Frankie Paul
Encyclopedia
Paul Blake better known as Frankie Paul, is one of Jamaica
's best-loved and popular dancehall
reggae
artists
. Born blind, he has been dubbed by some 'The Jamaican Stevie Wonder'.
when Wonder visited the school that Blake attended, prompting him to pursue a singing career.
Adopting the stage name Frankie Paul, he first found fame in the early 1980s, and he recorded prolifically throughout the decade. He has recorded
for virtually every producer
/studio
in Jamaica at some time, and has been known to release several album
s a year.
Do not confuse Paul "Frankie Paul" Blake with Paul Blake of The Bloodfire Posse, a band formed in 1983. Notable works of Frankie Paul include the popular "Sara" and "Worries in the Dance".
, he has evolved a strange nasal, throaty style that makes him sound much older. It's the sheer exuberance of his best performances that give away his youthfulness, and his two London
appearances have been joyous occasions." - NME
(4 May 1985)
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
's best-loved and popular dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. Born blind, he has been dubbed by some 'The Jamaican Stevie Wonder'.
Biography
Born in Jamaica in 1965, Blake was born blind but as a child had his sight partially restored by an operation on a hospital ship. He sang for, and impressed Stevie WonderStevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
when Wonder visited the school that Blake attended, prompting him to pursue a singing career.
Adopting the stage name Frankie Paul, he first found fame in the early 1980s, and he recorded prolifically throughout the decade. He has recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
for virtually every producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in Jamaica at some time, and has been known to release several album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s a year.
Do not confuse Paul "Frankie Paul" Blake with Paul Blake of The Bloodfire Posse, a band formed in 1983. Notable works of Frankie Paul include the popular "Sara" and "Worries in the Dance".
Citation
"Frankie Paul has a voice that improves with each release and, although initially compared with Dennis BrownDennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a sub-genre of reggae...
, he has evolved a strange nasal, throaty style that makes him sound much older. It's the sheer exuberance of his best performances that give away his youthfulness, and his two London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
appearances have been joyous occasions." - NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
(4 May 1985)
Albums
- Give The Youth A Chance (1982), Freedom Sounds - also released as Rich & Poor
- Pass the Ku-Sheng Peng (1985) Nyam Up
- Tidal Wave - (1985) - GreensleevesGreensleeves RecordsGreensleeves Records & Publishing is a record label specialising in dancehall and reggae music. The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick and started as a small record store in West Ealing, London, in November 1975 and is based in Britain....
http://www.greensleeves.net/bio/biogfrankie.html - Over the Wall (1985) Crystal
- Still Alive (1985) Jammy's
- Shut Up Bway (1986) Ujama
- Warning (1987) RASRAS RecordsRAS Records, also known as Real Authentic Sound, is a reggae record label.-History:RAS Records was founded in 1979 by Doctor Dread. In his travels to Jamaica he created a network within the reggae artist community there. By the early to mid 1980s RAS had signed artists such as Black Uhuru, Inner...
- Alesha - (1987) []
- Fire Deh a Mus Tail (1988) Blacka Dread
- Dance Hall Duo (1988) RAS
- Slow Down (1988) VPVP RecordsVP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:...
- Frankie Paul at Studio One (1988) Studio One
- Veteran (1989) VP
- Reaching Out (1989), Blue Mountain
- Can't Get You Out of My Mind (1990) Rohit
- Detrimental (1990) Rohit
- Get Closer (1990) Profile
- Start of Romance (1991) Sonic Sounds
- Best in Me (1991), VP
- Let's Chill (1991) VP
- Jamming (1991) VP
- Should I (1991) HeartbeatHeartbeat RecordsHeartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington , Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of Linton Kwesi Johnson's Dread Beat an' Blood...
- Money Talk (1991) Jammy's
- Sleepless Night (1992) Sonic Sounds
- Hot Number (1992) VP
- Tomorrow (1992) Sonic Sounds
- Cassanova (1992) Dynamic Sounds
- Live & Love (1992) VP
- Sizzling (1992) VP
- Don Man (1993) Philo
- Talk All You Want (1994) VP
- Hard Work(1994) RAS
- Time Less (1995) Tan-yah
- If You Want Me Girl (1995) Trojan
- Come Back Again (1996) VP
- Freedom (1996) RAS
- A We Rule (1997) RAS
- Live at Maritime Hall (1999) Artists Only
- Give Me That Feeling Freedom Blues (1999) Foxtail
- Forever (1999) World
- Rock On (1999) Charm
- Every Nigger Is a Star! (2000) Greensleeves
- Remember the Time (2001) Artists Only
- I Be Hold (2001) T.P.
- Don't Wanna Get Funky (2001) Prestige Elite
- Sara (2002) Fatman
- Blessed Me (2002) Scorpio
- Hardcore Loving (2003) Charm
- Asking for Love (2004) Jet Star
- Who Issued the Guns (2006) Music Avenue
- Are You Ready (2007) Cousins
- Best of Friends (2007) Charm
- Tink Say Dem Know Me (2008) Jet Star