JC
Lodge – Biography
British born to a Jamaican father and English
mother, JC Lodge was taken to Jamaica as a child. There, the Beatles’ fan
soon became immersed in R&B and reggae, and sang along to everything she
heard.
She was encouraged to perform in her high school concerts
by classmates, and enjoyed doing so, but felt her career lay either in art or
drama. A relationship with Errol O’Meally toward the end of high school, however,
led her further along the music path.
He was a budding songwriter, and used her voice to present
some of his material to Joe Gibbs’ Recording Studio. Both the songs and
the singer were well received, and JC was asked to cover ‘Someone Loves
You, Honey’ in 1980. The reggae-country and western tune topped the Jamaican
charts worldwide, and earned the singer gold and
platinum discs in the Netherlands. Such success convinced JC that
music should be her main direction.
Eleven albums followed, consisting mostly of reggae, but some with
R&B and pop material, too, usually written by JC or O’Meally. Producers
like Joe Gibbs, Willie Lindo, Gussie Clarke, Neal Fraser (a.k.a. Mad Professor),
Doctor Dread and Errol O’Meally created product which garnered for JC several
hits and prestigious awards across the world.
‘Telephone Love,’ recorded for Clarke in 1988, was
the first dance hall reggae track to cross over in the R&B and hip-hop markets
in the United States, topping the urban charts in New York and other cities.
This led to an album deal with hip-hop label Tommy Boy Records and the
Tropic of love album featuring the hit R&B single ‘Home is where the
hurt is’.
With O’Meally’s influence and the creative opportunities
of so many albums, JC’s songwriting skill was unearthed and polished. Several
Jamaican artistes have sung her original compositions, and she continues to
work toward having overseas artistes do likewise. Her varied influences are
expressed in both her writing and performances, and she is comfortable in several
genres, whether it be reggae, jazz, pop, R&B or country and western.
The birth of her daughter Gia in 1994 has inspired 3 children’s
educational albums. The popularity of these drew the interest of Jamaica’s national
Television station – TVJ, who asked JC and her manager/producer/husband
– Errol O’Meally to produce a 13 part children’s television series entitled
‘Sing ‘n Learn’. The website is located at [http://www.sing-and-learn.com].
Throughout the 90s JC consolidated her presence internationally, as far afield as Japan where she has toured numerous times enjoying great popularity. Presently, she has relocated to the UK since late 2001 to further her career in Europe. JC released her debut album for top UK reggae label Jetstar Records ‘Reggae Country’ at Christmas 2002 to good response both in Europe and the States. This album was aimed at fans worldwide who still desire that blend of virtuoso singing and rollicking reggae rhythms epitomised by 'Someone Loves you Honey'.
Since then a number of single releases from the same label has kept her name out there as she prepares for her next major release from Jetstar tentatively entitled 'Reggae Country 2', her much anticipated follow-up to the first set.
Recognizing that an artiste of her calibre has a wide-ranging audience to please, JC concurrently has 2 other projects in the works. One is a self-penned collection of new songs set to classic Studio One and Bunny Lee riddims geared to the traditional reggae fans and the other is all new songs using the latest Dancehall flavoured riddims to reestablish her as one of the most popular singers in the dancehalls.
Current
to july 2004