Musical Youth

Musical Youth is a British reggae band. They are best remembered for their successful 1982 single "Pass the Dutchie", which was a hit around the world. The band recorded two studio albums, and released a number of successful singles throughout 1982 and 1983, including a collaboration with Donna Summer. Musical Youth earned a Grammy Award nomination before disbanding in 1985 after a series of personal problems. The band returned in 2001 as a duo (Michael Grant and Dennis Seaton) and performed at the Bestival festival in 2013. The group was formed in 1979 when the fathers of Kelvin Grant and Patrick and Junior Waite put together a band featuring two sets of brothers, Kelvin and Michael Grant, and Junior and Patrick Waite. The latter pair's father, Frederick Waite Sr., had been a member of the Jamaican reggae group, The Techniques. Frederick sang lead with Junior at the start of Musical Youth's career. Although schoolboys, the group managed to secure gigs at different Birmingham pubs and released a double single in 1981, including songs "Generals" and "Political", on a local record label 021 Records. During the autumn of 1982, the group issued one of the fastest-selling singles of the year, "Pass the Dutchie". Based on the Mighty Diamonds' "Pass the Koucthie" (a song about passing a pipe used to smoke cannabis). The title had been subtly altered to feature the patois "dutchie", referring to a type of pot used for cooking. This idea was reinforced throughout the political and economic overtones of the song about extreme poverty and Musical Youth asking the question "How does it feel when ya got no food?". The record went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1982. It went on to sell over four million copies. However by the mid 80's, the band's career went downhill, due to legal, financial and personal problems. In 1985, Dennis Seaton left the band, leading to its dissolution. The Grant brothers remained involved in the music industry; Seaton released a solo album in 1989 before going on to form his own band, XMY. Plans for a reunion of Musical Youth were halted when Patrick Waite, who had gone on to a career of juvenile crime, died in Birmingham in February 1993. Only 24 years old, he collapsed from a hereditary heart condition.

Links To Peel
Peel discovered Musical Youth in early 1981, when the new wave band Au Pairs gave a copy of Musical Youth's first single called Generals / Political to him''. ''Peel immediately liked the track and played their first single on 16 February 1981. While the band didn't gain much chart success with the single, their first session gained music interest from record labels, especially from MCA, who signed them up in 1982. Even when the band were signed to MCA, Peel still continued playing their material including some songs from their 1982 debut album, The Youth Of Today, and when the group gained success in the charts with the UK number one hit single, Pass The Dutchie, Peel on Top of the Pops called it his favourite number one of the year on 25 December 1982 (TOTP). However when the band released their second album Different Style in 1983, Peel was somewhat disappointed with the band's material and rarely played any of their material since then.==Festive Fifty Entries==
 * 1982 Festive Fifty: Pass The Dutchie #36

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1981-04-22. Broadcast: 29 April 1981. Repeated: 25 May 1981 2. Recorded: 1982-09-18. Broadcast: 28 September 1982. Repeated: 14 October 1982*Young Generation / Children Of Zion / Heartbreaker / Rub 'N' Dub
 * Johnny Too-Bad / Can't Fight It / Don't Blame The Youth / Culture

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1981 1982 Others
 * 16 February 1981: Generals (7") 021
 * 25 February 1981: Generals (7" - Generals / Political) 021
 * 15 April 1981: Politician (This track also known as Political)
 * 04 May 1981: Political (7") 021
 * 13 May 1981: Generals (7": Generals) (021 Records)
 * 20 September 1982: Pass The Dutchie (single)
 * 23 September 1982: Peel Jingle (based on Pass The Dutchie)
 * 23 November 1982: Schoolgirl (album - The Youth Of Today) MCA
 * 23 November 1982: Blind Boy (album - The Youth Of Today) MCA
 * 25 November 1982: Rub 'N Dub (LP - The Youth Of Today) MCA
 * 20 December 1982: Pass The Dutchie (7 inch)' (MCA) FF #36 (JP: 'It would be sad indeed, I think, if they disappeared without a trace after that.')
 * Reggae Sessions
 * Karl's Tape End February 1981: Generals (7" - Generals / Political) 021
 * 23 September 1982 (TOTP): Pass The Dutchie
 * 30 September 1982 (TOTP): Pass The Dutchie
 * 14 October 1982 (TOTP): Pass The Dutchie (JP: 'Still No.1 and rightly so... Musical Youth!')
 * Karl's Tape - June 1983: Tell Me Why
 * 10 November 1983 (TOTP): 007
 * 02 February 1984 (TOTP): Sixteen