Tapper Zukie
Encyclopedia
Tapper Zukie (born David Sinclair, 1955, Kingston
, Jamaica
) is a reggae
deejay and producer
.
given to him by his grandmother in his youth
, while Zukie was a name that came from his friends' association as a young boy - their gang was called 'The Zukies'.
In 1973 his mother, concerned with Zukie's tendency to get into trouble, sent him to England
to stay with some relatives. Producer Bunny Lee
arranged with the UK
-based entrepreneur Larry Lawrence
for him to undertake some recording
sessions and concert
s, opening for U-Roy
the day after his arrival in London
. Zukie's first release was the single
"Jump & Twist", produced by Lawrence. Around this time he also recorded material for Clem Bushay
, which would later form part of the Man Ah Warrior album, issued in 1973.
Zukie returned to Jamaica, cutting "Judge I Oh Lord" for Lloydie Slim and "Natty Dread Don't Cry" for Lee. After an argument with Lee that resulted in the police being called, the two made peace with Lee giving Zukie some riddim
s to record over, and taking these and others from Joseph Hoo Kim
, he toasted over them at King Tubby
's studio
, these forming the album
MPLA (released in 1976).
The Man Ah Warrior album had gained Zukie a cult following in the UK
, and he returned there in 1975, releasing the track "MPLA" as a single, which was sufficiently successful for Klik to issue the album of the same name in the UK. One notable fan of MPLA was Patti Smith
, who gave Zukie a support slot on her UK tour, reissued Man a Warrior on her Mer label, and contributed sleeve-notes to his 1977 album Man From Bosrah.
This period of success allowed Zukie to set up his own 'Stars' record label
, and he began to produce other artists, including Junior Ross & The Spear, Prince Alla
, Errol Dunkley
, Ronnie Davis
, and Horace Andy
. Two dub
albums emerged in 1977: Escape From Hell and Tapper Zukie In Dub.
A deal with Virgin Records
subsidiary Frontline saw the release of two further albums in 1978 - Peace In The Ghetto and Tapper Roots, while he also continued to release records on his Stars label in Jamaica.
After 1976, he concentrated on producing music in Jamaica
, working with such reggae musicians as The Mighty Diamonds
, Max Romeo
, Ken Boothe
, Sugar Minott
and U-Roy
.
In 1978 he scored a big hit with "Oh Lord", which spent six weeks on top of the Jamaican charts. Also popular that summer was "She Want a Phensic".
In the mid-1980s, Zukie was more prolific as a producer, working with artists such as The Mighty Diamonds
, Sugar Minott
, and Max Romeo
. In 1986 he released a new album of his own, Raggamuffin. He continued to concentrate on production, although another album was released in 1996, Deep Roots.
Zukie has a few children, but only one is following in Zukie's footsteps. Noel Bonds aka BranNEW http://www.brannewtv.com is making his mark in the hip hop music industry.
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, Jamaica
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...
) is a 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...
deejay and 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...
.
Biography
Tapper was the nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
given to him by his grandmother in his youth
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, while Zukie was a name that came from his friends' association as a young boy - their gang was called 'The Zukies'.
In 1973 his mother, concerned with Zukie's tendency to get into trouble, sent him to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to stay with some relatives. Producer Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
arranged with the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based entrepreneur Larry Lawrence
Larry Lawrence
Maurice Larry Lawrence was a United States Ambassador to Switzerland. He was born in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. In 1991, Forbes magazine named Lawrence among the 400 richest Americans and estimated his fortune at $315 million. Lawrence purchased luxury resort Hotel Del Coronado in 1963...
for him to undertake some recording
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...
sessions and concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s, opening for U-Roy
U-Roy
U-Roy , OD, is a Jamaican musician, also known as The Originator. He is best known as a pioneer of toasting.-Biography:...
the day after his arrival in 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...
. Zukie's first release was the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Jump & Twist", produced by Lawrence. Around this time he also recorded material for Clem Bushay
Clement Bushay
Clement "Clem" Bushay is a United Kingdom-based reggae producer who also ran the Bushays record label.-Biography:Bushay's productions in the early 1970s were issued by Trojan Records, and he produced early releases by Owen Gray and Louisa Mark , and was one of the early producers of UK Lovers rock...
, which would later form part of the Man Ah Warrior album, issued in 1973.
Zukie returned to Jamaica, cutting "Judge I Oh Lord" for Lloydie Slim and "Natty Dread Don't Cry" for Lee. After an argument with Lee that resulted in the police being called, the two made peace with Lee giving Zukie some riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
s to record over, and taking these and others from Joseph Hoo Kim
Joseph Hoo Kim
-Career:Shortly after the Jamaican government banned gaming machines in the early 1970s, Joe Joe Hookim and his brother Ernest, abandoned their jobs as machine operators, and jumped into the music business. By 1973, the Hookims had opened their own studio, Channel One, with Joe Joe as its hands-on...
, he toasted over them at King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...
's 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...
, these forming the 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...
MPLA (released in 1976).
The Man Ah Warrior album had gained Zukie a cult following in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and he returned there in 1975, releasing the track "MPLA" as a single, which was sufficiently successful for Klik to issue the album of the same name in the UK. One notable fan of MPLA was Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, who gave Zukie a support slot on her UK tour, reissued Man a Warrior on her Mer label, and contributed sleeve-notes to his 1977 album Man From Bosrah.
This period of success allowed Zukie to set up his own 'Stars' record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and he began to produce other artists, including Junior Ross & The Spear, Prince Alla
Prince Alla
Prince Alla aka Prince Allah or Ras Allah is a roots reggae singer whose career began in the 1960s, and has continued with a string of releases into the 2000s.-Biography:...
, Errol Dunkley
Errol Dunkley
Errol Dunkley is a Jamaican reggae musician, born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951.-Biography:Dunkley's recording career began in 1965, when he was fourteen, with "Gypsy" for Linden Pottinger's Gaydisc label, "My Queen" for Prince Buster, and "Love Me Forever" on the Rio label...
, Ronnie Davis
Ronnie Davis
Ronnie Davis is a reggae singer who was a member of The Tennors and The Itals, and now performs with the group Ronnie Davis & Idren.-Biography:...
, and Horace Andy
Horace Andy
Horace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
. Two dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
albums emerged in 1977: Escape From Hell and Tapper Zukie In Dub.
A deal with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
subsidiary Frontline saw the release of two further albums in 1978 - Peace In The Ghetto and Tapper Roots, while he also continued to release records on his Stars label in Jamaica.
After 1976, he concentrated on producing music in Jamaica
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...
, working with such reggae musicians as The Mighty Diamonds
The Mighty Diamonds
Mighty Diamonds are a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group, which comprised Donald "Tabby" Shaw, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, and Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson, was formed in 1969, and remains together as of 2010...
, Max Romeo
Max Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...
, Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...
, Sugar Minott
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator.-Biography:...
and U-Roy
U-Roy
U-Roy , OD, is a Jamaican musician, also known as The Originator. He is best known as a pioneer of toasting.-Biography:...
.
In 1978 he scored a big hit with "Oh Lord", which spent six weeks on top of the Jamaican charts. Also popular that summer was "She Want a Phensic".
In the mid-1980s, Zukie was more prolific as a producer, working with artists such as The Mighty Diamonds
The Mighty Diamonds
Mighty Diamonds are a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group, which comprised Donald "Tabby" Shaw, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, and Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson, was formed in 1969, and remains together as of 2010...
, Sugar Minott
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator.-Biography:...
, and Max Romeo
Max Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...
. In 1986 he released a new album of his own, Raggamuffin. He continued to concentrate on production, although another album was released in 1996, Deep Roots.
Zukie has a few children, but only one is following in Zukie's footsteps. Noel Bonds aka BranNEW http://www.brannewtv.com is making his mark in the hip hop music industry.
Albums
- Man a Warrior (1973), Klik
- M.P.L.A. (1976), Klik - reissued (1978), VirginVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
- Escape From Hell (1977), Stars
- Tapper Zukie in Dub (1977), Stars
- The Man From Bozrah (1978), Stars
- Peace in the Ghetto (1978), Virgin
- Tapper Zukie International (1978), Stars
- Blackman (1978), Stars
- Tapper Roots (1978), Stars/Front LineFront Line (record label)Front Line was a reggae subsidiary of Virgin Records established in 1978. Over forty albums were issued on the label before it folded in 1979.-History:Virgin had been releasing reggae records since BB Seaton's "Dancing Shoes" in 1974...
- Raggy Joey Boy (1982), Stars
- Earth Running (1983), Mobiliser
- People Are You Ready? (1983), Stars
- Ragamuffin (1986), World Enterprise
- Deep Roots (1996), 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...
Compilations
- Living in the Ghetto, Stars
- Cork & Tar (2004), Tappa
- Dub 'Em Zukie (2004), Jamaican Recordings
- Musical Intimidator: The Anthology (2004), TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
- The Best of the Frontline Years (2004), Virgin
- From the Archives, RAS
External links
- Tapper Roots Discussion Radio 1's Mark and LardMark and LardMark and Lard, the stage name of Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley , are former BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys. Mark and Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004...
discuss Tapper Zukies 'Tapper Roots' album cover. - Discography at Roots Archives.