Donovan Germain OD (born 7 March 1952 in

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 ...

) is a

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 ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, one of the most successful of the digital era.

Biography

Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the 1970s.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, He began production in 1972, visiting Jamaica for recording sessions, working in both roots reggae and

lovers rock Lovers' rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid-1970s.Larkin, Col ...

. As a producer he had hits on the reggae charts with the likes of Cultural Roots' "Mr. Boss Man" in 1980, and broke through into the UK Singles Chart in the early and mid-1980s with Sugar Minott's "Good Thing Going" and Audrey Hall's "One Dance Won't Do".Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae", Rough Guides, He ran the Revolutionary Sounds label which started in the early 1980s and ran from New York, and also ran the Rub-a-Dub, Reggae, and Germain labels.Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, Reggae Producers - The Big 5
",

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 ...

, 2 March 2008 One of Germain label's most well-known records on the sound system circuit in UK, especially on Jah Shaka sound, was Sam Bramwell's ''It ago Dread inna

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

'', which Bramwell-- previously a vocalist with The Chantells -- recorded with The Revolutionaries. He returned to

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, ...

in 1987 and opened his ''Penthouse Studio'' on Slipe Pen Road (originally located on the top floor — hence the name — now located on Ballater Avenue and including a pressing facility), which soon became highly in-demand, and became one of the island's top studios, with Germain becoming recognized as one of the very top reggae producers, taking over as Jamaica's leading producer from King Jammy.Henry, Davina (2013)
Penthouse Celebrates 25 Years
, ''

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 ' ...

'', 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013 In the early days of the studio he worked with such renowned artists as Freddie McGregor,

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 ...

, Marcia Griffiths, and

Tenor Saw Clive Bright (2 December 1966 – August 1988), better known as Tenor Saw, was a Jamaican dancehall singjay in the 1980s, considered one of the most influential singers of the early digital reggae era. His best-known song was the 1985 hit "Ring ...

, and went on to enjoy great success with Buju Banton (who with Germain had more Jamaican number one singles than any other artist), Mad Cobra, Cutty Ranks,

Morgan Heritage Morgan Heritage is a Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan, and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan. ...

Wayne Wonder Von Wayne Charles (born 26 July 1972), better known by his stage name Wayne Wonder, is a Jamaican reggae artist. While his early recordings were dancehall and reggae, he later moved towards hip hop and rap. His most popular single is the 2003 ...

, and Beres Hammond. In 2012, Germain received Jamaica's Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME) Award for Producer of the Year (reggae).White, Nadine (2013)
Donovan Germain blasts current state of dancehall music
, ''Vision newspaper'', 24 June 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014 In October 2014, the Institute of Jamaica awarded Germain a silver Musgrave Medal for his contribution to music.Campbell, Howard (2014)
Winkler, Germain and Gussie get medals
, ''

'', 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014 In August 2015, it was announced that he would be awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government.Campbell, Howard (2015)
Ronnie Burke heads field of distinction
, ''

'', 7 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germain, Donovan 1952 births Living people Jamaican record producers Recipients of the Musgrave Medal Recipients of the Order of Distinction