Caribbean music in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Music from Trinidad
Large-scale Caribbean migration to England began in 1948. The Empire Windrush carried almost 500 passengers from Jamaica, including Lord KitchenerLord Kitchener (calypsonian)
Aldwyn Roberts , better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener , was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians. He was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and homemaker, Albertha.-Life:...
, a calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
singer from Trinidad. By chance, a local newsreel company filmed him singing "London Is The Place For Me" as he got off the ship. In 2002, "London Is The Place For Me: Trinidadian Calypso, 1950-1956" was finally released in Britain. The 1951 Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
brought the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TAPSO) and Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion was a calypsonian...
to public attention. The smart set in Oxford and Cambridge adopted both calypso and steelband for debutante parties. In 1959, Trinidadian Claudia Jones
Claudia Jones
Claudia Cumberbatch Jones was a Trinidadian journalist, who applied her skills to becoming a political activist and black nationalist through Communisum....
started the Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
. They brought Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow or Birdie is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians...
and others directly from Trinidad. Edric Connor
Edric Connor
Edric Connor was a pioneering calypso singer, folklorist and actor who was born in Mayaro, Trinidad in 1913...
had arrived in England from Trinidad in 1944. He starred in a West End musical called "Calypso" in 1948. A white Danish duo, Nina & Frederik
Nina & Frederik
Nina and Frederik were a Danish popular singing duo of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their repertoire consisted of a blend of folk music, calypsos and standards...
, recorded several calypsos from 1958 to 1962, scoring in the charts. Cy Grant
Cy Grant
Cy Grant was a Guyanese actor, singer, writer and poet, who in the 1950s became the first black person to appear regularly on British television...
(from Guyana) sang a song by Lord Kitchener in the TV drama "A Man From the Sun" in 1956. It told the story of Caribbean migrants. From 1957 to 1960, Cy Grant
Cy Grant
Cy Grant was a Guyanese actor, singer, writer and poet, who in the 1950s became the first black person to appear regularly on British television...
sang calypsos on the BBC TV news programme Tonight. In 1962 English comedian Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
had a hit with "Gossip Calypso".
Reggae and ska
Cecil Bustamante Campbell (Prince BusterPrince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
) was born in 1938 in Orange Street, Kingston, Jamaica. In 1961 he signed to Blue Beat records.
In 1962, Jamaica won its independence and Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
was founded. One of the record label's producers, Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
, brought Millie Small
Millie (singer)
Millie is a Jamaican singer-songwriter, often known as "Little Millie Small", and in the United States as "Millie Small", and is best known as the singer of the 1964 hit, "My Boy Lollipop".-Career:...
to Britain in 1963. Her high-pitched, slightly nasal voice had wide appeal with "My Boy Lollipop
My Boy Lollipop
"My Boy Lollipop" is a song written in the mid-1950s by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs, and usually credited to Spencer, Morris Levy, and Johnny Roberts. It was first recorded in New York in 1956 by Barbie Gaye...
", which reached number 2 in the UK. It was perceived as a novelty pop song, not the start of a boom in ska. It was not until 1969 that reggae artists began to receive significant airplay. Dave and Ansell Collins
Dave and Ansell Collins
Dave and Ansell Collins were a Jamaican vocal/instrumental duo .-History:...
, Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...
and John Holt
John Holt (singer)
John Holt is a reggae singer and songwriter.-Biography:Holt was born in Kingston in 1947. By the age of 12, he was a regular entrant in talent contests run at Jamaican theatres by Vere Johns...
had hits.
Trojan Records
Trojan Records
Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
was founded in 1967, named after producer Duke Reid, known as "The Trojan." It brought Jamaican recordings to Britain. Their first hit was Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
's "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" in 1969. The label had 28 other hits.
The first Jamaican performers to reach number one in Britain were Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group, The Aces , he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 " and "It Miek"...
and the Aces with "Israelites" in 1969. The second act was Althea & Donna
Althea & Donna
Althea & Donna were a Jamaican reggae singing duo, best known for their 1977 single "Uptown Top Ranking" which was a number one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978.-Career:...
with "Up Town, Top Ranking" in 1977. Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
came from Jamaica to London and recorded "Catch a Fire" in 1972, returning to record "Exodus" and "Kaya" in 1977. Eddy Grant
Eddy Grant
Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant is a musician, born in Plaisance, Guyana.- Life and career :When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park...
was born in Guyana in 1948 and grew up in Brixton. He was part of The Equals
The Equals
The Equals were a pop/reggae/rock group that formed in North London, England in 1965. They are mainly remembered for its million-selling chart-topper, "Baby Come Back". Eddy Grant, then sporting dyed blonde hair, founded the group...
, the first multi-racial group to reach number 1 in the UK, with "Baby come Back" in 1968. He took Caribbean music further in the direction of rock than anyone else. His gritty voice took "Electric Avenue
Electric Avenue
Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London. Built in the 1880s, it was the first market street to be lit by electricity. Today, the street contains several butchers and fish mongers and hosts a part of Brixton Market, which specializes in selling a mix of African, Caribbean, and Portuguese...
" to the top 10 twice. His studio in Barbados has been used by Sting and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
.
Roots and Dub
Roots reggae was increasingly popular with the UK's black working class youth from the 1970s onwards, its message of RastafariRastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
and overcoming injustice striking a chord with those on the receiving end of racism and poverty. Jamaicans who had settled in the UK (and their children who had been born here) were instrumental in setting up a network of reggae soundsystems. The most popular soundsystems included Jah Shaka
Jah Shaka
Jah Shaka has been operating a South East London-based, roots reggae Jamaican sound system since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian term for God and that of a Zulu warrior, Shaka Zulu.-Career:...
, Coxsone Outernational, Fatman, Jah Tubbys and Quaker City.
A number of producers such as Dennis Bovell
Dennis Bovell
Dennis Bovell is a reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym 'Blackbeard'....
and Mad Professor
Mad Professor
Mad Professor is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or...
began to record UK and Jamaican artists and release their records.
Bands such as Aswad, Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
, Misty In Roots
Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...
and Beshara
Beshara (band)
Beshara were a British reggae band from Moseley, Birmingham, that formed in 1976. The band are most notable for their 1981 Lovers rock hit "Men Cry Too", which reached number 6 in the reggae charts. Although known for their Lovers rock singles, they were also very capable of recording roots reggae...
released records and played gigs throughout the UK.
As roots music's popularity waned in Jamaica in the 1980s, soundsystems such as Jah Shaka kept the faith in the UK, influencing a new generation of producers, soundsystems and artists such as The Disciples, Iration Steppas, Jah Warrior
Jah Warrior
Jah Warrior is a United Kingdom roots reggae/dub production team, record label, sound system, and musical group centred around Steve Mosco.- Overview :...
and The Rootsman. This scene has been referred to as "UK Dub".
The 1990s saw a resurgence of interest in 70s roots reggae and dub with a number of UK-based specialist labels such as Pressure Sounds, Soul Jazz and Blood & Fire being set up to re-release classic recordings.
Punky Reggae Party
Punky Reggae PartyPunky Reggae Party
"Punky Reggae Party" is a reggae song by Bob Marley & The Wailers, recorded and released in 1977. Not appearing on any studio album, it was released as the b-side to the Jamming single in some countries and was later released as a live single on Babylon By Bus...
is a song written by Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
as a positive response to the emerging UK punk scene.
Roots and Dub music gained popularity with UK punks in the mid-70s, with Don Letts
Don Letts
Don Letts is a British film director and musician. He is credited as the man who through his DJing at clubs like The Roxy brought together punk and reggae music.-Biography:...
playing reggae records alongside punk ones at the Roxy nightclub and Johnny Rotten citing Dr Alimantado
Dr Alimantado
Dr Alimantado, born Winston James Thompson, also known as The Ital Surgeon is a Jamaican reggae singer, DJ, and producer.-Biography:Thompson was born in Kingston in 1952, where he adopted the Rastafarian faith at an early age...
's "Born for a Purpose" as one of his favourite records in a radio interview. After the Sex Pistols split, Rotten was sent to Jamaica by Virgin Records as a talent scout for their Frontline reggae sub-label.
The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
started out as a straight-ahead punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
group, but their first album covered "Police & Thieves", a reggae track by Junior Murvin
Junior Murvin
Junior Murvin is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is best known for the single "Police and Thieves", produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1976. Murvin's soaring voice and the infectious rhythm made "Police and Thieves" into an international hit during the summer of that year. It peaked at #23 in the...
. Their bass player Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Paul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...
was a reggae enthusiast. Increasingly the group took significant influence from reggae, on tracks such as The Guns of Brixton
The Guns of Brixton
"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, south London...
, which used themes of impoverished criminality and a renegade lifestyle, with a punky edge. Their track "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" was written about the group's experience at a reggae dance. Jamaican reggae producer Lee Perry was brought in to produce the tune "Complete Control".
The Ruts
The Ruts
The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.-Career:...
recorded the reggae-inspired "Babylon's Burning", "Jah War", "Love in Vein" and "Give Youth a Chance", while The Members
The Members
The Members are a British punk band that originated in Camberley, England. Their best known recording is "The Sound of the Suburbs" .-Career:...
recorded similar 'White Reggae' tracks such as "Don't Push" and "Offshore Banking Business".
Towards the end of the 70s, punk and reggae groups would appear on the same bills at Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism was a campaign set up in the United Kingdom in 1976 as a response to an increase in racial conflict and the growth of white nationalist groups such as the National Front. The campaign involved pop, rock and reggae musicians staging concerts with an anti-racist theme, in order...
events.
Lovers rock
While most of the developments in the music took place in Jamaica (dubDub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, toasting, dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
, ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
) there was one form that was born in Britain. Lovers rock
Lovers rock
Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid 1970s.-History:...
, developed in the 1970s, was a smooth, soulful version of reggae, spearheaded by Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a sub-genre of reggae...
.
Early years of lovers rock was London 'Blues Parties', 14-year-old Louisa Mark
Louisa Mark
Louisa Lynthia Mark, also known as 'Markswoman' was a British lovers rock singer best known for her work between the mid-1970s and early 1980s...
's "Caught you in a Lie" with backing group Matumbi
Matumbi (band)
Matumbi were one of top British reggae bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, and are best known as the first successful band of guitarist and record producer Dennis Bovell.-History:...
and Lloyd Coxsone
Lloyd Coxsone
Lloyd Coxsone is a Jamaican-born sound system operator and record producer, who has been resident in the United Kingdom since 1962.-Biography:...
on production.
The early years of 'lovers rock' have two main resonances: 'London blues parties' and discs by girl singers who sounded as if they were still worrying about their school reports. The record that kick-started the phenomenon was the 14-year-old Louisa Marks plaintive reading of Robert Parker's soul hit, "Caught You In A Lie". With Matumbi as backing group and production by sound-system man Lloyd Coxsone (b. Lloyd Blackwood, Jamaica), this appeared on Coxsone's Safari imprint in 1975 and was impressive enough to see release in Jamaica by Gussie Clake. Several of Louisa Marks's subsequent titles, including "All My Loving" (Safari) and "Six Sixth Street" (Bushays
Clement Bushay
Clement "Clem" Bushay is a United Kingdom-based reggae producer who also ran the Bushays record label.-Biography:Bushay's productions in the early 1970s were issued by Trojan Records, and he produced early releases by Owen Gray and Louisa Mark , and was one of the early producers of UK Lovers rock...
). repeated the success and have remained favourites at revive sessions ever since.
Louisa Marks's hit was followed by Ginger Williams "Tenderness" (Third World), and a genre was born-essentially Philly/Chicago soul ballads played over fat reggae basslines. The style was consolidated by the husband and wife team of Dennis and Eve Harris who had a big hit with the white singer T.T. Ross's massively popular "Last Date" (Lucky), another key record, and set up a new imprint, Lover's Rock, Giving the genre its name.
Later labels like Fashion Records and Ariwa would go on to take lovers rock to more sophisticated plains and beyond the music's original market of working-class teenagers. and while the music media largely ignored their performers-singers like Peter Hunnigale
Peter Hunnigale
Peter Hunnigale, also known as Mr. Honey Vibes is a British reggae singer best known for his lovers rock releases.-Biography:Hunnigale started his career as bass guitarist with the Vibes Corner Collective...
, Sylvia Tella
Sylvia Tella
Sylvia Tella is a British lovers rock singer, who after working as a vocalist for Boney M embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her first album in 1981. She had a top 40 hit in 1989 in collaboration with the Blow Monkeys.-Biography:Born c.1960 in Manchester, England, Tella's career began...
, Michael Gordon and Keith Douglas they have deservedly scored hit after hit with audiences who trust what they hear rather than read.
White reggae
The influence of reggae was felt in rock almost immediately, but usually surfaced as a tangential reference in some stars' isolated songs. The early Beatles song 1964 "I Call Your NameI Call Your Name
"I Call Your Name" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Overview:Lennon wrote the song prior to the formation of the Beatles. In 1963, he gave the song to Billy J. Kramer of The Dakotas, another Liverpool band who was signed to Parlophone by George Martin...
," for instance, has a ska break; a few years later, they would appropriate the reggae rhythm for 1968 "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney, but written by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles...
."
Chris Andrews
Chris Andrews
Chris Andrews is the name of:* Chris Andrews , digital pioneer, restitution activist* Chris Andrews , Irish Fianna Fáil politician...
(born 1942) was a songwriter for Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
. The song "Yesterday Man" was inappropriate for her, so he sang it himself and it went to #3 in the British singles charts in 1965. At the time, the musical style was called bluebeat, a music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
that is now recognized by most as ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
or reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. He followed this with "To Whom It Concerns" (#13 in 1965) and "Something On My Mind" (number 41 in 1966).
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
bought Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-imported singles, but this was not obvious in The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' repertoire until "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" on the White Album. There was a gentle reggae beat in some of his later solo singles, such as "Another Day" and "Silly Love Songs". He also named one of his Christmas song covers "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reggae". The first British top ten album to contain several reggae songs was Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
's "Frampton Comes Alive" in 1976. Other pop hits include "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies (number 1 in 1969) and "I can see clearly now" by Johnny Nash (number 5 in 1972). Also in the mid-1970s, art-rockers 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...
released a few reggae-styled singles, including "Dreadlock Holiday".
Ska/reggae artist Judge Dread
Judge Dread
Alexander Minto Hughes , better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has the most banned songs of all time.-Career:...
(named after a Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
character) released his first single in 1972; the somewhat X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
"Big Six", which went to #11. Judge Dread (born Alexander Hughes) continued his popularity with other rude songs, chiefly enjoyed by skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s, who had always been avid fans of ska and reggae. Skinheads were preceded by the mods, who were the first real white supporters of ska/bluebeat in the 1960s. Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...
, a mod R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
favourite, popularised a ska feel in his music at times.
The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
's first reggae single was "Roxanne", followed by "Don't Stand So Close to Me", "Walking on the Moon" and others. Sting's somewhat interesting Jamaican accent attracted criticism, but the band was commercially successful. Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
's "The Tide is High
The Tide Is High
"The Tide Is High" is a 1967 song written by John Holt and originally performed by The Paragons with John Holt as lead singer. The song went mainly unnoticed in the rest of the world until it was rediscovered in 1980 when it became a US/UK number 1 hit for the band Blondie...
" was perhaps the first big white reggae hit in Britain and also draws on the lovers-rock elements of reggae. Both Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
and Nina and Frederick had hits with "Mary's Boy Child", but it was Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
who gave this slow ballad a reggae rhythm in 1978 and took it to #1 in the British charts for four weeks.
Mixed race reggae
More long-term success was achieved by UB40UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
, of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. They started life performing reggae-influenced material of their own creation, but their biggest contribution is perhaps their covers of reggae originals. Kingston Town
Kingston Town (song)
"Kingston Town" is a 1970 song by Lord Creator. It was covered in 1990 by reggae group UB40 and was the second single from their 1989 album Labour of Love II, reaching #4 on the UK singles chart....
, Many Rivers to Cross
Many Rivers to Cross
- Song information :This is one of the few Cliff tracks to use an organ, which helps to supplement the gospel feel provided by the backing vocalists. Cliff released the song, with production work by Leslie Kong, on his 1969 album, Jimmy Cliff. It was also released on the 1972 soundtrack album for...
and Here I Am (Come and Take Me) are a few of the more famous. Their chart-topping cover of Red Red Wine
Red Red Wine
"Red Red Wine" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. It has been covered by Tony Tribe, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, and more famously by British reggae group UB40, whose version topped the U.S. and UK singles charts...
was an accident of sorts - they knew a reggae version of the song, but were unaware that the American pop singer Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
was its original author.
2-Tone
2 Tone Records2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records was an English record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone.-History:...
, founded in 1979, combined ska, reggae and rock which some say developed into punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, spawning the 2 Tone
2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
movement with bands such as The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
, The Selecter
The Selecter
The Selecter are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially diverse line-up. Their lyrics featured themes connected to politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat...
and Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
. The 2-Tone sound continued and evolved into the 1980s, with bands such as The Hot Knives, The Loafers and Potato 5.
Gospel
Gospel music although a subgenre of black music in the UK today also arrived in England in the early post war years along with the large scale immigrant influx and their wide variety of musical tastes. Pioneers in this field include an 8-piece a cappella family, Oscar Stewart, Ashmore Stewart, Frankie Stewart, Phylis Stewart, Gloria Stewart, Timothy Stewart, Thedore Stewart and Del Stewart from Trinidad called the Singing Stewarts who were the first to appear on a major British record label in the late 1960s. They impressed many English audiences with their unique interpretation of Negro Spiritual and traditional Gospel songs. Based in the Midlands, Birmingham, they appeared on Numerous Radio Shows and participated in the prestigious Edinburgh festival, again increasing awareness of this genre.Picture of the Singing Stewarts at Newbold College
Newbold College
Newbold College is a Seventh-day Adventist higher education provider located in Binfield, Berkshire, England; 40 miles west of London. It offers courses in Theology, Business Management, Arts & Social Studies as well as English Language and is accredited by the University of Wales Lampeter...
SInging Stewarts Oh Happy Day
In later years and decades when black people began to settle in the UK, groups such as The Doyleys, Paradise, Lavine Hudson and the, Bazil Meade inspired, London Community Gospel Choir
London Community Gospel Choir
The London Community Gospel Choir is a successful gospel choir located in the United Kingdom.-History:The London Community Gospel Choir was founded in 1982 by the Reverend Bazil Meade with the assistance of Lawrence Johnson, Delroy Powell and John Francis.Initially the idea was for a single concert...
began to drive the music much further towards the mainstream and out of the comfort zone of the black churches.
The Singing Stewarts are featured in the book British Black Gospel: The Foundations of this vibrant UK sound by Steve Alexander Smith. Huddersfield born Smith was inspired to write the book after spending time in the USA in the mid 1990's and witnessing the best that Black Gospel could offer.
Folk Music
While many immigrants from the Caribbean brought with them the folk music of the area, it was not until the 1960s when The SpinnersThe Spinners (UK band)
The Spinners were a 1960s folk group from Liverpool, England formed in September 1958. They consisted of:* Hughie Jones...
a folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who were the first multiracial singing group to have a major success in the UK brought Caribbean folk music in to the mainstream. Cliff Hall, their West Indian singer and guitarist, born in Cuba and brought up in Jamaica brought many songs from the Caribbean to their repertoire including "Woman Sweeter than Man", "Matty Rag" and "Linstead Market
Linstead Market
Linstead Market is a Jamaican folk song. Possibly the earliest publication of the tune with words occurs in Walter Jekyll's 1907 book, Jamaican Song and Story, as , pages 219-220. In Jekyll, the lyrics are as follows:...
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