chart, and as 1994 dawned, their exuberant cover of the Isley's Brothers "Twist & Shout" slammed to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The R&B meets bhangra "She Don't Let Nobody" followed it up the U.K. It also brought Chaka Demus & Pliers their first international hit, when the song tantalized its way into the British Top Five. That same year, the duo entered the studio with Sly & Robbie, who were currently delving into the possibilities of the new bhangra style the first fruits of this musical union was "Tease Me," a Jamaican smash. Demus' own warp-speed take on the soca favorite "Workie Workie" was included on MCA's Reggae Sunsplash Live album in 1993. Stardom had arrived, and by 1992, the pair had more than enough hits to stuff into the Gal Wine Wine Wine album, while their appearance at Reggae Sunsplash brought them further adulation. The duo now began recording with virtually every name producer in town, from Jah Screw ("Bad Mind") to Mafia & Fluxy ("Winning Machine"), as well as with Digital and for Jammy's, across a string of classic singles. Returning to Jamaica, the pair went into the studio with producer Ossie Hibbert and cut the happy-go-lucky "Gal Wine" its easy beat and breezy interplay between the sweet singing Pliers and the jaunty, chuckling Demus became an instant island smash. The two had crossed paths previously at Penthouse, and now sharing a stage, they discovered a chemistry was definitely at work.
CHAKA DEMUS SERIES
In 1991, the DJ headed for Miami for a series of shows with Pliers, a singer who was very much in the same boat. The new decade brought a successful appearance at Reggae Sunsplash, but although he now had a slew of minor chart successes to his credit, Demus still seemed unable to break into the top league of Jamaican toasters. His old sound system compatriot Shabba Ranks was also recording with the producer and Digital gathered up both DJs' singles for 1989's Best Baby Father. His follow-up album, The Original Chaka, appeared in 1989 on Witty.īy this time, Demus was also working with producer Bobby Digital, with whom he cut a clutch of singles. That same year, he also recorded his solo debut, the slightly boastful Everybody Loves the Chaka, for the Scorpio label. There, he was paired with another up-and-coming toaster, Shabba Ranks, for the Rough & Rugged album. His potential was quickly recognized by his bigger brethren, including Yellowman, who joined him for the laudatory "Everybody Loves Chaka," Scotty, "Bring It to Me," and Admiral Bailey, with whom he cut "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer." Demus moved to the Penthouse label in 1987 to cut the "Chaka on the Move" single, then returned briefly to Jammy's the next year. None of his early efforts were major hits, but all boded well for the future. Demus cut his first singles for Jammy's, debuting with "Increase Your Knowledge in 1985. But by the time the DJ began recording in the mid-'80s, he had taken the more original moniker Chaka Demus. Initially he toasted under the name Nicodemus Jr., his tribute to the great '80s DJ Nicodemus. Like virtually all of the island's talkative talents, he began his career as a teenager in the sound system scene, working for the Jammy's and Supreme systems. The DJ was born John Taylor, in West Kingston, Jamaica, in 1965.
One of the most popular DJs of the '90s, the jovial, gruff-voiced Chaka Demus has notched up a string of hits in Jamaica, working on his own and with others, but it was his pairing with the dulcet-toned Pliers that brought the toaster a series of international chart-breakers.
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