What is Lovers Rock ?
Lovers Rock can be described as mainly UK produced reggae love songs.
Most of the songs were sung by second generation Afro caribbeans,
sons and daughters of the Windrush generation. At this time
most of their music was influenced by reggae
produced in Jamaica, and this was a progression from that but producing
something which meant
something to them that grew up in the UK.
Most of these songs were written in the mid 1970's to mid 1980's and
could
be heard on Tony Williams or David Rodigans respective radio reggae
shows on a Sunday Afternoon.
The music was also promoted by various speciality record shops and this
is
where you could find the likes of me and the various other DJ's lurking
about
on a saturday afternoon hoping to bag the hottest tunes of the day.
Things really came alive on Saturday night when the house parties would
be
in full swing and you would play your latest tunes to the
crowd
who waited in anticipation to hear what you had in you record box.
I personally loved playing the lovers rock tracks produced by the
females
and my personal favourite artiste is Marie Pierre.
I can't forget to mention Janet Kay (Silly Games), Jean adebambo
(Paradise)
and of course Louisa (Six Street) Marks.
I together with my cousin Ricky D (Now in Special Edition) started a
sound system
called Limited control.We later renamed the sound Nuvision
where we were joined
by DJ lurch (Clive) who added a hip hop/ Rnb flavour to our line up.
We really did rock the parties back then, eventually playing in the
famous
'All Nations' club.
After doing stints on various pirate radio stations and rocking various
parties
and clubs we kind of wound things down after after years, but can still
bring a party
or wedding alive when we play. Ricky D is also now one of the St Lucia
Jazz festival DJ's.
