rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...
band formed in the Greenwich Town 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, ...
nephew
In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
,
Lloyd Brevett
Lloyd Brevett OD (1 August 1931 – 3 May 2012) was a Jamaican double bassist, songwriter, and a founding member of The Skatalites. He was a Rastafarian, and the uncle of The Melodians member, Tony Brevett.Tony Brevett's Unheralded Greatness , ''
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 ' ...
'', 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013
Renford Cogle
Renford "Rennie" Cogle (born 20 June 1948), is a singer and songwriter whose career spans more than three decades and about as many continents. His musical career started in 1972 when his friend, the late Delroy Wilson, Delroy "Smooth Operator" ...
Trevor McNaughton had the idea of putting a group together and contacted the then 14-year-old Tony Brevett, who had already had success in local talent shows. Brevett recruited his friend Brent Dowe and the group was formed, with Brevett taking on lead vocal duties. Bramwell Brown and Renford Cogle also had short stints in the group in its early days, and Cogle became one of the group's main songwriters.
The group recorded some material with
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond.
He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent a ...
's
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 ...
label where in 1966 they recorded "Lay It On" (one of the first records to reflect the shift from ska to rocksteady), "Meet Me", "I Should Have Made It Up" and "Let's Join Hands (Together)". Lead vocal duties were now shared between Brevett and Dowe. From 1967 to 1968 they had a number of
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
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 ...
of the Rastafarian movement, and was featured on the soundtrack of the movie '' The Harder They Come''. In the early 1970s Brevett also recorded as a solo artist, having his greatest success with "Don't Get Weary". After Kong's death in 1971, they recorded for Lee Perry and Byron Lee's Dynamic Studios. In 1973, Brent Dowe left the group for a solo career. The group reformed briefly a few years later, and again in the early 1980s.
The Melodians regrouped again in the 1990s as part of the roots revival. In 1992 they recorded "Song of Love", which was issued on the
Tappa Zukie
Tapper Zukie (or Tappa Zukie) (born David Sinclair, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae Deejay (Jamaican), deejay and record producer, producer.Greene, Jo-AnnTapper Zukie Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-15
Biography
...
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
tour.
The death of Tony Brevett in 2013 left McNaughton as the only surviving original member. McNaughton toured as a solo artist in 2014 and subsequently recruited Taurus Alphonso (formerly of the Mellow Tones) and Winston Dias (formerly of The Movers) to form a new Melodians line-up.Campbell, Howard (2015) Return of the Melodians , ''
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 ...
'', 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015 As of February 2015, the group were recording a new album in Florida with producer Willie Lindo. ''The Return of the Melodians'' was released in May 2017 and went on to reach no. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Reggae Albums chart.
In February 2017, the Melodians received an 'Iconic Award' from the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA).Melodians Trevor McNaughton is dead , ''
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 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018
Deaths
Brent Dowe
On the evening of 29 January 2006, after a rehearsal in preparation for a performance to take place the following weekend at the Jamaican Prime Minister’s residence, Brent Dowe suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 59. The remaining original members Tony Brevett and Trevor McNaughton continued touring in Europe and the U.S. backed by the Yellow Wall Dub Squad.
Tony Brevett
On 25 October 2013 Tony Brevett died from cancer after being admitted to hospital in Miami in August.Campbell, Howard (2013) The Melodians' Tony Brevett dies , ''
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 ...
'', 26 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013 He was 64 years old.
Trevor McNaughton
McNaughton, the last surviving original member of the group, died on 20 November 2018 at the Kendrick Rehabilitation Hospital in
Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...
, from respiratory failure. He was 77, and had been admitted to hospital the previous month.
Partial discography
Albums
*''Rivers of Babylon'' (1970), Trojan
*''Sweet Sensation'' (1976), Trojan
*''Sweet Sensation: The Original Reggae Hit Sound'' (1980), Island
*''Irie Feelings'' (1983), Ras
*''Premeditation'' (1986), Skynote
*''The Return of the Melodians'' (2017), TWT Music
Compilation albums
*''Swing and Dine'' (1993), Heartbeat
*''Rivers of Babylon'' (1997), Trojan
*''Sweet Sensation: The Best of the Melodians'' (2003), Trojan