Phyllis Dillon

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Phyllis Dillon (1 January 1948 — 15 April 2004) was a Jamaican ska and reggae singer who recorded for Duke Reid’s lucrative Treasure Isle record label in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Dillon was born in 1948 in Linstead, St. Catherine, Jamaica.[1] Influenced by American singers Connie Francis, Patti Page and Dionne Warwick, she began singing in talent contests. It was during a performance at the Glass Bucket Club in Kingston, Jamaica with the group The Vulcans, that Duke Reid’s session guitarist Lynn Taitt discovered Dillon.[1]

Dillon was 19 when she recorded her first record for Duke Reid. In 1967, Reid released Dillon’s “Don’t Stay Away”. While most of Dillon’s subsequent recordings would be covers of popular and obscure American songs including Bettye Swann’s “Make Me Yours”, Perry Como’s “Tulips and Heather,” The Grass Roots “Midnight Confessions”, and Stephen Stills’s “Love the One You’re With”; “Don’t Stay Away” was an original composition featuring Tommy McCook and the Supersonics as the backing band.

Another original song, “It’s Rocking Time” would later be turned into the Alton Ellis’ hit “Rocksteady”. While these early recordings demonstrate Dillon’s mastery of the rocksteady sound, a much slower, soulful, response to the sultry weather that made ska’s upbeat rhythm and tempo undesirable even impracticable, it was no indication of her greatest performance, 1967’s “Perfidia”. Popularized by the American surf rock band The Ventures, “Perfidia” is a 1940 song written by Alberto Domínguez and made popular by the Cuban bandleader, Xavier Cugat.

Tagged as:

rocksteady, reggae, ska, female vocalists, 60s
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1	Don't Stay Away full track	184
2	Woman Of The Ghetto	147
3	Perfidia full track	134
4	Don't Touch Me Tomato full track	129
5	Nice Time full track	93
6	Make Me Yours full track	91
7	Leave It In The Hands Of Love full track	79
8	A Thing Of The Past full track	72
9	Something	45
10	Love Was All I Had	34
11	Picture On The Wall full track	30
12	Close To You	26
13	Midnight Confessions full track	24
14	The Love That A Woman Should Give A Man full track	23
15	We Belong Together full track	22

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Raggamar wrote:
22 days ago

Off the hook !

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Chiaroscurist wrote:
last month

<3

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kirk1968and2001 wrote:
May 2008

u got some good nice rocksteady how can i get them my address 14 clinton st manchester ct 06040 name kirk punter i have loved raggae and calypso ever since i know my self listen to raggae and calypso music set me free put me in a happy and joyful mood older music that is please send me flyers and pictures of artest only rocksteady

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runabeat wrote:
May 2008

The Mighty Sparrow will be appearing at The Troxy, 490 Commercial Road, London, E1 0HX, England on 19th July 2008 at 8pm. The show is called 'Soca Invasion' and other artistes include the Jamesy P and Shurwayne Winchester. More artistes to be confirmed. Tickets on sale 3rd June 2008. Call 08707 602603 or visit stellatickets.co.uk

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Tell77Me wrote:
April 2008

Flawless. Top.

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bossbyrd69 wrote:
March 2008

shes def. the QUEEN OF ROCKSTEADY. I love Phyllis Dillon.

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miyoshi4 wrote:
January 2008

shes so wonder wonderfull! I can hear to her for hours:) And yes, its real romantic music ;D

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StereoNazi wrote:
November 2007

lovely romantic music.

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bainer wrote:
October 2007

hallelujah!

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wonder_al wrote:
January 2007

\o/

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veroniska wrote:
April 2006

this lady was amazing <3

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kaktusist tagged Phyllis Dillon with ‘rocksteady’. 7 hours ago
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