Wake Up the City

 
A scene from the Toxteth Riots in Liverpool, England, July 8, 1981.

During racial and social turmoil in England—an unrest that exploded in the ’81 riots—a burgeoning music scene began bubbling over, displacing the white scene of Northern soul with a Black British movement of jazz-funk and creating in the process tiny islands within the Isles where racial unity and Black empowerment could thrive. DJ and music historian Greg Wilson details this layered story that begins as specialists took to fresh U.S. imports like Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, ultimately leading to homegrown U.K. acts like Light of the World and Incognito creating their own spin on the sound. The scene made an impact far afield of London Town, stretching to all corners of the U.K., with its influence lasting well into the late-’80s and early ’90s with the birth of acid jazz and the rebirth of Incognito. With the recent release of Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick’s masterstroke, STR4TA’s Aspects, coupled with the importance of social justice concerns in the new decade, the time is now to document this misunderstood and crucial era of England’s homegrown music history. ...”

 
In the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton Riots, residents walk past a burnt-out pub after the second night of unrest, April 13, 1981.

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