At the height of the Lovers Rock era, every man (with a girl on his arm and his buddies in tow) flocked to the dancehall and soaked up the music's easygoing vibes with its dubby rhythms and angelic vocals. Songs like Carroll Thompson's Crazy For You would pulse night and day - it was a generation of revellers on the same level. But Carroll believes things on the reggae scene are different nowadays, that the output is lower than she can remember. “I am not sure if the current generation will revive it or whether they will merge it with another genre of music,” she muses, “but something needs to be done.”
Carroll grew up at her Grandmothers, a minister, where she was encouraged musically and started playing the piano at the tender age of eight. By the age of twelve she had won the National Youth Convention for her self-composed song I Know He Is With Me. A born entrepreneur, she set up her own record label and production company whilst still studying and it was this achievement that led to her first number one hit I'm So Sorry. “Young girls like me were given the chance to express themselves,” Carol reflects. Her solo album Hopelessly In Love sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and earned her the title ‘Queen of Lovers Rock’. ‘You [Lovers Rock artists] made music that you cared about, that felt good,” she confirms. After chart success Carroll worked with Courtney Pine, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Blakey of the Jazz Messengers and hot-fingered Jamaican keyboard player Jackie Mitto amongst others. When asked to name her most memorable collaboration she expressed with great joy that, “Courtney Pine [is my choice], so talented and a friend… so much energy even though he’s at least 70!”
The 80s saw the emergence of an array of British Reggae artists and it was then that the scene thrived; “the music was who we were which was very different from the American or pop scene which we could only partly relate to.” Competition was fierce but this never perturbed the Queen who worked contentedly with other artists; “We were just so happy to be in a position where we were making music. We got on well together.” Carroll’s influences along the way include soul icons Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross, Jazz legend Billie Holliday and of course Reggae masters/mentors Bob Marley and Dennis Brown. She also sites Aswad, Steel Pulse and Louisa Marks as a few of her favourite acts. “You actually went to school with these guys, so there was a sense of ownership of the music [for fans],” Carol explains, “even if I hadn’t been a musician I would still have loved it.”
The pulse of Lovers Rock still thumps throughout the underground scene of the UK and influences music happening today, like ‘Dub Step’ that uses samples of Reggae and Lover Rock, which gives it a distinctive edge – separate from anything mainstream. Carroll has been performing up and down the country, reviving the spirit of Lovers Rock in its purest form. Lovers Rock Unplugged, the latest production of the genre, have combined the cream of the crop headlining artists like Carroll Thompson, Janet Kay and Victor Romero Evan. Carroll sets the scene: “It's the music stripped down, using a double bass, acoustics and percussion. The idea is to let the lyrics speak for themselves, it is more of an intimate approach.” Mmm…being wooed all over again by three emissaries of Lovers Rock? We look forward to it, Carol.
Read more about Carroll on her website
