Mikey's MySpace pageDiscography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Mikey 1950 births 2021 deaths Jamaican male musicians Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican record producers Jamaican session musicians Jamaican people of Chinese descent Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Deaths from cancer in Jamaica Deaths from multiple myeloma