Duke Vin
The first sound system in the United Kingdom was run by Vincent George Forbes (25 October 1928 – 3 November 2012), popularly known as Duke Vin, a Jamaican-born sound system operator and selector. Vin, who was raised on Wildman Street and went to the Calabar All-Age School, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.
Duke Vin introduced the first Jamaican-style sound system to the British public in 1955. It served as the model for the massive speaker setups that are annually on exhibit during the Notting Hill carnival. Vin claimed to have semi-mythological significance in the West Indian community of Britain. “When I came here the people were backward – them didn’t know what a sound system was,” Vin remarked.
TOM THE GREAT SEBASTIAN
Sound systems dominated the entertainment circuits in Jamaica in the late 1940s, when few people could afford radios. They would set up at outdoor dances and play American r&b artists like Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and Louis Jordan. The “sound” that Tom “The Great Sebastian” Wong created, which mimicked the jive-talking voice-overs of US radio disc jockeys and included Count Machouki rapping over the songs, was the most well-liked of all.
After meeting Wong on a street in Kingston and assisting him in changing his punctured tire, Duke Vin was asked if he could fill in as “selecter” for the sound system owner the following Saturday. Vin’s 78 rpm disc alignment was a huge success and led to regular work, but he barely made any money from this. Vin’s smart appearance earned him the nickname “Shine-Shoes Vinny” at the time.
GETTING STARTED
Vin hired his fledgling sound system to two men for £5 when they asked to use it for a party. As Duke Vin performed at Jamaican private house parties throughout London, this became his standard Saturday night fee: “Sometimes until 12 o’clock the next day – until police came to stop it.” However, I was only considering making the space more lively.
He obtained work as an engine cleaner for British Rail for just about £5 per week after coming to England as a ship stoway. Two years later, he became an electrician. He sought a place to stay in Notting Hill’s slums. In 1955, Duke Vin constructed his first sound system, the first Jamaican-style sound system in the United Kingdom, at “Duke Vin the Tickler’s” in Ladbroke Grove, London, using a used turntable he purchased from a store on Edgware Road, a speaker he purchased for £15, and an amplifier he made for £4.
SOUND CLASH
Count Clarence and Count Suckle, who established the Cue Club in Paddington, were among the other sound system operators who set up. Duke Vin soon began participating in sound system “clashes,” contests where each band attempted to win over the audience with their unique and uncommon songs. He defeated Boot in his debut fight, which took place in 1956. Advertised as “the Five Greatest Sounding Systems battling for the 1957 Club Championship of Sound and Record,” “The Big Five Night” took place at Lambeth Town Hall (Brixton) in November 1957. Duke Vin won because he was a great selector and had an unmatched reputation for his sound system.A SOUND CLASH
THE FLAMINGO & THE MARQUEE
Duke Vin’s sound was played in prestigious London clubs like The Flamingo and The Marquee in the 1960s. The Rolling Stones played a Monday night fixture at the Flamingo club in Soho for a brief while in early 1963. One of the primary resident DJs was Ian Samwell, who had been performing midday disc-only sessions at the Lyceum since 1961. Duke Vin gained notoriety for his sound system and played r&b and ska spinning discs at the Flamingo in between performances by artists like Georgie Fame and Zoot Money.
Using trombone player Rico Rodriguez, who had immigrated to England from Jamaica in 1961, Georgie Fame started incorporating ska songs into his band’s repertoire. The mods were passionate about ska, early bluebeat, and Caribbean culture in general. They admired the Jamaican performers’ shrewdness in their sharkskin suits and pork-pie hats, and Prince Buster and singer Jackie Edwards—who wrote the hit song “Keep On Running” for the Spencer Davis Group—became heroes.
NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL
Notting Hill Carnival 1975
Since its inception, Notting Hill Carnival (NHC) has included stationary sound systems, or what we now refer to as “static” sound systems. Because they were both headquartered in Ladbroke Grove, Duke Vin and Count Suckle both placed their sets out on the street informally. Leslie Palmer MBE, who was then on the NHC committee, formally welcomed sound systems to become the fifth discipline to join NHC in 1973. The primary cause of this was because financing was contingent on attendance back then, and the organization needed to boost NHC’s attendance rates, which the installation of static sound systems undoubtedly did and still does. Notting Hill Carnival is acknowledged to Duke Vin as one of its co-founders.
The first sound system in the United Kingdom was run by Vincent George Forbes (25 October 1928 – 3 November 2012), popularly known as Duke Vin, a Jamaican-born sound system operator and selector.
R.I.E.P DUKE VIN
Notting Hill Carnival 1975