Cover donation Garth Cartwright
Gladdy Wax has played soundsystems for over 35 years.
As a callow youth he recalls sitting inside big bass speaker boxes. In 1966, at the age of 14 he came to the UK.
Since then he has come through the hard school of Jamaican DJ’s. Birmingham, his first UK home, was a great breeding ground for sounds in the 70’s. Gladdy at first played his own Leisure Sound with his brothers and was then recruited to one of the best, the mighty Quaker City. A move to London saw him recording with Dennis Bovel of Linton Kwesi Johnson & the Dub Band fame.
Stints on BBC Radio London, BRMB, and various community radio stations brought Gladdy to the attention of Reggae fans of all ages and his Notting Hill Carnival sessions with his gigantic Gladdy Wax soundsystem are attended by young and old from all around the globe who come to sample the delights of one of the world’s greatest reggae collections.
Gladdy’s famous shop in Stoke Newington – Wax Unlimited – sadly now closed, was the place where many other collections started.
Gladdy still regularly brings reggae to the people at Tighten Up, Coast to Coast and other sessions around the UK. Check his Facebook page to see where’s he’s playing next at https://www.facebook.com/gladdy.wax
