In 1950, a Jamaican inventor named Headlee Jones built a new kind of powerful dynamic amplifier for DJs. The amp had what's called a three band equalizer, which could separate out and then emphasize high, mid, and low frequencies. A hardware store owner whose DJ name was Tom the Great Sebastian was one of the first to wire it to his turntable and speakers. And he gave that powerful rig a new name, the sound system.
Jamaica is famous around the world for its music, including genres like ska, dub, and reggae. It’s tempting to think that the powerful amplifiers and giant speakers at the dance parties were designed to perfectly capture Jamaica’s indigenous sounds. But it’s actually the other way around. Those speakers and amps came first. And the electricians, mechanics and engineers who built and adapted that technology would then play a decisive role in the creation of Jamaica’s modern music. They helped pioneer approaches to making and performing music that would spawn whole other scenes from the Bronx to the UK.
Wickedest Sound