Amazulu, Amazulu (1986)
Just the other day I was remembering Aswad – I pair them with Amazulu. Both British bands fusing a type of light reggae with pop, both big in the mid-80s, both beginning with ‘A’ – a lot of surface comparisons I guess. I pair them simply because I discovered them around the same time. And, yeah, sure, that same sunny, soft, reggae-pop sound too I guess. Though Amazulu’s efforts were more overtly ska-tinged. An all-women group – at a time when, sadly, that seemed still to be such a novelty…I first found out about them because of their appearance on The Young Ones  – one of my all-time favourite TV shows. You’ll see from that clip that they weren’t always an all-female band, but by the time they started releasing record it was a band reduced to the core trio. That performance on The Young Ones – that appearance – was part of what really got the band going. Rik leans down and tells Special Patrol Group, Vyvyan’s pet hamster, the name of the band: “Amazulu!” he says with much gusto. “Oh, is that right?” queries the hamster in his tough Scottish accent. “I’m a Glaswegian!”

Sample Track: Montego Bay

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