Emile Ford's real name was Emile Sweetman. He was born on 16th October 1937 in Castries, St Lucia.

When Emile arrived in Britain from Nassau in the Bahamas, where he grew up, his main ambition was to become an engineer, and it was through engineering that he would gain a brief but very successful career in pop music. He had invented a novel sound system that he claimed gave his music a consistently high quality despite the fact that he wasn't really a singer. Emile would insist on using his own equipment for performances rather than that usually offered by the theatres in which he played.

Read more about Emile Ford & The Checkmates on Last.fm.