RIP Desmond Dekker

When Johnny Cash died, my dad told me he was sorry that he never got to see the Man in Black play in concert. Ever since then, I started taking my dad to shows. I've taken him to see David Bowie, The Who, and James Brown, among others. How cool is that?

Now I hear that reggae icon Desmond Dekker died today. Even if you don't know his name, you probably know his hits: "O07 Shanty Town," "You Can Get It If You Really Want," and "Israelites." The first two songs are on the soundtrack to The Harder They Come. (Along with Repo Man, one of the two best soundtracks of all time.) The last song was a big hit in Europe and even made the Top 10 in the States. He was there for the birth of ska, was a king of rocksteady, and stayed smooth when reggae turned to roots, dub, and dancehall.

Dekker toured until the end, and even played in L.A. not more than a year ago. I mixed up the date, missed it, and now I'll never got to see him.