About Junior English
Hometown
Kingston, Jamaica
Born
1951
Genre
Reggae
b. Lindel Beresford English, 1951, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. English began performing in his teens and in 1965 he recorded ‘Fay Is Gone’ for Prince Buster. He arrived in the UK in the latter half of the 60s where he completed his education. He entered and won a talent contest run by the Palmer brothers, noted for their contribution to the UK reggae scene with Pama Records and later Jet Star, at the popular Club 31. His success led to him joining a band called the Magnets, with whom he recorded ‘Somewhere’. The preference for Jamaican reggae thwarted his career and he spent the late 60s performing with the group on a European tour. On his return he joined another band, the Nighthawks, releasing ‘Jasmine’ and an obscure album. By 1970 he returned to the UK where he recorded ‘Miss Playgirl’, ‘Daniel’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Die’ and the popular ‘Back On The Scene’. He enjoyed a prolific run of hits with Clement Bushay, who produced ‘Never Lose Never Win’, which provided the backing to the combination hit for Trinity and Dillinger, ‘Starsky And Hutch’. The song led to an album of the same name featuring accomplished versions of Delano Stewart’s ‘Stay A Little Bit Longer’, the Chi-Lites’ ‘Bet You’ll Never Be Sorry’, Matumbi’s ‘After Tonight’ and the Royal Rasses’ ‘Humanity’. With Bushay, he released the classic ‘In Loving You’, which, although released in October, had the distinction of being 1978’s Christmas number 1 on the UK reggae charts. The success of the single was acknowledged when he won the Afro-Caribbean Post Golden Sunrise Award for best male vocalist in the same year. He maintained a high profile with ‘Natural High’, which was equally successful, lending its title to his second album for Bushay. The compilation was a self-production recorded at Channel One Studios with the Revolutionaries. In 1979 his credibility increased with the release of ‘I’ll Make It Up To You’, securing a respectable position in the reggae charts alongside ‘Love And Key’ and ‘I Am The One You Love’. He continued to release hit singles throughout the 80s, including ‘Daddy’s Home’, ‘Equal Love’ and the popular ‘Ready To Learn’, which surfaced on his own International English label. In 1985 English was one of the many performers who featured on the British Reggae Artists Famine Appeal release ‘Let’s Make Africa Green Again’. In the 90s he maintained his profile, covering ‘Queen Majesty’, ‘Cruising’, ‘Ready To Learn’ and other popular standards.
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