471 Hello Aswad - Chasing for the Breeze

Chart  entered :  3  March  1984

Chart  peak : 51

Number  of  hits : 17

Here's  another  band  who  took  some  time  time  to  crack  the  charts.

Aswad  were  formed  in  London  in  1975  by  a  group  of second  generation  West Indian  immigrants.  The  name  is  Arabic  for  "black  ". The  founding  members  were  Brinsley  Forde  ( vocals / guitar ), Angus  Gaye  ( vocals / drums ), Donald  Griffiths ( vocals / guitar ) , George  Oban  ( bass )   and  Courtney  Hemmings  ( keyboards ). Brinsley  had  already  been  in  the  public  eye  a few  years  earlier  playing  Spring  in  the  seminal  Here  Come  The  Double Deckers    ( my  thoughts  here ). The  band  played  reggae  and  were  quickly  snapped  up  by  Chris  Blackwell  for  Ireland.

Their  debut  single  was  "Back  To  Africa "  written  by  Hemmings  , a   slow and  steady  groove where  the  mournful  melody  seems  at  odds  with  the  joyful  anticipation  of  the  lyrics. Hemmings'  keyboard  contributions  garnish  it  nicely.  It  was  the  only  single  taken  from  their  eponymous  debut  album. Shortly  after  its  release  Hemmings  quit  and  was  replaced  by  Tony  Robinson.

 The  follow-up  was  "Three  Babylon"  , a  grim  account  of  police  harrassment - "They  come  to  have  fun  with  their  long  truncheon " -  with  a  descending  piano  melody  that  UB40  re-tooled for  One  In  Ten.  These  records  didn't  sell  in  any  great  quantities  but  got  the  band's  name  known  in  the  world  of  reggae  and  they  soon  found  work  as  a  pick-up  band  for  reggae  stars  visiting  the  UK. They  backed  Burning  Spear  and  all  three  of  The  Wailers.

Their  second  album  was  "Hulet"  released  in  1979. It's  usual  when  writing  about  Aswad  to  draw  a  thick  red  line  between  the  pre-fame  period  and  their  success  with  reggaefied  Diane  Warren  songs   but  they  were  never  inaccassible. The  songs  on  "Hulet"   are melodic, the  lyrics  intelligible  to  a  non-Rasta  audience  and  the  dub  trickery  never  gets  self-indulgent. It  is  though  very  samey  with  everything  at  the  same  tempo and  suffused  with  minor-key  moodiness. They're  like  The  Wailers  dampened  down  with  British  grey  sky  pessimism.  There  were  no  singles  released  from  the  album.   After the  LP's  release   it  was  Oban's  turn  to  quit  with  Tony  adding  bass  to  his  keyboard  duties.    

In  1980  they  contributed  a  couple  of  songs  to  the  film  "Babylon"  including  the  instrumental  "Warrior  Charge"  which  was  released  as  their  next  single  that  September.  It's  OK  except    for  the  Rose  Royce  syn-drums  which  date  it  badly.

After  that  Griffiths  quit  leaving  them  a  trio. Island  put  out  a  compilation  of  their  previous  work  "Showcase"  in  early  1981  putting  the  unmemorable  "Babylon"  as  a  trailer  single  to  advertise  it. Aswad  then  left  the  label  and  signed  with  CBS.

Their  first  release  for  CBS  was  the  standalone  single  "Finger  Gun  Style "  which  loses  both  message  and  melody  in  an  over-cluttered  arrangement.  The  subsequent  album  "New  Chapter"  saw  the  band  adopting  a  fuller  sound  despite  the  reduction  in  personnel  with  the  help  of  hired  horns. The  lead  single  "Ways  of  the  Lord "  uses  them  to  full  effect  on  a  rather  lumpy  exhortation  to  universal  brotherhood  on  which  the  harmonies  sound  a  little  off  key.

In  May  1982  their  new  single  "Pass  The  Cup"  was  in  a  much  poppier  vein  as  they  made  more  strides  towards  commercial  success. The  follow  up  "Girl's  Got  To  Know"  is  less  fun, it's  anti-materialistic  message  marred  by  a  whiff  of  misogyny  and  a  dreary  tune  to  boot. Their  third  single  that  year  "African  Children  ( Part  2  )"  doesn't  get  into  its  groove  until  halfway  through  , its  striving  for  the  epic  statement  let  down  by  a  pedestrian  tune.  None  of  these singles  were  hits  but  they  did  carry  the  parent  album  "Not  Satisfied"  to  number  50  so  there  were  encouraging  signs  for  the  band.

It  wasn't  enough  for  CBS  who  dropped  them  but  Island  were  happy  to  have  them  back. In  August  1982  they  played  at  the  Notting  Hill  Festival. The  gig  was  recorded  and  released  as  the  album  "Live  And  Direct " in  1983. It  reached  number  57.

"Chasing  for  the  Breeze"   was  the  lead  single  for  the  next  album.  Written  by  the  trio , it's  a  morose  slice  of  life  commentary  contrasting  the  economic  struggle  of  working  class  adulthood  with  happier  times  at  school. It's  a  reasonable  tune  with  some  nice  horn  work  again, a  serviceable  guitar  solo  and  a  metallic  keyboard  part  that's  oddly  reminiscent  of  Yazoo's  Ode  To  Boy.  It's  a  bit  lumpy  to  really  succeed  as  a  pop  single  but  it  was  good  enough  to  put  down  their  marker  on  the  singles  chart.