When teenager Douglas McLeary arrived in Toronto from Jamaica in 1973, Pierre Trudeau was prime minister. ‘Danny’s Song’ by Anne Murray was hot on the airwaves and the Canadian movie, ‘Paperback Hero’, was a hit in theaters.
Later, he made his name on the fledgling Toronto reggae scene as D’Mack, a keyboardist/singer. He was associated with Possibility, a band that played throughout the city’s West Indian venues. He formed Possibility with Neville Francis, a guitarist who later became a member of The Satalites, a Canadian band inspired by legendary ska band, The Skatalites.
Now based in South Florida, D’Mack is currently promoting ‘Babylon A Mash up me Life’, his latest song. ‘The Man’, follow-up to that single, is expected to be released in late September.
“I was very young but got into music when I arrived in Toronto. By the time I turned 18, the reggae scene was good, not bad at all,” said D’Mack.
D’Mack, who is from Portland parish in eastern Jamaica, recalls performing at popular Jamaican venues such as The Bamboo and The Concert Hall. Possibility also backed artists such as Leroy Gibbons before the singer made it big in the 1980s.
While in Toronto, D’Mack befriended famed keyboardist Jackie Mittoo, whom he met through singer Jimmy Reid, an established artist on the city’s reggae circuit. He was also close friends with Winston “Boyo” Hammond, older brother of Beres Hammond.
“When I met Jackie, I was actually playing guitar but being around him, it wasn’t difficult adjusting to keyboards. Jackie was a good bredrin, great musician,” was how D’Mack remembers Mittoo, who died in Toronto at age 42 in 1990.
D’Mack recorded sporadically in Canada. One of the songs he did there was ‘I’ll Always Love You’, produced by Winston Richards. He left Canada for the United States in 1995.