Bitty McLean

Bitty McLean
Bitty MacLean at Ruhr Reggae Summer 2014
Background information
Birth name Delroy Easton McLean
Born (1972-08-08) 8 August 1972
Birmingham, England
Genres Reggae, lovers rock, ragga
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1992–present
Labels Brilliant Records, Kuff Records, Peckings Records

Bitty McLean (born 8 August 1972,[1] Birmingham, England) is a British/Jamaican reggae, lovers rock and ragga musician. He is best known for his three UK Top 10 hits in 1993 and 1994, including his debut offering "It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)".

Career

The youngest of six children to Easton and Leonie (nee Reynolds), Delroy McLean was nicknamed "Bitty" due to his small stature.[2] As a teenager he performed with local sound systems, and after studying sound engineering at college, he was employed by UB40 as an engineer and producer, and occasionally also sang with the band.[1]

He was most popular around the mid 1990s with cover versions of songs including The Shirelles' "Dedicated to the One I Love" (UK No. 6[3]) and Fats Domino's "It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)" (1993), which was his biggest UK hit, peaking at No. 2.[3] McLean's song "It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)" topped the charts in New Zealand and the Netherlands in 1993. McLean also played on three UK arena tours supporting UB40, Wet Wet Wet and Simply Red respectively.[2]

In 2004, he released the album On Bond Street KGN. JA., which featured his vocals recorded over vintage Tommy McCook and Duke Reid-produced, Treasure Isle rhythms from the rocksteady era, most with new lyrics of his own, but also using David Ruffin's "Walk Away From Love" and David Gates' "Make It With You".[1] He recorded a studio album in 2007, entitled Movin' On, with Sly and Robbie at their One Pop studios in Kingston, Jamaica. Movin' On was released on Taxi / Silent River / Mideya label in Europe and the US, while JVC released it in Japan. McLean and Sly & Robbie toured Japan, Europe and Morocco in 2008 and 2009. In 2013 McLean released a new album, The Taxi Sessions, with Sly & Robbie, and a live DVD recorded with Sly & Robbie and the Taxi Gang, during their concert in Paris in May 2009. Also in 2013, McLean joined The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra on vocals, for a cover of Desmond Dekker's Fu Man Chu (a single release for the band). He also joined them on stage for several shows, appeared in the official video that accompanied the single and, in May 2013, joined them on Later... with Jools Holland to perform the track.

In 2018, he released the "LOVE RESTART" album. The LP features 6 extended mixes of previously unreleased tracks, while the CD edition features the same 6 tracks in their regular length plus 5 extra songs. The digital edition features the 6 extended mixes from the LP and the 5 other tracks from the CD. Produced with Sly & Robbie and Guillaume Bougard, and mastered at Abbey Road, LOVE RESTART came out August 21, 2018 on TABOU1's bandcamp store [4] and was distributed worldwide starting September 2018.

Bitty toured Europe with Sly & Robbie in August 2018 to promote this new album.

Personal life

He is uncle to footballer Aaron McLean and singer Anthony, under the artist name of "McLean".[5]

Discography

Bitty MacLean at Ruhr Reggae Summer 2014

Albums

  • Just to Let You Know... (1994) – UK No. 19[6]
  • Natural High (1995) – UK No. 81[6]
  • Soul to Soul (2003)
  • On Bond Street KGN. JA. (2005)
  • Made in Jamaica (2007)
  • Movin On (2009)
  • The Taxi Sessions (2013)
  • Love Restart (2018)

[7]

Singles

[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leggett, Steve. "Bitty McLean Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  2. 1 2 France.unitedreggae.com Archived 26 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 340. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ https://taxitabou1.bandcamp.com/album/love-restart-deluxe-digital-edition
  5. ↑ "Posh star Mclean's brother hopes to score a hit". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. 26 February 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Official Charts >Bitty McLean". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Allmusic.com – Discography
  8. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 23 Jan 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 14 May 2017.
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