Musical Youth is an Anglo-Jamaican group formed in 1979 formed by the parents of Kelvin and Michael Grant and Frederick and Patrick Waite. The Waite children whose father was a member of the Jamaican reggae group The Techniques.
From 1981, the young singers, while still in school, began to perform in pubs in Birmingham and produced a double Single "Generals" "Politicals" thanks to a local label. Singles that will go relatively unnoticed.
It's a part of John Peel’s show that will be a game-changer and give them more visibility. A boost amplified by the departure of Frederick Waite Jr, replaced by Dennis Seaton as lead singer.
The group released a new Single "Pass the dutchie" in 1982 (song inspired by the Mighty Diamonds track "Pass the koutchie", which actually speaks of circulating a pipe intended for smoking weed (!). Dutchie doing this time alluding to a special cooking pot to make the song cleaner) and this time, the result will be truly stunning. The title will be a worldwide hit and will undoubtedly remain as one of the biggest hits of the year 1982 and the decade of the 1980s. Almost 4 million copies will be sold worldwide.
The group's career is well and truly launched this time and allows the group to release their first album "The youth of today" the same year. Album which will in turn be a hit and produce a new top hit with the Single named after the album and to a lesser extent "Never gonna give you up" the following year in 1983.
Year 1983 which sees the release of their new album “Different style !”, album which will do much worse than its predecessor in terms of sales. A disaffection of the public which will amplify thereafter and only the Singles "Tell me why" and "She's trouble" will manage to come out of their game. They will obtain a last notorious hit thanks to the title "Unconditionnal love" that they performed with Donna Summer the same year.
The sequel will prove to be much more complicated for the group with a multitude of financial, legal and personal problems to deal with, problems which will permanently seal the fate of the group and lead it irreparably to its demise.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
80s Decade :
Generals/Political 1981
Pass the dutchie 1982
Youth of today 1982
Never gonna give you up 1983
Heartbreaker 1983
Tell me why ? 1983
Unconditionnal love 1983
007 1983
She’s trouble 1983
Sixteen 1984
Whatcha talking ‘Bout 1984
Let's go to the moon 1984
2000s Decade :
Pretty woman 2004
Mary's boy child/Oh my Lord 2009
2010s Decade :
The harder they come 2013
I shot the Sheriff 2018
2020s Decade :
Sharing the night together 2020
Tracks :
1981 ... a nice first title but nothing more. And which leaves nothing to imagine the HUGE sequel looming on the horizon ...
1982 ... then comes THIS title. A very simple title but which will prove to be extremely effective. The group simply signs here one of the biggest hits of the decade with a freshness and candor which totally renews the reggae niche for which they have opted. MAS-TER-FUL !
1982 ... a very nice sequel in which the little guys continue to spread their obvious good humor. But who will unfortunately not be able to compete with the previous jewel ...
1983 ... the rest will be a bit complicated to manage. Despite an obvious goodwill and a freshness all their own, they can no longer create the event as in the past. A hard law of the trade for which they were not necessarily prepared ...
1983 ... and yet the year 1983 will be particularly full of titles. But none will have the capacity to compete with their first title, a first title that will have absorbed all the best of their inspiration ...
1983 ... some titles will do better than others, fortunately. Including this one. But it is true that their stubbornness to stay whatever it is in the reggae niche necessarily isolates them, hence an additional difficulty in competing with the competition ...
1983... when we share the poster with Donna then at the height of her career it is that we have really become a group that counts as they say...
1983 ... all the titles of the year 1983 will be classified, anyway. The group still manages to maintain a dynamic that for the moment keeps them afloat. Hope it lasts ...
1983 ... the last title of the year. And something has changed, that's clear. A musical reorientation of Dance, in truth a luxury cover of a Michael Jackson track dating from 1981, which repositioned them in the race in a spectacular way and gave them hope for the future...
1984 ... unfortunately, the Dance reorientation was short lived. Back in pure Reggae mode. The sanction will not be made to wait : the group unscrews completely in the Charts and will never recover ...
1984 ... an end of the adventure which is approaching at speed S. They will have good to put all the ardor of their youth in the balance, when the dips are made and that the mass is said, it is useless to fight longer...
1984...one last title before turning the page, at least that's what we imagine. But it could be that the adventure does not stop here definitively...
2004...we thought the case was definitely over and here they are back almost 20 years later, who would have thought it possible. All thanks to this revisited version of Roy Orbison's cult title dating from 1964...
2009...their cover of 'Pretty woman' having not given much, they are now trying to try the special Christmas title adventure. Nice try but bet lost again...
2013...and here they are again 4 years later, still in luxury cover mode. This time it's the title of Jimmy Cliff dating from 1972 that they are trying to bring up to date...
2018... it's Bob Marley's turn to have their favors. But as on the previous title, and despite a desire to do well, there will be no return to favor on this one either...
2020... it's Arthur Alexander's turn and his 1976 title to be brought up to date. Nice try again but it will not change the situation unfortunately...
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Facebook Page :
https://www.facebook.com/musicalyouthofficial Greatest Hits :
Discography :