Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse are a British reggae band formed in 1975 in Birmingham, more precisely in the Handsworth district. The original line-up comprised David Hinds, Ronald "Ronnie Stepper" MacQueen (bass), Selwyn D. Brown (vocals, keyboards) and Basil Gabbidon (vocals, guitar), who left the group with MacQueen in the first half of the 1980s).

Their first single was Kibudu Mansata Abuku, released on the Concrete Jungle label. The band first made its name on the international stage through its appearance at the Rock Against Racism festival, emblematic of the link between reggae and punk rock in England, and supported Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1978.

Steel Pulse recruited Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett (drums), Alphonso "Phonso" Martin (vocals, percussion) and Michael Riley (vocals, percussion), who left the line-up after the release of the first album, Handsworth Revolution, released in 1978. The album contained the successful socially conscious songs Ku Klux Klan, which denounces the conservatism and racism of British society in the late 1970s, Handsworth Revolution, Prodigal Son, Soldiers, Bad Man and Sound Check, as well as the ganja tune Macka Splaff, which closes the album.

Their first three albums were produced by Karl Pitterson (who worked with Bob Marley, Aswad, etc.), with the support of sound engineer Godwyn Logie. In 1986, their album Babylon the Bandit, released the previous year, won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album of the Year.