Gussie Clarke
| Gussie Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Augustus Clarke |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Producer |
Augustus "Gussie" Clarke (born 1953) is a reggae producer who worked with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s and later set up his own Music Works studio.
Clarke started working in the music industry by cutting dub plates. He made his debut as a producer in 1972, with U-Roy's "The Higher The Mountain". He established himself as the top producer of deejays in the early 1970s with albums such as Big Youth's Screaming Target, and I-Roy's Presenting I Roy, both regarded as among the best deejay albums ever produced. Through the 1970s and early 1980s he worked with artists such as Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Augustus Pablo, Leroy Smart, and The Mighty Diamonds, including on the latter's influential "Pass the Kouchie" in 1981. Much of Clarke's output was released on his own Gussy and Puppy labels.
In the late 1980s, Clarke adapted to the new dancehall style of reggae, but stood out from other producers by attempting to produce glossier recordings with greater potential to cross over internationally.
In 1987, while he was still recording at Music Mountain and Dynamic Sounds studio, the first record to bare hints of this newly embraced digital sound came from the release of The Mighty Diamonds' The Real Enemy. "Gang War", the first single off the album released on his Music Works label showcased this new digi-roots style, incorporating keyboard and computer programming driven riddims, compared to the known traditional roots reggae sound with players of live instruments recording in the studio. This release stood out as the first transitional record for Clarke and his production blending old-school roots reggae to the newly embarked digital dancehall riddims to take shape for the coming years.
In 1988 he launched his Music Works studio, equipped and ready to fully adopt the digital reggae era, successfully as a producer returned with hit records and singles for many Jamaican and UK artist alike. He continued to gather some of the best songwriters, musicians, background singers, arrangers, engineers and mixers Jamaica had to offer. By mid-year, the first full-length albums to showcase the masterfully crafted, dominant sounds of the Music Works studio, was The Mighty Diamonds' Get Ready and Gregory Isaacs' Red Rose For Gregory, and both released just months apart. The latter of the two saw the spawn of the monumental "Rumours" track described as a hard-hitting, bass-heavy driven electro-dancehall stomp. To great success, Clarke produced several artists off the following Rumours aka Telephone Love one riddim compilation and generated heavy Jamaican radio rotation off other tracks showcased on the Music Works Showcase '88 release. To an enthusiastic changing and accepting reggae music market, thus began the new sound of '90s Jamaica.
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