Official Documentary: The Battle For Brixton April 1981

Official Documentary: The Battle For Brixton April 1981

The rioting which began in Brixton, in the south London borough of Lambeth, in April 1981 shocked the nation.

For three days, rioters - predominately young, black men - fought police, attacked buildings and set fire to vehicles.

More than 300 people were injured and the damage caused came to an estimated value of £7.5m.

What was most shocking to many people was the unexpectedness of events. On the surface it seemed that black people were well-integrated into the fabric of UK society.

Many were second generation, born to parents who had come to Britain from the Caribbean in the late 1940s and 1950s to help "the motherland" with post-war rebuilding.

And there were high-profile success stories among Britain's black community.

Trevor McDonald had been presenting the news on television since 1973, Lenny Henry was a popular comedian having won a TV talent show aged 17 in 1975 and Daley Thompson had won decathlon gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.


But below the surface tensions had been building up and on 11 April 1981 they boiled over in Brixton, an area where 25% of residents were from an ethnic minority group.

The days of full employment were long gone and in Brixton around half of young black men had no job.

Injured policeman is bandaged
More than 100 officers were injured during the clashes
An amended Race Relations Act had become law in 1976 but police forces were granted an exemption from its conditions.

Many young black men believed officers discriminated against them, particularly by use of the 'Sus' law under which anybody could be stopped and searched if officers merely suspected they might be planning to carry out a crime.

In early April, Operation Swamp - an attempt to cut street crime in Brixton which used the Sus law to stop more than 1,000 people in six days - heightened tensions.

Unsubstantiated rumours of police brutality against a black man later led an angry crowd gathering to confront officers on the evening of 10 April for a few hours before the disturbances were contained.

But an arrest the following night sparked off the rioting in earnest.

But although its immediate causes were specific to Brixton, the rioting was perhaps a sign of the times.

The mixture of high unemployment, deprivation, racial tensions and poor relations with police were not unique to Brixton.

By the time Lord Scarman's report on the events in Brixton was published in November 1981, similar disturbances had taken place in a raft of other English cities, most notably Liverpool and Manchester.

https://youtu.be/T1Q1akfwKyM

Official Augustus Pablo Musical Journey

Official Augustus Pablo Musical Journey



Horace Swaby (21 June 1954 – 18 May 1999), known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s until his death.



He popularised the use of the melodica (an instrument at that time primarily used in Jamaica to teach music to schoolchildren) in reggae music. His album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (1976) is often regarded as one of the most important examples of dub.



He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, and learned to play the organ at the Kingston College School, where a girl lent him a melodica, an instrument that fascinated him. He also met Herman Chin Loy, who after working at his cousin Leslie Kong's Beverley's record shop, had set up his own Aquarius store in Half Way Tree. Swaby recorded early tracks including "Higgi Higgi", "East of the River Nile", "Song of the East" and "The Red Sea" between 1971 and 1973 for Chin-Loy's Aquarius Records. Chin Loy had previously used the name Augustus Pablo generically for keyboard instrumentals recorded by Lloyd Charmers and Glen Adams, and Swaby took the name for this recording.



"East of the River Nile", a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds, became a moderate hit. He soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung's band) and played keyboard with them while his friend Clive Chin began his own career as a record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded "Java" (1972) together, as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to obtain studio time. This instrumental was a massive hit and launched Pablo's solo career. He recorded with Chin and others including Lee Perry and Chin's uncle, Leonard Chin. Pablo scored another smash hit with "My Desire" (John Holt).



Pablo formed the labels Hot Stuff, Message and Rockers (named after his brother's soundsystem, Rockers), and released a steady stream of well-received instrumentals, mostly versions of older hits from Studio One. In spite of his success with Rockers, Pablo's 1974 album, This Is Augustus Pablo, was recorded with Clive and Pat Chin. This was followed by a collaboration with the legendary reggae engineer King Tubby, 1975's Ital Dub.



Pablo produced a steady stream of hits in the late 1970s, including the hit "Black Star Liner" (Fred Locks). He also worked with Dillinger, Norris Reid, I-Roy, Jacob Miller, The Immortals, Paul Blackman, Earl Sixteen, Roman Stewart, Lacksley Castell, The Heptones, Bob Marley, Ricky Grant, Delroy Wilson, Junior Delgado, Horace Andy and Freddy McKay. This period was eventually commemorated with a series of critically acclaimed LPs including King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (1976) and Hugh Mundell's classic Africa Must Be Free by 1983. This was followed by East of the River Nile (1978), Original Rockers (1979) and another acclaimed hit album, Rockers Meets King Tubbys in a Firehouse.



In the 1980s, Pablo's career slowed significantly. In 1980, he appeared on the soundtrack of the documentary DOA. He had begun to establish an American audience and released Rising Sun in 1986 to good reviews and sales. Pablo also produced memorable hits, including "Ragamuffin Year" (Junior Delgado), "Humble Yourself" (Asher & Tremble) and "Far Far Away" (Ricky Grant). In addition, he toured extensively throughout the world, recording a memorable live album in Tokyo in 1987. That same year, Rockers Come East re-established his career and he began to release a series of favourably reviewed though somewhat inaccessible albums in the 1990s (including Blowing With the Wind), while producing such records as Dawn Penn's "Night & Day" and Yami Bolo's "Jah Made Them All".



In 1997, he played melodica on Primal Scream's single "Star".



Augustus Pablo died as a result of a collapsed lung on 18 May 1999. He had been suffering for some time from the nerve disorder myasthenia gravis



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Official Peter Tosh Musical Journey

Official Peter Tosh Musical Journey

Singer, musician, composer, and rebel Peter Tosh cut a swathe through the Jamaican musical scene, both as a founding member of the Wailers and as a solo artist. He toured with the Rolling Stones and had an international hit with a duet with Mick Jagger, then toured again to equally rapturous world audiences as the headlining act. His words would cause an uproar at the One Peace concert, but then unlike fellow Wailer Bob Marley, Tosh always made his true feelings known. He was born Winston Hubert McIntosh on October 19, 1944, in the small rural village of Grange Hill, Jamaica. Like so many young island teens searching for a better life, he left home at 15 and headed for Kingston. Once there, he made his way to Joe Higgs' tenement yard, joining other aspiring youths eager for the vocal coaching lessons the singing star provided to local teens. Amongst these youthful wannabes were Bunny, Bob Marley, and the much younger Junior Braithwaite; the four, buttressed by backing vocalists Cherry Green and Beverley Kelso, joined forces initially as the Teenagers before eventually settling on the moniker the Wailers.

Success was immediate; the group's debut single, "Simmer Down," was an instant hit, and the band's career was off and running. Tosh's talent didn't end with his vocal skills as he was also an excellent guitarist; his playing was first showcased in 1963 on the Wailers' single "I'm Going Home." He was also a gifted songwriter, as was Bunny Livingston, which helped the band survive Marley's hiatus from the group while he went to work in the U.S. in 1966. The Wailers, by then reduced to a trio with the departure of Braithwaite, Green, and Kelso, continued on without him. During this time, the remaining duo, with Constance "Dream" Walker filling in, continued releasing singles now credited to either the Wailers, Tosh, or Livingston alone. Thus, over the next year, Tosh's dance-friendly "Hoot Nanny Hoot," "The Jerk," a cover of Sir Lancelot's calypso hit "Shame and Scandal in the Family," the R&B-fired "Making Love," and "It's Only Love," a duet with Rita Marley, all arrived from Studio One. "Rasta Shook Them Up" celebrated Haile Selassie's Jamaican visit, while Tosh also offered up the rudie-fueled "The Toughest."

With Marley's return, the Wailers departed Studio One and launched their own short-lived Wail'n'Soul'M label. With its demise, they returned to the studio circuit. Sessions with producer Bunny Lee went nowhere, but Lee and Tosh had a rapport, and between 1969 and 1970, the Wailers cut a string of instrumentals for the producer and released them under the alias Peter Touch. Tosh was now attempting to learn to play the melodica, and the singles chart his progress on the instrument. "Crimson Pirate," "Sun Valley," the almost psychedelic "Pepper Seed," "The Return of Al Capone," "Selassie Serenade" (actually a rather frenetic version of "Blue Moon") and more, were the end results.

However, in 1971, Tosh made the momentous decision to pursue a true solo career in conjunction with his work with the Wailers. His debut single, "Maga Dog," was cut with producer Joe Gibbs. The song had initially been recorded by the Wailers with Coxsone Dodd, and in its original rhythm arrangement was suspiciously similar to "Simmer Down."

Gibbs would totally re-create it, slowing the tempo down and creating a rhythm perfect for the latest dance rage, the John Crow skank. The single was a major hit and became a favorite of the DJs, with a flood of versions quickly following. The equally hard-hitting "Dem Ha Fe Get a Beating" arrived soon after. In the brief period Tosh spent with Gibbs, he recorded a clutch of seminal numbers, including "Arise Blackman," "Black Dignity," and "Here Comes the Judge." The latter track was built around the haunting rhythm from the Abyssinians' "Satta Massa Gana," but lyrically hearkened back to Prince Buster's "Judge Dread," as Tosh's magistrate tries and convicts Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, and Vasco da Gama for myriad of crimes against black people. Even on a cover of "Nobody's Business," Tosh's militancy shines through, with the line "Leave my business and mind your own," carrying a definite hint of menace in the delivery. Jumping on the current bandwagon for golden oldie medleys, the singer also delivered up a trio of rude boy hits, Desmond Dekker's "Rude Boy Train" and "007 Shanty Town," and his own, "I'm the Toughest.


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Official Jackie Mittoo Musical Journey

Official Jackie Mittoo Musical Journey



Keyboard virtuoso Jackie Mittoo was among the true legends of reggae -- a founding member of the Skatalites and an extraordinarily prolific songwriter, he was perhaps most influential as a mentor to countless younger performers, primarily through his work as the musical director at the famed Studio One. Born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town, Jamaica on March 3, 1948, he began playing keyboards at the age of four, and was rarely far from a piano through his teen years, performing professionally in groups including the Vagabonds and the Vikings. He frequently skipped school to play with the house band at nearby Federal Studios, and it was there that he met producer Coxsone Dodd, who recruited Mittoo for recording sessions when the scheduled pianist failed to appear on time. While attending Kingston College, he began jamming with fellow student Augustus Pablo, and they eventually formed a trio -- the Jackie Mitree -- which performed his original compositions.



By 1962, Mittoo was earning attention across the island for his work in the band the Sheiks, one of Jamaica's most sought-after club attractions. Despite rechristening themselves the Cavaliers Orchestra, their popularity continued to soar without missing a beat. When Dodd opened Studio One in Kingston in 1963, he tapped Mittoo to serve as musical director; in the years to follow he played on virtually every disc the studio produced, arranging much of the material and helping develop new songs until they were sufficiently polished to meet standards. By the early months of 1964, he set about forming a new band with Studio One session regulars Tommy McCook, Lloyd Brevette, and Lester Sterling, as well as the Cavaliers' Lloyd Knibb and Johnny Moore. Dubbing themselves the Skatalites, they were to become the quintessential ska band of the period; also featuring the legendary trombonist Don Drummond, the group lasted just 14 months -- from June 1964 to August 1965 -- but their influence on music worldwide remains incalculable.



Evening TimeAfter the Skatalites split, Mittoo began a solo career, scoring a major hit with his rendition of the Heptones' "Fatty Fatty." The instrumental smash "Ram Jam" followed in 1967, and resulted in a series of instrumental LPs, among them In London, Evening Time, Keep on Dancing, Now, and Macka Fat. At the same time, Mittoo continued his relentless pace at Studio One -- according to the terms of his basic arrangement with Dodd, he received payment upon delivering five new rhythms a week, which over the years resulted in literally thousands of compositions which he both produced and arranged. Among Mittoo's greatest contributions of the mid- to late '60s were "Darker Shade of Black" (the basis for Frankie Paul's "Pass the Tu Sheng Peng"), Freddie McGregor's "Bobby Babylon," Alton Ellis' "I'm Still in Love with You," the Cables' "Feel Like Jumping" and the rocksteady anthem "Baby Why," and Marcia Griffiths' first hit. In 1970, his "Peanie Wallie" was also versioned by the Wailers, becoming the hit "Duppy Conqueror."



Mittoo relocated from Jamaica to Toronto, Ontario in 1968, one of many reggae performers who found a home among the clubs lining the city's Yonge Street area. He returned to Kingston regularly, however, and was closely aligned with Dodd and Studio One throughout the decades to follow. In Toronto, Mittoo also accepted a day job working for the Canadian Talent Library, an organization which worked to ensure that a sufficient amount of Canadian music was broadcast over national radio airwaves. By 1972, he had lived there for four years, and as such, his work became qualified as "Canadian content," so for the CTL he recorded the album Reggae Magic, which launched the hit 'Wish Bone." During the mid-'70, Mittoo also traveled to England to record a series of LPs with Bunny Lee; during the next decade, he worked regularly with Sugar Minott as well. In 1989, Mittoo joined the reunited Skatalites, but health problems soon forced him to bow out; he died of cancer on December 16, 1990.



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Official Burning Spear Musical Journey

Official Burning Spear Musical Journey

Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s.

Winston Rodney was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica. As a young man, he listened to the R&B, soul and jazz music transmitted by the US radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica. Curtis Mayfield is cited by Rodney as a major US musical influence along with James Brown. Rodney was deeply influenced as a young man by the views of the political activist Marcus Garvey, especially with regard to the exploration of the themes of Pan-Africanism and self-determination. In 1969, Bob Marley, who was also from Saint Ann, advised Rodney to approach Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label after Rodney sought his advice during a casual conversation.

Burning Spear was originally Rodney's group, named after a military award given by Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of an independent Kenya, and included bass singer Rupert Willington. The duo auditioned for Dodd in 1969 which led to the release of their debut single "Door Peep" (the session also included Cedric Brooks on saxophone). They were then joined by tenor Delroy Hinds. The trio recorded several more singles for Dodd, and two albums before they moved on to work with Jack Ruby in 1975. Their first recording with Ruby, "Marcus Garvey", was intended as an exclusive track for Ruby's Ocho Rios-based Hi-Power sound system, but was released as a single, giving them an immediate hit, and was followed by "Slavery Days". These recordings featured the backing band The Black Disciples, which included Earl "Chinna" Smith, Valentine Chin, Robbie Shakespeare and Leroy Wallace. The group worked with Ruby on their third album, Marcus Garvey (1975), which was immediately successful and led to a deal with Island Records to give the album a wider release. Island remixed and altered the speed of some of the tracks, much to the annoyance of fans and the group, leading Rodney to set up his own Burning Music label for future releases where he would have full control, although further releases followed on Island including Garvey's Ghost, a dub album, and the Man in the Hills album. In late 1976, Rodney split from both Ruby and group members Willington and Hinds, and from that point on used the name Burning Spear for himself alone. Dry and Heavy followed in 1977, self-produced but still on Island, and with a sizeable following by now in the United Kingdom, he performed in London that year with members of Aswad acting as his backing band for a sold-out show at the Rainbow Theatre, which was recorded and released as the album Live!. Aswad also provided backing on his next studio album, Social Living (1978), which also featured Sly Dunbar and Rico Rodriguez. A dub version of the album, Living Dub (1979), was mixed by Sylvan Morris. His profile was raised further by an appearance in the film Rockers, performing "Jah no Dead".

In 1980, Rodney left Island Records and set up the Burning Music Production Company, which he signed to EMI, debuting on the label with Hail H.I.M., recorded at Marley's Tuff Gong studio and co-produced by Aston Barrett. A Sylvan Morris dub version followed in the form of Living Dub Volume Two. In 1982, Rodney signed with Heartbeat Records with a series of well-received albums following, including the 1985 Grammy-nominated Resistance. He returned to Island in the early 1990s, releasing two albums before rejoining Heartbeat. This arrangement in which Burning Music Productions delivered completed albums of music to EMI, Island and Heartbeat Records for worldwide distribution lasted for many years. When Heartbeat ceased releasing new material, Burning Music took matters into their own hands and began to release music solely through their own imprint. Albums released by Heartbeat through an agreement with Burning Music include: The World Should Know (1993), Rasta Business (1995), Appointment with His Majesty (1997) and the Grammy award-winning Calling Rastafari (1999) which was the last completed album to be solely pressed by an outside label.[citation needed]

Burning Spear spent decades touring extensively, and several live albums have been issued including Burning Spear Live, Live in Paris, Live in South Africa, Live in Vermont, Peace and Love Live, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and (A)live 1997. Touring the world time and time again, the band’s live sound matured and grew more sophisticated. While remaining firmly rooted in reggae, accents of free jazz, funk and psychedelic music were increasingly in evidence.

His 1999 album, Calling Rastafari brought his first Grammy Award in 2000, a feat which he repeated with Jah Is Real in 2009. In 2000 Home To My Roots Tour he performed in Cape Town, South Africa alongside other reggae icons Joseph Culture Hill.

Sir Lloyd Coxsone Speaks Out On Dubplate Specials [UNCUT] 2020

Sir Lloyd Coxsone Speaks Out On Dubplate Specials [UNCUT] 2020

Lloyd Blackwood better known as Sir Lloyd Coxsone is an influential figure in the growth of the UK reggae scene, Lloyd Coxsone left his home in Morant Bay, Jamaica, and arrived in the UK in 1962, settling in south-west London and setting up his first sound system, Lloyd The Matador. This venture floundered due to inexperience and Coxsone joined the UK-based Duke Reid sound, but he eventually left in 1969, taking some of that operation’s personnel with him. He went on to form his own sound system, adopting the name of the biggest sound in Jamaica at the time, and also, pointedly, the main rival to Jamaica’s Duke Reid, Sir Coxsone. Coxsone sound soon gained a strong following that eventually led to his residency at the famous London nightclub the Roaring Twenties, in Carnaby Street. Throughout the 70s Sir Coxsone Sound’s success lay with maintaining the sound to rigorous standards, playing the most exclusive dub plates direct from Jamaica, and keeping abreast of trends within the music. Rather than specializing in one particular style, Coxsone Sound offered music for all tastes.

Coxsone, like other sound men, also expanded into the record business, licensing music from Jamaica at first, then trying his hand at his own productions using local UK artists. In 1975 he enjoyed huge success, and kickstarted the UK lovers rock phenomenon in the process, with his production of ‘Caught You In A Lie’ - originally a US soul hit by Robert Parker - featuring the vocal talents of 14-year-old south London schoolgirl Louisa Mark. That same year he issued one of the best dub albums of the era, King Of The Dub Rock, which featured dubwise versions of his own productions and those of Gussie Clarke, mixed in part at King Tubby’s. Other notable records appeared on his Tribesman and Lloyd Coxsone Outernational labels and elsewhere during the late 70s and early 80s, including Fabian’s Jack Ruby -produced ‘Prophecy’, ‘Love And Only Love’ and ‘Voice Of The Poor’ by Fred Locks. Others included ‘Stormy Night’ and ‘Homeward Bound’ by the Creation Steppers, a version of the Commodores’ ‘Easy’ by Jimmy Lindsay (many of which are available on 12 The Hard Way) and many more. During the mid-80s Coxsone handed control of his sound over to the younger elements in his team, notably Blacker Dread, and a new breed of DJs. Blacker released his own productions by the likes of Fred Locks, Frankie Paul, Mikey General, Sugar Minott, Michael Palmer, Don Carlos, Earl Sixteen and Coxsone DJ, Jah Screechy. Recently, as interest in the roots music of the 70s has increased, Coxsone has emerged from his semi-retirement to stand again at the controls of his sound.

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