Thanksgiving Service for Stranger Cole Wednesday

The service of thanksgiving for the life of pioneering ska, rocksteady, and reggae singer, Wilburn ‘Stranger’ Cole (also spelt Strangjah), takes place this Wednesday at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre along Hope Road in St Andrew. Cole passed away on June 11. He was 85.

“There will be a public viewing from 10 to 11 a.m. and after that we will have the worship and remembrance and the musical tribute to celebrate my father’s lifetime of song,” Cole’s son, Theodore ‘Squidly’ Cole told The Gleaner.

Squidly, who was extremely close to his father, is keen to share the history and legacy of a man who enjoyed one of the “longest and most influential careers in Jamaican popular music”. He has long-term plans to preserve his father’s musical heritage in a meaningful way.

“We want to set up the Stranger Cole Museum. We will be going to establish a GoFundMe,” Squidly explained.

Best known for his 1962 debut hit, Rough and Tough, his iconic duets with artistes such as Patsy Todd, Ken Boothe, Hortense Ellis, Gladstone ‘Gladdy’ Anderson, and for creating the early reggae anthem, Bangarang, Stranger Cole first established himself as a songwriter. He wrote the song, In and Out the Window for ska singer, Eric ‘Monty’ Morris and it became an instant hit.

As a singer, he worked with legendary producer Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, and it wasn’t long before success tapped him on the shoulder. The songs Rough and Tough and When You Call My Name, a duet with Patsy Todd – with whom he formed the duo, Stranger and Patsy, enjoyed massive popularity upon their release and currently enjoy anthemic status.

In paying tribute to Cole following his passing, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange, hailed his sterling contribution to the development of Jamaican music.

“For more than six decades Stranger helped shape the sound and evolution of Jamaican music from ska through rocksteady to reggae. His timeless hits include Bangarang, Rough and Tough, When You Call My Name, Just Like a River and Run Joe. Bangarang is, in fact, widely regarded as one of the earliest recordings of the reggae genre,” Minister Grange said.

Bangarang was recorded in 1968 at Duke Reid’s Studio with Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee named as the sound engineer. A live recording, Cole was backed by musicians such as saxophonist Lester Sterling and keyboard player Lloyd Charmers.

His Wikipedia bio states that “the hits continued throughout the decade as Cole became one of the island’s most reliable recording artistes. Along the way, he worked with several of Jamaica’s most important producers, including Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, with whom he recorded World’s Fair alongside Ken Boothe, and Prince Buster”.

Cole moved to the UK in 1971 and later to Toronto, Canada, in 1973. While living there, he opened one of the city’s first Caribbean record shops in Kensington Market. In a June 15 tribute piece, The Globe and Mail pointed out that during the time he lived in Canada, “Stranger Cole helped establish Toronto as a reggae hot spot”.

The interment will be at Dovecot Memorial Park in St Catherine.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com