Nicky Thomas

Cecil Nicholas Thomas entered the world in Portland, Jamaica, during 1949. The earliest island success for the singer came with “Run Nigel Run,” a 1969 production credited to Derrick Harriot, yet his strongest recordings took shape under Joe Gibbs, among them the reggae-pop gem “Love of the Common People” that climbed into Britain’s Top Ten in 1970. After crossing to Britain that same year to promote the track, Thomas elected to remain and kept issuing his fusion of pop and reggae from British soil right up to his passing in 1990. Often likened to a modest counterpart of Jimmy Cliff, he left behind a modest yet captivating catalog whose highlights include the pointed “BBC,” an unflinching rebuke of Radio 1’s dismissive stance toward Jamaican reggae acts; on that basis alone his work merits lasting attention.