Lord Koos 'The Universe'

The non recognition of the contribution made by Egerton Koo: 'Lord Koos The Universe' to Jamaica's cultural development is yet another other example of a nation failing to address one of the most important aspects of its very existence, it's history. One of Jamaica's early sound system owner/operator, Egerton came to Kingston from his rural district of Guys Hill, in Saint Mary/Saint Catherine in 1944 and started working in the dry goods business when he was employed by Ernest Hoo-Tia Company, West Street. He soon moved on his own, acquiring premises at the corner of East Queen Street and East Street and remained there until his passing in May 2006.
Lord Koos, as he was affectionately called, started out buying records from Randys Records, in Tennessee in the early 1950s. Initially he started out buying the records for his own personal enjoyment and later took it to another level when he decided to compete with the likes of 'Kellys' and 'Tom The Great Sebastian', two of the other known sound system operators at the time.
With the assistance of the amplifier builder, Standford, Lord Koos was able to 'power up' his small sound system to match up to the others. By the mid 1950s his sound system was taking on, and at times 'blowing' the other top sounds such as 'Sir Coxsons Downbeat', 'Duke Reid The Trojan' and 'King Edwards The Giant'. This went up until the early 197os when violence started affecting the sound system business and most of the operators ceased operating. Lord Koos also operated a restaurant, bar and betting shop and became a successful business man. Just months after he was interviewed by Vintage Boss Productions, he passed away. Now available on DVD, is the story of `Lord Koos The Universe'
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