Tommy Fox

Tommy Fox was born in 1970 spent his youth in and around the Cleveland area. He took a keen interest in Reggae music at an early age. By his mid-teens his record collection consisted mostly of rock n' roll and new wave, complimented by the essential roots recordings of the Wailers and Jimmy Cliff. Although he found these sounds inspiring, it was the early Rock-Steady work of these artists that really fueled Tommy's passion. Before Reggae music hit big on an international level, he explains, the singers and players possessed sincerity and honesty, neither of which is expressed as much in today's image-driven music business. "Back in the day, even way before my time, in Jamaica the artists were more concerned about having local hits. That was the highest level of achievement, as the idea of having a foreign hit was unheard of." It was more "music for music's sake," he says, rather then the money and prestige associated with top hit-makes today.
By the late Eighties Tommy had purchased his first LP on the Studio One label, the Heptones "On Top," and things haven't been quite the same since. He became rather obsessed with Studio One as the "foundation" Reggae label. "You know, even today a majority of those old familiar riddims you hear guys like Glen Washington, Luciano and Warrior King singing over? Well a majority of those riddims came straight out of Studio One in the late Sixties and early Seventies." Many people believe the later half of the Seventies were Reggae's "golden years." Not so according to Tommy. "If you only consider the fact that Jamaican musicians were starting to have major international hits, then yes, it was the 'golden age.'" But at the same time by the late-Seventies so many people were simply "versioning" established riddims while too few songwriters were coming up with their own new ones. "It was quite unfortunate but that's when the standards began to slip a little."

Although his show focuses primarily on vintage Jamaican sounds, Tommy Fox downplays the idea that he doesn't like Dancehall. "A lot of people say that about me, but it's certainly not true. I don't play a ton of Dancehall on my show because I think Cleveland already has some awesome DJs that focus on it and do a fantastic job of it- way better than I could do." Cleveland's been waking up to "Rudie Can't Fail" (WCSB 89.3 fm) on Monday mornings (9-11am) since January 2000. "It's the high-light of my week! I got to be the only guy in the world that loves waking up on Monday mornings; OK, perhaps a few of my listeners do as well!" In addition to hosting "Rudie Can't Fail," Tommy is a drummer and is currently playing percussion alongside Cleveland's own Reggae royalty Istan Black and the Sweets.