The Cultural Impact Of Reggae & Soul In Great Britain | Our History

Comments · 76

• JE

  @jetblakink · 8 months ago

  Very interesting, and glad I've come across it. As a black person who grew up in this period, on the reggae side of things, in secondary school I had friends who were on the soul side, and it was like being from a different planet. Both sides felt that we were on the right side, and couldn't really understand why anyone would not be on our side. There was a lot of rivalry between us, but it was mostly all fun and jokes. What I didn't realise back then, was that what both groups were actually doing, was rejecting the space where we were living, the UK! Soulheads, as we used to call them, were not accepting the system as the video suggests, they were escaping the reality of life in the UK, by adopting black soul music, which had little to nothing to do with where we were living. It was a different form of escapism from the reggae heads, or rude boys as we were known as, but it was deffo escapism. Their fashions were not British, there music was not British, there dance moves were not British, nothing about what they did, endorsed the system, or British way of life!… Everyone could clearly witness the roots man's rebellion, right down to the way we even walked, but the soulhead's rebellion was more slick, it was more covert.  You must remember it was the white people that came over into Black soul, not the black people coming over into some already existing white culture!… which is how it was wrongly painted. Decades later, those same white people finally came across into reggae, and the dances today look like how the soul one's did back in the day. Soul is still not my thing, but it would be helpful to remember where it came from, and what is was about. Soul is about connecting, and making a connection with something deep down within. I think it always had a similar goal to reggae, but just aims to get there from a different direction.

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• RO

  @rootsmacca · 1 year ago

  This footage is actually from my personal archive which I obtained directly from ITV Archives many years ago. I had intended to share it but sadly it was 'borrowed' from my collection, then plastered all over the internet. And I can prove it! Still, it's out there now!

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• ST

  @stdoch · 9 months ago (edited)

  Walls of jericho by  freddie mcgreggor ... what a roots tune that is....glad i went to a shaka dance...that big old tube amp he had sounded sweet...great vibes.... but to be fair some of that 70s soul music is still wicked also...

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• DE

  @deea5508 · 8 months ago (edited)

  Wow we wanted so bad to belong. <br><br>Growing up my older siblings &nbsp;were all into reggae. I always felt and connected with the sentiment and message of reggae but alternatively loved the scene and style of soul. I still love them both.

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• CL

  @clarendoncampbell1127 · 8 months ago

  i remember watching this when it was first broadcast i was at school.<br><br>they are missing two important things. The music was not split into two camps. the biggest growing genre in British reggae at the time was Lover’s Rock. it was a fusion of reggae and soul. a lot of classic lovers rock were reggae covers of soul tunes. It began when Lloyd Coxsone a legendary reggae soundman contemporary of Shaka produced the first lovers rock record after he organised a singing contest and released Louisa Mark‘caught you in a lie’. <br><br>Why wasn’t he in that documentary? or other soundman like Fatman who also mixed and played both? He and Shaka also played lovers rock people don’t know that but Shaka did in certain dances<br><br>There are soul and rare groove jazz funk raves then even today that are mainly black with no anti white vibes. The DJs in the mixed soul scenes many from essex played different to the mainly black crowd<br><br>in reggae especially roots and dub now most of the crowd are white . go to the carnival see Channel One Aba Shanti also Shaka. he had a residency in Southall a large asian following also done Asian producers made tunes for him that he played. Same with Bob Marley in 79 he was biggest band in the world playing to over 120,000 people in Milan italy. Today the biggest roots and dub sound system festival is held in Austria with mainly white roots sounds a lot from japan! <br><br>can someone name the soul clubs and DJs in the video

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• CD

  @cdmarkandu · 8 months ago

  Very interesting film. Gave me a deeper education and insight into reggae that I am embarrassed to say I have missed despite my love of it.

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• AF

  @afrocentricalbion · 3 years ago

  This documentary is an &nbsp;interesting but dated snapshot of a period in time. Both genres of music have moved on considerably since this was made (1979), and little of it would feature in the playlists of a young person today. For my part, as a child of Jamaican migrants, I listen to very little modern reggae, even though reggae was one of the first genres of music that I was exposed to. There is a wealth of music to listen to and modern technology makes it all available. Find what moves you and enjoy it.

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• DA

  @danielsantiagourtado3430 · 3 years ago

  Love this channel and its doccumentaries!

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• TA

  @TatayK · 8 months ago (edited)

  It&apos;s interesting to see what happened in Britain with Blacks there. In the States at that time I was around their age. I used listen to everything, from soul, rock, pop, reggae, bosanova, soul, Jazz, Jazz fusion, country and Western, classical, I loved it all and still do. We had more of a variety of music to be exposed to and to choose from in this country than in England. America was the center for the world music scene back then. We were truly blessed.

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• KU

  @KuttyJoe · 4 months ago

  Reggae music is something so special. &nbsp;In my mind, it&apos;s the most special and powerful music I&apos;ve ever experienced. &nbsp;Growing up in America in the 70s and 80s, I of course was very much into R&amp;B, but Reggae was something entirely different. &nbsp;Reggae music was a spiritual experience.

• AL

  @Alexander-b7g · 1 year ago

  &quot;I am interested in this film;&quot;

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• RE

  @recardobrown · 2 months ago

  The first minute of this video really brought back good memories, I was sixteen when I first listened to Shaka, never seen so many rasta it was like I was on another planet, loved the music, no trouble good vibes 😊