Latin Quarter

Latin Quarter (2012)

Latin Quarter is an English pop band that existed from 1983 to 1998 and made a comeback in 2011.

history

Latin Quarter was founded in August 1983 by Steve Skaith and Mike Jones, both previously members of a human rights organization , and Richard Wright. Skaith was a singer and guitarist , Wright also played guitar. Jones was "only" a lyricist, but was always considered a permanent member of the group without playing an instrument or singing. Yona Dunsford (vocals, keyboards ) and Carol Douet (vocals) joined them later in the year . From the beginning it was the intention of the group to combine politically and socially relevant texts with catchy melodies in order to be able to present their message to the broadest possible public.

This concept seemed to work as early as 1984, when the first single, Radio Africa , which dealt with the political developments on the African continent at the time , achieved a respectable chart success and brought the group into conversation, who immediately before had met Greg Harewood ( bass ), Steve Jeffries (keyboard) and Rikki Stevens ( drums ) had joined three other musicians. After the success of Radio Africa , the Rockin 'Horse Records label signed the band; the following year, the first album was released with Modern Times . Latin Quarter then continued the political line - among other things with the title America for Beginners , in which the shift to the right in the USA was deplored since Ronald Reagan took office . The theme song Modern Times dealt with the McCarthy era . The album was a success in continental Europe , reaching the top 20 in the German charts , but was hardly noticed in the UK.

In 1987 the album Mick and Caroline followed . Jeffries and Stevens were replaced by Martin Lascalles (keyboards) and Darren Abraham (drums). The musical variety and the range of topics, which continued to express political commitment, could not hide the lack of commercial success; The group also complained about a lack of support from the record company. In 1989 Latin Quarter switched to the British RCA label, on which the third album Swimming Against the Stream was released. The band at that time consisted only of Skaith, Harewood, Dunsford, Wright and the lyricist Jones; the remaining members had left due to the lack of success. This publication did not have high sales figures either, despite (or perhaps because of) the again demanding texts. Since the marketing did not meet the group's expectations either, the cooperation with RCA England was quickly ended. A new contract was signed with RCA Germany relatively quickly, but a regular album was never released. Problems within the band led to their breakup. In 1990 only Nothing Like Velvet was released , a compilation of B-sides, live recordings and demo tapes. This includes February 1990 , a clear political statement in favor of the Nicaraguan Sandinista .

During its entire existence the band had been quite popular, especially in Germany, which is why it was hardly surprising that a German label, Cloud Nine Records , approached Skaith and Jones in 1992 and offered a collaboration. The result was the 1993 album Long Pig , which again contained numerous commentaries on current political events. In addition to Skaith and Jones, Wright was the last permanent member of the band. But the bad luck remained true to the Latin Quarter . The record was again a failure, the label went broke.

The trio did not give up and in 1996 they signed a contract with the German label SPV . Bringing Rosa Home appeared here the following year . Skaith got involved in songwriting alongside Jones , although his lyrics ( Angel , Branded ) were more personal than socially critical. Bringing Rosa Home, however, suffered even more than its predecessor from the lack of the vocal variety that Yona Dunsford had previously provided. Depressed by the album's lack of success, the three remaining band members eventually broke up Latin Quarter .

Mike Jones, frustrated by the lack of success the Latin Quarter had in spite of its many years of commitment, later took up a position as course director at the Institute for Popular Music at the University of Liverpool . Steve Skaith put together a new group with the Steve Skaith Band , which next to him consisted entirely of Mexican musicians. With her he released the albums Mexile (2003), Empires & Us (2005) and Imaginary Friend (2007).

In the course of 2009 Skaith recorded an album with new versions of Latin Quarter classics together with musicians from his new adopted home Bournemouth (southern England), which was released in January 2010 as Latin Quarter Revisited . In November 2009, the Steve Skaith Band toured extensively through Germany with the line-up Steve Skaith (vocals, guitar), Ricardo Serrano (drums), Catherine Burke (flute, mandolin, clarinet, backing vocals) and Anthony Machell (electric bass).

In 2011 the band got back together with the original line-up (Greg Harewood, Yona Dunsford, Steve Jeffries, Steve Skaith and Mike Jones) and recorded an album with new songs. Ocean Head was released in February 2012. In addition to individual appearances in Great Britain (London, Liverpool, Bournemouth), Latin Quarter played a tour through Germany in February / March 2012. In March 2014 the album Tilt was released. In 2015 Steve Skaith released the album "Bare Bones" with new recordings of his pieces composed for the Latin Quarter.

On September 16, 2016, the band released the album The Imagination of Thieves , again largely composed by Steve Skaith. The band then went on tour through Germany with a few concluding concerts in Great Britain. The - exclusively male - line-up were Steve Skaith (vocals, guitar), Steve Jeffries (keyboard), Martin Ditcham (percussion) and, as a new member, the South African bassist Yo Yo Buys.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1986	Modern Times	DE24 (13 weeks) DE	-	UK91 (2 weeks) UK
1987	Mick and Caroline	DE20 (11 weeks) DE	CH26 (2 weeks) CH	UK96 (1 week) UK
1989	Swimming Against the Stream	DE38 (8 weeks) DE	-	-

More studio albums

• 1993: Long Pig
• 1997: Bringing Rosa Home
• 2012: Ocean Head
• 2014: Tilt
• 2016: The Imagination of Thieves
• 2018: Pantomime of Wealth

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1997	Radio Africa	DE76 (... weeks) DE	-	-

More compilations

• 1990: Nothing Like Velvet

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1985	Toulouse Modern Times	-	-	UK93 (1 week) UK
1986	Radio Africa Modern Times	-	-	UK19 (15 weeks) UK
	Modern Times Modern Times	-	-	UK85 (3 weeks) UK
	America for Beginners Modern Times	-	-	UK99 (1 week) UK
1987	Nomzamo (One People One Cause) Mick and Caroline	-	-	UK73 (2 weeks) UK

More singles

• 1985: The New Millionaires
• 1985: No Rope as Long as Time
• 1987: I (Together)
• 1989: Blameless
• 1989: Swimming Against the Stream
• 1989: Dominion / We kill what we love
• 1990: Truth About John
• 1997: Bringing Rosa Home
• 1997: Branded
• 1997: Angel
• 2011: Even Superman (Is Dead)
• 2012: If I Believed in God
• 2015: I Am Refugee

Video albums

• 2006: Live at Full House (DVD, concert recording from March 5, 1986 from Hanover)

swell

1. ^ The Unofficial Music Site of Latin Quarter. In: www.latinquartermusic.com. Latin Quarter Music, 2016, accessed September 16, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Schedule: Latin Quarter. In: www.tif-bremerhaven.de. TiF Bremerhaven, September 2016, accessed on September 16, 2016 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums US

Web links

Commons : Latin Quarter  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Latin Quarter at Allmusic (English)
• Latin Quarter at Discogs (English)
• Radio Africa - German fansite
• Steve Skaith Band