Post by blade on Nov 8, 2011 9:08:57 GMT
Here’s a band for people with a social conscience. It’s going back a bit too, to the period 1985-1990, when big hair and shoulder pads were in fashion. But Latin Quarter didn’t care about fashion. They sang about serious political and cultural issues of global import, such as apartheid, the ecological impact of nuclear weapons testing, the rich countries’ selfish interests in Africa, American intervention in Nicaragua, the ‘disappeared’ of Chile under General Pinochet, the excesses of capitalism, the extermination of endangered species for profit, industrial unrest, cheque-book journalism, the 1950s Communist witch-hunt in the USA, yuppies, football hooliganism, soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress, the sex trade, corporate greed, poverty in city ghettos – the list goes on.
If all that sounds incredibly dull, you can be assured that it isn’t; their music was lively and highly listenable, being heavily reggae and dance influenced. The songs, with lyrics that were deliberately designed to set the listener thinking, were written by main singer Steve Skaith and lyricist Mike Jones, who wasn’t an instrument-playing member of the band. Backing singers Carol Douet and Yona Dunsford also took turns at lead vocals, giving Latin Quarter a rare freshness and variety of sound, epitomised by their 1985 debut album ‘Modern Times’, an appropriate album title considering its subject matter.
Their second album ‘Mick and Caroline’ (1987) was a commercial and critical flop, but they got back on track with their third album, ‘Swimming Against The Stream’ in 1989. One track from this album, “Dominion” (the one about endangered species) sends a shiver up the spine, the lyrics evocative, the background beat full of foreboding: “What he lives alongside, is just merchandise, for those who don't know the value, but are hot on the price’…. ‘nothing that’s living is safe or remote, a lizard is slit from its tail to its throat’.
With Thatcherism in full swing, some sensitive British radio stations would only play tracks from ‘Modern Times’ at night due to the band’s leftist views, and Latin Quarter continued to struggle to get airplay because of the controversial nature of their songs. Nevertheless, their biography states they were ‘unfaltering in their commitment to speak against oppression.’ Disillusioned by the music business, which demanded the commercial success Latin Quarter were never likely to find, they split up in 1990, ironically just as their most hated regime, apartheid, was coming to an end with the release of Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately, however, many of the other undesirable and problematical issues that they desired to bring to the world’s attention by the medium of music, are still with us.
Latin Quarter – Radio Africa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF79sN_8g3E
Latin Quarter – Dominion
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQnfL1m0qs
Latin Quarter – America For Beginners
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUVTXppFRbI
Latin Quarter – Modern Times
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E7oVjkcJSQ&feature=related
Latin Quarter – Blameless
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx7r_rMRxK0
Latin Quarter – Swimming Against The Stream
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMEu0dR3c8
Latin Quarter – Toulouse
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbb71G-yVLU&feature=related
Latin Quarter – No Rope As Long As Time
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHO-lagGkU&feature=related
Latin Quarter – Truth About John
www.youtube.com/watch?v=enFb3_bC7SA&feature=related
If all that sounds incredibly dull, you can be assured that it isn’t; their music was lively and highly listenable, being heavily reggae and dance influenced. The songs, with lyrics that were deliberately designed to set the listener thinking, were written by main singer Steve Skaith and lyricist Mike Jones, who wasn’t an instrument-playing member of the band. Backing singers Carol Douet and Yona Dunsford also took turns at lead vocals, giving Latin Quarter a rare freshness and variety of sound, epitomised by their 1985 debut album ‘Modern Times’, an appropriate album title considering its subject matter.
Their second album ‘Mick and Caroline’ (1987) was a commercial and critical flop, but they got back on track with their third album, ‘Swimming Against The Stream’ in 1989. One track from this album, “Dominion” (the one about endangered species) sends a shiver up the spine, the lyrics evocative, the background beat full of foreboding: “What he lives alongside, is just merchandise, for those who don't know the value, but are hot on the price’…. ‘nothing that’s living is safe or remote, a lizard is slit from its tail to its throat’.
With Thatcherism in full swing, some sensitive British radio stations would only play tracks from ‘Modern Times’ at night due to the band’s leftist views, and Latin Quarter continued to struggle to get airplay because of the controversial nature of their songs. Nevertheless, their biography states they were ‘unfaltering in their commitment to speak against oppression.’ Disillusioned by the music business, which demanded the commercial success Latin Quarter were never likely to find, they split up in 1990, ironically just as their most hated regime, apartheid, was coming to an end with the release of Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately, however, many of the other undesirable and problematical issues that they desired to bring to the world’s attention by the medium of music, are still with us.
Latin Quarter – Radio Africa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF79sN_8g3E
Latin Quarter – Dominion
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQnfL1m0qs
Latin Quarter – America For Beginners
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUVTXppFRbI
Latin Quarter – Modern Times
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E7oVjkcJSQ&feature=related
Latin Quarter – Blameless
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx7r_rMRxK0
Latin Quarter – Swimming Against The Stream
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMEu0dR3c8
Latin Quarter – Toulouse
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbb71G-yVLU&feature=related
Latin Quarter – No Rope As Long As Time
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHO-lagGkU&feature=related
Latin Quarter – Truth About John
www.youtube.com/watch?v=enFb3_bC7SA&feature=related
