Wire Playlist: Windrush Vibrations
October 2018
Windrush vibrations. Clockwise from top left: Cooly G, Congo Natty, Ginger Johnson, Louisa Mark
Stream 50 tracks compiled by Paul Gilroy that chart the development of black music in Britain over the last 70 years, from calypso to grime
The Wire 417 features a number of articles that lift off from London Barbican's forthcoming Windrush: A Celebration season, which commemorates 70 years since the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in Essex in 1948, an event which started a new era of Afro-Caribbean immigration to the UK and which in turn changed British society and music for (the) good.
As an addendum to those articles, which include an interview with saxophonist/composer Jason Yarde and essays by Anthony Joseph, Lez Henry and Mykaell Riley, here Black Atlantic scholar Paul Gilroy compiles a playlist that tracks the emergence of a distinct black British musical aesthetic in the years since the Windrush's arrival.
Young Tiger
“I Was There (At The Coronation)”
From I Was There (At The Coronation)/Queen Elizabeth Calypso 10”
(Parlophone) 1953
Millie Small
“My Boy Lollipop”
From My Boy Lollipop 7”
(Fontana) 1964
Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn
“Winter Is Gone”
There You Go!
(Columbia) 1965
Nadia Cattouse
“Long Time Boy”
From Nadia Cattouse
(Reality) 1966
Joe Harriott & John Mayer
“Partitia”
From Indo Jazz Fusions
(Columbia) 1967
Ginger Johnson And His African Messengers
“I Jool Omo”
From African Party
(Masquerade) 1967
The Cats
“Swan Lake”
From Swan Lake/Swing Low
(BAF) 1968
Ram John Holder
“Brixton Blues”
From Black London Blues
(Beacon) 1969
Rico & The Rudies
“Rico’s Message”
From Blow Your Horn
(Downtown)1969
The Equals
“Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys”
From Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys/Ain't Got Nothing To Give You 7”
(President) 1970
Osibisa
“The Dawn”
From Osibisa
(Decca) 1971
Cymande
“The Message”
From Cymande
(Alaska) 1972
Dandy Livingstone
“Black Connection”
From Concious
(Mooncrest) 1973
Louisa Mark
“Caught You In A Lie”
From Caught You In A Lie
(Safari) 1975
Matumbi
“After Tonight”
From After Tonight/The Man In Me
(Trojan) 1976
I Jahman Levi
“Jah Heavy Load”
From Jah Heavy Load
(Concrete Jungle) 1976
Jimmy Lindsay
“Zimbabwe”
From Easy/Zimbabwe 7”
(White Label) 1976
Rico
“Man From Wareika”
From Man From Wareika
(Island) 1976
FBI
“FBI”
From FBI
(Good Earth) 1976
The Real Thing
“Children Of The Ghetto/Stanhope Street”
From 4 From 8
(Pye Records) 1977
Junior English
“In Loving You”
From In Loving You 7”
(Burning Sounds) 1977
Poet And The Roots
“Dread An' Beat Blood”
From Dread An' Beat Blood
(Virgin) 1978
Lion Youth
“Rat A Cut Bottle”
From Rat A Cut Bottle/Rat A Cut Bottle Dub 7”
(Virgo Stomach) 1978
Janet Kay
“Silly Games”
From Silly Games 12”
(Scope) 1979
UB40
“Burden Of Shame”
From Signing Off
(Graduate) 1980
The Beat
“Mirror In The Bathroom”
From I Just Can’t Stop It
(Go Feet) 1980
Light Of The World
“The Boys In Blue”
From The Boys In Blue/This Is This
(Ensign) 1980
Dennis Bovell
“Manhunter”
From Babylon OST
(Chrysalis) 1980
Junior
“Mama Used To Say”
From Mama Used To Say 12"
(Mercury) 1981
Sharon Little
“Don't Mash Up Creation”
From Don't Mash Up Creation 7”
(One Love) 1981
Ranking Ann
“Kill The Police Bill”
From A Slice Of English Toast
(Ariwa) 1982
Newtrament
“London Bridge Is Falling Down”
From London Bridge Is Falling Down 7”
(Jive) 1983
Candy McKenzie
“Remind Me”
From Remind Me 12”
(Intense) 1983
Papa Levi
“Riot Ina Birmingham”
(unknown) 1985
Macka B
“Run Rushdie Run”
From Dread A Who She Love/Run Rushdie Run 7”
(Ariwa) 1989
Caron Wheeler
“UK Blak”
From UK Blak 12”
(EMI) 1990
Mica Paris
“I Should’ve Known Better”
From I Should've Known Better 12”
(4th and Broadway) 1990
Cookie Crew
“Secrets (Of Success)”
From Secrets (Of Success) 12”
(FFRR) 1991
Junior Giscombe
“Morning Will Come”
From Morning Will Come 12”
(MCA) 1991
Monie Love
“Monie In The Middle”
From Monie In The Middle 12”
(Chrysalis) 1990
The Escofferys
“Look Who’s Loving Me”
From Opinions
(Atlantic) 1991
Rebel MC
“The Wickedest Sound”
From Black Meaning Good
(Desire) 1991
88.3 featuring Lisa May
“Wishing On A Star”
From Wishing On A Star 12”
(Urban Gorilla) 1995
Wookie
“VCF”
From Wookie
(S2S) 2000
Rodney P
“The Future”
From The Future
(Riddim Killa) 2002
The Bug
“Skeng” featuring Killa P & Flow Dan
From Skeng 12”
(Hyperdub) 2007
Lethal Bizzle
“Pow 2011” featuring JME, Wiley, 2Face, Ghetto, P Money, Chipmunk & Kano
From Pow 2011
(360) 2010
Cooly G
“Playin' Me”
From Playin' Me
(Hyperdub) 2012
Congo Natty
“London Dungeon”
From Revolt
(Future Waltz) 2015
Hak Baker
“I’m Skint”
(Soundcloud) 2018
Read all the articles in our special Windrush feature in The Wire 417. Subscribers can access it via the online archive.
Comments
Great selection, especially from the reagge-dub section in the 1970s, and some gems, but how come there is nothing from the acid jazz and trip hop scenes of the 1990s?!
Dror
Yeah I was thinking that, especially Young Discipkes and Mo Wax. Also no Bristol scene! Massive, Tricky, Roni Size. Not enough breakbeat/hardcore/jungle: no Metalheadz! And no jazz?!?! Can’t argue with the selections, so maybe you shoulda gone for 70 trax. Woulda made more sense: one for each year since Windrush arrived.
I agree the lack of any jazz other than Joe Harriott is surprising. I can see the conceptual thread that runs through this: the reggae continuum. And other than the Harriott all the selections are vocal tracks, no instrumentals. So maybe that explains it. But I would argue that the exclusion of the generation of British Afro Caribbean instrumentalists that emerged in the 80s performing jazz is to ignore a vital part of the story. They were attempting to define their place and assert their identity through their music as much as any other black British musicians of the time. The performance by Shabaka Hutchings at the Mercury Music Prize felt like a significant moment in this respect - his group blew all the other performers that night off the stage. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the advances made towards defining a distinctly black British instrumental music that Courtney Pine and The Jazz Warriors and others had made a generation earlier.
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