Tomas Olesen remembers one of reggae's finest singers who died this morning.
Today Spoonfed joins the rest of the reggae-loving world and indeed the rest of the music-loving world in mourning the loss of one of the most unique voices ever to come out of Jamaica - Gregory Issacs.
Issacs is one of the most famous of all the reggae stars to emerge in the '70s. He never achieved the same level of commercial success enjoyed by Bob Marley, Dennis Brown or Jimmy Cliff but classic tunes like 'Slave Master', 'Down The Line', 'Cool Ruler', 'Black a Kill Black', and (of course) 'Night Nurse' place him firmly amongst the all time greats.
His best work is probably 'The Cool Ruler' and 'Soon Forward' albums he recorded for Virgin Records at the end of the '70s. But it wasn't until 1982 and the release of 'Night Nurse' that he really hit the mainstream. Despite 'Night Nurse' not really making much of an impact on the charts it was such a hit in the clubs and got so much radio play that his album of the same name charted at #32 in the UK.
The extent of his drug problems became apparent at this time too, however, and in 1982 his success was marred by a 6 month sentence in Kingston Jail for possession of unlicensed firearms. He claimed the weapons were purely for his own protection but it emerged that this was in fact his 27th arrest and he'd slid into a world of drug dealing and crack cocaine addiction. His addiction eventually cost him most of his teeth and damaged his voice irrepairably. He later said of this period of his life: "Drugs are a debasing weapon. It was the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid – the Cocaine High School. I learnt everything, and now I've put it on the side."
His 2008 album, 'Brand New Me', would be his last and after four decades as a recording artist he went out on a high with much critical acclaim for the LP. Two years later, here in London, he has sadly died from cancer of the liver aged 59 and the world mourns the loss of a very special talent. His exquisite voice, mournful yet hopeful, slightly nasal and always very controlled will resonate forever. We at Spoonfed send our best wishes to his family and all that knew the man known as 'The Cool Ruler'.
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