By Anna Tomforde May 26, 2006, 13:10 GMT
London - Desmond Dekker, the Jamaican reggae legend whose 1969 song Israelites became a worldwide hit, has died from a heart attack at his home in Britain, his manager said Friday.
Dekker, who became the first Jamaican musician to introduce the reggae sound to the world outside his native country, will also for ever be associated with the 1970's top hit You Can Get It If You Really Want, written by Jimmy Cliff.
The mixture of his falsetto singing, with an underlying bass vocal line provided by his backing group, The Aces, produced a distinctive brand of music that defined the 1960's and 1970's.
'Desmond was the first legend, believe it or not. When he released Israelites nobody had heard of Bob Marley - he paved the way for all of them,' Dekker's manager Delroy Williams said Friday.
Dekker found fame with his band Desmond Dekker And The Aces with Israelites, which topped the British charts and made the top 10 in the United States.
Williams said he had seen Dekker the night before he died, on May 25, and he 'seemed fine.'
Dekker, who was divorced with a son and a daughter, played his last gig at Leeds University on May 11.
He was due to perform at the Respect Festival in Prague on June 2, before heading on to Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Ireland and London.
Williams said: 'He was at his peak fitness, he had this big tour coming up for this summer and he was looking forward to it - and then that was it.'
He described Dekker, who settled in Britain in the 1970's, as a private person who would go back to Jamaica from time to time but only to see his family rather than perform.
'He lived for the music and his children,' said Williams.
Desmond Dacres, as he was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 16, 1941, was orphaned as a teenager and began his working life as a welder before singing full-time.
He made a success for himself after singing with Leslie Kong's Beverley's record label and releasing his first singe, Honour Your Father and Mother, in 1963.
Specifically, Dekker introduced ska to the outside world, the native Jamaican beat that combined the indigenous mento folk music with American rhythm and blues.
From those origins came further beats, like rock steady, reggae, raga and dub.
At the time, its upbeat feel reflected the optimism engendered by the newly-gained independence from Britain, where later, ska developed a huge following among the 1960's mods and rockers movement.
Many of Dekker's hits, including Rude Boy Train, Rudie Got Soul and 007 echoed the violent street culture of Jamaican cities.
But Dekker's success started to wane by the end of the 70's and early 80's, as the 'two-tone' music's popularity was no longer mainstream, and artists like Marley were in the ascendancy.
Dekker was declared bankrupt in 1984.
But he continued to attract a following and was a regular performer on the club scene in Britain and other European countries.
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