“THE PRINCE” BUSTER

Cecil Bustamente Campbell, (born 28 May 1938), better known as PRINCE BUSTER and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston Jamica is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music.

The records he made on the BLUE BEAT label in the 1960s inspired many reggae and ska artists

Campbell began his professional career as a singer in 1956; performing in Kingston nightclubs. He formed a succession of bands with several of his friends, none of which were successful

Campbell's music career reached maturity with the growth of the soundsystem.

Across Jamaica, music promoters drove vans filled with stereo equipment to stage mobile parties. The operators of the sound system would play the popular R&B dance records of the day and often they would have a vocalist called a toaster  call out the dancers' names, chant in rhythm, and make light-hearted boasts.

Deejay "toasting" was one of the precursors to the style of vocal delivery that eventually evolved into rap.

Eventually, Campbell was introduced to CLEMENT DODD , a musically-inclined businessman who operated one of Kingston's most popular sound systems. Interestingly, Campbell was not hired as a musician but as security; because of rivalries between fans devoted to a particular sound system, the parties sometimes could become quite rough, and Campbell had been a skillful amateur boxer as a teenager.

It was in this line of work that he earned the nickname "The Prince", which along with his boyhood moniker "Buster" (from his middle name Bustamente), formed the name under which he would later become famous

He joined the Nation of Islam after meeting MUHAMMED ALI  whilst on a tour of England in 1964

In 1960, Buster produced a record for the Folkes brothers  for the Wild Bells label,  "Oh Carolina", under his nickname.

This record was Jamaica's first to involve an element of African music - the drumming in the record was provided by COUNT OSSIE, the lead nyabinghi drummer from theRASTAFARIAN  camp, Camp David in the hills above Kingston.

It was an instant hit in Jamaica, and Buster's early records, which were released in the UK by BLUE BEAT Records contributed greatly to the developing sound of ska.

Buster was soon recording his own compositions as well as producing records for others.

From 1963 to the end of the decade, Buster wrote and produced hundreds of songs for BLUE BEAT.

Soon after his initial success, Buster was drawing international attention. 

He became notorious for releasing "Big Five", a raunched-up re-write of BROOK BENTON's "Rainy Night in Georgia".

By the late 1970s, Buster was in serious financial trouble. His business ventures were all posting losses or low profits, and the loans he had taken out to start them were catching up. Fortunately for him, ska was experiencing a revival in the United Kingdom, and the most promonint bands of the revival  drew from his material. In 1979, the band MADNESS (named after one of Prince Buster's songs) released their first record, a tribute to Buster called "THE PRINCE ", which urged ska fans to remember "the man who set the beat". Their second single was a cover of Buster's "One step beyond " which reached the Top 10, and a cover of the band's namesake, "Madness,"

Buster's songs continued to be popular sources for ska bands in the U.S., an example being THE TOASTER covering "Hard Man Fe Dead" in 1996.

In 1989, Prince Buster recorded a 12" single with London based ska and blues band, The Trojans, which was released on Gaz's Rockin' Records in the UK. "Stack O Lee" was a limited edition  and it sold out within weeks. Prince Buster has performed at a few shows over the past several years, including the 2002 Legends Of Ska festival in Toronto, in Dedham, Massachusetts in 2002, in the 2006 Boss Sounds Reggae Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne and 2007's Rhythm festival . During the last day of the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival , Prince Buster made an appearance on the Gaz's Rockin' Blues stage, alongside THE TROJANS.

Prince Buster was due to make a rare live appearance in London on September 5, 2009 at Camden Centre, but it was announced by email to ticket holders on August 24, 2009 that it was cancelled