Mikey ‘Mao’ Chung began his musical career in the mid-sixties. He found himself drawn to music after falling in love with the guitar during his high school year at St. Georges College. This love blossomed quickly and Mikey formed a singing group, The Minstrels, at school together with his brother Geoffrey and schoolmate Lennox Robinson (who was later replaced by Claude Braithwaite). They auditioned and recorded at what has now become one of Jamaica’s legendary recording institutions, Studio 1 or Coxone Recording Studios. This led to more recordings for Federal Records. Mikey reflects that the two fondest memories of his career in becoming a session musician was seeing keyboardist, Jackie Mittoo, in action running a recording session at Studio 1 and later seeing Lyn Tait doing the same, at Federal Studios, both laying tracks for The Minstrels. “This was my inspiration in going forward with my musical career,” he says. To this day, Mikey advocates that Mittoo and Tait deserve the highest honor for their role in Jamaican music.
