Susan Cadogan

With a voice whose gentle luster hovered between youthful purity and a simmering sensuality, Susan Cadogan embodied the essence of lovers rock. Although she had never set out to pursue singing as a livelihood, leaving her professional path intermittent at best, her innate ability earned her the title Queen of Lovers Rock. Born Alison Anne Cadogan on November 2, 1951, in Kingston, Jamaica, she grew up in a household steeped in music; her mother had issued several gospel recordings while Cadogan was still young. The family moved to Belize in the middle of the decade, only to return to Jamaica toward its close, where she finished her education. After completing school, she found employment in the library at the University of the West Indies in Mona. That routine might have continued uninterrupted had DJ Jerry Lewis, the partner of one of her friends, not overheard her and been struck by the quality of her voice. In 1974 he escorted her to the JBC studio to lay down his own “Love My Life,” which he produced. Producer Lee “Scratch” Perry happened to be present that day, was equally captivated, promptly adopted her as his protégé, changed her first name to Susan, and guided her through an album’s worth of cover material. Though Perry sometimes allowed his adventurous studio techniques to overshadow singers or supplied routine reggae backings that ill-suited subtler performers, he exercised notable restraint on these dates, shaping sympathetic arrangements that highlighted Cadogan’s strengths. Their initial release, a spirited reading of Millie Jackson’s soul hit “Hurts So Good,” appeared on Perry’s Perries label with contributions from the Zap Pow horn section and bassist Boris Gardiner yet attracted little local notice. In Britain, however, where Perry had placed the single, the track dominated the 1974 Notting Hill Carnival; a shrewd remix soon topped the reggae chart. Magnet Records then acquired the license, and by March the song had climbed into the U.K. national Top Five. Cadogan traveled to London for several national television spots and signed with Magnet, while Perry distributed his remaining recordings to assorted small British imprints; none of those additional singles charted. In 1976 Trojan assembled the sessions into the album Hurts So Good. Meanwhile Cadogan worked with Pete Waterman of Stock, Aitken & Waterman renown; their first collaboration, “Love Me Baby,” reached only the lower end of the Top 25 in spring 1975, and its successor, “How Do You Feel the Morning After,” failed to chart. The same year’s album Doing It Her Way met a similarly muted reception, hardly surprising given that roots reggae still held sway and Waterman’s polished, lightweight selections, such as “Swinging on a Star,” alienated both reggae enthusiasts and mainstream listeners. Cadogan stayed in Britain until 1977, when a string of unsuccessful singles prompted her departure; she returned to Jamaica and her former library post. Unexpectedly, in 1982 she reappeared on the Jamaican chart with a version of Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears.” By then many listeners had tired of roots music’s insistent cultural focus and embraced the gentler, more romantic lovers rock style that suited Cadogan perfectly. Over the next two years she placed several more singles high on the island charts: “Piece of My Heart” and “Love Me” in 1982, followed in 1983 by the number-one duet with Ruddy Thomas, “(You Know How to Make Me) Feel So Good,” and its follow-up, “Only Heaven Can Wait.” In 1984 she scored solo successes with “Cause You Love Me Baby” and “Don't Know Why.” Just as abruptly she withdrew from music. Nearly a decade passed before she resurfaced alongside English producer Mad Professor, also known as Neil Fraser. Her striking interpretation of “Together We Are Beautiful” appeared on his 1992 Ariwa label twelfth-anniversary compilation. Working once more with a producer who set aside his customary eccentricities, Cadogan delivered the largely cover-based Soulful Reggae album that same year, an outing that foregrounded her powerful, refined vocals. The following year she contributed a track to the Ariwa compilation This Is Lovers Reggae, Vol. Three, guested on Mad Professor’s Dub Maniacs on the Rampage, and joined U-Roy for a new recording of her earlier hit “Hurts So Good.” In 1995 Jimmy Somerville returned that song to the U.K. charts; Cadogan herself issued the album Chemistry of Love. Since then she has again stepped away from the spotlight.