The
Kingston-born Dodd used to play records to the customers in his parents' shop. During a spell in the
American South he became familiar with the
rhythm and blues music popular there at the time. In 1954, back in Jamaica, he set up the Downbeat Sound System, being the owner of an
amplifier, a
turntable, and some US records, which he would import from
New Orleans and
Miami. With the success of his
sound system, and in a competitive environment, Dodd would make trips through the US looking for new tunes to attract the Jamaican public. While he did, his mother
Doris Darlington would run the sound system and play the tunes. Dodd opened five different sound systems, each playing every night. To run his sound systems, Dodd appointed people such as
Lee "Scratch" Perry, who was Dodd's right-hand man during his early career,
U-Roy and
Prince Buster. Perry would later leave Dodd in 1966 due to Perry feeling disrespected by Dodd. This is documented in the 1966 song "
The Upsetter".
Recording career When the R&B craze ended in the United States, Dodd and his rivals were forced to begin recording their own Jamaican music in order to meet the local demand for new music. Dodd's "You're Wondering Now", was initially recorded in 1964 by Andy & Joey in Jamaica and later covered by
the Skatalites,
the Specials and
Amy Winehouse; it was also used as the theme tune for the British-French crime drama television series
Death in Paradise. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the "Studio One sound" was synonymous with the sound of
ska,
rocksteady and
reggae, and Dodd attracted some of the Jamaican new musicians, including
Burning Spear,
Ras Michael,
Delroy Wilson,
Horace Andy, Sound Dimension, and
Sugar Minott. In the mid-1980s, Dodd closed his studio and moved his base of operations to
New York City. == Honours ==