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Desmond Dekker

Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the earliest international reggae hits with "Israelites" in1968. 


Other hits include "007 (Shanty Town)" in 1967, 


and "You Can Get It If You Really Want" in 1970.


He had a resurgence of popularity with the early 1980s Ska revival when he scored a hit with a cover of Jimmy Cliff's 'Many rivers to Cross', sadly I can't find a video of Dekker's version.

I remember going to the Hurst Road Boys Club, next to the Post Office in late 1971 and early 1972 and every evening Dekker's Isrealites would be playing along with tons of other Ska and early reggae music.

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