Steel Pulse, from Birmingham, were and are one of the great roots reggae acts, and were very active supporters of LMHR’s late 1970s predecessor Rock Against Racism, including an appearance at the iconic 1978 Victoria Park RAR/ANL march and carnival, alongside The Clash, Tom Robinson and X-Ray Spex. Vic Motune writes on Steel Pulse and the part they played in Rock Against Racism in this week’s ‘The Voice’ newspaper….

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=11909

Steel Pulse: Breaking BoundariesBY Vic Motune

If you were to ask any respected music critic about the importance of Steel Pulse to the development of black British music, please don’t be surprised if the response is one of high praise, perhaps even something approaching a eulogy.

Albums like the group’s 1978 debut Handsworth Revolution and 1984′s critically acclaimed Earth Crisis would feature in the collections of most roots reggae fans.

Steel Pulse have come a long long way, since the band was formed in 1975 by Birmingham schoolboys, David Hinds, Basil Gabbidon and Ronald McQueen. They were the first ever reggae band to be invited to play in front of an American President when they played at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. They were also the first ever reggae band to appear on top American talk show Tonight with Jay Leno. Along the way they headlined some of the world’s biggest reggae festivals including Reggae Sunsplash USA and Jamaican Sunsplash.

And the band’s message of hope, education and activism has struck a chord with music lovers worldwide, resulting not only in million selling albums but a Grammy award for their 1986 classic Babylon The Bandit, and nominations for subsequent albums Victims (1991) and Rastafari Cennial (1992).

But to really understand the importance of a band like Steel Pulse, you have to travel back to 1970s Britain. It was a time when far right groups like the National Front were winning widespread public support with their slogan ‘There ain’t no black in the Union Jack’.

It was also a period which saw the emergence of the first generation who saw themselves as being black and British. And as such they were not prepared to accept the kind of racism and discrimination that had been meted out to their parents or remain passive in the face of the police brutality that was so common at the time.

The Rastafarian movement was something that gave these youths strength. After the commercial breakthrough of Bob Marley and the Wailers in the mid 70s, it wasn’t long before British reggae bands began establishing their own independent identity by singing about their experience of life in this country. Songs such as – Tabby Cat, Kelly’s Don’t Call Us Immigrants – articulated the feelings of this generation. And Steel Pulse, along with contemporaries Aswad and Misty in Roots were amongst those bands that were also making an impact.

Steel Pulse’s first single for Island Records was the anti-racist Ku Klux Klan. Shunned by radio stations, the group made a big impact during live performances when they donned the KKK hoods onstage.

Initially unable to get gigs at Caribbean venues in the Midlands, because of their Rastafarian beliefs, they found allies in the emerging punk movement, which had a spiritual kinship with protest reggae.

And it was this kinship that led to Steel Pulse appearing as the opening act for bands such as The Clash and The Stranglers as well as becoming one of the leading lights in the Rock Against Racism movement. Lead singer David Hinds remembers the period with affection.

“It was a time when a lot of different bands were coming together, when punk and reggae were going hand in hand,” he says. “In that particular period in the 70s, there were fewer boundaries musically and I think it acted as a catalyst for what we have now. Reggae has played a very big part in influencing other styles and other styles of music such as rap for example have played a big part in influencing reggae. For example rap music has influenced what the dancehall DJs do and there is r’n'b that has become very reggae influenced in recent years. There are no boundaries anymore.”

breaking boundaries

It was this experience of breaking boundaries that gave Steel Pulse the confidence to successfully break into the American market, a feat which few other British reggae bands have managed. Not only did they quickly become a huge draw, but, away from music, their profile was further enhanced in 1992, when Hinds challenged the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission in the Supreme Court, asserting that their cab drivers discriminated against black people in general and Rastafarians in particular. “We didn’t intend to go out to America and achieve that kind of profile, we just wanted to express ourselves and let the chips fall where they did” says Hinds.”We didn’t go out there to set goals or achieve fame or anything like that. We just thought we had something important to say. When we performed at President Clinton’s inauguration, initially we thought we may have some criticism about our participation, people saying we were working with Babylon and all that kind of stuff. But in fact it did enhance our career, it enhanced our profile and what made me proud is that the band represented reggae music in the way we did. We all know that reggae music comes from Jamaica and we don’t come from Jamaica but the fact that we were able to represent the music was a great thing for us.” Steel Pulse’s 2005 album African Holocaust was another critical and commercial success.

There’s no doubting the fact that the album’s title is a strong one and pictures of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Stephen Lawrence feature on the album cover. But Hinds staunchly defends the decision.

holocaust

“When you hear the word holocaust, you associate it with what happened with the Jewish holocaust and the World War II period. But the world seems to forget that there was a holocaust that happened to Africans.” African Holocaust’s No More Weapons has particular significance for Hinds, bringing the band together with the talents of Damien ‘Junior Gong’ Marley.

“It was interesting and it was spiritual,” says Hinds. “It was Damien but it was also Stephen Marley who played a hand in producing that particular track so I have to give them credit where it’s due. And I’d like to think we’ll be doing more collaborations with the Marley’s. I still think they are setting a precedent in terms of the direction that reggae music should go in. Their father did that thirty years ago and I think his sons are in that position.”

Believe it or not, plans are afoot for some gigs here in the UK. “There is nothing like home and at home they’re often the toughest critics because they are the ones that have followed us from day one,’ grins David.”No matter how much we’ve achieved or how far we’ve travelled, they watch what we do closely.”