STEEL
PULSE may have explored various styles of music since they started out in 1975,
but when it comes to the message, the UK's Grammy - Winning reggae band has
remained close to their roots. The Group have continued their commitment to
fighting injustice, educating the masses, and promoting positive messages
through spiritually uplifting music.
"We just can't ignore the
politics, because every life and soul that's born on this earth is a political
manoeuvre for someone, at some stage", Hinds explains. "From a
spiritual aspect, it's really an upliftment through facing reality - what's out
there. We deal with positive spirits. It means putting aside the guns, the drugs
and all of the things that are ailments of society - especially the black
communities right now".
STEEL PULSE have always taken
their causes to heart, filing a $1 million class action lawsuit against New York
City's Taxi & Limousine Commission. The group charged that cabbies refused
to pick up blacks and Rastafarians throughout the streets of New York. This
lawsuit initiated a video, Taxi Driver, with a supporting cast that
included the Rev Al Sharpton, Jay Leno, Branford Marsalis, C. Thomas Howell,
Robert Townsend and the late Tony Johnson, the inspiration behind Sunsplash.
The band's international success
has resulted in a Grammy award for their Babylon
The Babylon album, and nominations for Earth
Crisis, Victims, Rastafari
Centennial and Rage
& Fury. Spike Lee met Steel Pulse at the group's fund raising concert in
Washington DC for the Jamaican victims of '88's Hurricane Gilbert. This resulted
in David's composition 'Can't Stand it' featuring in Lee's Do The Right thing
movie soundtrack.
Invited guest appearances include
Arsenio Hall, 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno, 'Late Night' with Conan O'Brien
and the Keenan Ivory Wayans show. The band have been joined live on stage by
artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder to the Stranglers and have performed live
with Bob Marley & the Wailers, Peter Tosh, Sting, Inxs, Santana, Robert
Palmer, Herbie Hancock and Bob Dylan, amongst others.
In 1993, at the request of the
Clinton Administration, STEEL PULSE became the first reggae band ever to perform
during the inaugural festivities in Washington DC.
In 1994, the group headlined
large-scale music events including the US Reggae Sunsplash Tour, Japanslpash,
Northern California's Reggae on the River Festival and embarked on a successful
tour of South America.
1995 saw an extensive Caribbean
tour followed by an appearance in January 1996 at the prestigious Hollywood Rock
Festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo which featured Page and Plant, The
Cure, Smashing Pumpkins and Aswad amongst others. Later that year Steel Pulse
released their derivative best of album entitled Rastanthology
and followed this up in 1997, with the Grammy nominated, Rage
& Fury album. Extensive worldwide touring throughout the remainder of
that year and 1998 included shows at MTV's Boardaid in California and the
environmental Waterman's Ball in Los Angeles. December '98 saw the return to
Africa for the first time in fifteen years when they played the Ivory Coast.
Hind's notes "it was a tremendous sight to behold and the ecstatic moral
boost to our existence was so energising". The group intend to play more
shows on African soil in the immediate future
STEEL PULSE, started out
performing on the British punk scene with groups like Generation X as part of
the Rock Against Racism movement was founded in the Handsworth section of
Birmingham by Hinds, and core members Selwyn Brown and Steve Nisbett. Their
original Bass player, Ronald McQueen, named the group after a popular racehorse.
Phonso Martin, another founding member of Steel Pulse left the group in 1991.
Currently STEEL PULSE tour with a nine-piece ensemble that includes long
standing musicians Clifford 'Moonie' Pusey on lead guitar, Alvin Ewen on bass,
Sidney Mills on keyboards, Conrad Kelly on drums and percussion, and the recent
addition of two female backing singers Sylvia Tella and Donna Sterling. Some of
the band members remain steadfast to traditional Rastafarian beliefs, including
wearing dreadlocks and daily prayer.
For 1999, the group will headline
the world-wide Spirit of Unity Tour and in August released a second live album
entitled Living Legacy
(Tuff Gong international) that was recorded in Paris, Holland. San Francisco and
Puerto Rico. Living Legacy
is their first album for the Tuff Gong Label. Various Caribbean shows are in the
planning stage and recording will take up the remainder of the year.
The recent press attention on the
deaths of Stephen Lawrence and James Byrd Jnr demonstrates the need for Steel
Pulse to continue conveying their message across to audiences and record buyers
world-wide and to fight against injustice. P>
History
Probably the UK's most
highly-regarded roots reggae outfit, Steel Pulse originally formed at Handsworth
School, Birmingham, and comprised David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil
Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals) and Ponnic McQueen (bass). However, it is Hinds
who, as songwriter, has always been the engine behind Steel Pulse, from their
early days establishing themselves in the Birmingham club scene onwards. Formed
in 1975, their debut release, 'Kibudu, Mansetta And Abuku" arrived on the
small independent label Dip, and linked the plight of urban black youth with the
image of a greater African homeland. They followed it with 'Nyah Love' for
Anchor. Surprisingly, they were initially refused live dates in Caribbean venues
in the Midlands because of their Rastafarian beliefs. Aligning themselves
closely with the Rock Against Racism 1 organisation, they chose to tour instead
with sympathetic elements of the punk movement, including the Stranglers, XTC
etc.: 'Punks had a way of enjoying themselves - throw hordes at you, beer, spit
at you, that kind of thing'. Eventually they found a more natural home in
support slots for Burning Spear, which brought them to the attention of Island
Records. Their first release for Island was the 'Ku Klux Klan' 45, a considered
tilt at the evils of racism, and one often accompanied by a visual parody of the
sect on stage. By this time their ranks had swelled to include Selwyn 'Bumbo'
Brown (keyboards), Steve 'Grizzly' Nesbitt (drums), Fonso Martin (vocals,
percussion) and Michael Riley (vocals). Handsworth Revolution was an
accomplished long playing debut and one of the major landmarks in the evolution
of British reggae. However, despite critical and moderate commercial success
over three albums, the relationship with Island had soured by the advent of
Caught You (released in the US as Reggae Fever). They switched to Elektra, and
unveiled their most consistent collection of songs since their debut with True
Democracy, distinguished by the Garveyeulogising 'Rally Around' cut. A further
definitive set arrived in Earth Crisis. Unfortunately, Elektra chose to take a
leaf out of Island's book in trying to coerce Steel Pulse into a more mainstream
vein, asking them to emulate the pop-reggae stance of Eddy Grant. Babylon Bandit
was consequently weakened, but did contain the anthemic 'Not King james
Version', which was a powerful indictment on the omission of black people and
history from certain versions of the Bible. Their next move was id Hinds of
Steel Pulse to MCA for State Of Emergency, which retained some of the
synthesized dance elements of its predecessor. Though it was a significantly
happier compromise, it still paled before any of their earlier albums.
Centennial was recorded live at the Elysee Montmarte in Paris, and dedicated to
the hundred year anniversary of the birth of Haile Selassie. It was the first
recording since the defection of Fonso Martin, leaving the trio of Hinds,
Nesbitt and Selwyn. While they still faced inverted snobbery at the hands of
British reggae fans, in America their reputation was growing, becoming the first
ever reggae band to appear on the Tonight television show. Their profile was
raised further when, in 1992, Hinds challenged the New York Taxi and Limousine
Commission in the Supreme High Court, asserting that their cab drivers
discriminated against black people in general and Rastas in particular.
