Judge Dread

:"For the comic book character, see Judge Dredd"Infobox musical artist
Name = Judge Dread


Img_capt = Judge Dread
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Alexander Minto Hughes
Alias = Judge Dread
Born = birth date|1945|5|2
Died = death date and age|1998|3|13|1945|5|2|df=yes
Origin = flagicon|England Kent, England
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Ska
Reggae
Rocksteady
Occupation =
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL =
Notable_instruments =

Alexander Minto Hughes (2 May 1945 - 13 March 1998), better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska artist. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has the most banned songs of all time.

Career

Hughes was introduced to Jamaican music when he lodged as a teenager in a West Indian household in Brixton, South West London.Thompson, Dave:"Reggae & Caribbean Music", 2002, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6] He met Jamaican artists Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster through his job as a bouncer at London nightclubs such as the Ram Jam in Brixton, and through another job as a bodyguard.Larkin, Colin:"The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", 1998, Virgin Books, ISBN 07535-0242-9] [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3zfpxq95ldke~T1 allmusic.com biography by Jo-Ann Greene] ] After a brief spell as a professional wrestler (performing under the name "The Masked Executioner"), and as a debt collector for Trojan Records, he worked as a DJ on local radio and ran his own sound system.

When Prince Buster had a big underground hit in 1969 with "Big 5", Hughes capitalized on it with the recording of his own "Big Six", based on Verne & Son's "Little Boy Blue", which was picked up by Trojan boss Lee Gopthal, and released on Trojan's "Big Shot" record label under the stage name Judge Dread, the name taken from another of Prince Buster's songs. "Big Six" reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart in 1972, selling over 300,000 copies and spending six months on the chart, despite getting no radio airplay due to its lyrics. Further hit singles followed with "Big Seven" (co-written by Rupie Edwards) and "Big Eight" — both following the pattern of rude versions of nursery rhymes over a reggae backing — as well as "Y Viva Suspenders" and "Up With The Cock".

He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica ("Big Six"), leading him to travel to Jamaica to perform live, where many were surprised that he was white. Dread had 11 UK chart hits in the 1970s, which was more than any other reggae artist (including Bob Marley). The Guinness Book of World Records credits Judge Dread for having the highest number of banned songs of all time, 11. In the 1970s, tabloid newspapers expressed concerns that young fans of the comic book character Judge Dredd might buy Judge Dread's records by mistake, and hear things that may corrupt their minds.fact|date=December 2007 Several of his songs mentioned Snodland, the small town in Kent where Judge Dread lived. [ [http://www.judgedread.co.uk/records.htm Judge Dread discography website - listing song titles such as "The Belle of Snodland", and "Last Tango in Snodland"] ] There is a road in the town of Snodland named after him, the Alex Hughes Close. [ see on Google Maps [http://maps.google.de/maps?num=100&hl=de&safe=off&q=alex+hughes+close+snodland&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl] ]

Never just a singer of rude reggae songs, Judge Dread was also a songwriter who came to the attention of Elvis Presley, who had planned to record "A Child's Prayer" as a Christmas gift to his daughter Lisa Marie in 1977, but died before making the recording. The famine in Ethiopia prompted Dread to help organize a benefit concert featuring The Wailers and Desmond Dekker, and he also released a benefit single "Molly". Despite this single not featuring Dread's trademark innuendo, it was still banned from radio airplay, and failed to chart. The radio stations' wariness over Dread records led him to release singles under the pseudonyms JD Alex and Jason Sinclair, but the BBC still banned them.

Judge Dread died from a heart attack as he walked off stage after performing at The Penny Theatre in Canterbury on the 13th of March, 1998.

Discography

ingles

* "Big Six" (1972) - UK Singles Chart high - Number 11
* "Big Seven" - (1972) - Number 8
* "Big Eight" - (1973) - Number 14
* "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus" / "Look a Pussy"- (1975) - Number 9 - Dread's cover version of the original UK chart-topper by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
* "Big Ten" - (1975) - Number 14
* "Christmas In Dreadland" / "Come Outside" - (1975) - Number 14
* "The Winkle Man" - (1976) - Number 35
* "Y Viva Suspenders" / "Confessions Of A Bouncer" - (1976) - Number 76
* "5th Anniversary" (EP) - (1977) - Number 31 §
* "Up With The Cock" / "Big Punk" - (1978) - Number 49
* "Hokey Cokey" / "Jingle Bells" - (1978) - Number 8

§ The tracks on the "5th Anniversary EP", were "Jamaica Jerk (Off)" / "Bring Back The Skins" / "End Of The World" / "Big Everything".cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 291
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

Albums

*"Dreadmania: It's All In The Mind" (1972, Trojan)
*"Working Class 'Ero" (1974, Trojan)
*"Bedtime Stories" - (1975, Creole) - UK Albums Chart high - Number 26
*"Last of The Skinheads" (1976, Cactus)
*"40 Big Ones" - (1977, Creole) - Number 51
*"Reggae and Ska" - (1980, Cargo Records, Germany)cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 291
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]
*"Rub a Dub" (1981, Creole)
*"Not Guilty" (1984, Creole)
*"Live and Lewd" (1988, Skank)
*"King Of Rudeness" (1989, Skank)
*"Never Mind Up With The Cock, Here's Judge Dread" (1994, Tring)
*"Ska'd For Life" (1996, Magnum)
*"Dread White and Blue" (1996, Magnum)

ee also

*List of reggae musicians
*List of people from Kent
*Trojan skinhead
*Record Mirror
*Caribbean music in the United Kingdom

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.judgedread.de.vu The Judge Dread Memorial Site]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hb8j1v7jzzpa~T1 Judge Dread biography at the All Music Guide website]
* [http://elvispelvis.com/judgedread.htm Obituary at The Dead Musician Directory]
* [http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/ayers/254/judge2.htm Fansite]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5w8zV9Uoos&mode=related&search= Big Six video]