Born around 1957 in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica, this musician entered the local scene at the start of the seventies. Joseph Hill of Culture instructed him on drums while both belonged to Stepping Stone; Hill supplied the lead vocals until a clash with hotel management forced Washington into the singer’s spot. That association secured studio time at Joe Gibbs, where his vocal debut ‘Rockers No Crackers’ appeared. After the vocal experiment he resumed drumming duties for Culture on the polarizing Africa Stand Alone; once the album drew uneven notices he relocated to North Coast hotel work, where Stevie Wonder sat in with the band. The Motown figure urged Washington to relocate to the United States in 1982. He established himself in Detroit and withdrew from performing for five years. Leroy Sibbles of the Heptones, touring America, located him in Detroit for a one-off concert and afterward invited him to Canada to play with his outfit and join the Sattalites. Upon departing the Sattalites, Washington supplied drums for Shinehead in New York and joined an international touring circuit. Back from those travels he launched his own imprint and issued ‘Feel The Vibes’, a modest New York success that opened further sessions, among them a long-awaited date at Coxsone Dodd’s Brooklyn Studio One facility. The Studio One connection produced Jamaican dates with Lloyd Campbell, who helmed Get Next To Me; momentum from that project yielded additional singles including ‘Can’t Keep A Good Man Down’, ‘Careless Minded People’, ‘Breaking Up’, ‘The Love Of God’ and ‘Open Your Eyes’.
