Steel Pulse — Reggae Sunsplash, 1981

Live capture of Steel Pulse at Reggae Sunsplash, the great Jamaican festival at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, in the early 1980s. Coming from Handsworth, a district of Birmingham, Steel Pulse was then the spearhead of British roots reggae: driven by the landmark album Handsworth Revolution, the band blended Rasta messages, political consciousness and polished vocal harmonies. Playing Sunsplash, on Jamaican soil, was a consecration for this English group, and their set there left such a mark that it was partly released on record. On stage, David Hinds and his bandmates unfold a dense, militant reggae — deep bass, airy keyboards, committed harmonies — that embodies the genre’s internationalization at the turn of the 1980s. This filmed live concert is a precious testimony to a pivotal era, when roots reggae was conquering the world from the Caribbean. For lovers of conscious reggae and for the musically curious, this Steel Pulse performance in Montego Bay captures the energy and fervor of a festival that became legendary.