World of Jamaican Music

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

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

The Paragons

Band. Rocksteady

Active
1964-1970

The Paragons were a rocksteady vocal group, and "The Tide Is High," written by John Holt and cut for Duke Reid in 1967, has traveled further than any other song made in that period.

The group began as the Binders, with Bob Andy, Garth "Tyrone" Evans, Junior Menz, and Leroy Stamp. By early 1965 Stamp had been replaced by John Holt; Menz had left for the Techniques and been replaced by Howard Barrett; and the name had changed to the Paragons. Bob Andy left at the end of 1965 for a solo career, leaving the trio that made the records. They recorded first for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and then moved to Duke Reid, whose Treasure Isle issued "Love at Last," "Good Luck and Goodbye," "Happy Go Lucky Girl," "On the Beach," "Wear You to the Ball," "Only a Smile," and "The Tide Is High," with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics behind them. Critics have compared their rich harmonies with American soul groups such as the Four Tops, and their subject matter stayed with romance.

"The Tide Is High" was the B-side of "Only a Smile" and was included on the album On the Beach; the violin on it is by the player known as White Rum Raymond. Blondie took the song to number one in Britain and the United States in 1980, Atomic Kitten took it to number one in Britain again in 2002, and Kardinal Offishall had a smaller hit with it in 2008. Holt is the sole writer.

U-Roy's "Wear You to the Ball," one of the three records that held the top three places on the Jamaican chart at the same time in 1970, was voiced over the Paragons' riddim.

The group broke up over money, having had a long run of Jamaican number ones without much to show for them. Holt left in 1970 for a solo career and the others carried on, first with Rosalyn Sweat and then with Vic Taylor in his place, making three further albums. Holt, Barrett, and Evans reunited in the early 1980s on the strength of Blondie's record and made an album with Sly and Robbie before Holt left again; Barrett and Evans worked together once more in the 1990s. Tyrone Evans departed on October 19, 2000.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 34, which says Holt recorded for Randy's in 1964 "before forming one of the greatest of the rocksteady vocal-harmony groups, the Paragons, early in 1965." "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians, Encyclopedia.com, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/paragons and the Wikipedia articles date Holt's and Barrett's arrival to 1964; the Binders name appears in "John Holt (singer)," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holt_(singer). No source was found for Menz's move to the Techniques. Roy Black, writing in the Gleaner in 2014 and quoted by Augustyn, gives another account: the group "began with Bob Andy and Tyrone Evans at the back of the Kingston Parish Church, sometime in 1962," added Howard Barrett, and then took in Holt, and the quartet debuted for Dodd with "I Was Lonely (Love at Last)" and "Play Girl" in 1963-64. Heather Augustyn, "Paying Homage to John Holt," SkaBook (blog), October 24, 2014, https://skabook.com/2014/10/24/paying-homage-john-holt/.
  2. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 65, which notes that Bob Andy "was a founder member, but had left by the time they joined Treasure Isle." "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians. dates his departure to 1966 and quotes him: "the other guys preferred John's voice on lead."
  3. The first two titles appear on Dodd's labels rather than Treasure Isle: "Love at Last" on Supreme (1965) and on Studio One, and "Good Luck and Goodbye" on Coxsone. "The Paragons - Love At Last / Play Girl," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6741696; "Norma Wright / The Paragons - Go On Home / Good Luck And Goodbye," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3729356. For the Treasure Isle sides, "The Paragons, Lynn Taitt With Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Happy Go Lucky Girl / So Much Pain," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4153631; "The Paragons - On The Beach With The Paragons," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/12068433. On their work for Dodd, Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 171; on Treasure Isle, Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 64-65.
  4. "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians, which reports the comparison with "such Motown acts as the Four Tops" and quotes Rick Anderson on their "rich, creamy harmonies." See also Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 241, on "the smoother sounds of the Techniques and the Paragons."
  5. "The Paragons - Only A Smile / The Tide Is High," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/8741766. On the album, Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 65 ("Besides the title track, highlights include the original cut of 'The Tide Is High'"); on the violin, Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 64, and Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 168.
  6. "Blondie," "Atomic Kitten" and "Kardinal Offishall," artist pages, Official Charts, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16742/blondie/, https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/8582/atomic-kitten/, https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/5226/kardinal-offishall/. The Official Charts list Blondie's record at number one in Britain in November 1980; it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 31, 1981. Tom Breihan, "The Number Ones: Blondie's 'The Tide Is High,'" Stereogum, April 17, 2020, https://www.stereogum.com/2081226/the-number-ones-blondies-the-tide-is-high/columns/the-number-ones/. Kardinal Offishall's "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" entered the British chart early in 2009, peaking at 29 with Keri Hilson.
  7. Tom Breihan, "The Number Ones: Blondie's 'The Tide Is High,'" Stereogum, April 17, 2020, https://www.stereogum.com/2081226/the-number-ones-blondies-the-tide-is-high/columns/the-number-ones/; "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians. The British Blondie single credited the song to "Duke," that is, Duke Reid. "Blondie - The Tide Is High," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/209808. Atomic Kitten's version added a bridge co-written by Barrett and Evans. "The Tide Is High," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tide_Is_High.
  8. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 298, where "Wake the Town" and "Rule the Nation" stayed at the top of the JBC and RJR charts "long enough for the deejay's third record, 'Wear You to the Ball', to catch them up, giving the music the top three positions in both charts for several weeks"; see also Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 123. Holt had brought U-Roy to Reid's attention. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 218.
  9. "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians. gives a different account: the group "struggled financially," but the split came in 1970 when Evans and Barrett "received scholarships to study in the United States," and it "was amicable." Wikipedia puts Barrett's departure in 1969 and Evans's in 1970. "John Holt (singer)," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holt_(singer).
  10. The recordings with Roslyn (Rosalyn) Sweat are noted in "The Paragons," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paragons. No source was found for Vic Taylor's membership or for the number of albums.
  11. "The Paragons, Sly & Robbie - Sly & Robbie Meet The Paragons," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3591078, recorded at Compass Point on February 18, 1981, and at Tuff Gong. "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians. says only that a reunion album "was never completed." No source was found linking the reunion to Blondie's record.
  12. "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians, which dates the reunion to a 1993 rocksteady show and the album "Heaven & Earth" to 1996; Discogs dates it 1995. "The Paragons - Heaven & Earth," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/20268886.
  13. "The Paragons," Contemporary Musicians. Evans died of cancer in New York. "Tyrone Evans," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrone_Evans.

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