Black Uhuru - Leaving to Zion

 The pop music book is now filed under 'Wake Up, Maggie'. I can't remember re-titling it as that, or why. It's still called 'Playlist', I think. But needs must we press on or else I'll forget I'm doing it.

There wasn't any question that I had to be at the Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea, on Sept 5th, 2022 to see Black Uhuru on their 50th Anniversary Tour having seen them in Brighton 42 years earlier. It was not to be, though, and only provided at least a hat-trick of reasons for not seeing gigs I should have. I went to Portsmouth Guildhall the night after the Jesus & Mary Chain were on and didn't think Gary Numan was any sort of compensation and I misguidedly turned down an invitation to see The Libertines in their early years, also at the Wedgewood Rooms, on the grounds that I thought Pete Doherty was 'a waste of space'. I've always been grateful to be proved wrong.

I was interested to see the lady on the poster and assumed it was Puma 42 years older but was devastasted to find she had died, aged 36, in 1990. I must try to keep up. But Black Uhuru had been an essential part of the reggae boom in the UK in the late 70's and into the 80's with their Red album and the Black Uhuru LP with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner that I suddenly had another bout of 'seller's remorse' when I realized it had gone, along with all the other pop vinyl, and that no amount of money really compensates for not having the badge of honour that comes with owning that and all the other things that went with it. 

Leaving to Zion was always the highlight, potentially thunderous, echoing with suffering and in the first place, at least, powered by Sly'n'Robbie, reggae's essential rhythm section and it's combative reply to disco's Chic Organisation. Pop music might have been an enormous industry but it can be narrowed down to a long short list of prolific musicians who were responsible for much of the best of it.