Stranger Cole (Jamaica)
Sat, 13th Dec 2025 06:30 pm
71
His name may be "Stranger" but he's no stranger to the city (Melbourne) that has been his second home since his visit in 2010 at the invitation of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Despite a worldwide cult following and the potential to play much larger venues, Stranger Cole has deliberately chosen to do intimate shows across the nation, giving his "Australian family" (as he calls them), a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see and hear Jamaican music royalty up close and personal. Stranger Cole is, simply put, a giant of Reggae. He is one of the most important living links to the birth of the Jamaican sound with a career full of hits spanning all eras beginning with the proto-Ska “Rough and Tough” for Duke Reid in 1962. His mid-sixties rocksteady duets with Patsy Todd and Gladdy Anderson, respectively, are considered to be a high point of the genre. In 1968, Stranger Cole’s “Bangarang” with its choppy keyboard and one-drop drumming marked the beginning of a new sound, Reggae. By popular demand, Stranger Cole returns to Australia to perform the ska, rocksteady and reggae songs that have made him a living legend... As he says, “MORE LIFE!”
