Real name Alex Hughes, Kent-born Judge Dread was a bouncer in London
clubs at the end of the '60s and became familiar with reggae through his work,
where he had run into (not literally) the likes of Derrick Morgan and Prince
Buster. In 1969 Buster had a huge underground hit with the obscene Big 5,
a version of Brook Benton's Rainy Night In Georgia. It was clear there was
a yawning gap waiting to be filled when Buster failed to effectively follow his
hit, so Alex Hughes, aka Judge Dread (a name borrowed from a Prince
Buster character) plunged in. His first single, Big Six went to number 11 in
1972, and spent more than half the year in the charts. No-one heard it on
air: it was a filthy nursery rhyme. Big Seven did better than Big Six, and
from this point on Dread scored hits with Big Eight, a ridiculous version
of Je T'Aime, and a string of other novelty reggae records, often co-penned
by his friend, Fred Lemon. Incidentally, Big Six was also a hit in Jamaica.
Five years and eleven hits later (including such musical delicacies as Y Viva
Suspenders and Up With The Cock), the good-natured Hughes, one of
just two acts to successfully combine music hall with reggae (the other was
Count Prince Miller, whose Mule Train rivalled Dread for sheer chutzpah)
had finally ground to a halt in chart terms. He can still be found occasionally
working the clubs, and has also sought employment as a local newspaper
columnist in Snodland, Kent.
clubs at the end of the '60s and became familiar with reggae through his work,
where he had run into (not literally) the likes of Derrick Morgan and Prince
Buster. In 1969 Buster had a huge underground hit with the obscene Big 5,
a version of Brook Benton's Rainy Night In Georgia. It was clear there was
a yawning gap waiting to be filled when Buster failed to effectively follow his
hit, so Alex Hughes, aka Judge Dread (a name borrowed from a Prince
Buster character) plunged in. His first single, Big Six went to number 11 in
1972, and spent more than half the year in the charts. No-one heard it on
air: it was a filthy nursery rhyme. Big Seven did better than Big Six, and
from this point on Dread scored hits with Big Eight, a ridiculous version
of Je T'Aime, and a string of other novelty reggae records, often co-penned
by his friend, Fred Lemon. Incidentally, Big Six was also a hit in Jamaica.
Five years and eleven hits later (including such musical delicacies as Y Viva
Suspenders and Up With The Cock), the good-natured Hughes, one of
just two acts to successfully combine music hall with reggae (the other was
Count Prince Miller, whose Mule Train rivalled Dread for sheer chutzpah)
had finally ground to a halt in chart terms. He can still be found occasionally
working the clubs, and has also sought employment as a local newspaper
columnist in Snodland, Kent.
