Sir John Holt at indigO2

Holt was born in Kingston in 1947. By the age of 12, he was a regular entrant in talent contests run at Jamaican theatres. He recorded his first single in 1963 with 'I Cried a Tear', and also recorded duets with Alton Ellis. He achieved prominence in his home country as lead singer of The Paragons, with whom he enjoyed a string of hits, including 'Ali Baba', 'Tonight', 'I See Your Face', and then he penned 'The Tide Is High', later made famous by Blondie. Holt left the Paragons in 1970 and concentrated on his solo career full-time. By the early 1970s, he was one of the biggest stars of reggae, and his 'Stick By Me' was the biggest-selling Jamaican record of 1972. His 1973 album, 'Time Is The Master', was hugely successful, with orchestral arrangements recorded in London. The success of the string-laden reggae led to Trojan Records issuing a series of similarly arranged albums produced by Bunny Lee starting with the '1,000 Volts of Holt' in 1973, a compilation of Holt's reggae cover versions of popular hits. '1,000 Volts' spawned the UK Top 10 hit 'Help Me Make It Through The Night', which peaked at number 6, and also included covers of Billy Joel's 'Just the Way You Are' and Diana Ross's 'Touch Me In The Morning', amongst others. Holt's style, notably slower and more romantic than most of his contemporaries, is a recognisable forerunner of a style of reggae known as Lovers Rock which developed in the UK during the 1970s. 'Don't Want To See You Cry' was one of Holt's many Jamaican hits. While Holt became well-known internationally for these lushly produced ballads, back in Jamaica he also recorded more roots-oriented material such as the rockers single 'Up Park Camp'. Holt further explored his more rootsy side on the album 'Police In Helicopter' from 1983, the title song from which became a hit. His song, 'Man Next Door', has been covered by numerous other reggae artists including Dennis Brown and Horace Andy who also sang in a more electronic version of the song for the Massive Attack album, 'Mezzanine'. Over the years Holt has captivated audiences all over the world with his concerts performing all his memorable hits. Seeing believes, he sings his hits exactly as they were recorded, note perfect.