Record Label: Secret Records Limited
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This is the last recording by the late & great Desmond Dekker! Sadly, the music world lost a ska & reggae pioneer in June when Dekker passed away while touring. Dekker was crowned the “King of Ska” back when “The Israelites” became an international hit. After all these years, the man was still going strong and dancing his heart out. It’s quite upsetting to see all these ska & reggae legends leaving this world but now we have their music to keep us company. This album was recorded in London last January at the Roll Over Studios with musicians Steve Roberts, Aubery Mulrain, Michael Rose, Eddy Thornton, Leroy Green. The album was produced by Delroy Williams and engineered by Michael Campbell.

This album contains 20 tracks of material you’ve heard before, but the music has been updated since it was recorded last year. “007 Shanty Town” opens the album up and it’s a great song since many people know that tune. You can tell from the start that Dekker’s voice was still fantastic and had that distinctive sound. Once you hear Desmond sing, you just knew it was him. I can’t really pick out certain reggae singers nowadays since a lot of them sound similar. To continue, you might notice the superb sound production and how clear the music is. Maybe I’m just used to the old school sounds from the 60s. But you gotta love the crackling record sounds and dusty production. A lot of the songs have now been slowed down to a more reggae style, which is fine. I like to hear all different arrangements of the songs and hearing the reggae style ones is quite nice. I think I still prefer the original tracks where they were fast Jamaican ska songs. But hearing the last album Desmond Dekker has ever made is kind of great and sad at the same time. Just seeing all the news articles and MySpace bulletins, I realized a lot of people like Desmond Dekker’s music and the man will be sorely missed. But his music will live on and that’s what any band or musician would want. So any Desmond Dekker fan must get this “In Memoriam” album because it’s a nice bookend to one of the greatest singers to come out of Jamaica!

Bottom Line: Dekker’s last album is excellent and the King of Ska will be missed!
Notable Tracks: 007 shanty Town, Intensified, Israelites, It Mek, You Can Get It If You Really Want, Unity
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