Dawn Penn

Dawn Penn (from Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer.

Career

Dawn Penn's earliest recordings were composed and written by her around 1966 using session musicians. In 1967 she recorded the rocksteady single, "You Don't Love Me" produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One.^[1] She also recorded "Why Did You Leave" at Studio One, "Broke My Heart" for Bunny Lee, "I Let You Go Boy" and covers of "To Sir with Love" and "Here Comes the Sun".^[2] Dawn had also recorded for singer and producer Prince Buster early in her career with songs like "Long Day, Short Night","Blue Yes Blue" and "Here's The Key".

By 1970 Penn had left the music industry and had moved to the Virgin Islands.^[2] However, she faced racism there, and in 1987 she returned to Jamaica and to music.^[1]

In the summer of 1992 she was invited to appear on stage at a Studio One anniversary show, where she performed the song "You Don’t Love Me" with Steely & Clevie as backing musicians. The performance was a success, and she returned to the recording studio to re-record the song for the tribute album Steely & Clevie Play Studio One Vintage. It was released as the single "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" over a year later, reaching the charts in the U.S. and Europe, plus hitting #1 in her native Jamaica,^[3] and making #3 in the UK Singles Chart.^[4] Penn's next album, No, No, No, was released on Big Beat Records in 1994.^[2]

Subsequently, "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" has been sampled and covered by the artists Kano, Hexstatic, Jae Millz, Ghostface Killah, Mims, Eve featuring Stephen Marley and Damian Jr. Gong Marley. Their versions were all renamed as "No, No, No", bar Ghostface's, which was named "New Splash". The song was performed by Blue King Brown on the Australian youth radio network Triple J programme "Like a Version" 2006.

Penn performed at the Drum in Birmingham, England, in April 2006, supported by the Gabbidon band (which at the time included Faisal X) and, in the same year, Penn was on the bill at the Uppsala Reggae Festival in Sweden.

In 2011, Penn released a music video for the song "City Life", directed by Antoine Dixon-Bellot.^[5] On 30 June 2013, Penn performed "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" at the Bet Awards. In 2014, the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra released the single "Bangarang" featuring Penn on lead vocals, and she appeared in the official video to accompany the single. Penn joined the Ska Orchestra on stage, to perform the track, on Hallowe'en night 2013, at the Jazz Café in London's Camden Town. Penn also appeared with Thompson and backing singer Darren Fordham on Jools Holland's 2013/14 Hootenanny and again at the Glastonbury Festival 2014.

Discography

Albums

• No, No, No (1994)
• Come Again (1996)
• Never Hustle the Music (2004)

Singles

• "Long Day,Short Night" [1966]
• "You Don't Love Me" (1967)
• "I'll Never Let You Go" [1968]
• "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" (1994)
• "Night & Day (Baby I Love You So)" (1994)
• "Growing Up"/"Be Gone"
• "Never Hustle the Music" (2004)
• "Bangarang" with the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra (2014)

See also

• List of Jamaicans
• List of reggae musicians
• List of stage names
• List of performances on Top of the Pops

References