IN March 2006, I was sent by the Morning Star to review the first production of The Harder They Come at Stratford East theatre. Along with the Voice and the Weekly Jamaica Gleaner I was ushered into a room to meet the legendary Jimmy Cliff. I watched the outstanding production by an excellent cast and at the end Cliff himself came on stage to a standing ovation and reprised the title song.

When I heard of his death, it was with a mixture of sadness and the brilliant memory of meeting him almost 20 years ago.

My awareness of Jimmy Cliff’s music goes back to my first years of teaching at Santley Primary School, in Brixton, between 1968 and 1972. His records were big hits and I remember children in the playground singing his song Wonderful World Beautiful People. The other uplifting song they would sing was Bob and Marcia’s hit Young Gifted and Black.

Working at this school introduced me to the unique culture of Jamaica, as over 80 per cent of the children were of that country’s origin or descent. Working at this school, at this time was a great education for me and made me realise the importance of anti-racist teaching.

Jimmy Cliff was born as James Chambers on July 30 1944 in the parish of St James Jamaica. As a youngster in Kingston, rhythm & blues music blared from sound systems on weekends and the early 1960s saw the birth of a new form of music in the city, ska. Young men and women clamoured to be recorded, and Cliff was fortunate enough to meet Leslie Kong, a Chinese/Jamaican record producer, and his self written 1962 record Miss Jamaica was not only a hit there but sold very well to Jamaicans in Britain.

Now a huge star in his native country Cliff moved to London, performing and recording but without great success. A journey to Brazil in 1968 to take part in an international song contest succeeded where London had failed, but he soon returned to Britain with self-composed material that have since become classics. Vietnam was a biting indictment of American imperialism and a great success, along with and with the achingly beautiful Many Rivers To Cross.

Then, he was chosen to play the lead role in the Jamaican feature film titled after his own hit record The Harder They Come. He was outstanding, despite having no acting experience and it remains Jamaica’s greatest film.

Another Jimmy Cliff memory came in 1983, while teaching in rural Jamaica and hearing his great Reggae Nights on the radio. I often heard it as I walked home from a local bar in the late evening, looking at the beautiful sky full of twinkling stars.

When David Cameron and the Conservative Party used his composition, You Can Get It If You Really Want Cliff stated: “I have heard of David Cameron but I don’t support his policies.”

Jimmy Cliff was a true internationalist who sang against oppression and imperialism as well as making some of the sweetest music from 1962 until his death. If you have have never watched the film The Harder They Come then check it out on youtube to see his brilliant performance.