Those who left us in 2012

The local entertainment industry lost some key figures in 2012. The Jamaica Observer remembers them and their achievements.

• Winston Riley, founding member of the Techniques group and music label of the same name, succumbed to gunshot wounds on January 19.

• Veteran stage and television actress Christine Bell died on February 24.

• Former dancer with the National Dance Theatre Company Madge Broderick died on April 1.

• Philan-thropist Ruby Martin, the long-standing chairman of the Ward Theatre Foundation, died on April 7.

• Lloyd Brevett, outstanding bass player with the legendary Skatalites, died May 3.

• Roy Wilson — best remembered as — member of Higgs and Wilson which recorded the 1958 hit, Manny Oh — died on May 26.

• Keyboardist/arranger Ossie Hibbert passed away July 1. A pivotal figure at the Channel One studio during the 1970s.

• Disc jockey Michael 'Mighty Mike' Jones of Irie FM died July 5.

• Singer Andrew 'Sluggy Ranks' Phillip Gregory, best known for the song Ninety Per Cent Black, died July 29.

• Producer Selvin 'Ewan' McRae of Flava Squad died July 29.

• Deejay Maxwell 'Ranking Trevor' Grant, one of the hottest toasters of the 1970s, died August 7.

• Roots singer Matthew McAnuff made his transition August 22.

• Dancer, teacher and choreographer Monica McGowan, a founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), died on August 22.

• Danny Sims, the African-American impresario who once managed Bob Marley, died October 7.

• Dancer Ricardo Alphanso 'Showers' Trowers died October 11.

• Mr Go Go Wine himself, Wayne 'Captain Barkey' Hamilton, died October 13.

• Duke Vin, pioneer of Britain's sound system movement, died November 1.

• Champion bass player Bertram 'Ranchie' McLean of the Revolutionaries band, died November 14.

• Bass player Desmond Miles of the Mighty Vikings, passed away December 11.

• Producer Lloyd Charmers, who took Ken Boothe to the top of the British national chart in 1974 with Everything I Own, died December 27.

(from Jamaica Observer)