Aswad

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aswad (2007)

Aswad (Arabic for "black") is a British reggae - band , has been particularly successful in the late 1980s and 1990s, in the early years. It consisted of the musicians Donald "Dee" Griffiths ( guitar ; * 1954 in Jamaica ), Brinsley "Dan" Forde (vocals, guitar; * October 16, 1952 in Guyana ), Courtney Hemmings ( keyboard ), Angus "Drummie Zeb" Gaye ( Drums , vocals; born September 24, 1959 in London ) and Ras George Oban ( bass ), who was also active as George Levy and in 1980, the year he founded his own Motion project, by Dennis Anthony "Gad" Robinson (vocals, bass; * November 11, 1957 in London) was replaced.

history

The group formed in London in 1975. In 1976 they became the first British reggae band to sign with Island Records . But initially there was no success. Only placements in the reggae charts could be noted. It was a constant up and down and she switched between small and large record labels a few times .

In 1986 the management was changed and the group shrank to a trio . 1988 had to that of Diane Warren and Albert Hammond written title Do not Turn Around a No. 1 position in the UK charts . The original was sung by Tina Turner .

Before this hit rating, Aswad attracted attention through critical lyrics rather than pop cover versions . After the great success of Don't Turn Around , she played more and more foreign compositions, including the direct single successors Give a Little Love (again written by Albert Hammond and already published by Albert Hammond) and Beauty's Only Skin Deep ( The Temptations ) .

Your political and social engagement, e.g. B. in the form of charity appearances and actions for disaster victims, disabled children and against racism or drugs, the band kept uncompromisingly.

In 2009 Drummie Zeb and Tony Gad released another album called City Lock . The number of Aswad compilations is - not least because of the many label affiliations - unmanageable.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1982 Not satisfied - - - UK50 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
1983 Live and Direct - - - UK57 (16 weeks)
UK 		-
1984 Rebel Souls - - - UK48 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
1986 To the top - - - UK71 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
1988 Distant Thunder - - - UK10
gold
gold

(15 weeks)UK 		US173 (7 weeks)
US
1988 Renaissance - - - UK52 (8 weeks)
UK 		-
1990 Too wicked - - - UK51 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
1994 Rise and Shine - - - UK38 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
2002 Cool summer reggae - - - UK54 (1 week)
UK 		-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

  • 1976: Aswad
  • 1979: Hulet
  • 1981: New Chapter
  • 1982: A New Chapter of Dub
  • 1985: In Addis Ababa Studio ( Jah Shaka meets Aswad)
  • 1993: Firesticks
  • 1995: Dub: The Next Frontier
  • 1995: Rise and Shine Again!
  • 1997: Big Up
  • 1997: The BBC Sessions
  • 1999: Roots Revival
  • 2000: 25 Live
  • 2009: City Lock

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1995 Greatest hits - - - UK20 (3 weeks)
UK 		-

More compilations

  • 1981: Showcase
  • 1988: Renaissance: 20 Crucial Tracks
  • 1989: Crucial Tracks: Best of Aswad
  • 1997: Roots Rocking: The Island Anthology (2 CDs)
  • 1997: Don't Turn Around
  • 1999: Classic. The Universal Master Collection
  • 2000: Millennium Edition
  • 2004: The Best of Aswad
  • 2009: The BBC Sessions (2 CDs)
  • 2009: Reggae Warriors: The Best of Aswad (2 CDs)

Singles

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1984 Chasing for the Breeze
Rebel Souls 		- - - UK51 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Gaye , B. Forde , Robinson
54 46 Was My Number
Rebel Souls 		- - - UK70 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
1988 Don't Turn Around
Distant Thunder 		DE29 (9 weeks)
DE 		- CH13 (7 weeks)
CH 		UK1
silver
silver

(12 weeks)UK 		-
Authors: Diane Warren , Albert Hammond
Original: Tina Turner , 1986 (as B-side )
Give a Little Love
Distant Thunder 		DE58 (5 weeks)
DE 		- - UK11 (8 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Diane Warren, Albert Hammond
Original: Hammond & West , 1986
Set Them Free
Distant Thunder 		- - - UK70 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Gaye, B. Forde, Robinson
1989 Beauty's Only Skin Deep
Crucial Tracks 		- - - UK31 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Norman Whitfield , Eddie Holland
Original: The Temptations , 1966
On and On
Crucial Tracks 		- - - UK25 (8 weeks)
UK 		-
Author and original: Stephen Bishop , 1976
1990 Next to You
Too Wicked 		- - - UK24 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Gaye, B. Forde, L. Forde , Robinson
Smile
Too Wicked 		- - - UK53 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Gaye, B. Forde, L. Forde, Robinson
feat. Sweetie Irie (aka Dean Bent)
1991 Too Wicked
Too Wicked 		- - - UK61 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
1993 How Long
One on One 		DE52 (8 weeks)
DE 		- - UK31 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
with Yazz
Author: Paul Carrack , Original: Ace , 1974
Dancehall Mood
Rise And Shine Again! 		- - - UK48 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Drummie Zeb, Tony Gad,
Brinsley Forde, Tommy D, Nico Dredd
1994 Shine
Rise And Shine Again! 		DE39 (13 weeks)
DE 		AT12 (7 weeks)
AT 		- UK5
silver
silver

(14 weeks)UK 		-
Authors: Aswad, Jo Cang
Warriors
Rise And Shine Again! 		- - - UK33 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
Authors: Alan Glass, Amanda Glanfield,
Gary Benson, Henry Priestman, Paul Carter
We Are One People
Rise And Shine Again! 		DE96 (2 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
from the soundtrack Asterix in America
1995 You're No Good
Rise And Shine Again! 		DE88 (5 weeks)
DE 		- - UK35 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
Author: Clint Ballard Jr.
Original: Dee Dee Warwick , 1963
If I Was
Big Up 		- - - UK58 (1 week)
UK 		-
Authors: Ricky Rainbow, Braithwaite, Jo Cang, Aswad
1998 Invisible Sun
Roots Revival 		DE97 (5 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
Guest singer and author: Sting
2002 Shy Guy
Cool Summer Reggae 		- - - UK62 (1 week)
UK 		-
Authors: D. King, Andy Marvel, Kingsley Gardner
feat. Easther Bennett , Original: Diana King , 1995

More singles

  • 1976: Back to Africa
  • 1976: Three Babylon
  • 1978: It's Not Our Wish (That We Should Fight)
  • 1979: Don't Bite the Hand (with Johnny Osborne)
  • 1980: Bloody City ( Dennis Brown feat. Aswad)
  • 1980: Warrior Charge
  • 1980: Rainbow Culture
  • 1981: Ways of the Lord
  • 1981: Finger Gun Style
  • 1981: Babylon
  • 1982: Pass the Cup
  • 1982: African Children Part 2
  • 1982: Girl's Got to Know
  • 1982: Aswad Dub - Free 10 "
  • 1983: African Children
  • 1983: Roots Rockin
  • 1983: Promised Land (with Dennis Brown)
  • 1984: Need Your Love
  • 1984: Struggle (with Patrick Andy)
  • 1984: Me Nah Run / When You Are Young (with Michael Palmer and Jackie Parris)
  • 1985: Bubbling
  • 1985: Kool Noh
  • 1986: Pull Up
  • 1987: Hooked on You
  • 1990: Fire
  • 1991: Best of My Love
  • 1995: Fever
  • 1997: version
  • 1997: One Shot Chilla
  • 1997: Roxanne
  • 1999: Roots Revival - The Dub Versions
  • 1999: Caution
  • 1999: Follow '99
  • 2005: Shine 2005
  • 2009: Do That Thing
  • 2009: Calling
  • 2009: What Is Love?
  • 2010: City Lock

swell

  1. ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums US1 US2
  2. ↑ a b c gold / platinum databases: DE AT CH UK US

Web links