Penthouse Records

                                                                                   Pic: Richie 'Russian' Walker for Stumpyvideo

BIOGRAPHY

Donovan Germain is an all star hit producer of the modern era. Hailing from Whitfield Town, Kingston 13, and Germain re-located to New York in 1970 to study accounting; having graduated from New York Community College, Germain secured employment as a junior accountant at a Wall Street stock brokerage firm. Ever the entrepreneur, Germain purchased a record store named Keith’s in Brooklyn and launched himself as an international distributor for prominent Jamaica-based producers, such as the late great Sonia Pottinger, as well as Gussie Clarke, Lloyd Campbell and others.

Germain made his first tentative forays into production during the early 1970s and many who have become familiar with his work from his latest high-tech headquarters may be surprised to hear that, despite his facility with the digital medium, Germain has distinguished himself as an arranger and producer of music made with conventional instrumentation. He first attracted attention from international audiences with two major crossover hits in the 1980s. Sugar Minott achieved the only mainstream chart hit of his career in 1981 by collaborating with Germain on a jaunty rendition of Michael Jackson’s ‘Good Thing going’. Germain also sprinkled his stardust on veteran songstress Audrey Hall to propel ‘One Dance Won’t Do’ into the UK pop charts in 1985 and repeated the formula for Freddie McGregor in 1987 with his revision of Main Ingredient’s ‘Just Don’t Wanna Be Lonel’y.

Following a succession of local hits with acts such as Delroy Wilson, Marcia Griffiths, Beres Hammond and others on a plethora of labels, such as Revolutionary Sounds (1978-87), Rub-A-Dub (1981-82), Reggae (1982-83) and Germain from his New York base, he elected to return to Jamaica in 1987 and located a business premises on the top floor of a complex on Slipe Pen Road, Kingston 5, the location of said premises on a top floor apartment led to him and his associates christening the concern Penthouse.  The studio became a byword for artistes looking for a hit sound throughout the ‘90s and noughties (until it joined the offices at Ballater Avenue, Kingston 10, in 2006), as established names such as Beres Hammond and Marcia Griffiths re-ignited their careers following visits to the Penthouse factory. Furthermore, producers, engineers, arrangers and beatmeisters, such as Dave ‘Rude Boy’ Kelly, Andre ‘Rookie’ Tyrell,  Tony ‘CD’ Kelly, Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden, Haldane ‘Danny’ Browne, Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson & Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne, and Mafia & Fluxy furthered their own reputations by familiarising themselves with Penthouse’s renowned facilitities.

Germain spread his tentacles across other areas of the entertainment industry as he launched several sub-labels (Riddim International, Suite 56 and www.germainmusic.com) to consolidate his distribution arm and also to promulgate ideas he had formulated in the field of artist development and management. The fruits of this venture may be ascertained by the success enjoyed by acts that emerged under his mentorship, such as Wayne Wonder, Tony Rebel, Cutty Ranks, Mad Cobra, Sanchez and particularly Buju Banton. Germain shepherded Buju from the position of an eager teenage ingénue in the early ‘90s to become, arguably, the most prominent act in the dancehall firmament with more Jamaican number one singles than any other act in the history of Jamaican popular music.

Germain is equally renowned for producing original rhythms, such as Dickie (1992), Champion (1994), Extortioners (2000), Automatic (2008) and others as much as for his compelling revision of classic Studio One rhythms. Although many of his former charges have branched out into independence as label owners and company heads, Germain continues much as he always has, having retained the services of long time engineer Michael ‘Coolie’ Cooper (16 years and counting at Penthouse), there are also young turks, such as Shane C Brown and Kevin ‘Bunu’ Elliott behind the mixing desks and younger acts, such as Digicel Rising Stars winners Romain Virgo (2007), Cameal Davis (2008) and Nikkiesha Barnes (2^nd in 2006). It would appear that Donovan Germain will continue surveying the scene from his top floor view at Penthouse for some time to come.

Mikey Massive