The Lift Global Music Club

It is always strange when figures from the arts world who have always been there in your life pass away. Sometimes it prompts a momentary sigh and sometimes as with Desmond Dekker who played at our 2005 festival it hurts.

I had the great pleasure of spending 20 minutes with Desmond at his accommodation in Glossop before last year’s gig. We talked about ska, reggae, weather and food. A quiet, gentle man who exuded none of the inflated ego that seems to accompany other "legends".

His transformation on stage into consummate showman saw him grip the audience, turning everyone into backing vocalists like no other concert in the Lift’s nine year history.

 Our thoughts go out to his family and to his manager and good friend Delroy.

Rick Williams, June 2006

Inemo Afrobeat