Lovers Rock pioneer Sonny Roberts passes on

I found some Orbitone 'lovers rock' LPs and 12 inch singles yesterday in a charity shop, including some by Joyce Bond and Tim Chandell. This got me thinking about Orbitone founder Sonny Roberts, who recorded them, as well as other Lovers Rock and Soca artists. When I checked I found that he passed on a couple of months ago at the age of 89 suffering from throat cancer. I may have missed it, but I didn't see anything in the UK media or online about this at the time. This is a shame, as Sonny was a true pioneer of Jamaican music and the first black man to open a recording studio in the UK. Sonny came to the UK from Jamaica in 1958 and opened his studio in the basement of 108 Cambridge Road, Kilburn - an address synonymous with ska and early reggae music. Sonny was the tenant of Lee Gopthal, who went on to launch the B and C and Trojan labels, and Sonny's early studio became the base for Island Records in its early days. Indeed Sonny is credited with putting Chris Blackwell, David Betteridge and Lee Gopthal together. thus changing the face of reggae and ska - and music generally. Sonny recorded Jamaican artists such as Rico Rodriguez, the Marvels, Dandy Livingstone and Sugar Simone and set up record labels including Planetone and Sway as well as producing acetates for London sound systems. He also issued Afrobeat records by Nigerian band the Nkengas. He opened the Orbitone record shop above the studio and this later became Island's HQ as Chris Blackwell built up the label. Sonny moved his retail operation to Harlesden and launched his Orbitone label, which focused on Lovers Rock with records by Tim Chandell and Joyce Bond, among others. His biggest success was a number 2 hit 'Can't Be With You Tonight' by Judy Boucher in 1986. Sonny returned to Jamaica in 1997 where his family ran a business making various products, including 'Sonny's All Natural Mosquito and Insect Bite Relief'. Sonny received a lifetime achievement award from the Jamaica Observer in 2019.

It's been a while since I last paid tribute to musicians who have died recently and I won't attempt to cover them all here (I will be back to my LP photos soon). But one I must mention is soul singer Dean Parrish, whose classic 'I'm On My Way' was a favourite at the Wigan Casino and other Northern Soul venues. Dean was quite a regular visitor to the UK but sadly I didn't get to see him live. I'm grateful to Noah Shaffer for this photo of Dean taken at the Skegness Northern Soul Survivors' Weekend in 2017.