Junior Delgado

 

by Lesli Singer
Photograph by
Originally published: August/September 1986

While visiting relatives in Houston last March, I had the opportunity to meet Junior Delgado. I got to observe as he pursued one of his hobbies, skeet shooting, with his cousin Derrick. Delgado, who is an excellent marksman, told me he learned to shoot while hunting in the hills of Jamaica as a youth. He found the time for an interview on Easter morning before heading back to New York.

Junior Delgado was born on August 25, 1954 in the parish of Kingston and spent part of his childhood in the downtown area. He attended a Catholic church where he was an altar boy and sang in the church choir. Later he and his mother lived in the Rockfort area until his mother "went to foreign," leaving Delgado to be raised with his grandmother in the country. Like many aspiring young singers, he sang in school concerts and in competitions for prizes.

His first break came at around age 16 when he made his first record with Lee "Scratch" Perry. Junior was singing with a group called Time Unlimited and their first recordings for Scratch were made in 1971 or '72. Busy with production work for Bob Marley and also Bunny Wailer, Scratch gave the records to Joe Gibbs for distribution. But "23rd Psalm," "African Sound," and "Reaction" never did that well.

Junior Delgado, along with Time Unlimited, spent at least four years with Scratch Perry before moving on to the Success label, where they recorded a few songs. Then it was on to Tommy Cowan's Island Corp. It was around that time that the members of Time Unlimited decided to split and go solo.

As it turned out, the solo move was the right move. According to Delgado, "I start doing solo now and that's when I start makin' it. That's when I make my name because I did the song called 'Trickster,' which was a big smash for me." "Trickster" reached number one on the reggae charts and other songs of his started hitting. Songs like "Storm Is Coming" and "Famine" helped to establish the young singer. Of this time Junior says, "I was happy now and loads of people want to record me."

Things began happening all at once. TASTES OF THE YOUNG HEART, the album he made with Dennis Brown, became a smash; this was the music that broke Junior Delgado in England, where he still enjoys immense popularity today. The album sold out there and Delgado headed to England to do a promotional tour in 1978. Before ever setting foot in England, he had four number-one hits. "Love Won't Come Easy," "Famine," "Armed Robbery," and "Tician" (short for politician) had brought him to the attention of English reggae fans.

Success demanded that he begin traveling back and forth between England and Jamaica. Then, in 1979 he flew into New York and " . . . it was magic. Everything. Like I was in New York and like in stores, they would announce on the radio that I was gonna be there and lots of guys would come down and girls, and I was signing, signing, and like my hand was tired from signing autographs."

By the time Delgado was finished recording the EFFORT LP, he had moved to England. He traveled all over the continent and enjoyed sell-out shows in England. A trip to New York in 1980 resulted in some successful shows for Ken Williams and also at the Mud Club in Manhattan. During this time Delgado continued traveling from England to Jamaica to the U. S.

According to Delgado, EFFORT is his most significant work of that time, along with some productions he did with Sly & Robbie. "Merry Go Round" is another song that he cites, although he prefers "reality" songs that "mean a lot to people." Another song that he really loved was "Black Man's Heart Cries Out," which was produced by Augustus Pablo.

Delgado still considers England his home, having lived there for seven years now. "It's quiet, it's beautiful, but you can't stay there long as a singer. Like me as a reggae artist. I don't sing only reggae, I make reggae but I mix it." By incorporating other elements into his music, he hopes to attract a mixed audience.

A few years ago, Delgado was involved in an incident in England that forced him to take some time out of his career. He was reluctant to talk about it in an interview. According to Delgado, "Well, it was a little mishap happening. Some of my mates was involved in some herb business and these cops came to my house and said they wanna see me about some questioning. I never have nothing to do with it but because it was my friend I was playing hard and like I'm tough. They tried to do something wrong after they know it wasn't me - I was just mingling with friends - so I went to jail and got away eventually because it got squashed in court." Delgado spent twelve months in jail before the incident was finally resolved on appeal. "In spite of having talent and having good ideas, you still gonna suffer sometime. Maybe the sun shine for you someday. Like me, because I've got some wicked tears and wears, man, experience, and I know the business. Don't matter how you can sing and your voice is strong and you think you got it. It's funny, man."

Since that time Delgado has released an album called CLASSICS in England. He would like to release it in America, but he doesn't want Sly & Robbie, who helped produce it, to see it go to a "small backstreet company." Since his records are, for the most part, unavailable now, Delgado would like to sign with a record company willing to handle all of his material.

Right now Delgado has some new singles on the market, one of which is "Run Come." Other releases include "What a Heat" and a double A side with Delgado's "Rockers" on one side and Gregory Isaacs's "No Good Girl" on the other. He has recently spent a few months in Jamaica, were he has been recording new works.

As of this writing, Delgado has not performed in the U.S. since 1981. Delgado stated, "If I do a show, it's gonna be with some promoter who knows what he's doing. I don't like mistakes, you know." Knowing the business still can't get Delgado or any artist into the right places. They key is proper management. Offers are coming in but Junior realizes it's unprofessional to handle those offers himself. At this stage, Delgado feels he needs an American manager, " . . . someone who can work with people. A manager who can go into places and get me the best shows, not no little shows down the road in some club. Because I been through all of that already. I never not turning up for my gig or late. Anyone can tell you, in England, if you can't deal with time, they ain't gonna deal with you. If you're a minute late, you have to make a different appointment. It's very embarrassing."

Since I spoke with him in March, Delgado has been slated to appear at the all-star show in Miami, " Heat in Miami Baseball Stadium." The show is to take place on August 2nd with over forty reggae superstars on hand to celebrate Jamaica's 24th year of independence.

According to Delgado, there is a difference in the way reggae is accepted in England vs. America. "In America, you have to let them understand the music. 'Cause you've got some of the greatest artists to compete with. Their songs are good because they've got all the studio time they need, they get proper training, good songwriting, good musicians. It's not no hustling thing. You've got to have it on that level or America don't wanna know. It's not like in England where they just crazy about reggae. In America, you've got to do everything right."

Delgado concluded by saying that "Reggae is gonna be the next music. Like soul and jazz, rock, like they all come, reggae's gonna be a next music like that. People tired of hearing (them) promoting sex every day on the radio. I wrote millions of love songs. People tired of hearing that, they want something hard-driving."