Tyrone Taylor: Reggae singer
Tyrone Taylor, singer, songwriter and producer: born St Elizabeth, Jamaica 1954; died Kingston, Jamaica 1 December 2007
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Following the worldwide success of the teenage group Musical Youth with "Pass the Dutchie" in the early Eighties, MCA Records belatedly became interested in reggae. In the summer of 1983, they signed the Jamaican singer Tyrone Taylor and gave an international release to "Cottage in Negril", a single he had written and produced himself.
"Cottage in Negril", with its "lovers rock" style, contrasted with the dance-hall music then coming out of Jamaica, and was a turntable hit. Unfortunately it failed to chart, as did the languid follow-up "Pledge to the Sun", and MCA declined to release Taylor's album internationally.
Born in 1954 in the rural south-west of Jamaica, Taylor cut his first single, "Delilah", in Kingston in 1968, before forming a short-lived duo called the Soul Menders with Vince Brown. He considered giving up music altogether, but the guitarist Willie Lindo encouraged him to persevere.
In the mid-Seventies, he freelanced for producers such as Sidney Crooks (on "Fight It Blackman"), Jack Ruby ("Life Table" and "I'd Like to Know") and, most famously, Winston Holness, aka Niney the Observer, on "Sufferation", a favourite of British punks in 1977. Desperate for a breakthrough, Taylor even recorded "Can't Stop Rastaman Now", a reggae adaptation of McFadden and Whitehead's disco classic "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" in 1980.
The following year, Taylor decided to concentrate on what he knew best and wrote about a romance he had had with a tourist holidaying in Negril, no longer the sleepy town of his youth but a thriving beach resort. Cut with a crack studio band featuring Lindo on guitar, Lloyd Parks on bass, Ansel Collins on keyboards, and a gorgeous saxophone solo by Dean Fraser, "Cottage in Negril" should have been the start of great things for Taylor, but he failed to achieve any further international success.
Pierre Perrone
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments