World of Jamaican Music

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Steel Pulse

Band. Reggae

Active
1975-present

Steel Pulse are a British roots reggae band formed in 1975 in Handsworth, Birmingham, by David Hinds, who has written the songs and sung lead throughout, and Basil Gabbidon, who had met him at Handsworth Wood Boys School, with Ronald "Stepper" McQueen on bass. Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett on drums, Selwyn "Bumbo" Brown on keyboards, Alphonso Martin on percussion and the singer Michael Riley filled out the early lineup. All were children of West Indian families in a district with a long history of police attention.

They came up alongside the punk audience rather than apart from it, aligning with Rock Against Racism and touring with punk and new wave bands, which put roots reggae in front of white British listeners who had never heard it live. Island signed them, and their first single for the label was "Ku Klux Klan," performed on stage in hoods. Handsworth Revolution (1978) followed, then Tribute to the Martyrs (1979) and the lighter Caught You (1980). They opened European dates for Bob Marley in 1978.

Moving to Elektra, they made True Democracy (1982), their first album to chart in the United States, and Earth Crisis (1984), during whose sessions Gabbidon and McQueen left the band; Carlton Bryan and Alvin Ewen replaced them, with Jimmy "Senyah" Haynes producing. Babylon the Bandit (1986) won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album at the 1987 ceremony, the only time a band from outside Jamaica has won it.

Hinds wrote "Can't Stand It" for Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing in 1989, and in 1993 the band played at Bill Clinton's inaugural celebration. Mass Manipulation (2019) brought another Grammy nomination, and its Reggaeville review noted "Hinds' sometimes forceful style of delivery." They toured a fiftieth anniversary in 2025 and are still working.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide says the band "was formed in 1975 by three school friends in the Handsworth area of Birmingham," Hinds, Gabbidon and McQueen, with Hinds "their dominant force, both as songwriter and lead vocalist." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 390. Bradley says they formed around the same time as Black Slate in 1974 and "the next year won a local talent show" judged by three members of Matumbi. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 429. A fan site says the "former Handsworth Wood schoolfriends became serious about forming a band in 1974." Andy Brouwer, "Steel Pulse fact of the day - did you know?," fan site, accessed October 5, 2026, http://www.andybrouwer.co.uk/spfacts.html. Wikipedia names Handsworth Wood Boys School. "Steel Pulse," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Pulse.
  2. The Rough Guide says the original trio cut two singles, "Kibudu, Mansetta and Abuka" and "Nyah Love," before "expanding to a seven-piece," adding Martin, Riley, Brown and Nisbet. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 390. Wikipedia lists Basil Gabbidon's brother Colin as the first drummer. "Steel Pulse."
  3. Bradley quotes Steel Pulse ("walking along just kicking stones") on stop-and-search and names Handsworth among the areas where the police "were perceived as an army of occupation." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 428.
  4. Bradley names Rock Against Racism bills "topped by Steel Pulse, Misty in Roots, Aswad or Tradition," says Steel Pulse "opened for Billy Idol's Generation X," and quotes Dennis Bovell on how they took a Stranglers tour that Matumbi had turned down. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 450-51. The fan site dates their first punk-club appearance, with Generation X at the Vortex in London, to August 1, 1977. Brouwer, "Steel Pulse fact of the day."
  5. The Rough Guide calls "Ku Klux Klan" "the centrepiece of their always arresting stage act," and Bradley describes the band acting it out "complete with roadies and group members in appropriate costume." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 390; Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 434-35. The fan site credits Michael Riley with designing the "white Klan hoods." Brouwer, "Steel Pulse fact of the day."
  6. The Rough Guide dates Handsworth Revolution to 1978 and calls the next two Island albums "further (and lesser) LPs." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 390. Bovell told Bradley it "sold over a quarter of a million." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 451. Wikipedia gives the years of the later albums and notes that Caught You was issued in the United States as Reggae Fever. "Steel Pulse."
  7. Wikipedia says the band supported Bob Marley & the Wailers "on a 12-date European tour in June and July 1978." "Handsworth Revolution," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handsworth_Revolution.
  8. The Rough Guide dates the move to Elektra to 1982. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 390. Wikipedia gives True Democracy a peak of No. 120 on the Billboard 200. "True Democracy," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Democracy. A biography reproduced on a festival site calls it "their first charting LP in America." "Steel Pulse," artist page, Gathering of the Vibes, accessed October 5, 2026, https://gatheringofthevibes.com/artist/steel-pulse/.
  9. The festival biography says Haynes subbed "on guitar and bass for founding members Gabbidon and McQueen, both of whom left the group by the end of the recording sessions," and that Bryan and Ewen replaced them "for 1986's Babylon the Bandit." "Steel Pulse," Gathering of the Vibes. Wikipedia lists Melvin Brown, not Bryan, as lead guitarist from 1982 to 1989, and dates McQueen's departure to 1983. "Steel Pulse."
  10. The award, at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards (1987), was in the category then called Best Reggae Recording. "Steel Pulse," artist page, Grammy.com, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.grammy.com/artists/steel-pulse/14714.
  11. Wikipedia calls Steel Pulse "the first non-Jamaican act" to win the award. "Steel Pulse." The Recording Academy's list of winners includes Soja, Beauty in the Silence, for 2022. "Best Reggae Album," category page, Grammy.com, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-reggae-album/2021/. Soja is an American band from Arlington, Virginia. "SOJA," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOJA.
  12. "Steel Pulse." The drummer Steve Nisbett recalled that Spike Lee "requested one of our tracks for his movie." Brouwer, "Steel Pulse fact of the day."
  13. The festival biography calls them "the first reggae band to appear at such an event." "Steel Pulse," Gathering of the Vibes.
  14. The nomination, for Best Reggae Album, came at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (2020). "Steel Pulse," Grammy.com. "Steel Pulse - Mass Manipulation," review, Reggaeville, May 18, 2019, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/steel-pulse/releases/mode/review/release/steel-pulse-mass-manipulation/.
  15. "Steel Pulse announces 50th Anniversary Tour 2025," Reggaeville, October 11, 2024, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/steel-pulse/news/view/steel-pulse-announces-50th-anniversary-tour-2025/.

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map