John McLean

b. Hammersmith, London, England. McLean nurtured his vocal skills singing in a choir, where he was regularly selected to perform solos, and performing with a variety of local bands. In his teens he began singing with the Black Star Liner sound system. McLean’s involvement with the sound also resulted in the singer’s recording debut, ‘Black Star Liner’, which was used as the signature tune to the discotheque and later surfaced on his debut album. Aware of the pitfalls in the recording industry McLean concurrently pursued a career within the railway industry. While he continued to regard his musical ambitions as a sideline he released a follow-up single, ‘Open My Heart’ and embarked on a partnership with Captain Sinbad. Sinbad acted as McLean’s manager and took the young singer to Mad Professor’s Ariwa Sounds studio where he played a demo of what would become the singer’s biggest hit, ‘If I Gave My Heart To You’. Mad Professor was suitably impressed and co-produced the song, which was released through Ariwa as opposed to Sinbad’s own Rockfort label. The final mix was released in 1988, reaching number 1 on the reggae chart as well as making a brief appearance in the lower end of the UK pop chart. When Sinbad returned to Jamaica in 1989 McLean continued to work with Mad Professor, which was the start of an intermittent partnership that has continued throughout his career. A notable release surfaced in 1989 when McLean recorded an exclusive version of the Al Green hit, ‘I’m Still In Love With You’ in combination with Kofi the success of which led to the release of the duo’s ‘Things May Come’. In 1993, further sessions with Sinbad on a brief visit to the UK resulted in the dancehall hits, ‘Want To Know How’, a ragga variation of ‘If I Gave My Heart To You’ that was recorded in combination with Gospel Fish and ‘The Waiting Is Over’. In 1994, with the Mad Professor he released Men Are Lovers Too a first-rate set that featured the classic ‘We Both Belong To Someone Else’ and the favoured ‘Time For Love’. Throughout the 90s McLean maintained a high profile working with both Ariwa and Fashion Records where releases such as, ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’, ‘You’ve Changed’, ‘Thinking About You’ and ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ confirmed his status in the UK reggae industry. The singer also recorded in combination with DJ Dego Ranks, releasing the classic ‘Run Around Girl’ and two combination albums. Not to be confused with the jazz guitarist of the same name.