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rocksteady

John Holt

On an island renowned for its superb vocalists and composers, John Holt still stands head and shoulders above the rest as one of Jamaica's sweetest singers and enduring songwriters. He has voiced and penned so many of the country's classics that in a way, Holt has defined the island's sound. Born in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston, Jamaica, on July 11, 1947, the young Holt took his first steps into the music business via the talent show circuit. Talent shows have always had a massive popularity in Jamaica and the top ones were initially broadcast live on radio and later on television.

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U Roy

U Roy AKA Ewart Beckford, Hugh Roy. Born in 1942, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. began as a sound system DJ in 1961, spinning records for the Doctor Dickies set, later known as Dickies Dynamic, in such well-known Jamaican venues as Victoria Pier, Foresters Hall and Emmett Park. His inspiration was the DJ Winston Count Machuki, who worked for Coxsone Dodd and subsequently on Prince Buster's Voice Of The People sound system.

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Prince Buster

Cecil Bustamente Campbell (born May 28, 1938), better known as Prince Buster, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica and regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music. The records he made on the Blue Beat label in the 1960s inspired several reggae and ska artists. Prince Buster now lives in Miami, Florida. He no longer records or produces, but has performed at a few shows over the past several years.

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Dennis Alcapone

Dennis Alcapone (born Dennis Smith on August 6, 1947 in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a reggae DJ and producer. Smith initially trained as a welder and worked for the Jamaica Public Services. Inspired by the big sound systems that he had visited in his youth such as those run by Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd and Prince Buster, and particularly King Tubby's Hi-Fi, which featured the DJ U-Roy, and the Kentone sound system featuring DJ Pamapdo, Smith teamed up with two friends to set up his own "El Paso" sound system in the late 1960s.

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Intensified

Playing their own authentic ska/reggae/rocksteady style across Europe now for 16 years, and still going strong. They have shared the stage with alot of their heroes, and all the contemporary big guns of ska and reggae: from Rico, Prince Buster, Alton Ellis, Dave Barker, Laurel, Des Dekker, Winston Francis, Dennis Alcapone, Skatalites... to Hepcat, Aggrolites, The Moon Invaders, Dr Ring Ding, Toasters, Selecter, The Upsessions, The Slackers and alot more.

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Symarip

Symarip, formerly the Pyramids and Seven Letters, were a ska and reggae band from the United Kingdom, originating towards the end of the 1960s and into the early 1970s. Such hits included "Skinhead Moonstomp", "Skinhead Girl", and "Skinhead Jamboree." Consisting of members of West-Indian descent, Symarip is widely marked as the first skinhead band, being the first band to target skinheads as an audience.

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Dualers

The Dualers are busking brothers Si and Tyber. The Dualers perform a unique blend of ska, soul and reggae that appeals to all ages with members of their database ranging from 1 to 91. They have a fan base of approaching 10,000 members but have probably been seen by in excess of 4 million whilst busking around the south east and performing at private functions, for the last 8 years. They have sold over 35,000 copies of their first two cd's on the streets alone.

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