Laurel Aitken was born in Cuba and moved to West Kingston, Jamaica in 1938 with his family when he was eleven. He began his music career in the 40's, he cut his teeth on the sounds of R & B, soul, calypso, mento - as well as his personal love: boogie. Singing at the Glass Bucket Club and attending the roving sound systems provided stomping grounds where Laurel began to develop and hone his great talent for singing, dancing and generally attracting an audience. Laurel cut several singles in the 50's, including in 1957, the R&Bish "Roll, Jordan Roll." Laurel's big break came in a year later with the release of the "Little Sheila"/"Boogie in my Bones" double A sided single -- the first single ever released on a new upstart label called Island Records, which was founded by Englishman Chris Blackwell. "Little Sheila" spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Jamaican charts, cementing his popularity with Jamaican music fans. After several years with the Melodic record label, Laurel moved on and recorded for EMI, Ska Beat, Nu Beat, Direct Records and Doctor Bird Records, among many others. During this period, he cut such classic tracks as "Fire in Mi Wire," "Bartender," "Jesse James," "Landlord and Tenants," "It's Too Late" and "Pussy Price." Laurel was the only Jamaican star who regularly toured the UK and was very successful in doing so.Laurel played with The English Beat and toured with the mod band Secret Affair (and was backed by the punk/reggae band the Ruts!) the classic "Rudi Got Married" was released during this period on I-Spy/Arista Records. Laurel also recorded asingle with the brilliant British ska band, Potato 5 and even appeared in the mod film "Absolute Beginners" with David Bowie. At 78, The Godfather of Ska passed away of a heart attack.