London based Rastafarians Steel Pulse come to town this Monday. Tickets are available HERE
It’s been 40 years since the debut album Handsworth Revolution introduced Steel Pulse to a worldwide audience. They have been exploring sonic boundaries ever since. Their consistent musical calls for peace and enlightenment have remained at the core of their 13 album discography. Three of those albums garnered Grammy Nominations for Best Reggae Album. 1986’s Babylon Bandit won the Grammy and marked the first time the award went to someone other than a Jamaican outfit.
Steel Pulse began in 1975 as the project of front man David “Dreads” Hinds, Basil Gabbidon and Ronald McQueen. All grew up on the hard streets of Birmingham, England and attended Handsworth Wood Boys School together. This was a period in British history with many similarities to the world we inhabit today. The English economy was bifurcated and a large segment of the working class population was struggling. Much of that anger turned on immigrants.
Despite their Birmingham roots, the lads bought in wholeheartedly to the sounds of Jamaica as well as all the tenets of the Rastafarian religion. That made it even tougher to find gigs in Birmingham which was a hotbed of racist leanings. In a savvy move, Steel Pulse walked away from the established local reggae scene and affiliated themselves with the burgeoning punk wave that was rising. They toured with The Police, The Clash, XTC and The Stranglers; all bands squarely immersed in the Rock Against Racism movement.
This was a time when there were no clear lines between working class skinhead punks, set on destroying the status quo and returning Britain to a more homogeneous past, and the punks who were being moved by the musical triplets of their favorite bands. Rock Against Racism sought to reach these youth before their embrace of racism and violence was set in stone. Despite forays into more dance hall and pop based styles, Steel Pulse has never strayed from that path. Every album is political, thought provoking and based on the premise that peace and love, not violence, is the way to enlightenment and a better world.
When you peruse the band’s website you won’t find much about the band. Instead you will be directed to the words and philophy of those they have followed: Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Haile Salasse, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. They continue to view themselves as messengers of Jah’s Kingdom. They will not stop until the world recognizes that without Justice there can be no Peace. Without Peace we will never find Justice.
Opening for Steel Pulse is San Diego based Tribal Seeds. Formed by brothers Steven and Tony Ray Jacobo in 2005. The band is getting ready to release its fifth album later this year and has busy touring with the likes of Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction.
