Lovers Rock History

The History of Lovers Rock:

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 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.

The history of British reggae is customarily told through 1970s bands like Aswad and Steel Pulse, acts modelled on Marley’s Wailers but who gave Jamaica’s pulse an Anglo twist. Alongside them came the punky cross-pollinations of The Clash, The Police and The Slits, followed by the ska-pop of The Specials and Madness.
Yet for the teens and twenties of black Britain in the late seventies and early eighties, the era’s defining sounds were found mostly in the sound system and blues dance. Here, cavernous dub and militancy had to share space with the more immediate demands of young love and the desire to be wrapped in a warm embrace. The crowded, darkened dancefloor was the spawning ground of Lovers Rock, whose slow, stickily sweet tunes became a genre as distinctly British as 2-Tone, albeit one less celebrated.
Beginning with Louisa Mark’s 1975 hit “Caught You In A Lie”, homegrown romantic reggae grew into a mini-industry, with female singers (and fans) to the fore. The Lovers Rock label (the name came from an Augustus Pablo tune) sealed the generic title and with Matumbi’s Dennis Bovell masterminding, turned out a stream of hits. The singers’ youth was a characteristic; Brown Sugar’s Kofi recalls going to sixth form to be told by a friend that the trio’s “I’m In Love With The Dreadlocks” had topped the reggae charts.
While such hits sold by the crate load, few Lover’s singles crossed over to the national charts, Janet Kay’s 1979 “Silly Games”, another Bovell production, being the exception. Mostly the music stayed within the black community, as important a part of its identity as the era’s more feted bands. “Lover’s gave a new generation a voice and an escape,” says author Neferatiti Ife, adding that the music’s sentimentality and obsession with two-timing and break-up had “a healing element – we could go through anger.”

As the 1980s progressed, sound systems specialising in Lovers Rock, notably Saxon, produced solo stars, among them Maxi Priest (still the only Brit reggae singer

to top the US charts, with “Close To You”) and Levi Roots. The latter, now a noted foody, decribes Lover’s as “Britain’s special contribution to the recipe of reggae”.

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