Black Slate

BIO

Black Slate is a renowned, international reggae band from the UK.

In 2020, the group featured on a short documentary titled 'Young, Gifted & Black'. The aim of the documentary is to encourage young people to never given up on their plan.

The band comprises Anthony “PureSilk” Brightly (Keyboards), Chris “MusicHouse” Hanson (Lead/Rhythm Guitar) and Desmond “Drummy” Mahoney (Drums/Congo). The group has earned the right to stand amongst the greats in the world of reggae music. Like the female energy that tends and nurtures life, they have developed and nurtured their sound. From a vibe with a unique audio ID that has taken well over forty odd years of research and cultivation, with the help of a group of talented and respected former band members, new members and session musicians who all have played a part in assisting this great seed of musical wealth.

Brightly, backed by a father’s love for recording and producing jazz music, acquired a DNA explosion which ignited his passion for reggae music and the conception of Black Slate.

Hanson was an electrician whose passion for reggae caused him to move in various musical circles until the magic touched him. Eventually he joined forces with other great reggae orientated minds and created the ultimate Black Slate.

Mahoney is an engineer with light feet and an excellent tradesman in his field. He was an even greater dancer on the reggae youth scene. To top it off Desmond was a drummer extraordinaire, with a limitless talent aimed at reggae music. These are the skills he brought to the table with a pure love that created the foundation of Black Slate.

These three members are dedicated to reggae music with such passion, that even with the split of the very successful first Black Slate they never gave up.

Brightly opened several booming reggae night clubs. He also records and produces many different artists plus labels. In addition, Brightly has joint entrepreneurial ventures with Chris, his lifelong friend. Hanson’s electrical skills continued in the music business when he created house music, which gained its own instant fame from cutting dub plates and masters for every genre that required it in the music industry.

Who is Black Slate?

Black Slate was formed in the United Kingdom in 1972 and worked originally as a backing band, members would work with other Jamaican artists like Leroy Smart, The Heptones, Johnny Clarke, Ken Boothe, Dennis Brown, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Sly & Robbie and Peter Tosh. In 1975 Black Slate became their own group and had a hit in 1976 with the song Sticks Man. The band had other successful songs during this period like Mind Your Motion,Boom Boom and the the massive world wide hit: Amigo.

During this period the Black Slate band would travel on thirty day tours as a support act for artists like Peter Tosh with whom they toured with on several occasions. The tours were all across Europe to Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, and throughout Italy. Wherever there were music festivals the band was present on the lineup. The band also performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London to a sold out crowd and shortly thereafter toured to Australia and New Zealand.

It was during this period that the British rock and roll explosion was happening and in reggae there was a parallel contingent happening with groups like Aswad, Steel Pulse, UB40 and Black Roots all taking off during this period from the years 1977-1979. It was also during this period that the “Rock Against Racism” movement was taking shape and Anglo bands like The Jam, Generation X and Adam and the Ants were teaming up with their Afro-British counterparts.

The band began to grow weary of touring to this degree. Three of the original members chose to take a hiatus from touring life to help raise their families and establish sustainable business ventures. Although the original lineup’s lead singer and bass guitarist decided to carry on with touring with a new lineup. The rest of the band started families secondary businesses and decided to remain at home in the UK and build businesses

Some of whom were already pursuing careers outside of the band, in particular Anthony Brightly who was a well-regarded DJ often leaving performances to crowds of 500 people to go and spin records to a crowd that was twice that size. As a DJ Mr. Brightly would become a driving force in the advancement of Lover’s Rock and UK reggae in general through his work as a Disc Jockey, Club owner, Artiste Manager and event promoter, shaping airplay and artist growth both at radio and in the club setting. In 1987 Mr. Brightly also became the manager for sound system collective Stone Love Movement and was instrumental in shaping their career globally to become the biggest touring sound in the world.

Original member Chris Henson became a sought after mix and mastering engineer, adding his unique touch to thousands of songs over the past several years right up to the present. He founded Music House Dub Cutting, Mastering and Processing which over the past 25 years has been responsible for 80% of the mastering in reggae albums including releases such as the recent EP by Chronixx 'Dread and Terrible'.

Mr. Brightly relocated to the Caribbean island of Antigua in order to raise his young boys in a different environment outside of the UK. When these original members’ children began college, they determined it was time to hit the road again.

Their latest album 'Peaceful Demonstration' is released on the on TCD Records the label named for Tony (Anthony), Chris and Desmond, the original members of the band founded in 1972 in the United Kingdom. After 40 years in the music business, the deep roots reggae band returns with their first full-length album released since the album SIX PLUS ONE in 1982 which was released digitally in 2014.

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UK Tel:44 207 096 0490