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 →

Tomorrow's Children

Band. Rocksteady, reggae

Active
late 1960s-1970s

Tomorrow's Children were a Kingston showband of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and one of the places where a set of musicians who mattered later learned to play together in front of an audience rather than in a studio.

The lineup included Pluto Shervington, the singers Ken Lazarus and John Jones, Barry Collins, Cornel Marshall, Steve Batchelor, Garth Creary, Clive Morris and Jerome Francisque. They signed with Federal in 1967, and their first single was a rocksteady version of Cher's "Bang Bang." Two albums followed, Tomorrow's Children Today (1968) and The Going's Great with Tomorrow's Children (1970), the second on the London label in Jamaica, along with singles including "Sister Big Stuff" (1971) for Trojan's Explosion.

The band's repertoire was pop and soul of the day played as rocksteady and early reggae, which was what a hotel and club circuit wanted and what the roots labels did not record.

Its members scattered into the more famous parts of the music. Cornel Marshall drummed on Third World's first record; Richard Daley, who also passed through the band, took the bass chair in Third World. Ken Lazarus went on singing. Pluto Shervington, who had come to the group from the Presidents and the Hurricanes, had hits of his own with "Ram Goat Liver" and "Dat," which reached number six in Britain in 1976, produced Paul Davidson's "Midnight Rider," moved to Miami, and departed there in January 2024.

Last updated October 21, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Gleaner calls the band a "showband." Anthony Turner, "Pluto Shervington was discussing Mother's Day performances prior to death," Jamaica Gleaner, January 23, 2024, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20240123/pluto-shervington-was-discussing-mothers-day-performances-prior-death. None of the books consulted mentions it.
  2. The 1970 album credits Lazarus, Shervington, Barry Collins, John Jones and Cornell Marshall on vocals, with Shervington and Collins on guitar, Steve Batchelor on bass, Marshall on drums, Garth Creary on organ, and Clive Morris and Jerome Francique on brass. "Tomorrows Children - The Going's Great With," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2958879.
  3. Federal's Merritone label issued "Bang Bang Rock Steady" in 1967, and Island in Britain the same year. "Tomorrow's Children - Bang Bang Rock Steady," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6146168; "Tomorrow's Children - Bang Bang Rock Steady / Rain Rock Steady," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/5956639.
  4. The 1968 Merritone album is titled Today. "Tomorrow's Children - Today," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4096487. The second album appeared on the London label in Jamaica in 1970, produced by Richard Khouri; no British issue has been confirmed. "Tomorrows Children - The Going's Great With," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2958879.
  5. The British Explosion single (1971) pairs Ken Lazarus's "Girl" with the group's "Sister, Big Stuff." "Ken Lazarus / Tomorrow's Children - Girl / Sister, Big Stuff," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1869135.
  6. Both albums are made up of cover versions of current pop and soul hits, from "Lady Madonna" and "Dock of the Bay" to "Get Together" and "In the Summertime." "Tomorrow's Children - Today," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4096487; "Tomorrows Children - The Going's Great With," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2958879.
  7. The 1976 Third World debut credits Cornell Marshall on drums. "Third World - Third World," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4353523.
  8. Wikipedia says Daley was "formerly of Ken Boothe's band and Tomorrow's Children." "Third World (band)," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World_(band).
  9. Wikipedia says he joined the Presidents in 1966, at sixteen, and the Hurricanes a year later. "Pluto Shervington," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_Shervington. The Gleaner says he "began his recording career in the early 1970s as a member of the showband Tomorrow's Children." Turner, "Pluto Shervington."
  10. The Official Charts Company lists "Dat" entering the UK chart on February 7, 1976, and peaking at No. 6. "Dat," singles search, Official Charts, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/dat/.
  11. Wikipedia says "Midnight Rider" peaked at No. 10 in Britain in December 1975. "Pluto Shervington."
  12. The Gleaner reported that he "died last Friday morning at a hospital in Florida, where he resided." Turner, "Pluto Shervington." Wikipedia gives January 19, 2024, in Miami, and dates his move there to 1977. "Pluto Shervington."

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