Michael Campbell aka Mikey Dread Dies at 54

Jamaican radio DJ and producer Mikey Dread – perhaps best known to rock fans for his work with the Clash – succumbed to a brain tumor at his sister's home in Connecticut . He was 54.

Born Michael Campbell, Dread played an important role in the sonic evolution of the Clash, producing their 'Bankrobber' single in 1980 and appearing on several cuts (including 'Junco Partner') of the band's subsequent sprawling, three-disc release, 'Sandinista!'

"I remember going into the studio to make this track ['Bankrobber']," Dread said in 2006. "And when I heard the track, I wasn't sure about it, because it was too fast. I couldn't understand what Joe [Strummer] was saying. So I told him to slow it down, and we could make it reggae style. And I showed him the beat. And then they didn't have a keyboard player, so I said, 'Reggae has to have a keyboard' -- it can't just have two guitars and drum and bass. And they get Mickey Gallagher."

Dread, who helped introduce underground reggae to mainstream Jamaican radio as a respected disc jockey on the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation via his 'Dread at the Controls' program, also recorded reggae hits as an artist, including 'African Map' and 'Barber Saloon.'

In late 1979, Dread did a press junket to England, which reaped stories in U.K. music papers of the day such as the NME, Sounds and 'Melody Maker. "I guess [the Clash] may have read about me being there," Dread explained in July 2006. "But by the time they contacted me, I was back in. I never know what punk was."