Donovan Germain (born 7 March 1952, Jamaica) is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era.
Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s.[1] He began production in 1972, visiting Jamaica for recording sessions, working in both roots reggae and lovers rock. As a producer he had hits on the reggae charts with the likes of Cultural Roots' "Mr. Boss Man" in 1980, and broke through into the UK Singles Chart in the early and mid-1980s with Sugar Minott's "Good Thing Going" and Audrey Hall's "One Dance Won't Do".[1][2] He ran the Revolutionary Sounds label which started in the early 1980s and ran from New York, and also ran the Rub-a-Dub, Reggae, and Germain labels.[3][4] He returned to Kingston in 1987 and opened his Penthouse Studio on Slipe Pen Road (now located on Ballater Avenue), which soon became highly in-demand, and became one of the island's top studios, with Germain becoming recognized as one of the very top reggae producers, taking over as Jamaica's leading producer from King Jammy.[1][2] In the early days of the studio he worked with such renowned artists as Freddie McGregor, Delroy Wilson, Marcia Griffiths, and Tenor Saw, and went on to enjoy great success with Buju Banton (who with Germain had more Jamaican number one singles than any other artist), Mad Cobra, Cutty Ranks, Morgan Heritage, Wayne Wonder, and Beres Hammond.[3][4]