What was your very first job and why did you leave it?

My first job was a kind of dream job and a fascinating one. When I left school I was 17 years old (I didn't finish Sixth Form) and I took a job not far from my home as secretary to one of the top singers in Jamaica at the time, Prince Buster. His biggest hit single, "10 Commandments", was made while I was with him. It paid the princely sum of £6 ($10) per week, which was a big salary for a woman in the 1960s.

Through that job I learnt a lot about the cut-throat business of recording in Kingston. Aspiring singers would make records for selfish producers who would pay them the equivalent of just £5 ($8) one-off fee (a useful amount then!) and they never heard anything again, no matter how well the record sold! The fact is that a lot of people wanted to be famous and didn't bother about their rights. They just wanted to hear their voice on a record. Only when the record made a lot of money, like being number one for weeks, did they worry. But by then it was often too late to negotiate a better deal. Tons of exploitation went on then.

My job meant that I met all the major Jamaican stars of the time like Jimmy Cliff (a good friend), Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan (another close friend) and, of course, the great Bob Marley when he was just starting out with his first number one, and wasn't so great and didn't even have dreadlocks then! Fab guy he was, very gentle, caring and friendly, and we won't mention how handsome he was either!! As I associated with such celebrities, I was treated like a mini-celebrity too, as I controlled access to Prince Buster and went everywhere with him!

It was a rare opportunity for someone like me to see how the other half lived. In fact, I got it through my mother who knew Prince Buster well and suggested it to him, as I was leaving school and wanted a job. Good for her, wonderful lady, and one I will never forget. The job lasted 18 months before I left it to come to Britain. :o)

C'mon...spill the beans about yours! :o)