"It Mek"
Single by Desmond Dekker & The Aces
B-side"Problems"
ReleasedJune 1969 (1969-06)
Recorded1968
GenreReggae, ska
Length2:20
LabelPyramid Records – PYR 6068
Songwriter(s)Desmond Dekker/Leslie Kong
Producer(s)Leslie Kong
Desmond Dekker & The Aces singles chronology
"Israelites"
(1969)		 "It Mek"
(1969)		 "Pickney Gal"
(1970)

It Mek (sometimes appearing as "A It Mek" or German "It Miek") was a 1969 hit song by the Jamaican musicians Desmond Dekker & the Aces. After being re-released in June 1969, the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] The track was written by Dekker (under his real name of Desmond Dacres) and his record producer, Leslie Kong, and was recorded in Jamaica with the brass accompaniment added in the UK.[2] It spent eleven weeks in the UK chart, and by September 1970 had sold over a million copies worldwide.[2] A gold record was presented by Ember Records, the distributors of Dekker's recordings.[2]

The song's title is Jamaican patois meaning "that's why" or "that's the reason."[3] According to the liner notes for the Dekker compilation album Rockin' Steady – The Best of Desmond Dekker the phrase was also used as a schoolyard taunt roughly meaning "that's what you get." This was the sense used in the song's lyrics, which metaphorically tell of the problems that happens when someone (such as a lover) goes too far.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1969) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 15
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 12
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[6] 37
Germany (Official German Charts)[7] 17
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 12
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[9] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[10] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1969) Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] 84

References

  1. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 149. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. 1 2 3 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 258. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  3. ↑ Cassidy, F. G. and R. B. Le Page, 2002. A Dictionary of Jamaican English. University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 976-640-127-6.
  4. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces – It Miek" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces – It Miek" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces – It Miek" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  7. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces – It Miek" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  8. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces – It Miek" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  9. ↑ "SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts D". South Africa Rock Lists. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Desmond Dekker and the Aces: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  11. ↑ "Top 100 1969 - UK Music Charts". www.uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
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