World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Johnny Clarke

Artist. Reggae

Active
1973-present
Sunrise
January 12, 1955, Whitfield Town, Kingston

Johnny Clarke grew up in Whitfield Town, Kingston, and was the most prolific singer of the flying cymbals period, a sound built by Bunny Lee and his drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis rather than by Clarke himself. The Rough Guide says he "could be called the first dancehall singer in the modern sense," and Tim Cooper calls him "notable not only for his sweet voice but also his versatility."

His first record, "God Made the Sea and Sun," was cut for Clancy Eccles in 1972 and sold nothing. He moved to Rupie Edwards, who produced his first hits, "Everyday Wondering" and "Julie," in 1973 and left Clarke's name off the labels. After "Jump Back Baby" for Glen Brown he began working with Bunny Lee in 1974.

Lee called him the studio idler for the amount of time he spent around the sessions, and the arrangement suited both. Lee was rebuilding old Studio One and Treasure Isle riddims with the Aggrovators, with Davis's hi-hat pattern giving them the flying cymbals sound, and Clarke could write to whatever came off the tape. "None Shall Escape the Judgement," written by Earl Zero and first recorded by him, with Clarke singing harmony, then revoiced by Clarke at King Tubby's, was one of the hits that established him in 1974 and the title track of his first album. King Tubby and Prince Jammy mixed the dub sides.

He was named Jamaican artist of the year in 1975 and 1976, and signed to Virgin's Front Line label in 1976, which released Rockers Time Now. Alongside originals he recorded a great deal of other people's material, including a cover of "No Woman No Cry" that gave an album its title in 1976. A Rastafarian, he wrote against violence on "Let Go Violence" and for legalization on "Legalize It." Linval Thompson, the Rough Guide says, borrowed vocal tricks from him. He still performs.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide: "During 1974 Striker had led the way with the 'flying cymbals' sound he had his drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis develop," and calls Clarke (b. 1955, Kingston) Lee's "most successful vocalist." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 152. Bradley says the sound was developed by the Aggrovators at Lee's "instigation" and calls Clarke "the ranking roots singer" of the late 1970s. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 351, 352. Whitfield Town is from Wikipedia. "Johnny Clarke," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Clarke. Katz gives Clarke's account that Davis "was just doing it as a joke, a little workout thing to loosen up himself," and Davis's that he took it from MFSB's "TSOP." David Katz, "The (Not So Clear-Cut) History of the Flying Cymbal," Red Bull Music Academy Daily, July 31, 2013, https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2013/07/flying-cymbal-feature.
  2. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 152. Tim Cooper, "Johnny Clarke: None Shall Escape the Judgement," Eats, Drinks and Leaves, accessed November 5, 2026, https://www.eatsdrinksandleaves.com/johnnie-clarke-none-shall-escape-the-judgement/.
  3. Wikipedia says he won the session with Eccles at a 1971 talent contest in Bull Bay. "Johnny Clarke."
  4. Bradley says Rupie Edwards was "the first to record ... Johnnie Clarke ('Everyday Wondering' was one of his)." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 331. The Rough Guide says he "had already had a couple of local hits for Rupie Edwards" by 1974. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 153, 115. "Julie" is from Wikipedia. "Johnny Clarke."
  5. Wikipedia. "Johnny Clarke."
  6. The Rough Guide: "Clarke spent so much time hanging around the studios he became known as the 'studio idler', but it paid off," as he learned to fit new lyrics "onto the new versions of classic rocksteady rhythms Striker was building." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 152. It lists the Aggrovators' rotating personnel. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 153.
  7. The Rough Guide says Earl Zero wrote the song and had recorded it for Lee himself, "but the astute producer thought it had a better chance sung in the more obviously commercial tones of Clarke." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 186. Elsewhere it calls "Move Out Of Babylon" (1974) "the hit that established him." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 155, 153. Bradley says his Lee hits, "None Shall Escape His Judgement" among them, were "all cut in King Tubby's toilet." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 352. Wikipedia makes it the title track of his debut album. "Johnny Clarke." Katz says Lee first cut the song with Zero at Treasure Isle, with Clarke on backing vocals; unhappy with Zero's lead, he asked Cornell Campbell, who declined because Lee owed him money, and then had Clarke voice a new lead at King Tubby's. Katz, "History of the Flying Cymbal."
  8. Bradley quotes Mikey Dread on Tubby's high-pass filter, used "all the time on Johnnie Clarke mixes." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 320. The Rough Guide says Clarke's Lee hits "had been accompanied by dubs mixed by Tubby and his apprentices at Dromilly Avenue." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 305.
  9. Wikipedia gives the awards and the 1976 Front Line signing. "Johnny Clarke." The Rough Guide dates Authorised Version and Rockers Time Now to 1976. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 155. Bradley lists Clarke among Virgin's Jamaican signings. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 455.
  10. Wikipedia lists No Woman No Cry (Total Sounds, 1976). "Johnny Clarke." The Rough Guide notes his "propensity for covering the material of others," citing Marley's "Crazy Baldhead." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 155.
  11. Wikipedia. "Johnny Clarke." Bradley cites "Blood Dunza" as Clarke's attack on gunmen on party payrolls. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 464.
  12. The Rough Guide says Linval Thompson, Lee's next most prolific artist, borrowed vocal tricks from Clarke. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 156.

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