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Beres Hammond
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All Time Most Popular Songs
They Gonna Talk
- 87,915 plays
Reggae - Beres Hammond - falli
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Sweetness
- 66,310 plays
Rock Away
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What One Dance Can Do
- 54,650 plays
Step Aside
- 47,917 plays
Can't Stop A Man
- 45,498 plays
Tempted To Touch
- 37,554 plays
Love From A Distance
- 33,737 plays
Don't Play With My Heart
- 29,180 plays
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Albums
Beres Hammond
Forever Yours
Putting Up Resistance
Love from a Distance
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Most Popular Music Videos
I Feel Good - Beres Hammond
(Duration: 3:52)
Oct 2nd, 3:44pm
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Beres Hammond
Total Media Plays: 1,091,993
Become a Fan
One of the most underappreciated reggae artists of his time,
Beres Hammond
was something of a throwback during his '90s heyday: a soulful crooner indebted to classic rocksteady and American R&B, one who preferred live instrumentation and wrote much of his own material.
Hammond
specialized in romantic lovers rock, but he also found time to delve into light dancehall, conscious roots reggae, hip-hop fusion, and straight-up contemporary R&B. He was born
Hugh Beresford Hammond
on August 28, 1955, in Annotto
Bay, in the Jamaican province of St. Mary.
Hammond
grew up listening to his father's collection of American R&B (
Sam Cooke
,
Otis Redding
,
Marvin Gaye
, etc.) and jazz, and also fell in love with native Jamaican music during the ska and rocksteady eras; his primary influence was
Alton Ellis
, and he also listened to the likes of
Peter Tosh
,
the Heptones
, and
Ken Boothe
.
Over 1972-1973,
Hammond
performed successfully in talent competitions, one of which led to his first recording, a soul cover of
Ellis
'
"Wanderer."
In 1975,
Hammond
joined the group
Zap Pow
as lead singer; they enjoyed a hit single in 1978 with
"The System."
Meanwhile,
Hammond
was already exploring the idea of a solo career, cutting his debut album,
Soul Reggae
, with producer
Willie Lindo
in 1976. Urged by his label, Aquarius, to pick a song for single release,
Hammond
instead returned to the studio and cut a new track, the ballad
"One Step Ahead."
It was a massive chart-topping hit in Jamaica, and so was his second single, 1978's
Joe Gibbs
-produced
"I'm in Love."
Hammond
left
Zap Pow
in 1979 to concentrate on his solo career, and initially worked as a session singer to make up for the royalties that were failing to come in. He recorded his second solo album,
Just a Man
, with
Gibbs
in 1980, and reunited with
Lindo
for 1981's
Comin' at You
.
Hammond
subsequently continued his session work, also forming a harmony quintet called
Tuesday's Children
that never recorded but had some success as a live act. Following the 1985 album
Let's Make a Song
, he founded his own label, Harmony House, to ensure that he would have an outlet whenever arrangements with other companies fell through. The first two singles,
"Groovy Little Thing"
and the
Willie Lindo
-produced
"What One Dance Can Do,"
were both major hits that nodded to the emerging dancehall style, and the latter not only started to break him in the international market, but proved to be his biggest Jamaican hit ever. A self-titled album also appeared in 1986, and he scored another hit with
"Settling Down."
In 1987, amid his growing notoriety,
Hammond
was the victim of an armed break-in and robbery; greatly shaken by the ordeal of having been tied up while thieves ransacked his home, he left Jamaica and spent some time in New York with relatives, away from the spotlight..
Reuniting with
Willie Lindo
in the Big Apple,
Hammond
set to work on the ballad-heavy
Have a Nice Weekend
, and also teamed with emerging crossover star
Maxi Priest
for the 1988 duet
"How Can We Ease the Pain."
In the wake of Hurricane Gilbert,
Hammond
returned to Jamaica and recorded the tougher
Putting Up Resistance
with producer
Tappa Zukie
, which was released in 1989 and spawned a significant hit in the title track and a popular follow-up in
"Strange."
Hammond
made his return permanent in 1990, signing with the Penthouse label and teaming that year with producer
Donovan Germain
for the enormous dancehall hit
"Tempting to Touch."
Perhaps his best-known song in the U.K. and U.S.,
"Tempting to Touch"
topped the charts in Jamaica and paved the way for 1992's hit
A Love Affair
album, which included further hits in
"Is This a Sign"
and
"Respect to You Baby."
Now attracting interest from larger labels,
Hammond
wrote and recorded prolifically in the '90s, and produced fairly consistent results.
Sweetness
appeared in 1993 on VP, and 1994 brought
In Control
, a set on American major Elektra that was geared toward the international market. VP distributed his 1996 Harmony House album
Love From a Distance
, which made him one of the most popular lovers rock artists around, and Heartbeat handled the 1997 follow-up
Getting Stronger
. 1998 brought
A Day in the Life...
on VP, after which
Hammond
took a few years' break from his frantic recording pace. In the meantime, several compilations were released, including Jet Star's
Reggae Max
and
Forever Yours
(the former a hits retrospective, the latter focusing on his lovers rock material).
Hammond
returned to the studio in 2001 for
Music Is Life
, which featured a guest spot from rapper
Wyclef Jean
.
Love Has No Boundaries
was released in 2004 on VP Records, and included guest spots by
Buju Banton
and
Big Youth
, among others. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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© 2008 All Music Guide, inc. All rights reserved.