Passed away, in his early 50s in New York on Sept 1, of heart failure. He had a history of diabetes and related health issues.
"Although the Trench Town-born Wycliffe 'Steely' Johnson was best known for creating some of dancehall's biggest techno jams of the 1980s and 1990s with drummer Cleveland Browne, he started his career as a studio musician.He worked with several producers, including Augustus Pablo, and was a founding member of the Roots Radics studio band for producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, owner of the Volcano label.
Johnson and Browne became an official unit during the 1980s, after playing on Bob Marley and the Wailers' Confrontation album. They were members of producer Lloyd 'King Jammys' James red-hot team that played on a flood of hit songs by Admiral Bailey, Shabba Ranks and Nitty Gritty.While they were one of the most in-demand producers in 1990s dancehall, Steely and Clevie said one of their most cherished projects was a Studio One tribute album they recorded in 1992.
The set featured covers of 10 songs from the legendary studio. One of them, Dawn Penn's No, No, No, became an international hit two years after the album was released by Heartbeat Records and resurrected the career of Penn, who first recorded the song at Studio One in 1969."
The first song I played on a piano was No, No, No. I always wanted to do the song, it's something Clevie and I premeditated for years," he said in a 2001 interview.
The following year, the duo hit it big again when their production of Sean Paul and Sasha's I'm Still In Love With You entered Billboard magazine's pop chart. The song was originally done in the 1960s by Alton Ellis and his sister Hortense." From Jamaica Gleaner
LISTEN Dawn Penn - No No No here.
READ Producing whiz makes 'steely' exit (Jamaica Gleaner), and Steely will be missed (Jamaica Observer).
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