Biography
Born on 19 November 1940 in Morant Bay, Jamaica, West Indies, Blake first encountered music through the emergence of sound systems in Kingston, the city where he received his schooling. His attraction to the scene was further spurred by his father’s sideline selling radios and amplifiers locally, an enterprise that led the elder Blake to establish the Mighty Merritone sound system. By 1956 the system had passed to Blake and his brother Errol ‘Monte’, and by the middle of the following decade the pair held steady engagements across several Kingston nightclubs. During this period Blake also produced a string of successful sides, among them Hopeton Lewis’s ‘Take It Easy’.
In 1972 he launched the Turntable Club, whose reputation was cemented by the later British release Live At The Turntable Club. That album marked the first official document of a live Jamaican concert and showcased sets by Delroy Wilson, Dennis Brown and Big Youth. While running the venue and the sound system, Blake cut a handful of modest vocal successes. His first release, ‘Cambodia’, was overseen by Harry J. and later became a dancehall staple in the UK after appearing on the Reggae Movement compilation. The follow-up, ‘Especially For You’, produced by Lloyd Daley, soon became a sought-after collector’s piece. In 1974 he portrayed Judge Winchester on Lee Perry’s ‘Public Jestering’ and reprised the character for the sequel ‘Darkness Falls On The City’, after which his brief spell as a DJ ended. Returning to production duties, he scored notable successes with I. Roy.
Although his own recording activity proved short-lived, Blake continued to shape Jamaican music through club operation and artist management. In October 1997 he received the Order Of Distinction in recognition of his services to the nation’s entertainment industry and is still regarded as a key contributor to reggae’s growth. Among the artists under his guidance was his wife Cynthia Schloss. Following her death in February 1999, a series of memorial concerts paid tribute to her, drawing Jamaica’s leading musicians, among them Freddie McGregor, who had shared the 1989 chart-topping duet ‘Not As Happy’ with her.
In 1972 he launched the Turntable Club, whose reputation was cemented by the later British release Live At The Turntable Club. That album marked the first official document of a live Jamaican concert and showcased sets by Delroy Wilson, Dennis Brown and Big Youth. While running the venue and the sound system, Blake cut a handful of modest vocal successes. His first release, ‘Cambodia’, was overseen by Harry J. and later became a dancehall staple in the UK after appearing on the Reggae Movement compilation. The follow-up, ‘Especially For You’, produced by Lloyd Daley, soon became a sought-after collector’s piece. In 1974 he portrayed Judge Winchester on Lee Perry’s ‘Public Jestering’ and reprised the character for the sequel ‘Darkness Falls On The City’, after which his brief spell as a DJ ended. Returning to production duties, he scored notable successes with I. Roy.
Although his own recording activity proved short-lived, Blake continued to shape Jamaican music through club operation and artist management. In October 1997 he received the Order Of Distinction in recognition of his services to the nation’s entertainment industry and is still regarded as a key contributor to reggae’s growth. Among the artists under his guidance was his wife Cynthia Schloss. Following her death in February 1999, a series of memorial concerts paid tribute to her, drawing Jamaica’s leading musicians, among them Freddie McGregor, who had shared the 1989 chart-topping duet ‘Not As Happy’ with her.