Winston McAnuff, also known under the stage name Electric Dread (born 1957) is a Jamaican singer and composer of

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 ...

and

dub music Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...

Life and career

McAnuff was born in Manchester Parish, JamaicaCampbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2013)
A New Day for McAnuff
, ''

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 ...

'', 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013 into a family of preachers. One of his great-grandfathers was Scottish.Brown, Annie (2014)
Video: Jamaican reggae star Winston McAnuff arrives in Scotland on a mission to set his great grandfather's spirit free
, '' Daily Record'', 1 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014 He started his musical career singing

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

in the

church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. He recorded his first album ''Pick Hits to Click'' in 1978. Two years later his second album ''What the man "a" deal wid'' was released. His best known song from this time is the single "Malcolm X" (about

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

), which was also recorded by

Earl Sixteen Earl Sixteen (b. Earl John Daley, 9 May 1958, Kingston, Jamaica)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 152 is a reggae singer whose career began in the mid-1970s. Biography Daley grew up in Waltham ...

, and most successfully by

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...

. It was originally recorded by McAnuff for

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and a ...

but the producer decided not to release it, and he got Earl Sixteen to record it before the song was given to Dennis Brown who recorded it for his '' Visions of Dennis Brown'' album. The song was the subject of a legal dispute in 2013 between McAnuff and

Greensleeves Records Greensleeves Records & Publishing, shortened to ''Greensleeves Records'', is a record label specializing in dancehall and reggae music. The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick. Based in Britain, Greensleeves Records star ...

after the record label allegedly registered the song as co-written by Brown.Gilchrist, Carl (2013)
Greensleeves, McAnuff Battle Over Song
, ''

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 ' ...

'', 3 November 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013 A third studio album, ''Electric Dread'', was released in 1986. Although McAnuff had reasonable fame in Jamaica, none of his work was released elsewhere. It wasn't until 2002 that his work was released in Europe. In 2002 the French record label Makasound released the first two albums and a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Diary of the Silent Years''. The release of the albums revived McAnuff's career, notably in France. In 2005 McAnuff released the album ''A Drop'', which he recorded with the French keyboard player

Camille Bazbaz Camille Bazbaz (born 1967) is a French author-composer-interpreter with French-Lebanese roots. He was born in Suresnes. Biography French pop-reggae-soul artist Camille Bazbaz's career began during his college years as a member of the politically ...

. This record displays a mix of rock,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, dub and punk rock. A year later, in 2006, a new album ''Paris Rockin, which he recorded with

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and other French

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s, was released. His last album, ''Nostradamus'', was released in 2008. The album was a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about the predictions of

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

. In 2011, he took part in ''Les Échos Du Temps'' the latest album of Danakil, a French roots reggae band, on the track "Media" where both he and his son Matthew were featured. This is the last apparition of his son, murdered 22 August 2012 in a street fight. In 2013 he released the album ''A New Day'', a collaboration with French musician Fixi. In 2014 he sings on two songs of the first album of

The Celtic Social Club The Celtic Social Club is a musical band formed in 2013 and led by Manu Masko. The band is formed by a group of Bretons and Scots musicians, members of The Silencers, Red Cardell and Ronan Le Bars Group with guests related to the world Celt ...

, a collective of Scottish, Breton, French and New Yorker musicians. In 2017, he releases the album "Rabbi Son" with french producers Bost & Bim on their own label The Bombist. McAnuff's nephew is professional footballer

Jobi McAnuff Joel Joshua Frederick Melvin "Jobi" McAnuff (born 9 November 1981) is a former Association football, footballer. He was predominantly a Midfielder#Winger, winger but he has also played as an occasional Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midf ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Pick Hits to Click'' (1978) *''What the Man "a" Deal Wid'' (1980) *''Electric Dread'' (1986) *''One Love'' (1995) – a rerelease of ''What the Man "a" Deal Wid'' *''Paris Rockin (2006) *''Nostradamus'' (2008) *''Rabbi Son'' (2017)

Compilation albums

*''Diary of the Silent Years'' (2002) – compilation

Joint albums

*''A Drop'' (2005) – with

*''A Bang'' (2011) with

The Bazbaz Orchestra Camille Bazbaz (born 1967) is a French author-composer-interpreter with French-Lebanese roots. He was born in Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Par ...

*''Garden of Love'' EP (2013) – with Fixi *''A New Day'' (2013) with Fixi *''Big Brothers'' (2018) with Fixi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAnuff, Winston Jamaican male singers Jamaican people of Scottish descent Jamaican reggae singers Jamaican Rastafarians Jamaican songwriters Dub musicians Performers of Rastafarian music Jamaican former Christians Converts to the Rastafari movement People from Manchester Parish 1957 births Living people