The Heptones › Similar Artists

Delroy Wilson - 100% match to The Heptones

5 October 1948, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 6 March 1995, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Like Dennis Brown and Freddie McGregor, Delroy Wilson was barely out of short trousers when he recorded his debut single for Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label. His first hit, ‘Joe Liges’ (1963), was written by Lee Perry, who at the time was working as a talent-spotte Read more

The Mighty Diamonds - 91% match to The Heptones

One of the most famous Jamaican vocal groups of the 70s and 80s, the Mighty Diamonds was formed in 1969 by lead vocalist Donald ‘Tabby’ Shaw with Fitzroy ‘Bunny’ Simpson and Lloyd ‘Judge’ Ferguson providing the harmonies and occasional lead. They recorded unsuccessfully for Stranger Cole and Rupie Edwards, among others, before their breakthrough in Read more

Ken Boothe - 74% match to The Heptones

22 March 1946, Denham Town, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Boothe began his recording career with Stranger Cole in the duo Stranger And Ken, releasing titles including ‘World’s Fair’, ‘Hush’, ‘Artibella’ and ‘All Your Friends’ from 1963-65. When the rocksteady rhythm began to evolve during 1966, Boothe recorded ‘Feel Good
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Freddie McGregor - 73% match to The Heptones

c.1955, Clarendon, Jamaica, West Indies. McGregor entered the Jamaican music business at the precocious age of seven, singing backing vocals with ska duo the Clarendonians at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One. He stayed with Dodd throughout the rest of the decade and into the early 70s, acting as a session drummer and backing singer as well as cutting sides such as ‘Why Di Read more

Sugar Minott - 71% match to The Heptones

Lincoln Barrington Minott, 25 May 1956, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Minott was probably reggae music’s brightest hope throughout the early 80s, but his refusal to compromise and turn his back on either his roots or his ghetto companions has marginalized his influence, and he is now a peripheral figure, as opposed to the major force that he arguably deserves to be.Read more

Junior Byles - 65% match to The Heptones

Keith Byles, 1948, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Growing up in the Jonestown district of Kingston, Byles started work as a fireman in his late teens. By 1967 he had formed the Versatiles with Louis Davis and a youth named Earl Dudley. The trio recorded a series of titles for producer Joe Gibbs during 1968/9, including ‘Just Can’t Win’, ‘Trust The Book&# Read more

The Paragons - 64% match to The Heptones

This R&B vocal group was formed in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. With their high false falsetto and exotic warbling, the Paragons represented a rock ‘n’ roll doo-wop sound - sometimes called ‘greasy’ - that was extremely popular on the east coast in the late 50s. The members were Al Brown (bass), Ricky Jackson (first tenor), Donald Travis (baritone), Read more

The Melodians - 63% match to The Heptones

Jamaican vocal trio comprising Brent Dowe (29 June 1946, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 29 January 2006), Tony Brevett and Trevor McNaughton. Renford Cogle was also a member of the group throughout their career. He made a major contribution as songwriter on many of the trio’s biggest hits, but apparently not as a vocalist. They started singing in Kingston’s amateur talen Read more

Dennis Alcapone - 62% match to The Heptones

Dennis Smith, 6 August 1947, Clarendon, Jamaica, West Indies. Initially inspired by U-Roy, Alcapone began DJing for El Paso Hi-Fi in 1969. He was the first DJ to enjoy success on record after U-Roy, and likewise the first to challenge his dominance. His initial records were made for youth producer and sometime ghetto dentist Keith Hudson, with titles including ‘Shades O Read more

John Holt - 61% match to The Heptones

11 July 1947, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. At the age of 12 Holt’s voice was a regular feature of the talent contests run by Vere Johns at various Jamaican theatres, and by 1963 Holt had cut his first single, ‘I Cried A Tear’/‘Forever I’ll Stay’, for Leslie Kong’s Beverley’s label. Holt also recorded duets with Alton Ellis for Randy Read more

Dennis Brown - 56% match to The Heptones

Dennis Emanuel Brown, 1 February 1957, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 1 July 1999, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Regularly billed as ‘the Crown Prince of Reggae’, it was only Brown’s self-effacing nature that denied him advancement to the office of king. Loved in reggae music like no other singer, Brown was regularly courted by the major record labels, a Read more

Don Carlos - 54% match to The Heptones

Hugh Mundell - 54% match to The Heptones

14 June 1962, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 1983. Hugh Mundell made his first recording for producer Joe Gibbs, the unreleased ‘Where Is Natty Dread’, while barely in his teens. After this false start, his career really began when his precocious talent impressed session player/producer Augustus Pablo. Pablo enlisted his services as a DJ alongside Jah Bull on h Read more

Culture - 53% match to The Heptones

Culture became the runaway success of 1977 with their single ‘Two Sevens Clash’ for Joe Gibbs, and with an album of the same name and the follow-up Baldhead Bridge, they came to dominate reggae with their stark prophecy and apocalyptic warnings. They even found a sympathetic ear in the emergent punk audience of the period. The group, originally known as the African Di Read more

The Gladiators - 50% match to The Heptones