Rupie Edwards

Rupert Lloyd ‘Rupie’ Edwards was born 4^th July 1945 in Goshen, in the Jamaican parish of St. Ann.

At the age of 13, he relocated with his family to Kingston, where he began performing in local talent contests, including Vere Johns‘ famed competition. After one such show, he was approached by fledgling producer, Simeon ‘Little Wonder’ Smith who soon after paid the aspiring young performer ??15 to record a number of songs, including ‘Guilty Convict’ and ‘Just Because’, which early in 1962 saw issue in Jamaica on Hi-Lite label, and in the UK on Blue Beat.

Despite this promising start, Rupie’s recording career was put on hold until after he had formed the Ambassadors aka the Virtues, whose line-up also included former Paragons singer, Junior Menz, noted guitarist Eric Frater and Dobby Dobson. Soon after, the group saw the release of their debut 7′ single ‘Amen’ c/w ‘Your Wife And Your Mother’, which they followed with a couple of 45s (‘Burning Love’ c/w ‘I’m Writing Again’ and ‘Exclusively Yours’ c/w ‘Don’t Make My Teardrops Fall‘) that were released on their own Diamond imprint.

In 1968, Rupie launched Success Records and began issuing a series of superior singles, which, over the next year or so, featured himself, along with the likes of the Virtues, Dobby Dobson, Bob Andy, the Corcords (fronted by a young Gregory Isaacs), John Holt, Lloyd & Devon, the Ethiopians, the Meditators, Busty Brown, the Itals, the Kingstonians and Winston Blake.

Meanwhile, agreements with Trojan and Pama Records in the UK led to the country’s two leading Jamaican music companies launching Big and Success, respectively, with each label aimed at showcasing the best of his output. The increase in income from European sales allowed Rupie to open his Success record shop in Orange Street, Kingston, while such was the extent of his success that in 1971, he decided to launch a second label, Opportunity Records.

By the mid-seventies, he was firmly established as one of Jamaica’s big players, having released a succession of big sellers by acts such as Joe Higgs, the Heptones, Errol Dunkley, Gregory Isaacs, Shorty Perry, Dennis Alcapone, Johnny Clarke, Max Romeo, the Mighty Diamonds, the Tellers and Jah Woosh. In addition, he also issued the first ‘single-riddim’ album, ‘Yamaha Skank’ LP, which entirely comprised recordings on the rhythm created for the Uniques’ rock steady hit, ‘My Conversation’.

Rupie’s big international break came late in 1974, when, after signing a distribution deal with Creole Records, his 7′ single,‘Ire Feelings (Skanga)’ breached the UK top 40. By mid-December, the record had broken into the Top Ten, climbing to the number 9 position before slowly slipping out of the listings at the end of January of the following year.

Soon after, he was back in the pop charts with the more overtly pop sounding ‘Leggo Skanga’, which made it to a respectable number 32 in February ’75. Following these major triumphs,

After these successes, Rupie relocated to London, where he has since spent the past four decades, chiefly operating his record shop in Ridley Road Market in Dalston, London.