Stranger Cole

All Music Guide:

Stranger Cole was born Wilburn Theodore Cole in 1945 in Kingston, Jamaica, receiving the nickname "Stranger" because he resembled no one else in his family. Cole began his recording career with producer Duke Reid, scoring a hit with his 1962 debut, "Rough & Tough," a full-tilt ska number with a wild harmonica solo. His Louis Jordan revival song, "Run Joe," was a hit in 1965, and featured members of the Techniques on harmony vocals. Stranger frequently used duet partners, most notably Patsy Todd and Ken Boothe, and later in his career, Gladstone Anderson (their version of "Just Like a River" is one of Cole's finest songs), stemming from an apparent shyness in the studio, but Cole developed into a soulful vocalist, and his songs radiate a kid of joyful personality that is rare in most reggae. Cole left Reid as the ska era waned, becoming sort of a maverick, cutting sides with several Jamaican producers, including Sonia Pottinger, Lee "Scratch" Perry (including the wonderful single, "Run Up Your Mouth"), and Bunny "Striker" Lee, before relocating to England in 1971, where he toured extensively. Cole moved to Toronto, Canada, in 1973, where he released three albums on his own label, The First Ten Years of Stranger Cole (1978), Captive Land (1980), and The Patriot (1982). In 2003, Trojan Records released Bangarang: The Best of Stranger Cole 1962-1972, a long overdue retrospective of this fine Jamaican singer's career.

Wikipedia:

Stranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole (born Wilburn Theodore Cole, 1945) is a Jamaican singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of ska in 1962 through to the 2000s.

Biography

Cole was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1945 and nicknamed "Stranger" by his family, as they considered that he didn't resemble any member of his kin. Cole was initially successful as a songwriter, writing "In and out the Window", which was a hit for Eric "Monty" Morris. This success gave him the chance to make his recording debut in 1962, instantly finding success with singles such as "Rough and Tough" and "When You Call My Name" (a duet with Patsy Todd) for producer Arthur "Duke" Reid. Further success followed with singles for Reid through to the mid-1960s, and he also worked with other producers at this time, including Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (a duet with Ken Boothe on "Worlds Fair"), and Prince Buster. Further duets included recordings with Gladstone Anderson (on "Just Like a River") and Hortense Ellis, the tendency to record duets apparently due to his shyness when it came to singing alone. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he recorded with several producers, including Bunny Lee, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Sonia Pottinger. These included further material with Todd as Stranger & Patsy. In 1971 he emigrated to England, where he toured extensively, and moved on again to Canada in 1973, settling in Toronto. He worked as a machinist in the Tonka Toy factory in Toronto and later opened the first Caribbean record shop in Toronto His first album, "Foward" in the Land of Sunshine, was released in 1976, with a handful of further albums released over the next ten years, most on his own label. In 2006, Cole released his first album in twenty years, Morning Train, a collaboration with Jah Shaka. Cole is featured in the 2009 documentary Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, in which he and other stars of the rocksteady era reunited to record a new album of the same name, released in August 2009.

Cole's son, Squiddly, followed him into a music career, working as a drummer for artists including Ziggy Marley and Mutabaruka.