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By Basil Walters
Jamaica Observer staff reporter
Radio disc jock Mikey Dread is dead. He succumbed to a brain tumor late yesterday afternoon at his family home in Connecticut, USA at the age of 54.
Born Michael Campbell in Port Antonio, Jamaica, he distinguished himself as an extraordinary studio engineer and presenter at the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) where he came to prominence in the 1970s as "The Dread-the-Control Tower", the name of the late night show he presented at a time when reggae music was scoffed at by many.
One of reggae's greatest innovators and original radio engineers/technicians, |
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in 2006 celebrated the 30th anniversary of the night program which he started at the JBC, and revolutionized the after midnight shift making it into the most popular slot on radio, by playing strictly dub music.
Upon leaving the JBC, Mikey Dread ventured into recording and scored with a number of releases such as Weatherman Skanking in combination with Ray I, Barber Saloon, Love the Dread, as well as albums such as Dread at the Control, Evolutionary Rockers and World War III.
Over time he attracted the attention of British punk rockers, The Clash, who invited him to produce some of their music, the most famous of which is their single Bankrobber, and contributed to several songs on their 1980 album, Sandinista. Mikey Dread also toured with The Clash across Britain, wider Europe and the US.
"Michael Campbell is someone who revolutionized radio in Jamaica when there was still an anti-Jamaican sentiment regarding music and culture. In terms of the emerging dancehall, it was Mikey Dread who popularized it on radio. Although it was late night, he still managed to popularize dancehall music and bring it to the masses," was the perspective of Dennis Howard who also worked on JBC Radio, in the post-Mikey Dread era.
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