The legendary Duke Vin is an important figure in the history of Jamaican music. He has been DJing for over half a century and is one of the world's oldest and greatest living DJs. He has one of the best collections of Jamaican music in the world and became famous for having the only existing, original copy of the fantastic Derrick Harriott produced reggae tune, "The Tickler". As a selector, Duke Vin favours rhythm & blues, ska, rocksteady and reggae from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Duke Vin began his career in the early 1950s as a selector for Tom The Great Sebastian - the first major Sound System in Jamaica. He moved to London later in the decade, introducing England to Jamaican rhythm & blues and ska through his own Sound System, which was the first in the UK. Duke Vin still plays at the Notting Hill Carnival today (on Gaz Mayall's Rockin' Blues Sound System) and is as popular as ever.
During the 1960s, Duke Vin played at London's top West End clubs: the original Marquee club on Oxford Street and then in its new premises on Wardour Street, as well as The Flamingo, also on Wardour Street. He was a big influence on the mods - London's cool young (largely white) club-goers - who considered ska (or Blue Beat as it was also known in the UK) more hip than The Beatles. A young Georgie Fame would listen to Duke Vin's records and go on to start a solo career playing ska...
Right On! was honoured to present Duke Vin on Saturday 13th September 2003 at The Thirteen Club in Gerrard Street, Chinatown. It was a rare chance to hear him play in a smart West End club a stone's throw from the location of the Flamingo club where he played in the 1960s. He was on the decks from midnight till around 2.30am and the capacity crowd absolutely loved him.