60 greatest rocksteady personalities (30 – 16)
While never revered as ska, roots-reggae or dancehall, rocksteady is arguably the most loved of the Jamaican music forms.
The genre, which produced a series of top-flight vocalists, harmony groups and musicians, celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026 and Observer Online marks that milestone with the 60 Greatest Rocksteady Personalities.
The list is compiled by Jamaica Observer contract writers Howard Campbell and Claude Mills, with assistance from Michael Barnett, a respected broadcaster and rocksteady authority.
The team looked at impact and the significance of contribution in assembling this august table which will be completed by a Top 20 Most Influential People in Rocksteady, five of whom (numbers 20 to 16) are previewed on this list.
Here are numbers 30 to 21 on our list, presented in no specific order, as well as numbers 20 to 16, which are in order.
Headley Bennett
30 – Headley Bennett
A saxophonist who played on Judge Not, Bob Marley’s first song, Bennett was a graduate of the Alpha Boys’ School where his contemporaries included trombonist Don Drummond and trumpeter Bobby Ellis. Some of the many rocksteady songs which Bennett played on include: Dancing Mood (Delroy Wilson), on which he played a memorable solo; Dancing Shoe (The Wailers), I’m The Toughest (Peter Tosh) and I Wanna Go Back Home (Bob Andy). His phrases can also be heard on Satta Massagana by The Abyssinians and Ballroom Floor by Bunny Wailer. Headley Bennett died in August 2016 at age 85.
Sid Bucknor (Photo: Irie Magazine)
29 – Sid Bucknor
The engineer with the Midas touch, Bucknor was behind the console for many of rocksteady’s biggest hit songs.
Fittingly, he was engineer for Hopeton Lewis’ Take it Easy, considered by many to be the genre’s first song, as well as Rock Steady, Alton Ellis’ tribute to the uptempo sound. Bucknor was also the engineer on Hold Them by Roy Shirley, Ba Ba Boom (The Jamaicans), Loving Pauper (Dobby Dobson), and Born to Love You by The Sensations. After moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, Sid Bucknor worked with leading recording studios including Island and Chalk Farm. He died in that country on May 9 2010.
Roy Shirley
28 – Roy Shirley
The High Priest was big on drama in terms of his live act, which included flashy costumes. His seminal 1967 hit song, Hold Them, is considered by some to be the first rocksteady song. Hold Them was produced by Joe Gibbs, an electrician from Montego Bay who was making a name for himself. Get on The Ball, another Shirley hit, was produced by Ken Lack. The Kingston-born Shirley debuted as a recording artiste in the early 1960s with producer Leslie Kong. He next joined The Uniques, which also included Slim Smith and Franklin White. After leaving that group, Shirley re-cast himself as a recording artiste whose stage act was embellished by an outrageous wardrobe and bouts of weeping. As his reputation grew in the United Kingdom, he moved to that country in the early 1970s. He died there in July 2008 at age 64.
Joe Isaacs
27 – Joe Isaacs
Born Clinton Donaldson Isaacs, the prolific drummer is considered by music aficionados as one of the influential musicians in the rocksteady era. He played a major role in the evolution of ska to rocksteady in the mid-1960s. Isaacs was a member of the legendary Sound Dimension band at Studio One that created many of that label’s greatest rhythms. Isaacs played on Delroy Wilson’s Dancing Mood, Ken Boothe’s Artibella, Marcia Griffiths’ Feel Like Jumping, The Heptones’ Fatty Fatty and many others. After leaving Studio One in 1968, Isaacs worked at the rival Treasure Isle (owned by Duke Reid); Federal Records and Beverley’s Records. He currently lives in Canada.
Ernest Wilson<strong>.</strong>
26 – Ernest Wilson
One of Jamaican music’s great vocalists, he first found fame as a member of The Clarendonians with Peter Austin, which had several ska hits at Studio One for producer Clement Dodd. Wilson embarked on a solo career in 1967, scoring hits like Storybook Children, Undying Love and If I Were a Carpenter, all produced by Dodd.
The multi-talented Wilson also did well as a reggae artiste, making the charts with the Channel One-produced I Know Myself. He played bass guitar on Gregory Isaacs’ Cool Ruler album, and guitar on several songs by various artistes. Ernest Wilson died in Kingston on November 2, 2021, at the age of 69.
Sonia Pottinger
25 – Sonia Pottinger
Sonia Pottinger was the first female Jamaican music producer. She was married to Lindon Pottinger, a producer who sold his recording equipment to Duke Reid in 1964. After the Pottingers separated, Sonia decided to continue producing records.
She opened her Tip Top Records shop in 1965 and recorded hit songs by The Ethiopians (The Whip), That’s Life (Delano Stewart), and The Melodians (Swing And Dine). Arguably her biggest hit as a producer is Dreamland by Marcia Griffiths. She released numerous songs on her Gay Feet, Tip Top, Rainbow, and High Note labels including Stay A Little Bit Longer by Stewart. An astute businesswoman, Pottinger bought the Treasure Isle Records catalogue from long-time friend Duke Reid. Sonia Pottinger retired from the music business in 1985. She died at her home in Kingston on November 3, 2010, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Joe Gibbs
24 – Joe Gibbs
Usually associated with the success of Dennis Brown and Culture during the 1970s, Gibbs first made his mark in the rocksteady era with a series of hit songs including Hold Them by Roy Shirley. Some of Gibbs’ other rocksteady hits are You Gonna Need Me and Stop Your Lying by Errol Dunkley, Just Like A River and Seeing is Knowing by Stranger and Gladdy. He exploded in the 1970s, producing songs such as Nicky Thomas’ Love Of The Common People which was a hit in the United Kingdom. His biggest success came with Dennis Brown, for whom Gibbs produced many hits such as How Could I Leave, Ain’t That Loving You, Stay at Home and Love Has Found its Way.
Gibbs also produced Two Sevens Clash by Culture, Tribal War by George Nooks and Someone Loves You Honey by J C Lodge. Joe Gibbs died in 2008 at age 67.
Desmond Dekker
23 – Desmond Dekker and The Aces
A unique artiste, Dekker (born Desmond Dacres) was a member of producer Leslie Kong’s champion stable which also included Jimmy Cliff and Toots and The Maytals. He and The Aces (Winston Samuels and Barry Howard) had two of the biggest-selling rocksteady songs — 007 (Shantytown) and Israelites, which made the British national chart. Dekker and The Aces had a good run prior to their UK success. Songs like Unity, Intensified, Honour Your Mother and Father, Mother Young Gal and It Mek showed Dekker’s songwriting talent in a period when most Jamaican acts were covering songs by American soul singers. Desmond Dekker died in 2006 in the UK at age 64.
Lynford âHuxâ Brown
22 – Lynford “Hux” Brown
One of the most influential guitarists in Jamaican music, Brown started his career at producer Clement Dodd’s Studio One in the early 1960s. He moved to the rival Treasure Isle later that decade and became a member of the Supersonics Band. At Treasure Isle, Brown played on countless hit songs including Girl I’ve Got A Date by Alton Ellis, Wear You to The Ball by The Paragons and Ba Ba Boom by The Jamaicans which won the Festival Song Competition in 1967.
Brown had a stellar career as a session musician. He played on Paul Simon’s Mother And Child Reunion; By The Rivers of Babylon by The Melodians and Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come. He died in California in 2020 at age 75.
Slim Smith
21 – Slim Smith
Whether as a member of The Techniques or The Uniques, Smith’s distinct tenor won many admirers among producers like Clement Dodd and Bunny Lee, as well as fellow singers Pat Kelly and Jimmy Riley. That’s Smith leading on the Techniques classic Little Did You Know. He is also in fine form on hits like Conversation and Rougher Yet. The latter was done for producer Clement Dodd, and was given new life in the 1980s when Jimmy Riley’s version was also a hit Smith formed a strong bond with Lee who was establishing himself as a producer in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston in the late 1960s. With The Uniques, he scored with Let Me Go Girl, and as a solo performer, made the charts with Everybody Needs Love. Slim Smith died controversially in 1973 at age 24.
U-Roy
20 – U-Roy
The first deejay to attract a mainstream following, and he did so in the early 1970s on rocksteady beats. The songs that did the trick were Wake The Town (And Tell The People) and Wear You To The Ball (done with John Holt). Both were produced by Duke Reid. That opened the door for recordings with other top producers like Bunny Lee and Lloyd “The Matador” Daley. U-Roy’s toast to hit songs like The Wailers’ Soul Rebel made him a star. He had another major hit in the early 1970s alongside Tom Drunk with Hopeton Lewis. U Roy died in February 2021 at age 79.
Hopeton Lewis<strong></strong>
19 – Hopeton Lewis
This singer is believed to have recorded the first rocksteady song (Take it Easy) in 1966 at Federal Records. He was backed in that historic session by Lynn Taitt and The Jets. Lewis had a solid career, dotted by hits such as Sounds And Pressure and Cool Collie, one of the first weed anthems. He won the Festival Song Competition in 1970 with Boom Shacka Lacka. The following year, Lewis scored with Grooving Out on Life and Tom Drunk, a collaboration with U Roy. Lewis died in New York in 2014.
Derrick Harriott
18 – Derrick Harriott
Known for songs such as Walk The Streets, Solomon and The Loser, Harriott started his career in the early 1960s as a member of The Jiving Juniors. In the rocksteady era, he also established himself as a producer and astute businessman with the Crystal label, which released hit songs by Keith and Tex (Stop That Train, Tonight), and The Kingstonians (Singer Man).
BB Seaton (centre) seen here with other members of The Gaylads, Delano Stewart (left) and Maurice Roberts.
17 – The Gaylads
This trio from East Kingston comprised B B Seaton, Delano Stewart and Maurice Roberts. Their impressive catalogue includes gems like Joy in The Morning, Hard to Confess, My Jamaican Girl, and Lady in The Red Dress, all written by Seaton. Seaton, who died in 2024 at age 79, also scored as a solo act with Accept My Apology. He wrote songs for other artistes as well, including Freedom Street for Ken Boothe and Swing And Dine by The Melodians.
Bob Andy
16 – Bob Andy
Songwriter extraordinaire Bob Andy went solo after a stint with The Paragons and was actually a marketing person at Studio One where he continued his career. He wrote and recorded songs that are among the finest in Jamaican music, including Too Experienced, Unchained and I’ve Got to Go Back Home. His Studio One work is compiled on Songbook, the 1970 album considered one of reggae’s great works. Bob Andy died in 2020 at age 75.
