RIP Michael Campbell

CD in Play: Tortoise, It's All Around You

While many bloggers will be posting about the demise of Arthur C. Clarke, ( See Pete Chattaway's blog, for instance) I figured I would pay brief homage to a man many people won't have heard of: Michael Campbell, aka Mikey Dread. I only became aware of Campbell about three years ago courtesy of Mojo. I like what I heard and began hearing more of his work as time went by. I'm not a big fan of reggae, per se, but I do like dub and Campbell's was highly original and stood out on its own.
Best known to some for his work producing and performing with The Clash, Campbell is the man who managed to get reggae played on the JBC, (Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation) who preferred to stack its play lists with safer foreign acts. Campbell agitated and got his own show, Dread at the Controls, which was a hit across Jamaica. What I have heard of his work was pretty innovative and I his drive and success to get domestic music played on domestic radio deserves to be recognised.
RIP, Mikey Dread.