Mikey Dread

Radio disc jockey, studio engineer, singer and producer.

b : 4 June 1954 in Port Antonio, Jamaica.
d : 15 March 2008 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.

He started building amps and repairing radios at the age of 12, then studied electronics (between Jamaica and the USA) and joined the "Safari" sound system where he repaired amps and turntables. In 1976, he joined the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), one of the two biggest radio stations in Kingston with the RJR, which strangely enough at the time, played very little reggae. It was there that he took over the show "Dread at the Control" (where he played only reggae, every day from midnight to 4am) until 1979 which made him famous in Jamaica ! He started to record songs in 1978 and founded his own label "Dread At The Controls" aka DATC (named in relation to his radio show) the same year and released his first album in 1979. He became very popular in England and with the Punk crowd, he worked with The Clash, produced the single "Bankrobber" and mixing dub versions for their "Black Market Clash" and "Sandinista!" albums and toured with them in 1980. He was very productive in the 1980's, especially in England, and participated in various projects in the 1990's and 2000's before moving to the USA and starts to reissue the productions of his label.