Contents - Beth Lesser

good ear and an intuition about newcomers. It was a thankless task that Jojo
loathed, but Kenneth had a knack for it. “Kenneth had a little more rapport
with the singers, probably more than I do”, Jojo admitted.
The artists who came were young and fresh and generally inexperienced,
so Kenneth’s job was to work them into shape to record and then get them
exposure. Kenneth collected a group of young male singers who he spent 1984
producing. The list included Patrick Andy, Frankie Jones, Paddy Anthony,
Michael Palmer, Trevor Junior, Steve Knight, George Wright and Wayne
Smith. Kenneth managed to create a few hits, but most of the artists went on
to record their best work elsewhere. Although some of Michael Palmer’s early
works for Kenneth, like ‘Fancy Girl’ and ‘Lean Boot’, can still stand up quite
well, Michael didn’t hit his peak until later, when he recorded ‘Lickshot’ for
George Phang, ‘Long Run Short Ketch’ for Tonos, and ‘Ghetto Dance’ for
Jah Thomas. Patrick Andy did a few with Kenneth Hookim, like ‘Pretty Me’
and ‘Life in a Jailhouse No Nice’. But it was his work with Jammy, including
‘Sting Me a Sting’ and ‘Speak Your Mind’, that stood out. (Patrick, later,
recorded a neat little cut, Cowhorn Chalice, for Prince Jazzbo). Frankie Jones
was already an established recording artist, having made the LP Satta and
Praise Jah for Bunny Lee in 1977. He recorded a few 45s for Kenneth that
appeared on a clash LP with Michael Palmer, but he was more successful
with ‘Run Come for Witty’, ‘Them Nice’ for Harry J and ‘Nice Like She’ for
Myrie and Marshall. Wayne Smith had the popular ‘Karma Chameleon’ for
Kenneth, but hit big with ‘Sleng Teng’ for Jammy a year later. Frankie Paul’s
‘Slavedriver’, over the ‘Darker Shade of Black’ rhythm, is dynamic, but he
went on to much bigger hits with George Phang and Junjo, and became one
of dancehall reggae’s superstar sensations.
To introduce the newcomers, the Hookims devised an innovative system,
taking inspiration from the dub clash format - pair the newcomer up with
a more established artist on a ‘showdown’ LP. Thus, a series of clash albums
was launched in 1984. Largely a personal project of Kenneth’s, this format allowed
Channel One to put new artists in an album format without much risk.
One of the first LPs featured Frankie Paul v. Sugar Minott. It paired the
young Kenneth Hookim protégé with the well loved hit maker and proved
that Kenneth’s new singer was on a par with the best. Kenneth continued the
product line with The “Frankies” (Frankie Paul and Frankie Jones), the “Andy’s”,
(Horace Andy and Patrick Andy) and the “Palmers” (Michael Palmer
and Wayne Palmer). The series of pairings continued throughout ’84 with
a Wayne Smith and Patrick Andy Showdown, the clash of Frankie Jones v.
Michael Palmer, Barry Brown V. Little John, and Frankie Paul v. Little John.
Soon, other studios had caught on and were making their own clash style
albums. Jammy came out with Double Trouble, with Frankie Paul and Michael
Palmer. Errol Lewis & John Marshall put out Two New Superstars, featuring
Patrick Andy & Frankie Jones. Sir Tommy had Roland Burrell v. Admiral
Tibet. Fantastique let Tristan Palma meet Early B, The Doctor and Black
60 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall