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Winston Francis

( Official Website )

Biography
Discography

Albums
as Billy Cole
as King Cool
Francis & Franklin
DVD

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C O N T E N T S

Album Francis Records Winston

Rank: 100%

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Winston Francis (born 1948"Winston Francis." /ref>"Winston Francis." /ref>) aka Mr Fix It is a Jamaica singer whose career began in the 1960s.

Biography

Born in Kingston in 1948, Francis served an apprentice as a printer before relocating to Miami at the age of 16.Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, , p. 102-3 He attended music school, and his teacher Chuck Bird arranged for him to perform with the Jackie Gleason Orchestra in front of Spiro Agnew in 1965. He then joined Carlos Malcolm's Afro Jamaicans band, with whom he toured the US and the Caribbean. He was also a member of The Sheridans (with Pat Kelly) In the late 1960s he recorded as a solo artist for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label, with his debut album Mr. Fix-It released in 1969.Prato, Greg " Winston Francis Biography", AllMusic, retrieved 2010-12-26 This was followed by a second album, California Dreaming in 1970, with the title track released as a single and chosen as 'Hit Pick of the Week' for two weeks running by Tony Blackburn on his BBC Radio 1 show." Winston Francis", LKJ Records, retrieved 2010-12-26 The single's B-side, "Too Experienced", featured backing vocals from Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. He relocated to the UK that year. He toured the UK club circuit and recorded for EMI in the 1970s.

From 1968 to 1972 Winston had numerous 7" releases on labels such as JJ's, Supreme, WIRL, Bamboo, Coxsone, Punch, Studio One, Tiger, Banana, Decca, Rhino.

In 1972 Francis recorded "Blue Moon". The song peaked at number 34 in Australia in February 1973.

David Kent (1993). 9780646119175, Australian Chart Book. ISBN 9780646119175

After a period of inactivity, Francis returned to recording in the early 1980s, releases including the Roy Cousins-produced Just Once. After a break from music when he worked as a youth worker and social worker, he returned in 1987 as a backing vocalist for The Melodians and began working with Trevor Star and the Skaticians. He continued to record in the 1990s, working with Dennis Bovell under the name King Cool, and releasing Ragga Love and Sweet Rock Steady, and guested on Kelly's 1995 album Butterflies. His version of Ben E King's "Stand by Me" was a hit in France, selling over 90,000 copies, leading to work with Sly & Robbie and John Kpiaye. In 2003 he teamed up with fellow veteran AJ Franklin to record the album Stand Firm. In 2004, he released the medley album Feel Good All Over.Leggett, Steve " Feel Good All Over Review", AllMusic, retrieved 2010-12-26