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Susan Cadogan & The Diamonds - Hurt So Good
Produced by Lee Perry
Perries Records (1973) - Matrix : LP 4095-A / LP 4096-B
In Order :
- A Side - Susan Cadogan & The Diamonds - Hurt So Good
- B Side - Upsetter - Rub A Dub
To start this chronic, we have to notice that an expert's eye will notice that part of the name of Susan Cadogan include "The Diamonds", as explained by Susan Cadogan's just because they are the Mighty Diamonds found in backing vocal <<I Recorded Hurt So Good "late one night back in 1974 With The Mighty Diamonds Doing the background vocals >> LEt's now have a loook at the history and career of this singer.
Alison Anne Cadogan was born the 2nd of November 1951 in the jamaican's main city Kingston. She will be known under the name of Susan Cadogan in her native island as over the hills and far away.
She was born in the early fifties, at this time Jamaica was still ruled by the British government and did not benefit its own local musical industry. Nevertheless, Susan's mum who was a singer too, released a few 78s known as the ancestor of the contemporean vinyle.She was performing "Devotional music", kind of a traditional religious music that also exists in the catholics, orthodox and even Sufi's communities.
To get back to Susan, her childhood did not took place in Jamaica but in Belize, a small country in the Central America stuck between Mexico and Guatemala just about thousand miles away from the jamaican coast. This is where his father, Methodist ministerian, comes from, before leaving Belize for Jamaica to study. In Jamaica, he will met Lola Veronica, who will become his wife. They will get married and go back to Belize for many years. This is in Belize where Susan will spend most of her childhood. Before even considering being a musician, Susan was devoted to her studies in order to become a librarian, she passed her diploma and got a job in the well-known UWI ( University Of West Indies ) of Mona, a small town in Kingston's suburbs.
It's not until the 70's that Susan Cadogan gets behind the mic and recorded her first song, "Love my life" which will be then released by Total Sound under her birth name, Ann Cadogan. This tune was produced by Jerry Lewis the boyfriend of one of her former schoolmate who was also a DJ on the major radio station of Jamaica. During the register session, one of the greatest producers at this time was in the studio, the ecccentric and famous Lee "Scratch" Perry. Impressed by Susan's voice he quickly decided to record an entire album, and renamed her Susan.
One of the first recordings she made for Lee Perry was a cover version of the hit "Hurt so good" by the soul singer Millie Jackson.That's how Susan Cadogan remembers this recording session and especially the personality of Lee Perry: "I had just recorded my first song "Love my Life" at the Black Ark and Perry liked my voice..he said I had a sexy voice and he asked me to sing Hurt so Good for him and it became a big UK hit in a few months. He was a very strange person and had unusual ways of mixing and the different sounds he used on the record. While I recorded he allowed no-one else in the studio..just the two of us. He smoked a lot and was always pulling at his beard but he was good and kind to me and is responsible for my carrer and my name....I have so much respect for him". To perform this version was on the bass Boris Gardiner and the Berres Hammond's horn section Zap Pow. This song was released by Lee Perry's brand new label : Perrie's, but the jamaican audience did not respond well to it. It's once in the UK that the tune will receive the well-deserved success when released by a young label named DIP.
Dennis Bovell (guitar and bass player, producer, member of the english band Matumbi, who is also a major icon of the reggae style "lovers rocks" particularly appreciated on the UK and European market) wrote in Bass Culture that he used to work for a jamaican crew formed by a couple, Dennis and Yvonne Harris. He explained that these two in order to launch their labels (DIP and Eve) took various songs under licence. They were both wealthy real estate owners and had sold several of their houses and one supermarket to start in the reggae business. And they were pretty sharp since in their catalog was the brilliant "Hurt so good" by Susan Cadogan - registered at Lee Perry's Black Ark - that just started to tickle the english charts. So they sold it to Magnet label who made it reach the fourth rank of the UK pop charts for great audience.
Susan Cadogan then rushes herself on a flight to UK to promote the song , this will even implies that she participated to one of the biggest musical show on earth, Top of The Pops. Susan will make the most of her visit and will grab the occasion to sign straightly with Magnet. Right after that the label released "Love Me Baby" produced by Pete Waterman an english producer, occasional songwriter who used to work - among others - with Musical Youth or Peter Tosh while he was in Jamaica Unfortunately "Love Me Baby" will remain on the 22nd rank of the charts in July 75 and so will be her last hit in the UK. Few others songs will then be released by the Klik and Lucky labels to bring back a few money but none will appear on the charts. Two albums will be created too, "Doing It Her Way" and "Hurt So Good" released by Magnet and Trojan but the sales remained below expectation
Defeated, Susan returned to Jamaica and went back to her former librarian job. She reappears in 1982 when some of her old songs met a modest success in Jamaica . Among them "Track Of My Tears" cover version of the Motown band The Miracles and "Piece Of My Heart" from the eldest sister of Aretha Franklin, Erma. In 1983, she registered "Feel So Good" (You Know How To Make Me Feel) with Ruddy Thomas. Then during the major part of the 80's she stacked to her librarian job again, until in 1992 she recorded an album with Mad Professor named "Soulful Reggae" and another in 1995 called "Chemistry Of Love".
Let's note that in 1995 , the english pop singer Jimmy Sommerville registered a cover version of " Hurt So Good" that provided a little interest in Susan's version . She also went on tour and have been produced by Glen Adames , and more recently with the reggae-jazz american band The Slackers as well as with a Portuguese band The Ratazanas.
Even if Susan knew how to get the advantage of the reggae and lover's rock blow out in the middle of the 70's in the UK , unfortunately
she did not get the chance to be closely followed by a big label company which would have allowed her to impose herself more permanently as
a worlwide feminine reggae artist.
"You take me in your arms, baby, And bounce me like a rubber ball"
- Zapo -
Top Of The Pops - Tv Show - 1975 Susan Cadogan |
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Susan Cadogan at Dyanmic Studio in 1987 |
Labels Goodie's
Thanks to Graal Records - www.graalrecords.fr
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