Misty in Roots
Band. Reggae
- Active
- 1978-present
Misty in Roots are a British roots band from Southall, west London, whose live reputation, independence and involvement in Rock Against Racism made them the most politically consequential reggae group England produced.
They came together around 1974 as a backing band for the Jamaican singer Nicky Thomas, and formed around the Tyson brothers, Walford and Delvin, with Chesley Samson, Delbert "Bertie" McKay, Tony Henry and Dennis Augustine, and the dub poet William Simon, known as Smokes, as MC. Rather than sign to a label they built one, People Unite, run as a co-operative from a house in Southall that also put out the first single by the Ruts, the local punk band they shared a scene and a stage with.
On April 23, 1979, during the protests against a National Front election meeting in Southall, the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group raided the People Unite house and beat the band's manager, Clarence Baker, into a coma; the teacher Blair Peach's life was taken by a police blow the same day. The Ruts wrote "Jah War" about Baker, and Linton Kwesi Johnson "Reggae fi Peach" about Peach.
Their first record was Live at the Counter Eurovision 79, taped at the Cirque Royal in Brussels on March 31 and April 1, 1979, at an alternative festival staged against the Eurovision Song Contest, and issued on People Unite. John Peel played it persistently and recorded sessions with them, and the album is still cited as one of the best live reggae records made anywhere. Wise and Foolish followed in 1982, and Earth, Musi-O-Tunya and Forward in the years after.
They have gone on recording and touring for five decades, latterly for Peter Gabriel's Real World label, where Roots Controller (2002) carried "Cover Up," written about the Metropolitan Police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Linton Kwesi Johnson (session work)
Notes
- The Rough Guide notes "a big following both among West Indian and white rock audiences," built through tours with punk bands and Rock Against Racism festivals "which they often coheadlined with punk bands." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 392. Bradley lists them among the acts topping Rock Against Racism bills. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 450.
- Real World says Misty "were honed by a stint backing the pioneering Jamaican vocalist, Nicky Thomas," and names "the MC Smokes, aka dub poet William Simon." "Misty in Roots," artist page, Real World Records, accessed October 4, 2026, https://realworldrecords.com/artists/misty-in-roots/. The Rough Guide lists the core members. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 392. It also notes a twentieth-anniversary concert in 1997, which would date the band to 1977. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 392.
- The Rough Guide: Misty "turned down major label offers and formed their own, People Unite." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 392. The Ruts' "In a Rut" was issued on People Unite in 1979. "The Ruts: In A Rut," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/360062. Wikipedia describes the Ruts as "partners of the same collective." "Misty in Roots," Wikipedia, accessed October 4, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_in_Roots.
- Police "broke down the 'Peoples Unite' building," and Baker, "the pacifist manger [sic] of reggae band Misty," was "hurt so badly that he went into a coma." "Today in London's Radical History: Police Kill Blair Peach during Anti-Fascist Demo, Southall, 1979," Past Tense, April 23, 2016, https://pasttense.co.uk/2016/04/23/today-in-londons-radical-history-police-kill-blair-peach-during-anti-fascist-demo-southall-1979/. Real World misdates the raid to 1982. "Misty in Roots," Real World Records.
- Wikipedia says the Ruts honored Baker in "Jah War." "Misty in Roots," Wikipedia.
- The event "took place at the Cirque Royal concert hall in Brussels on 31th [sic] March and 1th [sic] April 1979," and the album came out on People Unite. Ciarán Lenoach, "Eurovision Dissenters and the Making of a Classic Reggae Album," RTÉ, May 11, 2023, https://www.rte.ie/culture/2023/0511/1360650-eurovision-dissenters-and-the-making-of-a-classic-reggae-album/. "Misty In Roots: Live At The Counter Eurovision 79," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/149672.
- The Rough Guide calls it "an essential live roots album," and Bradley notes that "Misty in Roots even released an excellent live album, an event which, in the reggae world, is practically unheard of." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 392. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 434. On John Peel: Lenoach, "Eurovision Dissenters." "Misty in Roots," Real World Records.
- Discogs dates Wise and Foolish to 1981, Earth to 1983, Musi-O-Tunya to 1985 and Forward to 1989. "Misty In Roots: Wise And Foolish," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/292081; "Misty In Roots: Earth," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/292082; "Misty In Roots: Musi-O-Tunya," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/149673; "Misty In Roots: Forward," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/212853. The Rough Guide places Wise & Foolish "a couple of years after Eurovision." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 392.
- Real World calls Roots Controller "their first recording venture outside of their own Peoples Unite label" and says "Cover Up" deals with the Stephen Lawrence case. "Misty in Roots," Real World Records. "Misty In Roots: Roots Controller," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/410757.
