King Kong

b. Dennis Anthony Thomas, 1962, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Thomas began his career as Junior Kong working as a DJ at Tuff Gong, releasing his debut ‘Pink Eye’ in 1982. After working briefly with GT and his own Love Bunch sound system, he recorded for King Tubby’s Firehouse label, with a strident, gospel-inspired wail somewhat like Tenor Saw. Tubby’s prototype digital ‘riddims’ complemented the realism of Kong’s early songs such as ‘Aids’ and ‘Babylon’, and he soon earned his place alongside Anthony Red Rose with whom he recorded Two Big Bull Inna One Pen. In 1986, King Kong had hits with King Jammy (‘Trouble Again’, ‘Mix Up’ and ‘Legal We Legal’) and the following year his first solo album was released in the UK on Greensleeves Records. He worked with many producers between 1986 and 1987, including King Jammy, Black Scorpio, Harry J. (‘Musical Terrorist’), Errol T, Ossie Hibbert, Prince Jazzbo, Java (‘Toots Boops’) and Jah Life. Before he relocated to New York, then Canada at the end of the 80s, King Kong made albums for Bunny Lee, Black Solidarity and King Jammy. He also recorded sporadically on his own Conscious Music label. The death of Tenor Saw in 1988 prompted him to record ‘He Was A Friend’. In the early 90s he moved to England and tried to make a comeback, working with Mafia And Fluxy and Gussie P. After a long absence from the music scene, he hooked up with the Massive B label in 2005 and released a new album, Rumble Jumble Life. (NB: Not to be confused with the US indie rock band of the same name.)