<strong>RIP First King of Toasting</strong> </br> He earned the nickname as a boy because of his stuttering and decided to use it as his stage name. Stitt began deejaying on Clement Doddâs Sir Coxsoneâs Downbeat Sound System in 1956. </br> Count Machuki, the original Jamaican deejay, noticed him for his dancing and offered him to try his hand on the mic. Stitt soon built his own deejay set, occasionally replacing him and eventually becoming one of the most popular deejays on the islandâs dances. He became King Stitt when he was crowned âking of the deejaysâ in 1963. in the heyday of ska.
Following the folding of Sir Coxsoneâs Downbeatâs sound system around 1968 (as Coxson prefered to concentrate on recordings), Stitt found himself working as a mason in Ocho Rios. [citation needed] He had been deejaying at the mic for over ten years when he was first recorded over brand new reggae rhythms in 1969, creating some of the first deejay records ever. </br></br> Born with a facial malformation, Stitt took advantage of it, calling himself âThe Ugly Oneâ, in reference to the Sergio Leone spaghetti western film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. His first and most prolific record releases came from producer Clancy Eccles with classic deejay tracks like âFire Cornerâ, âLee Van Cleefâ, âHerbman Shuffleâ, âKing of Kingsâ, âVigorton 2â and âDance Beatâ. All were released on Ecclesâ Clandisc record label.
Reggae Art