12. Gregory IsaacsNight Nurse

One day I came home from staying at my nan’s for the weekend, I walk into my house, the front door is wide open, my mum is in the kitchen and is telling me not to go into the front room, so I did, and Gregory Isaacs is just there, sitting on the floor. The reason why I knew it was him is because of the album sleeve with his face on it. I think he was there because my mum used to go out with a Jamaican guy who was there with him; I don’t think there was anything good going on. It didn’t mean much to me then – I was only 12 at the time – but I knew he was famous. When he died I felt a way, because my mum knew him. His music was always beating in the house and I loved the title track. There are lover’s rock tunes but also a couple of bad man tunes as well, where he’s singing a lot of gritty stuff.