Desmond Dekker dies at 64
Desmond Dekker has passed away.
I have wrote an earlier post about how 0.0.7. was a very important song that shaped the politics in Jamaica. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the different political factions in Jamaica would battle not only in the polls but also with guns, shooting each other in their 'battlefield' which tended to be the ghettos where the already oppresed people had to deal with loved ones, children, and themselves getting caught in the crossfire of very real bullets.
This spawned the Rude Boy movement where shaved headed denizens of the ghetto sported James Bond style suits and fought do defend the ghettos by killing any agressive invaders to their neighborhoods. The classis Desmond Dekker track 0.0.7. was more of a call to arms then any single other song. It's interesting to note historically that Desmond Dekker was a co-worker with Bob Marley, and that Desmond helped his friend to the musical success that he enjoyed in his all too short life.
The legacy of Desmond Dekker should help us remember that Ska is more then just upbeat sounding music and that music can be mightier then the pen or the sword.
I have wrote an earlier post about how 0.0.7. was a very important song that shaped the politics in Jamaica. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the different political factions in Jamaica would battle not only in the polls but also with guns, shooting each other in their 'battlefield' which tended to be the ghettos where the already oppresed people had to deal with loved ones, children, and themselves getting caught in the crossfire of very real bullets.
This spawned the Rude Boy movement where shaved headed denizens of the ghetto sported James Bond style suits and fought do defend the ghettos by killing any agressive invaders to their neighborhoods. The classis Desmond Dekker track 0.0.7. was more of a call to arms then any single other song. It's interesting to note historically that Desmond Dekker was a co-worker with Bob Marley, and that Desmond helped his friend to the musical success that he enjoyed in his all too short life.
The legacy of Desmond Dekker should help us remember that Ska is more then just upbeat sounding music and that music can be mightier then the pen or the sword.