{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Winston McAnuff | image = 20140703-TFF-Winston-McAnuff%2BFixi-3840.jpg | landscape = Yes | alt = | caption = McAnuff on stage in Rudolstadt, Germany, July 2014 | birth_name = Winston Boyd McAnuff<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/908974779 |title=DEM KNOW |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=July 11, 2023}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957}} | birth_place = Manchester Parish, Jamaica | death_date = | genre = {{hlist|Reggae|dub|funk}} | occupation = {{flatlist| * Singer-songwriter * musician }} | instrument = {{flatlist| * Vocals * guitar * percussion }} | years_active = {{flatlist| * 1978–1986 * 2005–present }} | label = {{flatlist| * Chrystal Records * Makasound * The Bombist }} | associated_acts = {{flatlist| * Java * Camille Bazbaz }} | website = {{URL|www.myspace.com/winstonmcanuff}} | honorific-prefix = }}
'''Winston Boyd McAnuff''', also known under the stage name '''Electric Dread '''(born 1957)<ref name="Brown" /> is a Jamaican singer and composer of reggae and dub music.
==Life and career== McAnuff was born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica<ref name="CCL">Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2013) "[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/A-New-Day-for-McAnuff_15325772 A New Day for McAnuff]", ''Jamaica Observer'', 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013</ref> into a family of preachers. One of his great-grandfathers was Scottish.<ref name="Brown">Brown, Annie (2014) "[http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity-interviews/jamaican-reggae-star-winston-mcanuff-3099773 Video: Jamaican reggae star Winston McAnuff arrives in Scotland on a mission to set his great grandfather's spirit free]", ''Daily Record'', 1 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014</ref> He started his musical career singing gospel in the church choir. He recorded his first album ''Pick Hits to Click'' in 1978. Two years later his second album ''What the man "a" deal wid'' was released. His best known song from this time is the single "Malcolm X" (about Malcolm X), which was also recorded by Earl Sixteen, and most successfully by Dennis Brown.<ref name="CCL" /> It was originally recorded by McAnuff for Joe Gibbs but the producer decided not to release it, and he got Earl Sixteen to record it before the song was given to Dennis Brown who recorded it for his ''Visions of Dennis Brown'' album.<ref>Campbell, Howard (2015) "[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/A-VISION-OF-MALCOLM-X_18387303 A Vision of Malcolm X]", ''Jamaica Observer'', 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015</ref> The song was the subject of a legal dispute in 2013 between McAnuff and Greensleeves Records after the record label allegedly registered the song as co-written by Brown.<ref name="Gilchrist">Gilchrist, Carl (2013) "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131103/ent/ent6.html Greensleeves, McAnuff Battle Over Song]", ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 3 November 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013</ref> A third studio album, ''Electric Dread'', was released in 1986.<ref>Booklet: ''Diary of the silent years'' (MKS 01-5340333), Makasound Records, 2002</ref>
Although McAnuff had reasonable fame in Jamaica, none of his work was released elsewhere. It wasn't until 2002 that his work was released in Europe. In 2002 the French record label Makasound released the first two albums and a compilation album ''Diary of the Silent Years''. The release of the albums revived McAnuff's career, notably in France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.makasound.com/ms_boutique.php?id_famille=1&id_sous_famille=6&id_rubrique=75&id_univers=4|title=Biography|publisher=Makasound Records|accessdate=30 March 2010}}</ref>
In 2005 McAnuff released the album ''A Drop'', which he recorded with the French keyboard player Camille Bazbaz. This record displays a mix of rock, funk, dub and punk rock.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00099FV3S|title=CD: A drop|website=Amazon UK|accessdate=30 March 2010}}</ref> A year later, in 2006, a new album ''Paris Rockin''', which he recorded with Java and other French session musicians, was released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000IFRXXY|title=CD: Paris rockin'|website=Amazon UK|accessdate=30 March 2010}}</ref> His last album, ''Nostradamus'', was released in 2008. The album was a concept album about the predictions of Nostradamus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001G53KN2|title=CD: Nostradamus|website=Amazon UK|accessdate=30 March 2010}}</ref>
In 2011, he took part in ''Les Échos Du Temps'' the latest album of Danakil, a French roots reggae band, on the track "Media" where both he and his son Matthew were featured.<ref>[http://www.reggaeville.com/nc/artist-details/artist/winston-mcanuff/release/echos-du-temps/ac/artistReleases/lead/review.html Danakil ''"Les Échos Du Temps"'' review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322003157/http://www.reggaeville.com/nc/artist-details/artist/winston-mcanuff/release/echos-du-temps/ac/artistReleases/lead/review.html |date=22 March 2012 }}, on ReggaeVille.com</ref> This is the last apparition of his son, murdered 22 August 2012 in a street fight.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://unitedreggae.com/news/n1390/082312/r-i-p-matthew-mcanuff|title=R.I.P. Matthew McAnuff|work=United Reggae|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref>
In 2013 he released the album ''A New Day'', a collaboration with French musician Fixi.<ref name="CCL" />
In 2014 he sings on two songs of the first album of The Celtic Social Club, a collective of Scottish, Breton, French and New Yorker musicians.
In 2017, he releases the album ''Rabbi Son'' with French producers Bost & Bim on their own label The Bombist.
McAnuff's nephew is professional footballer Jobi McAnuff.<ref name="Brown" />
==Discography== ===Studio albums=== *''Pick Hits to Click'' (1978) *''What the Man "a" Deal Wid'' (1980) *''Electric Dread'' (1986) *''One Love'' (1995) – <small>a rerelease of ''What the Man "a" Deal Wid''</small> *''Paris Rockin''' (2006) *''Nostradamus'' (2008) *''Rabbi Son'' (2017)
===Compilation albums=== *''Diary of the Silent Years'' (2002) – compilation
===Joint albums=== *''A Drop'' (2005) – with Camille Bazbaz *''A Bang'' (2011) with The Bazbaz Orchestra *''Garden of Love'' EP (2013) – with Fixi *''A New Day'' (2013) with Fixi *''Big Brothers'' (2018) with Fixi
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McAnuff, Winston}} Category:Jamaican male singers Category:Jamaican people of Scottish descent Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:Jamaican Rastafarians Category:Jamaican male songwriters Category:Jamaican dub musicians Category:Performers of Rastafarian music Category:Jamaican former Christians Category:Converts to the Rastafari movement Category:Musicians from Manchester Parish Category:1957 births Category:Living people