Affectionately called Desmond Dekker; Desmond Adolphus Dacres was born in Kingston on July 16, 1941. Known as the King of Ska, Dekker went to Alpha Boys School. After his mother died, he went to live in the parish of St. Mary with relatives. Even though he tried his hands at different types of craft, Dekker knew he wanted to sing.
Following various encouragements, Dekker returned to Kingston and impress the legendary Derrick Morgan with his energetic vocals. Dekker later formed the group The Aces with other well-known Jamaican artists. This combination created sensational hits like “Israelites”, “007 Shanty Town”, and “It Miek”. Desmond Dekker was known as one of the leading musicians before the Bob Marley era both in and out of the island. Paving the way for other Jamaican musicians, Desmond was among the first to introduce Jamaica’s music to the world.
In 1963, Dekker recorded a song called “Honour Your Father and Mother” with Kong Studio. Upon its release, the song’s sincere message rocketed to the top of the Jamaican charts. This was when he popularly gained the name Desmond Dekker. After tasting the rewards of musical stardom, Desmond went onto produced the song titled “King of Ska”. The song brought Dekker his much needed fame, after which he created hit singles like “Get Up Edina”, the suggestion to Parents; the playful love letter song of “This Woman”, and the inspiring Mount Zion songs.
All were big hits for the Aces. However, Dekker was seen as an outstanding man that sang about the social conditions of the Jamaican lifestyle and practices, especially among young girls. This later changed in 1967, when he began exploring new musical realms. Set to smash up the powerful rocksteady beats, Dekker’s tunes quickly adapted to a more rude boy theme.
These songs made Dekker into a recognized rude boy symbol. He later went to England, and the Jamaican artist quickly made his mark on the international stage. More songs of the rude boy theme were to follow, including the emotional “Rudy Got Soul” and “Rude Boy Train”. Although Dekker produced these types of songs, he still maintained his original set of musical themes and produced other hits like “Wise Man”, “Mother’s Young Girl”, “Sabotage”, and “Hey Grandma”.
Another hit from Dekker in 1967, was the song “It Pays”. This song featured some of the most superb lyrics ever written by Desmond Dekker. In 1968, Dekker unleashed the popular song of the Israelites to the innocent world stage. The song slowly climbed the British charts. This allowed Desmond to enter the American chart; being the first to achieve this level with only Jamaican songs.
Dekker quickly released hits like “Beautiful and Dangerous”, “Shing a Ling” and “Music Like Dirt”. For about half a year later, Dekker loyally produced the Writing on the Wall song. By the time the ’70s emerged Desmond Dekker had moved to London, where he later called home. Touring and promoting his music, Dekker continued to work relentlessly at developing his artistic profession
However, as the ’70s came to a close, Dekker made another major deal with the Stiff Label. His first album with this label produced songs like “Please Don’t Bend” and “Book of Rules”. Both singles did poorly for the musician. But regardless of this, Dekker was still in great demand for live performances. Sadly, in 1984, Dekker declared he was bankrupt.
Dekker literally vanished from the public scenes for the rest of the decade. The only album that kept him alive was the Trojan’s 1987 Officially Live and Rare album. Nevertheless, Desmond redid the hit single “Israelites” on a newer rhythm this brought him back into the limelight. About two years later he revamped his musical career with his Kings of Kings Album.
Although this collection of lyrics was mainly hits of his past ventures, people like the new Desmond Dekker and eagerly draw to his songs. In 1996, the Moving On album did not do so well for the artist. He subsequently went unto collating songs from different artists along with his own, which saw him covering the music eras of Ska, Rocksteady, and reggae.
At the age of 64, Desmond Dekker died at his London home on May 25, 2006 of a heart attack. Dekker’s rich heritage and music are of unparallel value, as this was the man who officially put the Jamaican music on the international scene. Even before the legendary Bob Marley.
