Musical Youth to reform and 'pass the dutchie' again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUH1XmFb05Y

Teen reggae band Musical Youth are recording a comeback album – 30 years after the baby-faced youngsters, all from the Midlands, topped the charts.

The group, best known for the catchy hit Pass The Dutchie, expect to have the new album on sale by spring.

The band, still fronted by Dennis Seaton, will also be performing a series of concerts to support the album, including Birmingham Jazz Festival on July 8, and Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on July 20.

A 30th anniversary show will then be held in October, although the date and venue have not yet been finalised.

Some fans from the early 1980s might be surprised to find Musical Youth are now a two-piece band, following the death of Patrick Waite, and the health problems of Kelvin Grant and Junior Waite.

Now it is just Dennis and Michael Grant.

But Dennis, who lives in Smethwick, believes this actually makes little difference, and says he and Michael have retained the essential sound of the early 1980s.

"How we recorded is the way I think we would still be recording it if there were still five of us," he says.

"We're older and wiser now, and we understand one or two things a little better."

The album is being promoted by Jim Simpson, who managed Black Sabbath's rise to fame.

Dennis, now aged 44, says the album will feature much of the music the band grew up with.

"It must be about 28 years since our last one," he says.

"It's not far off finished. It features the songs we grew up with. We don't have a release date yet, but I think it will be the spring."

Musical Youth are probably best remembered for the famous video where the youngsters were seen dancing around a courtroom in front of a bemused judge and jury.

They released two albums, and a further seven singles, but split when Dennis left the band in 1985.

By Mark Andrews