{"product_id":"musical-youth-mash-down-birmingham-the-early-recordings-of-musical-youth","title":"Musical Youth - Mash Down Birmingham : The Early Recordings Of Musical Youth","description":"NEWLY UNEARTHED EARLY RECORDINGS BY THE FIRST LINE-UP OF MUSICAL YOUTH.\nAn album of rare and unheard early recordings by Musical Youth, the\nBirmingham reggae group propelled to worldwide fame with the release of their chart-topping\nsingle, PASS THE DUTCHIE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eMash Down Birmingham : The Early Recordings Of Musical Youth\u003c\/i\u003e combines\nsongs from Musical Youth’s first John Peel session, recorded in 1981 with newly unearthed\nrecordings taken from quarter-inch reels stored for over 40 years by the group’s mentor and\nproducer Toney Owens.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nThe project was seeded as early as 2020, when Paphides sent a speculative message to\nOwens, after he saw his producer credit on the group’s independently released 1981 single\nGenerals\/Political. Paphides wanted to know if Owens had made more recordings of the\ngroup in a similar heavier roots reggae vein to those on their debut single. Happening upon\nthe message by chance three years later, Owens allowed Needle Mythology access to his\narchive of quarter-inch tapes, dating back as far as 1978.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nThe recordings gathered together on \u003ci\u003eMash Down Birmingham : The Early Recordings Of Musical Youth\u003c\/i\u003e shine a light on the exceptional musicianship inculcated\ninto the group by their first frontman Frederick Waite, formerly singer with revered Jamaican\nrocksteady group The Techniques.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nBacking Frederick Waite in the early lineup of Musical Youth (originally billed by Toney as\nCultural Musical Workshop Youths, were two pairs of brothers) Patrick and Junior Waite, and\nKelvin and Michael Grant. Having grown up immersed in roots reggae, the four young\nmembers of Musical Youth started playing locally in Birmingham at an early age. Legendary\nJamaican deejay I Roy was the Grants’ maternal uncle; while Sugar Minott and Jackie Mittoo\nfrequently played with the group during their extended stays at the house of Toney Owens.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHighlights on \u003ci\u003eMash Down Birmingham : The Early Recordings Of Musical Youth\u003c\/i\u003e\ninclude mind-blowing Jackie Mittoo collab Mash Down Babylon featuring inspired MC’ing\nfrom guitarist Kelvin Grant, still only 11 at this point, and a previously unheard extended mix\nof Generals and a sensational dub version of Political. From their inaugural Peel session,\nstandouts include Culture, Don’t Blame The Youth and a version of The Slickers’ Johnny Too\nBad.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHowever, the coup de grace surely has to be the album’s closing track – a newly discovered\nearly version of the song that would propel Musical Youth to the top of the UK charts. With\nfreshly installed singer Dennis Seaton, Musical Youth’s version of The Mighty Diamonds’\nPass The Kouchie can be heard here in its original form – thus contradicting interviews given\nmonths later, in which the group denied all knowledge of what a “kouchie” was!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nFeaturing thorough liner notes based on extensive interviews with Toney Owens and\nMusical Youth guitarist and co-vocalist, Kelvin Grant, \u003ci\u003eMash Down Birmingham : The Early Recordings Of Musical Youth\u003c\/i\u003e is not only an important slice of musical and social history – but also an important corrective to the misconception that Musical Youth’s\nmusicianship was anything less than exemplary. In the words of Kelvin Grant: “It feels like the\ncompletion of the circle. These early recordings really captured the soul of who were were.\nI’m so happy that they finally get to have their moment.”","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":51011491496214,"sku":"RMX-61791","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51011492249878,"sku":"RMX-61792","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0839\/7750\/2998\/files\/0af1892925ebd3ce61b6be1449fbe6b0_95e01731-a5c7-4480-83c0-7d947eade05b.jpg?v=1770218025","url":"https:\/\/resident-music-uk.myshopify.com\/products\/musical-youth-mash-down-birmingham-the-early-recordings-of-musical-youth","provider":"Resident Music UK","version":"1.0","type":"link"}