ALICE Gross: Radio. Founded in support of: “Alice’s Youth Music Memorial Fund” Alice was murdered at just 14 years of age. Offering:- Lovers: Lovers Rock: Blue-Beat & More! FREE to use! FREE to browse! FREE to enjoy.
Friday 2 January 2015
Lovers Rock History.
Lovers Rock: Was born of the seed of love, originating
through the Rastafarian Movement’s vision: To offer a haven, sanctuary, (The
rise of Lovers Clubs) where rival gangs and communities could come together, on
the understanding that any rival or cultural differences were left outside! Run
and policed by Rastafarians, with a no messing policy. These clubs (Origin south
London 1960s 70s) NEVER suffered an incident of hostility or violence! Such was
the absolute rule of management!
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
The roots of lovers rock lies in the last days of the
rocksteady era and early days of reggae, with Jamaican and American singers
such as Ken Boothe, Johnny Nash and John Holt enjoying international hits with
versions of well-known love songs.
A style suited to the London reggae scene, lovers rock
represented an apolitical counterpoint to the conscious Rastafarian sound
dominant in Jamaica at the time, a continuation of the soulful and commonly
love-themed rocksteady style, based on singers like Alton Ellis, who were not
very optimistic about the rise of rastafarian reggae. It combined the smooth soul sounds of Chicago
and Philadelphia soul with rocksteady and reggae bassline rhythms. Rooted in
the sound systems of South London, the style had particular appeal amongst
women and produced many female stars including Carroll Thompson. Louisa Mark
was aged 14 when she had a major lovers rock hit with her version of Bobby
Parker's "Caught You in a Lie" in 1975. This spawned the distinctive
young girl female sound associated with early lovers rock. Simplicity formed in
1975 and released their first hit "To Be in Love" produced by Coxson;
the B-side was the Emotions classic, "A Feeling is a Feeling". They
were headhunted by Neville King who produced their hits "Loving
Kind", "Waiting" and "Black is our Colour". This was
followed by the husband and wife production team of Dennis and Eve Harris who
then had a big hit with T.T. Ross's "Last Date". Dennis Harris then
set up a new record label, Lover's Rock, at the south east London premises on
Upper Brockley Road along with John Kpiaye and Dennis Bovell, which gave the
new genre a name.
South London trio Brown Sugar (including a young Caron
Wheeler, later of Soul II Soul) pioneered a subgenre, 'conscious lovers', with
songs such as "I'm In Love With a Dreadlocks" and "Black
Pride". Others who released records in this subgenre included the
Battersea songstress Winsome and Kofi. Lovers rock became a staple of London's
sound systems such as Chicken Hi-Fi, Success Sound, and Soferno B. Neil
"Mad Professor" Fraser would be a key lovers rock producer, working
with Deborahe Glasgow, while Bovell would produce one of the genre's biggest
hits, Janet Kay's "Silly Games", which reached number 2 in the UK Singles
Chart in 1979.[ Although noted for the preponderance and youth of its female
exponents, the new style produced male stars as well, notably Trevor Walters,
Honey Boy, and Winston Reedy. The trend also saw the emergence of many male
groups, including Tradition, The Investigators and the Birmingham group
Beshara, who in 1981 had the emotive
reggae chart hit "Men Cry Too".
Subsequently, numerous well-established Jamaican acts came
to try their hand at the new sound. Most successful among these were Gregory
Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, and later Freddie McGregor. Brown's "Money In My Pocket" in (1979) and Minott's "Good Thing
Going" (1981) were both big hits in the UK Singles Chart.
eminal punk/rock/ska/reggae crossover band The Clash
popularised the term, introducing it to a wider mainstream audience, by
including a song called "Lover's Rock" on their 1979 signature double
LP, London Calling.
The popularity of lovers rock has continued, and in the
1980s the Fashion label was successful with UK audiences, and the Revue label
had a major hit in 1986 with Boris Gardiner's "I Wanna Wake Up With
You". In the 1990s, the likes of Mike Anthony, Peter Hunnigale and Donna
Marie enjoyed success with the genre, and several British stars have performed
at Reggae Sunsplash. The 21st century has seen lovers rock being exposed to
more audiences by impresario Orlando Gittens who has pioneered the 'Giants of
Lovers Rock' series of concerts at London's O2 arena.
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