by Howard Campbell
SOUTH FLORIDA – Millie Small, the trailblazing Jamaican singer who put ska on the map in 1964 with My Boy Lollipop, died in London on May 5 at age 73.
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who co-produced the song, confirmed her death in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.
He said the cause of death was a stroke.
Small, who was born in rural Clarendon parish, had been a recluse for several years. Even when she was awarded the Order of Distinction in 2011 by the Jamaican government for contribution to the country’s music industry, she did not attend the ceremony in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital.
My Boy Lollipop peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and also did very well in the United States. It was arranged by guitarist Ernie Ranglin.
“It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world. I went with her around the world because each of the territories wanted her to turn up and do TV shows and such, and it was just incredible how she handled it. She was such a sweet person, really a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special,” Blackwell told the Jamaica Observer.
Distributed by Island Records subsidiary Fontana Records, My Boy Lollipop raced up the British national chart and made Small a star.
It was a cover of a 1956 song called My Girl Lollypop by Barbie Gaye, an American teen singer. Small’s version was a smash, making the US pop chart as well as other tables in Europe and Australia.
The song made an impact when there was mass migration of West Indians to the UK. It was an inspiration for aspiring singers like Dandy Livingston, who migrated to the UK in 1959.
“It was played everywhere; in 1964 for a Jamaican song to be played on radio [in the UK] like that was fantastic. We didn’t even think of it as a ska record — it was just a good song,” said Livingston last year.
At the time, ska acts like Prince Buster and Derrick Morgan were popular among Skinheads, rebellious white British youth. My Boy Lollipop was not as hardcore, but it outsold songs by more established white artistes signed to bigger labels.
Legendary British broadcaster David Rodigan paid tribute to Small, saying My Boy Lollipop introduced him to Jamaican music and culture.
“The song was so popular that it made her a household name in the UK in 1964 and blazed the way for the recognition of ska music. The world fell in love with Millie and I was smitten by the song as soon as I heard it. She appeared on all the top television shows and her joyful and energetic performances endeared her to us all,” Rodigan said. “She was very special and her passing is all too sad.”
Small had a minor hit with Sweet William in 1964, but stopped recording in 1970. She lived for a time in Singapore and did shows in New Zealand and on the UK club circuit when she returned to that country.
During the 1970s and 1980s when roots-reggae and lovers rock took off, the UK still had a flourishing ska scene. But Small, who gave birth to a daughter in 1984, was never tempted to make a comeback.
