He is a singer-songwriter and producer born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, who is the brother of the musician Derrick Crooks and also known as Luddy Pioneer and Norris Cole.
In 1962 he became a member of the Jamaican reggae group The Pioneers and after several years of performing and recording they had reduced in numbers until it was mainly just Sydney Crooks and Jackie Robinson that were keeping them going.
He moved to London after the song “Long Shot (Kick de Bucket)” became a huge hit in the UK. The Pioneers split up in 1989 but reformed in 1999 and still give performances.
He set up the Pioneer International record label, which has played host to artists such as Gregory Isaacs, The Mexicano (Rudolph Grant), Dennis Brown and Delroy Wilson. Many artists including the British band The Specials have recorded his self-written and co-written songs and he has nearly 500 credits as a composer,singer,musician and producer.
In 1996 he moved back to Jamaica where he came the engineer and in-house arranger at Joe Gibbs’ recording studio.
The Mexicano recordings
Gimme Little Loving (Sydney Crooks)
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