Crooks was born in Westmoreland[2] and after moving to Trench Town aged 17, entered the music business in 1962 first as a member of The Spectaculars, and The Counts, and finally as founder member and lead of the vocal trio The Pioneers, along with his brother Derrick and Winston Hewitt.
[1][3] Crooks began working for Joe Gibbs at his record shop, which helped get his group The Pioneers studio time.
[3] He also produced skinhead reggae tracks with a science fiction/comic book theme, such as "Outer Space" and "Return of Batman", these credited to the Sidney All Stars, and early records by Junior English.
[4] In the 1980s, he went on to produce work by Justin Hinds, Owen Gray, and Marcia Griffiths (Rock My Soul).
[2] Crooks returned to Kingston, Jamaica in 1996 to become the in-house arranger and engineer and producer at Joe Gibbs' recording studio.