Boris Gardiner

Boris Gardiner first made his mark on the Jamaican music scene back in the late fifties, when he joined the Rhythm Aces, one of the island’s most popular early vocal groups. A number of signficant hits for a number of local producers ensued, but after their break-up, Boris worked with a number groups as singer, guitarist and bassist before forming the Broncos during the rock steady era.

As one of Jamaica’s most gifted session crews, Boris and the Brocos were constantly in demand both on the live scene and in the studio and in 1969 they hit the big time when their reggae-fied version of version of ‘Elizabethan Serenade’ made the UK charts.

Boris remined hugely in demand as both a singer and bass player throughout the 1970s, performing on array of recordings by almost every major producer on the island.

But his greatest successes came in the mid-eighties when his romantic reggae ballad, ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’ stormed to the top of the charts, both in the UK, with its success repeated in a number of countries around the globe.

Soon after, ‘You’re Everything To Me’ and ‘The Meaning Of Christmas’ followed the record into the British national listings and while he has since eased off from recording, Boris’ back catalogue is regularly revisted, as evidenced by the recent sampling of his ‘Every Nigger Is A Star’ on ‘Wesley’s Theory’ on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ album.

To find out more about the man and his music, while enjoying 20 of his best-known, check out the newly posted bio and spoitify playlist that can be found in the Artists section of this website.

Simply click here or on the Artists link at the top of the homepage, then scroll down until you reach ‘Boris Gardiner’.