Steel Pulse does it for British reggae bands

This is the final in a series of stories looking at the influence Jamaican music has had on pop culture in Britain. Today, we reflect on Steel Pulse's 1982 album, True Democracy.

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Not many music fans outside of Britain were familiar with reggae bands from that country in the early 1970s. Steel Pulse changed all that in 1982 with their album, True Democracy.

Twenty-nine years after it was released by Elektra Records, True Democracy is hailed as a classic by reggae aficionados. It represents Steel Pulse and lead vocalist/songwriter David Hinds on top of their game.

In his review for the respected Allmusic.com website, Rick Anderson described True Democracy as "one of Steel Pulse's most satisfying and fully realised albums".

True Democracy contained Chant A Psalm, Worth His Weight In Gold (Rally Round), Blues Dance Raid and Your House. Those songs not only solidified Steel Pulse's standing as Britain's top reggae band but reinforced their reputation with Jamaicans.

The band, then a sextet, had made its triumphant Jamaican debut at Reggae Sunsplash at Jarrett Park in August 1981.

At the dawn of the 1980s, Steel Pulse were rated along with Aswad and Misty In Roots as the leading British reggae bands. Their members, including Hinds, were mainly first-generation Britons of Caribbean descent who grew up in the Birmingham community of Handsworth.

Formed in 1975 as a trio, the group had grown to six members by the time they assembled in early 1982 at Feedback Studio in Denmark to record True Democracy. In addition to Hinds, their line-up included Selwyn Brown on keyboards, drummer Steve 'Grizzly' Nisbett, Ronald 'Stepper' McQueen on bass, percussionist Alphanso Martin and guitarist Basil Gabbidon.

It was the group's first album for Elektra, a major label which had achieved great success with pop acts like REO Speedwagon and The Cars as well as Guyana-born singer Eddy Grant.

Steel Pulse's previous albums, the hard-hitting Handsworth Revolution and Tribute To The Martyrs, were distributed by Island Records. Both were produced by Karl Pitterson, who was also at the helm for True Democracy.

Biggest assignment

Steel Pulse's biggest assignment to date was opening for Bob Marley on his European tour in 1978. Hinds, born in Handsworth to Jamaican parents, described it in an interview as "one of the most memorable moments of my career".

"Playing for audiences, especially in Paris where they saw the force of Steel Pulse and Bob Marley on the same bill, enabled us to sell out shows every time since," Hinds said.

Marley was one of the persons Hinds and other black youth looked up to in the early 1970s, a time of racial and social hostility in Britain. They were also struck by the music of dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson and teachings of Pan African giant Marcus Garvey and Muslim leader Malcolm X.

Those influences played were evident on Handsworth Revolution and Tribute To The Martyrs for which the gifted Hinds did most of the songwriting. He was just as dominant on True Democracy.

Hinds wrote three of the album's strongest songs: the spiritual opener Chant A Psalm, the repatriation anthem 'Rally Round' and Blues Dance Raid which looked at the harassment of Caribbean sound system operators by British police.

Your House was the only song on True Democracy not written by Hinds.

Penned by Martin, it remains one of the band's sleeper hits.

Typical of reggae albums of the day, True Democracy was not a hit in the United States, peaking at number 120 on the Billboard pop chart. It caught the ears of Jamaicans, however, and earned them a follow-up appearance at Sunsplash in 1982.

Reissued in 2005 to mark the band's 30th anniversary, True Democracy is regarded as Steel Pulse's finest moment. Though they won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1987 for Babylon The Bandit, their sound became watered-down after several mediocre albums for other major labels like MCA Records.

The band, now built around Hinds and Brown, still tours and records. In recent years, they have released a tribute song to then US presidential candidate Barack Obama and earthquake victims in Haiti.