Labi Siffre
Encyclopedia
Labi Siffre is a British
poet
, songwriter
, musician
and singer
most widely known as the writer and singer of "(Something Inside) So Strong
", "It Must Be Love" and "I Got The", the sampled rhythm track which provides the basis for a number of well-known hip hop tracks such as Eminem
’s breakthrough hit single, "My Name Is
".
, London
to a British
(Barbadian
/ Belgian
) mother and a Nigeria
n father, Siffre was brought up in Bayswater
and Hampstead
and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School
, in Ealing
, west London
.
Jazz
and Blues
records provided his musical education: Thelonious Monk
, Miles Davis
and Charles Mingus
among many. Jimmy Reed
and Wes Montgomery
loomed large as guitar influences; Billie Holiday
, Jimmy Reed
and Mel Tormé
as vocal influences.
Openly
gay
, Siffre met his partner, Peter Lloyd, in July 1964. Under the Civil Partnership Act 2004
, they became legally recognized partners when the Act entered into force in December 2005.
While trying to become a full time musician, Labi worked as a warehouseman in Bethnal Green
, a filing clerk at Reuters
in Fleet Street
and as a minicab driver and delivery man. In the early 60s, in a Jimmy Smith
style trio, with Bob Stuckey on Hammond Organ and Woody Martin on drums, Labi, on guitar, played for nine months at Annie's Room, a jazz club fronted by the singer Annie Ross
. He then toured as opening act and backing singer for Jackie Edwards, the Jamaican songwriter, soul and reggae star. Labi went on to form another three-piece group called Safari, playing London's Soho
clubs. Then, though he didn't play folk songs, his first solo gigs came in Amsterdam at the folk club Het Kloppertje, and at the then haven of psychedelic hippiedom The Paradiso
. Most of Siffre's thirty-year performing career has been as a solo artist.
In 1969, while Labi was working in Amsterdam, friends sent a tape of his songs to the DJ Dave Cash
and music publishers Management Agency & Music Ltd. (MAM). Siffre soon signed a publishing and management contract with MAM. However, since the MAM Records
label was not yet in operation Siffre's recordings were licensed to other labels. His first contract was with Festival Records
. His recording debut in 1970 was released in the U.K. on the Pye International
division of Pye Records
. He had a "turntable hit" in 1970 with the single "Pretty Little Girl (Make My Day)/Too Late" which despite being heavily played on Radio Luxembourg never made it to the charts.
Six albums were released between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. In the early 1970s he had UK hits with "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971) (later covered
by and a No. 4 hit for Madness
, for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying
" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972). Both "It Must Be Love" and "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" were released as singles in the U.S.
by Bell Records
but failed to chart.
During this period Siffre toured Britain and Europe, both headlining and supporting the likes of Ike & Tina Turner
, Daliah Lavi
, the Hollies, Chicago
, The Carpenters
and The Supremes
. He often appeared on television, including the series "In Concert" and "Sounding Out".
He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and wrote with Tom Shapiro. Around this time Siffre decided to quit the music business as a performer and concentrate on writing. After nine months in California he moved back to the UK when, in 1978 two of his songs, "Solid Love" (performed by Siffre) and "We Got It Bad" (co-written and performed by Bob James) reached the UK
finals of the BBC
's A Song for Europe
.
In December 1979 Siffre released 'One World Song' a duet with Jackie which received heavy rotation on Radio Luxembourg in the final week of that year into 1980. The lyrics of the song reflected a theme which has run throughout much of his songwriting; robust peace and harmony. Siffre had his first U.S. singles success as a songwriter when, in 1983, the cover version of "It Must Be Love" by Madness
peaked in the Billboard Magazine
chart at #33. Siffre appeared in the cover version's music video.
Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985 when he saw a television film from South Africa showing a white soldier shooting at black children.
He wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong
" (No. 4, 1987), an anti-apartheid
anthem, a song of defiance in the face of oppression and bigotry, a song of personal inner strength and more. The song has remained enduringly popular and is an example of the political and sociological thread running through much of Siffre’s lyrics and poetry since the single “Thank Your Lucky Star” and the album “For the Children” (1973). It won the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically", and has been used in Amnesty International
campaigns, a television
advertisement and Alice Walker
's film against female genital mutilation: Warrior Marks. His stance on civil and human rights has further enhanced his reputation.
In 1990, collaborating with the South African R&B, jazz-fusion singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Butler
, Siffre wrote the lyrics of five of the nine songs on Butler’s album "Heal Our Land".
Searching for expression beyond the "limitations of songwriting" he wrote his first poems in 1984. Three books of his poetry have been published: "Nigger" (1993), "Blood on the Page" (1995) and "Monument" (1997). More appear on his poetry blog "Labi Siffre - Into The Light". “In one of Labi’s poems "An Audience Request" he writes - 'show us the world / rub our faces in it / show us the hurt / and our place in it' – and that’s exactly what a poet should do” … Benjamin Zephaniah
"On first reading I found many of these poems to appear direct and simple, both in statement and in mode of address, but on looking closer I discovered that they were multi-layered, often challenging their own apparent stereotypes and preconceptions, much as Blake did in his Songs of Innocence and of Experience
. It is his sense of being an outsider which enables Siffre to expose and yet understand hypocrisy and prejudice. His poetry is compassionate and often succinct and aphoristic" … PQR (Poetry Quarterly Review). His play, "DeathWrite", staged at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (1997) was televised the same year by HTV.
Beginning with “Let’s Pretend” on the 1973 album For the Children and especially in his poetry, Siffre has been and remains, a determined advocate for secularism.
For rapper Eminem
's hit single "My Name Is
," hip hop record producer
Dr. Dre
wanted to use a sample (written by Siffre and including Siffre on electric piano) of his song I Got The for the rhythm track. Siffre took exception to the lyric objecting to what he describes as "lazy writing" (in the sleeve notes of the EMI
re-mastered CD
of the source album Remember My Song): "Attacking two of the usual scapegoats, women and gays, is lazy writing. If you want to do battle, attack the aggressors not the victims". This tune also featured English duo Chas & Dave who were at the time prominent Session musician
s.
Eminem and Dr Dre edited their song to get the sample cleared. Labi Siffre's original is available on his 1975 album "Remember My Song" (remastered on EMI CD in 2006) and on the 2006 EMI CD of re-mastered tracks "The Best of Labi Siffre". The song, "I Got The" is often incorrectly referred to as “I Got The Blues”, a title Labi rejected as being "a cliché too far". "Remember My Song" is also notable for the track "The Vulture", which enjoyed popularity on the British Rare Groove
scene in the 1990s, particularly after its inclusion on the 1999 Capitol Rare 3 compilation.
Siffre released a new album, The Last Songs, on EMI in 2006.
Kanye West
's 2007 album "Graduation" holds a song titled "I Wonder" in which he samples Labi Siffre's "My Song" from Siffre's album, Crying Laughing Loving Lying.
Siffre's "It Must Be Love" was also used in one of Vodafone's adverts, in late 2007. In 2008 en 2009 it was used in Holland in the Eredivisie Live campaign, for promoting the Dutch football league on television.
In 2008 Siffre's song "Down" was featured in the film JCVD
.
He is listed as a prominent donor to the Atheist Bus Campaign
, which is currently raising funds to place atheist adverts on London buses.
Siffre's "I Don't Know What's Happened to The Kids Today" appeared on the second season finale of the UK TV series Misfits
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
most widely known as the writer and singer of "(Something Inside) So Strong
(Something Inside) So Strong
So Strong is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter, Labi Siffre. It was released as a single in 1987 and was the song that brought him back to mainstream popularity in his home country....
", "It Must Be Love" and "I Got The", the sampled rhythm track which provides the basis for a number of well-known hip hop tracks such as Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
’s breakthrough hit single, "My Name Is
My Name Is
"My Name Is" is a song by Eminem released in 1999. It is the debut single overall from his major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. The song was ranked at #26 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's". "My Name Is" also was ranked #6 on Q Magazine's "1001 Best Songs Ever"...
".
Life and career
Born the fourth of five children, at Queen Charlotte's Hospital HammersmithHammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(Barbadian
Barbadian British
Barbadian British people, or Bajan-Brits are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados...
/ Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
) mother and a Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n father, Siffre was brought up in Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
and Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School
St Benedict's School
St Benedict's School is a co-educational independent Roman Catholic school situated in Ealing, West London. The school is part of Ealing Abbey and is governed by the Abbot and monks of Ealing. As the only day school of the English Houses of the English Benedictine Congregation, the school does not...
, in Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
records provided his musical education: Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
among many. Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
and Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
loomed large as guitar influences; Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
and Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
as vocal influences.
Openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, Siffre met his partner, Peter Lloyd, in July 1964. Under the Civil Partnership Act 2004
Civil Partnership Act 2004
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill for this Act was introduced by the Labour government and supported by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition. The Act grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom with rights and...
, they became legally recognized partners when the Act entered into force in December 2005.
While trying to become a full time musician, Labi worked as a warehouseman in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, a filing clerk at Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
and as a minicab driver and delivery man. In the early 60s, in a Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
style trio, with Bob Stuckey on Hammond Organ and Woody Martin on drums, Labi, on guitar, played for nine months at Annie's Room, a jazz club fronted by the singer Annie Ross
Annie Ross
Annie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
. He then toured as opening act and backing singer for Jackie Edwards, the Jamaican songwriter, soul and reggae star. Labi went on to form another three-piece group called Safari, playing London's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
clubs. Then, though he didn't play folk songs, his first solo gigs came in Amsterdam at the folk club Het Kloppertje, and at the then haven of psychedelic hippiedom The Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
. Most of Siffre's thirty-year performing career has been as a solo artist.
In 1969, while Labi was working in Amsterdam, friends sent a tape of his songs to the DJ Dave Cash
Dave Cash
Dave Cash may refer to:* Dave Cash * Dave Cash * Dave Cash , Yiddish comedian- See also :* David Cash, birth name of American wrestler performing as "Kid Kash"...
and music publishers Management Agency & Music Ltd. (MAM). Siffre soon signed a publishing and management contract with MAM. However, since the MAM Records
MAM Records
MAM Records was a British record label launched in 1970 by the management company Management Agency & Music Ltd. . It was founded by Gordon Mills and Tom Jones and distributed by London Records...
label was not yet in operation Siffre's recordings were licensed to other labels. His first contract was with Festival Records
Festival Records (Australia)
Festival Records was an Australian music recording and publishing company which was founded in Sydney in 1952 and operated until 2005....
. His recording debut in 1970 was released in the U.K. on the Pye International
Pye International Records
Pye International Records was a record label founded in 1958, as a subsidiary of Pye Records. The company distributed many American labels in the UK, including Chess, Kama Sutra, Buddah, Colpix and King...
division of Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
. He had a "turntable hit" in 1970 with the single "Pretty Little Girl (Make My Day)/Too Late" which despite being heavily played on Radio Luxembourg never made it to the charts.
Six albums were released between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. In the early 1970s he had UK hits with "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971) (later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by and a No. 4 hit for 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...
, for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying
Crying Laughing Loving Lying
Crying Laughing Loving Lying is the 1972 release by Labi Siffre.All songs written, performed and produced by Labi Siffre. The album was recorded at Chappells in London....
" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972). Both "It Must Be Love" and "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" were released as singles in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Bell Records
Bell Records
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, the owner of children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records. A...
but failed to chart.
During this period Siffre toured Britain and Europe, both headlining and supporting the likes of Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo's repertoire included rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...
, Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi is an Israeli actress, singer and model.Born in Shavei Zion, British Mandate of Palestine, she studied ballet in Stockholm, Sweden, where she appeared in her first film Hemsöborna...
, the Hollies, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
and The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
. He often appeared on television, including the series "In Concert" and "Sounding Out".
He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and wrote with Tom Shapiro. Around this time Siffre decided to quit the music business as a performer and concentrate on writing. After nine months in California he moved back to the UK when, in 1978 two of his songs, "Solid Love" (performed by Siffre) and "We Got It Bad" (co-written and performed by Bob James) reached the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
finals of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's A Song for Europe
Making Your Mind Up (TV series)
Eurovision: Your Country Needs You was a BBC TV show broadcast annually to select the United Kingdom's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest...
.
In December 1979 Siffre released 'One World Song' a duet with Jackie which received heavy rotation on Radio Luxembourg in the final week of that year into 1980. The lyrics of the song reflected a theme which has run throughout much of his songwriting; robust peace and harmony. Siffre had his first U.S. singles success as a songwriter when, in 1983, the cover version of "It Must Be Love" by 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...
peaked in the Billboard Magazine
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart at #33. Siffre appeared in the cover version's music video.
Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985 when he saw a television film from South Africa showing a white soldier shooting at black children.
He wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong
(Something Inside) So Strong
So Strong is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter, Labi Siffre. It was released as a single in 1987 and was the song that brought him back to mainstream popularity in his home country....
" (No. 4, 1987), an anti-apartheid
Internal resistance to South African apartheid
Internal resistance to the apartheid system in South Africa came from several sectors of society and saw the creation of organisations dedicated variously to peaceful protests, passive resistance and armed insurrection. It came from both black activists like Steve Biko and Desmond Tutu as well as...
anthem, a song of defiance in the face of oppression and bigotry, a song of personal inner strength and more. The song has remained enduringly popular and is an example of the political and sociological thread running through much of Siffre’s lyrics and poetry since the single “Thank Your Lucky Star” and the album “For the Children” (1973). It won the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically", and has been used in Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
campaigns, a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advertisement and Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
's film against female genital mutilation: Warrior Marks. His stance on civil and human rights has further enhanced his reputation.
In 1990, collaborating with the South African R&B, jazz-fusion singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Butler is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.-Biography:...
, Siffre wrote the lyrics of five of the nine songs on Butler’s album "Heal Our Land".
Searching for expression beyond the "limitations of songwriting" he wrote his first poems in 1984. Three books of his poetry have been published: "Nigger" (1993), "Blood on the Page" (1995) and "Monument" (1997). More appear on his poetry blog "Labi Siffre - Into The Light". “In one of Labi’s poems "An Audience Request" he writes - 'show us the world / rub our faces in it / show us the hurt / and our place in it' – and that’s exactly what a poet should do” … Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is an English writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008....
"On first reading I found many of these poems to appear direct and simple, both in statement and in mode of address, but on looking closer I discovered that they were multi-layered, often challenging their own apparent stereotypes and preconceptions, much as Blake did in his Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Songs of Innocence and of Experience is an illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases. A few first copies were printed and illuminated by William Blake himself in 1789; five years later he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled Songs of...
. It is his sense of being an outsider which enables Siffre to expose and yet understand hypocrisy and prejudice. His poetry is compassionate and often succinct and aphoristic" … PQR (Poetry Quarterly Review). His play, "DeathWrite", staged at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (1997) was televised the same year by HTV.
Beginning with “Let’s Pretend” on the 1973 album For the Children and especially in his poetry, Siffre has been and remains, a determined advocate for secularism.
For rapper Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's hit single "My Name Is
My Name Is
"My Name Is" is a song by Eminem released in 1999. It is the debut single overall from his major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. The song was ranked at #26 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's". "My Name Is" also was ranked #6 on Q Magazine's "1001 Best Songs Ever"...
," hip hop record producer
Hip hop production
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
wanted to use a sample (written by Siffre and including Siffre on electric piano) of his song I Got The for the rhythm track. Siffre took exception to the lyric objecting to what he describes as "lazy writing" (in the sleeve notes of the EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
re-mastered CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
of the source album Remember My Song): "Attacking two of the usual scapegoats, women and gays, is lazy writing. If you want to do battle, attack the aggressors not the victims". This tune also featured English duo Chas & Dave who were at the time prominent Session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s.
Eminem and Dr Dre edited their song to get the sample cleared. Labi Siffre's original is available on his 1975 album "Remember My Song" (remastered on EMI CD in 2006) and on the 2006 EMI CD of re-mastered tracks "The Best of Labi Siffre". The song, "I Got The" is often incorrectly referred to as “I Got The Blues”, a title Labi rejected as being "a cliché too far". "Remember My Song" is also notable for the track "The Vulture", which enjoyed popularity on the British Rare Groove
Rare groove
Rare groove is defined as very hard to source or relatively obscure soul or jazz music. Rare groove is primarily associated with funk, jazz and pop, but is also connected to sub-genres including jazz fusion, Latin jazz, soul, R&B, northern soul, and disco. Vinyl records that fall into this...
scene in the 1990s, particularly after its inclusion on the 1999 Capitol Rare 3 compilation.
Siffre released a new album, The Last Songs, on EMI in 2006.
Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's 2007 album "Graduation" holds a song titled "I Wonder" in which he samples Labi Siffre's "My Song" from Siffre's album, Crying Laughing Loving Lying.
Siffre's "It Must Be Love" was also used in one of Vodafone's adverts, in late 2007. In 2008 en 2009 it was used in Holland in the Eredivisie Live campaign, for promoting the Dutch football league on television.
In 2008 Siffre's song "Down" was featured in the film JCVD
JCVD
JCVD is a crime-based comedy drama directed by French-Tunisian director Mabrouk El Mechri, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a down-and-out action star whose family and career are crumbling around him as he is caught in the middle of a post office heist...
.
He is listed as a prominent donor to the Atheist Bus Campaign
Atheist Bus Campaign
The Atheist Bus Campaign aims to place "peaceful and upbeat" messages about atheism on transport media in Britain, in response to evangelical Christian advertising....
, which is currently raising funds to place atheist adverts on London buses.
Siffre's "I Don't Know What's Happened to The Kids Today" appeared on the second season finale of the UK TV series Misfits
Misfits (TV series)
Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was...
.
Album discography
- Labi SiffreLabi Siffre (album)Labi Siffre is the 1970 debut release by Labi Siffre.All songs written and performed Labi Siffre except "Words" and "Maybe"...
(1970) - The Singer And The SongThe Singer and the SongThe Singer And The Song is the 1971 second album by Labi Siffre.All songs written and performed by Labi Siffre. Musical Directors were Gordon Beck and John Bell...
(1971) - Crying Laughing Loving LyingCrying Laughing Loving LyingCrying Laughing Loving Lying is the 1972 release by Labi Siffre.All songs written, performed and produced by Labi Siffre. The album was recorded at Chappells in London....
(1972) - For The Children (1973)
- Remember My Song (1975)
- Happy (1975)
- So Strong (1988)
- Man of Reason (1991)
- The Last Songs (1998)
- Monument (Spoken Word) (1998)
- The Last Songs (Re-mastered) (2006)
Cover versions
- Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
(English-born, Australia-raised singer and actor) covered "Crying Laughing Loving LyingCrying Laughing Loving LyingCrying Laughing Loving Lying is the 1972 release by Labi Siffre.All songs written, performed and produced by Labi Siffre. The album was recorded at Chappells in London....
" in 1975 on her gold certified MCA album titled "CLEARLY LOVE" (catalog # MCA-2148). Olivia and Labi's paths have crossed more than once over the years, as illustrated by the fact that Labi and Olivia dueted on a live version of her # 1 pop hit "You're the One That I WantYou're the One That I Want"You're the One That I Want" is a song written by John Farrar for the 1978 film version of the musical Grease. It was performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John....
" (written by John FarrarJohn FarrarJohn Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....
, and originally featured as a duet with John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
in the 1978 film adaptation of the musical, "GreaseGrease (film)Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
"). - MadnessMadness (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...
covered "It Must Be Love" in 1981. The song reached #4 in the UK charts and #33 in the U.S. in 1983. Labi Siffre also made a cameo appearance in the music video. - "(Something Inside) So Strong(Something Inside) So StrongSo Strong is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter, Labi Siffre. It was released as a single in 1987 and was the song that brought him back to mainstream popularity in his home country....
" was covered by Kenny RogersKenny RogersKenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
in 1989 (and became the title track to a hit album). The song was also covered by Vanessa Bell ArmstrongVanessa Bell ArmstrongVanessa Bell Armstrong is a gospel singer who released her debut album Peace Be Still in 1983.-Musical career :...
in 1988 and again by a host of gospel artists as a tribute to Rosa ParksRosa ParksRosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
in the mid-90's. Also featured in the hit BBC comedy 'Gavin and Stacey' late 2009 where it was very successfully adapted into a Welsh chapel christening ceremony - The Flying PicketsThe Flying PicketsThe Flying Pickets are a British a cappella vocal group, who had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover of Yazoo's track "Only You".-History:...
covered the song in their 1994 Album, The Warning. - Michael BallMichael Ball (singer)Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
also released a cover of the song in 1996, which reached Number 40 in the UK. - It has also been covered by Rik WallerRik WallerRik Waller is an English singer.-Pop Idol:Waller is best known for being a finalist in the first series of the British ITV television series Pop Idol...
in 2002, when it was released as a single. - Fatboy SlimFatboy SlimNorman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
sampled Rosetta HightowerRosetta HightowerRosetta Hightower is an American singer,and the former lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Orlons....
’s cover of Labi Siffre’s “A Little More Line” (from his 1970 debut album Labi SiffreLabi Siffre (album)Labi Siffre is the 1970 debut release by Labi Siffre.All songs written and performed Labi Siffre except "Words" and "Maybe"...
) for the song “That Old Pair of JeansThat Old Pair of Jeans"That Old Pair of Jeans" is a song by English big beat musician Fatboy Slim, from his compilation album The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder...
” on Fatboy's 2006 album “Why Try Harder” - Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
used a sample of "My Song" in "I Wonder" on his album "GraduationGraduationGraduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
". - Jay-ZJay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
sampled "I Got The" — the same song EminemEminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
sampled for "My Name Is" — for his hit "Streets Iz Watching." - RJD2RJD2RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
's song "Making Days Longer", from his album Since We Last SpokeSince We Last SpokeSince We Last Spoke is the second studio album by American hip hop producer & singer RJD2. It was released on May 18, 2004 by the Definitive Jux label...
, is a cover of Siffre's "Bless the Telephone", from The Singer And The SongThe Singer and the SongThe Singer And The Song is the 1971 second album by Labi Siffre.All songs written and performed by Labi Siffre. Musical Directors were Gordon Beck and John Bell...
. Siffre is credited as writer of the original song in the liner notes.
Poetry
- Nigger (Xavier Books 1993)
- Blood On The Page (Xavier Books 1995)
- Monument (Xavier Books 1997)