Narratives from Beyond the UK Reggae Bassline

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Narratives from the Bassline

   • William ‘Lez’ Henry, Matthew Worley

   Pages 1-5

3. Vexed History: Time and the Waning of Heart-I-Cal Philosophy

   • Paul Gilroy

   Pages 7-28

4. Reggae Culture as Local Knowledge: Mapping the Beats on South East London Streets

   • William ‘Lez’ Henry, Les Back

   Pages 29-57

5. A Who Seh? Reflections of a Lost and Found Dub Poet

   • Martin Glynn

   Pages 59-83

6. ‘What a Devilment a Englan!’ Dub Poets and Ranters

   • Tim Wells

   Pages 85-100

7. Smiley Culture: A Hybrid Voice for the Commonwealth

   • Lucy Robinson

   Pages 101-123

8. The Story of Nzinga Soundz and the Women’s Voice in Sound System Culture

   • Lynda Rosenior-Patten, June Reid

   Pages 125-142

9. Sound-Tapes and Soundscapes: Lo-Fi Cassette Recordings as Vectors of Cultural Transmission

   • Kenny Monrose

   Pages 143-162

10. ‘Dem a Call Us Pirates, Dem a Call Us Illegal Broadcasters!’: ‘Pirates’ Anthem’, PCRL and the Struggle for Black Free Radio in Birmingham

    • Lisa Amanda Palmer

    Pages 163-183

11. Rebel Music in the Rebel City: The Performance Geography of the Nottingham ‘Blues Party’, 1957–1987

    • Tom Kew

    Pages 185-207

12. ‘Curious Roots & Crafts’: Record Shops and Record Labels Amid the British Reggae Diaspora

    • Peter Hughes Jachimiak

    Pages 209-232

13. From Sound Systems to Disc Jockeys, from Local Bands to Major Success: On Bristol’s Crucial Role in Integrating Reggae and Jamaican Music in British Culture

    • Melissa Chemam

    Pages 233-247

14. Growing Up Under the Influence: A Sonic Genealogy of Grime

    • Joy White

    Pages 249-268

15. Sound Systems and the Christian Deviation

    • Carl Tracey

    Pages 269-288

16. Handsworth Revolution: Reggae Theomusicology, Gospel Borderlands and Delinking Black British Contemporary Gospel Music from Colonial Christianity

    • Robert Beckford

    Pages 289-314

17. Back Matter

    Pages 315-320

    PDF

This book explores the history of reggae in modern Britain from the time it emerged as a cultural force in the 1970s. As basslines from Jamaica reverberated across the Atlantic, so they were received and transmitted by the UK’s Afro-Caribbean community. From roots to lovers’ rock, from deejays harnessing the dancehall crowd to dub poets reporting back from the socio-economic front line, British reggae soundtracked the inner-city experience of black youth. In time, reggae’s influence permeated the wider culture, informing the sounds and the language of popular music whilst also retaining a connection to the street-level sound systems, clubs and centres that provided space to create, protest and innovate. This book is therefore a testament to struggle and ingenuity, a collection of essays tracing reggae’s importance to both the culture and the politics of late twentieth and early twenty-first century Britain.

• Afro-Carribean community
• British reggae
• youth culture
• race
• grime

• School of Human and Social Sciences, University of West London, London, UK

  William 'Lez' Henry

• University of Reading, Reading, UK

  Matthew Worley

William 'Lez' Henry is Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the University of West London, UK.

Matt Worley is Professor of Modern History at the University of Reading, UK and a co-founder of the Subcultures Network.

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