UPDATE: THE JUNIOR REID SHOW SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEKEND IN MILWAUKEE HAS BEEN CANCELED.

I admit it, I was one of those geeks waiting by the backstage door when I was younger. Not because I was an autograph hound but because I loved meeting the people whose music I admired and have always wondered what makes them tick.

So, being backstage at the Reggae Sunsplash show at the Aragon in Chicago in '86 was like mingling at a Jamaican musical hall of fame meet and greet. Chugging a bottle of water was Leroy Sibbles, former Heptones frontman and Studio One bassist, Judy Mowatt -- who is most famous as one of the Marley's I-Three despite her 40-plus years in the business, was there, so was emcee and Jamaican music guru Tommy Cowan, vocal group the Mighty Diamonds were chatty and personable.

But we were there to say hi to Ducky Simpson and Puma Jones of Black Uhuru, whom we'd met in the past when Michael Rose was still singing lead. But much to our surprise, the first person who approached us, albeit almost shyly, was a young singer still mostly unknown outside Jamaica.

Junior Reid overheard us talking about the late, great Hugh Mundell, a singer we all adored and who was murdered in 1983 in a series of events that eerily recalled the plot of the film "Rockers."

Reid was a young pal of Mundell's and the latter first recorded Reid ("Speak the Truth" was released on Augustus Pablo's Rockers label) and he was eager to tell us about his friend and was clearly excited to see that a group of white American kids were still enthused about Mundell, who was cut off in his prime, at age 21.

Reid, on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength. By the time we'd met him in '86, he had been lead singer of Voice of Progress, releasing a still-coveted roots LP, and had issued a pile of solo 45s and a few LPs for producers like Prince Jammy (later King Jammy, after the death of King Tubby) and Harry J.

His stint with Black Uhuru thrust him into the international spotlight, where he remained after he left the group and returned to a re-energized solo career. Soon after he struck gold with the tune "One Blood" and collaborated with European groups like Coldcut. As the '90s dawned he opened a recording studio and had launched his own JR Records label, which has recorded everyone from Michael Rose to the Mighty Diamonds to Big Youth to Dennis Brown to Yellowman to Gregory Isaacs to Buju Banton and tons of young up and comers.

Now, that shy, eager singer who took the time to share his memories about one of the greatest roots singers of the late '70s (Mundell's "Africa Must Be Free by 1983" is an undeniable classic), is a veteran and a massive presence on the Jamaican music scene.

You can see Reid -- now 41 -- and get him talking about Mundell when he comes to Milwaukee for the first time Saturday night at Shank Hall. Showtime is 10 p.m. and tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

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