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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZDEKKER, Desmond(b Desmond Dacres, 16 July '41, Jamaica) Singer who had successes on Leslie Kong's Beverley's label '69--70, and six UK chart hits '67--75. Debut was 'Honour Your Mother And Father' '63; formed own group the Aces and scored decisively with '007 (Shanty Town)' '67, picked up by the UK soul crowd for a no. 14 hit. He followed this with a series of similar songs incl. 'Rudie Got Soul', 'Rude Boy Train', 'Sabotage'; then 'Israelites' '69 hit no. 1 UK. Follow- ups 'It Mek' (means 'that's why') '69, 'Pickney Girl' and 'You Can Get It If You Really Want' '70 were also UK hits; the latter was written by Jimmy Cliff, reached no. 2; LP of that title also released. Kong's death '70 ended the string except for 'Sing A Little Song' '75 ('Israelites' re-entered top ten same year), though he continued to perform and record at intervals. During the 2-Tone phase he made albums Black And Dekker and Compass Point for Stiff, but most of the albums issued late '70s--80s were retrospectives from the King's catalogue; Rockin' Steady is a best-of CD on Rhino. |