- Ken Lack
Infobox musical artist
Name = Ken Lack
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Blondel Keith Calnek
Alias = BJ Kalnek
Born = 1934
Died =June 6 2001
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Genre =Ska ,rocksteady ,reggae
Occupation =Record producer
Years_active = 1960s
Label =Caltone ,JonTom
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Notable_instruments =Ken Lack (born Blondel Keith Calnek, 1934, died
June 6 2001 ,Miami ) was aJamaica nska ,rocksteady andreggae record producer active in the latter half of the 1960s, who also ran the Caltone and JonTom record labels.Williams, Mark (2001) " [http://www.dancecrasher.co.uk/caltone1.html Obituary of Blondel Keith Calnek] "]Career
Lack was for a short time the road manager for
The Skatalites , working alongsideP.J. Patterson , and began releasing records in the mid 1960s including one of the last tunes recorded by the Skatalites, "Outer Space", and others byKen Boothe ,The Clarendonians ,The Tartans ,The Heptones , The Pioneers,Roy Shirley , andThe Slickers , as well as several instrumental singles featuring bands led byTommy McCook orLynn Taitt , and featuring soloists such as Johnny "Dizzy" Moore andVin Gordon .Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, ISBN 0 7535 0242 9] Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae", Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4] Lack's JonTom record label was named after Johnny Moore and Tommy McCook.Bunny Lee worked for Lack in the early days of Caltone, and Lee's first production, "Listen to The Beat" by Lloyd Jackson and The Groovers was released on Lack's Caltone label in 1967.Max Romeo also got his big break working for Lack as a record plugger, with Lack setting up an audition for Romeo's group The Emotions after overhearing him singing while at work, and going on to release a string of hit singles by the group.Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6]Lack was the first producer to work with some of Jamaica's major stars including
Hortense Ellis ("I Shall Sing" and "Brown Girl In The Ring"),The Heptones (releasing their first two singles, "School Girls" and "Gunmen Coming to Town", the latter taking its melody from Rossini's "William Tell Overture "), and The Uniques with their debut single "The Journey".Lack's career as a producer ended when he emigrated to the United States in the late 1960s.
He died on
June 6 2001 after a long illness related to heart problems.References
External links
* [http://www.dancecrasher.co.uk/caltone4.html Caltone discography]
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