Ranking Dread

b. Winston Brown, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Ranking Dread established his reputation as a live DJ for Lloyd Coxsone’s London-based sound system as yet another in the long line of eccentric, idiosyncratic microphone men associated with reggae music. His particular style of delivery was based around a slurring, almost whining, vocal, constantly interrupted by comments and interjections, and offered definite proof that it was not what you said, but how you said it that mattered. His early recordings were inauspicious and failed to make any impact, but Lots Of Loving was among the most played records in UK reggae in 1979/1980, where the combination of Dread’s delivery and some of Sly And Robbie’s and Sugar Minott’s best rhythms assured his popularity. A number of big-selling 12-inch singles followed, a couple of which hovered in the lower reaches of the national charts. He is now believed to be residing in Canada but no longer records or works live.