Susan Cadogan

Susan Cadogan is a Jamaican reggae and lovers rock singer from Kingston, Jamaica. Born Anne Cadodan, she is the daughter of singer Lola Cadogan, who records several devotional 78rpm singles in the 1950s. Cadogan spends part of her childhood in Belize before returning to Jamaica. She trains as a librarian and works in the library at the University of the West Indies at Mona.

Early recordings and breakthrough

Cadogan begins recording after being discovered in 1974 by Jamaican Broadcasting DJ Jerry Lewis, who is the boyfriend of one of her school friends. Her first single, “Love My Life”, is recorded for Lewis. Lee “Scratch” Perry hears her in the studio, is impressed by her voice, and records an album’s worth of material with her, also giving her the name Susan.

One of her early Perry recordings is a cover of Millie Jackson’s “Hurts So Good”, featuring bassist Boris Gardiner and the Zap Pow horns. It first appears in Jamaica on Perry’s Perries label with little impact there, but is issued in the UK by Dennis Harris’s DIP International label, where it tops the UK Reggae Chart. Magnet Records then releases the single, and it reaches the top five of the UK Singles Chart. Cadogan travels to London to promote it and appears on Top of the Pops.

1970s releases

Cadogan signs directly to Magnet Records, which releases “Love Me Baby”, produced by Pete Waterman. The single reaches number 22 and becomes her last UK hit. Perry also arranges an unofficial follow-up version of “Love My Life” for the Birmingham label Black Wax, while other releases appear on Klik and Lucky without chart success. Two albums from the mid-1970s, Doing It Her Way and Hurt So Good, are issued by Magnet and Trojan Records respectively, though they do not sell strongly.

Later career

After returning to library work, Cadogan becomes active again as a recording artist in 1982. In Jamaica she has a series of hits, including covers of “Tracks of My Tears” and “Piece of My Heart”, and in 1983 records “(You Know How To Make Me) Feel So Good” as a duet with Rudy Thomas. She then returns to her library job for most of the 1980s.

In 1992 she releases Soulful Reggae, produced by Mad Professor, followed by Chemistry of Love in 1995. In 2001 she performs live at the Heineken Startime Series in Kingston. She later tours with Glen Adams and The Slackers.