Chris Hawkins - 26/03/2010

The Hawk presents documentaries, concerts and sessions from the BBC archives. Steel Pulse in Liverpool kick off the Live Music Hour at 4am, with a concert from 1982. A roots reggae band, they originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, Birmingham.Formed in 1975, their debut release, Kibudu, Mansetta And Abuku arrived on the small independent label Dip, and linked the plight of urban black youth with the image of a greater African homeland. Aligning themselves closely with the Rock Against Racism organisation and featuring in its first music festival in the spring of 1978, they chose to tour with sympathetic elements of the punk movement, including the Stranglers and XTC.The Steel Pulse message of hope, education and activism has struck a chord with music lovers worldwide. Their international success has resulted in a Grammy award for their 1986 classic Babylon The Bandit, and nominations for subsequent albums Victims (1991) and Rastafari Centennial (1992). In 1989, the group contributed I Can't Stand it to the soundtrack of Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing. Steel Pulse are collaborating with Driftwood Pictures to create a definitive feature length documentary on the band's thirty year history, and have a new album due out this year. Also in the Live Music Hour, two great sessions for your delight and delectation: The silencers from 1988, and Cornershop, recorded in 1993. Plus perfect tunes to wake up to, daft early morning chat, and another game of Play Your Birthday Cards Right.