King Stitt (Born Winston Spark)
September 17, 1940 – January 31, 2012
King Stitt was, until the time of his passing, recognized as Jamaica’s oldest living deejay. Stitt’s career dated back to the mid ’50s when he began deejaying for the legendary Coxsone Dodd on his Sound System. Before he knew it, Stitt was releasing such influential deejay tracks as “Lee Van Cleef,” “Dance Beat,” and “Fire Corner” with such producers as Clancy Eccles and of course, Dodd himself. In recent years, Stitt was featured in the The Studio One Story documentary and the to-be-released Legends Of Ska concert doc. King Stitt was 71 when he passed away on January 31, 2012. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Thanks to Eric Foss at Secret Stash Records for the assist.
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Errol Scorcher was a popular Jamaican deejay who built his following while working several soundsystems during the ’70s. In 1978, he joined Prince Jammy’s Tapetown soundsystem which went on to become of Jamaica’s most popular. Scorcher released albums like Rasta Fire, Unity Showcase, and Roach In De Corner. The list of his hit singles includes “Roach In De Corner,” Frog In A Water,” and “Mosquitoes.” On January 19, 2012, Earl Scorcher died after a blood vessel ruptured in his head. He was 55.
Joe Gracey was an Austin, Texas radio disc jockey who, since the early ’70s, championed what was then called progressive country on KOKE-FM. Also referred to as alt country, Americana, outlaw country, redneck rock, or simply Texas music, this hybrid of country, blues, rock, and folk found its home outside the mainstream. And it was Gracey who helped make many of its practitioners – like Willie Nelson, 
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