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Big Youth
  • Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica), better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his work during the 1970s. 
  • iN 1972 he released the successful “S-90 Skank”, featuring a motorbike being revved in the studio. This became his first Jamaican number one hit, and also featured in a television advert for the Honda motorcycle that inspired it.The first album to feature his vocals, Chi Chi Run was produced by Prince Buster in 1972. Distinctive musically, his half-sung style contrasting with his contemporaries, he was also visually distinctive, with his teeth inlaid with red, gold, and green jewels.
  • In 1973, Big Youth released his first album entitled Screaming Target, produced by Gussie Clarke.The album is still considered as a classic of its genre, featuring rhythms from well-known hits by Gregory Isaacs, Leroy Smart, and Lloyd Parks, among others.Around this time, he also notched up some achievements in the singles chart, having seven singles in the chart at one time, and having four singles remain in the top 20 for an entire year. 
  • His next LP, Dread Locks Dread, was released on Klik Records in 1976. Although ostensibly a Big Youth LP produced by “Prince” Tony Robinson, it in fact only featured six vocal tracks, two of which – “Marcus Garvey Dread” (originally “Mosia Garvey” on Jack Ruby’s Fox label) and “Lightning Flash” had been released as singles for other producers.
  • Big Youth first self-produced LP was Reggae Phenomenon in 1974.His self-productions continued with Natty Cultural Dread in 1976, followed later that year by Hit the Road Jack. He covered “Wake Up Everybody” and “What a World Needs Now” also.He signed to Virgin Records’ Frontline label in 1977, his first release on the label being the Isaiah First Prophet of Old album, and he also appeared in the film Rockers.
  • In the 2000s, Big Youth teamed up with modern dub producer Twilight Circus to record two notable singles ‘Daniel in the Lions Den’ and ‘What We Need Is Love’, in a style hearkening to the sound of Youth’s vintage 1970s classics.