Singer Pad Anthony is dead
Singer Hartley Anthony “Pad Anthony” Wallace, a popular figure on the sound system circuit during the 1980s, died in Kingston on August 28.
Anthony, who was pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital, was 57 years old.
His son Sean told the Jamaica Observer that an autopsy will determine the cause of death.
Born Hartley Anthony Wallace, Pad Anthony was from the Payne Lands community in Kingston. He began his recording career at Channel One studio in the late 1970s, cutting covers of Alton Ellis’ Black Man’s Word and Ray Charles’ Crying Time, backed by the Roots Radics Band.
In the 1980s, Anthony established himself as a sound system force, performing regularly on the Black Star sound system alongside fellow singers Hopeton Lindo, Danny Dread and deejay Tiger.
He also recorded and performed for producer Lloyd “King Jammy’s” James’ label and sound system. James produced Ah Murder, one of his biggest hits.
Through his association with James, Anthony developed a bond with producers Robert “Bobby Digital” Dixon and Steely and Clevie who were the in-house engineer and musicians at James’s studio.
His biggest hit was the Bobby Digital-produced Shake Them Down. Who Have The Title, produced by Steely and Clevie, remains a sound clash favourite
Hartley Anthony “Pad Anthony” Wallace is survived by wife Georgia, eight children, and four grandchildren.
