Big Youth was one of the earliest and most distinctive toasters. Here he is teaming up with Horace Andy on one of his earliest hits, The Killer.

Big Youth (Augustus Buchanan to his mum) was a motor mechanic when he started toasting, and his career took off with S-90 Skank, a tune that began with the roar of the motorcycle dragged into the studio by producer Keith Hudson in 1972.

This even earlier tune, toasting over Horace Andy’s rootsy riddim Skylarking for young producer Gussie Clarke, was the one I first heard on his debut album Screaming Target, which was one of the first reggae albums I bought.

I remember a spectacular photo of him, smoking a humungous spliff with Johnny Rotten, taken by Dennis Morris for an article in the NME, which seemed massively controversial at the time.

Big Youth is not so youthful these days – he’s 71 – but he’s still going strong, sporting splendid silver dreads and beard and a penchant for flashy suits.