Kim Wilde’s first records were written and produced by her father and brother, Marty and Ricky. The three of them have had a great influence on the music world, as this regular series ‘Wilde World’ shows.
Junior English was born as Lindel Beresford English in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951. He began performing as a teenager and recorded tracks such as ‘Fay is Gone’ and ‘My Queen’ (a duet with Errol Dunkley) for producer Prince Buster in the Sixties. He relocated to England in 1964, where he completed his education. After entering and winning a talent contest organised by the Palmer brothers (of Pama Records), he joined The Magnets, with whom he toured Europe. Following that, he joined The Nighthawks, and released the album ‘Man it’s Reggae’ in 1969. That same year, he went solo.
His first single release was a cover version of Marty Wilde’s ‘Jesamine’, which you can hear below. The reggae rhythm gave the track a whole new energy. His career was briefly interrupted when he had to serve a six month prison sentence for driving whilst disqualified. He used this time to write the songs that ended up on his debut solo album, ‘The dynamic Junior English’ (1974). This was followed in 1976 by The Great Junior English, but his most prolific year would come in 1978, when he released four albums. His success continued through the Eighties, and he set up his own International English label for many of his subsequent releases. His most recent release was the album ‘U make me happy’ (2010).
His version of ‘Jesamine’ was only released as a single in 1971 and remains unreleased on CD until now.
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