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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Scotty

Artist. Reggae

Active
1971-2000s
Sunrise
1951, Westmoreland, Jamaica
Sunset
February 27, 2003, Kingston, Jamaica (prostate cancer)

Scotty, born David Scott in Westmoreland, was a singer and deejay whose records for Derrick Harriott, "Draw Your Brakes" above all, anticipated the singjay style of the following decade.

At Kingston Technical High School he formed the Federals with Valman Smykle and Franklin Spence. Their debut, "Penny for Your Song," produced by Scotty himself, was the group's only Jamaican number one, and Harriott, who heard them at the Sombrero Club, put them on his Musical Chariot tour. When Smykle left for New York in 1969, Scotty and Spence added Noel "Bunny" Brown and Richard McDonald and became the Chosen Few, again for Harriott. They sang the harmonies on Hopeton Lewis's "Boom Shacka Lacka," the 1970 Festival Song winner, and had a Jamaican number one with Harriott on "Psychedelic Train."

In July 1970 Harriott, having watched Scotty clowning and doing impressions at his One Stop record shop, began recording him as a deejay over the Crystalites' riddims. "Musical Chariot" was the first, and "Sesame Street" (number three in Jamaica), "Riddle I This" (number one), and "Jam Rock Style" followed. "Draw Your Brakes" was his version of Keith and Tex's "Stop That Train," itself a Harriott production, and its place on The Harder They Come soundtrack carried it far beyond Jamaica. School Days (1972), issued by Harriott's Crystal label and by Trojan, is among the first deejay albums. Paul Matts hears a voice that "was natural, resonant and full of Jamaican smile," toasting "like an old school mento mc."

He left the Chosen Few, and Busty Brown took his place. After 1972 he recorded for Harry J, Lloyd Charmers, and Sonia Pottinger, and cut the deejay version on the B-side of Lorna Bennett's "Breakfast in Bed" for Harry J. In 1974 he moved to Miami and opened a record shop for the Jamaicans there, and his output dwindled, before he returned to Jamaica and worked in the dancehall; at the end he was recording a new album for Studio One. He appeared on oldies shows such as Heineken Startime. Taken ill in November 2002, he departed at the Lord's Place nursing home at fifty-one; the cause was prostate cancer.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide: "Scotty prefigured the 'singjay' style of a decade later." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 125. Bradley says he "took Dennis Alcapone's melodic, almost sing-jay style further." Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 299. Katz's obituary gives his years. David Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott," Guardian, March 24, 2003, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/mar/24/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries. On his death in Kingston, "Scotty (reggae vocalist)," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotty_(reggae_vocalist).
  2. Katz calls the Federals "Valman Smykle's" trio, with Scotty on harmony. Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott." A collector's profile says the three students formed the group in 1967. "Scotty's Profile," ReggaeCollector.com, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.reggaecollector.com/en/feature/artist.php?artist_id=682.
  3. The accounts differ on his part in the Federals. The Rough Guide calls him "the former lead singer with the Federals." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 102. Katz calls them "Valman Smykle's Federals vocal trio" with "Scotty on harmony," and says their debut, "Penny For Your Song," was "their only Jamaican number one" and was "produced by Scotty." Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott." The collector's profile also describes it as a self-production, made with help from Lloyd Charmers and Bunny Lee and issued on Scotty's own label. "Scotty's Profile." On the Sombrero Club and the Musical Chariot tour, "Scotty (reggae vocalist)," Wikipedia, which says Harriott recorded the song.
  4. Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott." The collector's profile says Harriott suggested the group after hearing Scotty and Bunny Brown with the Vikings band. "Scotty's Profile."
  5. Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott."
  6. The collector's profile says Harriott noticed him "clowning around and imitating different people in the show business world at Derrick's One Stop Record Shop" in July 1970. "Scotty's Profile." The Rough Guide notes that he cut deejay versions of vocal hits on Harriott's labels. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 102.
  7. On "Musical Chariot," "Sesame Street," and "Riddle I This," "Scotty's Profile." On "Jam Rock Style," "Scotty (reggae vocalist)," Wikipedia, citing Colin Larkin; Katz says he had "seven top 10 hits between 1970 and 1971" as a deejay. Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott."
  8. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 84, 88, 102, 125-26; Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 284.
  9. The Rough Guide calls it "his great 1972 Schooldays album for Derrick Harriott." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 125. Discogs dates both the Crystal and the Trojan (TRL 33) issues to 1971, as does the collector's profile, which calls it "one of the first ever long players to be dedicated wholly and solely to a deejay" and notes that he sings a new "Penny For Your Song" on it. "Scotty - School-Days," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2246100; "Scotty's Profile."
  10. Paul Matts, "Draw Your Brakes! Scotty, School-Days Reviewed," Cult Rocks, April 6, 2021, https://wearecult.rocks/draw-your-brakes-scotty-school-days-reviewed.
  11. "Scotty (reggae vocalist)," Wikipedia, citing Larkin; "Scotty's Profile."
  12. The Rough Guide lists Harry Johnson, Sonia Pottinger, and Lloyd Charmers among his producers. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 125. Bradley credits him with "Breakfast in Bed" for Harry J. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 299. The collector's profile calls the record "Skank In Bed" and says it was produced by Chung and Harvey for Harry J. "Scotty's Profile."
  13. Katz says he moved to Miami in 1974 and set up a record store, and was "briefly back in Jamaica in the mid-1980s." Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott." The collector's profile says he settled in Florida and began recording again in the early 1980s. "Scotty's Profile." Katz adds that he "was also recording a new album for Studio One" at the time of his death.
  14. Katz mentions Heineken Star Time without a date. Katz, "David 'Scotty' Scott."
  15. "Scotty's Profile." On his age, "Scotty (reggae vocalist)," Wikipedia.

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