Chaka Demus & Pliers are one of the most successful duo in the history of Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall music; this group is made up of deejay Chaka Demus (John Taylor) and singer Pliers (Everton Bonner). The duo style of music can be classified as roots, groovy, soulful and entertaining. Chaka Demus & Pliers have scored massive hits with songs like Tease Me, Murder She Wrote, Twist And Shout, I Wanna Be Your Man, etc.  They had enjoyed commercial success with mainstream pop fans.  The duo were the first Jamaican artists to have three consecutive Top 5 hits on the UK Singles Chart; a record unsurpassed until Shaggy scored four consecutive Top 5 hits in 2001. 


In 1993, Chaka Demus & Pliers first UK chart hit single, “Tease Me” stayed in the Top 5 of the UK Singles Chart for three months, peaking at #3 in July of the said year.  In 1993 Chaka Demus & Pliers released a high-spirited cover of the Isley Brother’s “Twist And Shout” featuring Jack Radics, a Jamaican Reggae singer; the song was produced by Sly & Robbie and distributed by Island Records through its subsidiary Mango Records; this song reached #1 on the UK Top 5 Singles Chart, the song has been the first song by a Jamaican artist to top the British Charts since Boris Gardiner’s song “I Want to Wake up With You" in 1986.  The song went on to earn the duo an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest selling cover version in history, which sold 1.8 million copies within two weeks which went Platinum.  The success of this song influenced Island Records Founder, Chris Blackwell to revive his musical ties with Jamaican music.  

In 1995 he launched the Island Jamaica label which he released albums by Luciano, Beenie Man and Plier’s brother Spanner Banner.

In February 2013, Nicki Minaj Feat. French Montana released a single titled “Freak”, sampling the song “Murder She Wrote” and in November 2014,  American renowned  R&B’s sensations Omarion  Feat. Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko released a song titled “Post To Be” sampling the “Murder She Wrote” song and also in 2015 Cuban Reggaeton artist Osmani Garcia Feat. Pitbull released a song titled “El Taxi”; this song music video gets millions of hits on YouTube since it been released.

Chaka Demus & Pliers have sustained their presence in the music industry and continued to wow their fans with their timeless classics.  In January 2015, the duo have released two songs titled “Party Mix” and  “Tek It  In”, presently they’re working on a album soon to be released in 2015.  

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 The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.

By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a "jazz-dub-reggae" band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned second hand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.

By the time Chrissie Hynde invited them to tour with the Pretenders during the summer of 1980 and their debut single "King b/w Food For Thought" had sailed into the UK Top 5, all the essential elements of UB40 were already in place. Their line-up will remain unchanged for almost thirty years, and they will continue playing a mix of original material and inspired choice of reggae covers in a style that’s instantly accessible with its bright melodies and sweeping horn arrangements – one that’s allied to a formidable rhythm section, capable of holding its own with anything from Jamaica.

UB40’s first album was released the following September, on Graduate Records. Their deal allowed them more creative freedom than if they had signed with a major label. The cover artwork memorably duplicated an unemployment benefit card, with the title "Signing Off" rubber-stamped in red, but it was the music that quickly worked its way into the affections of a young, mainly student crowd with its knowing lyrics, solid reggae rhythms and dubby, instrumental passages, offset by warm horn solos and Jamaican style scatting. There was nothing else like it at the time. As a multi-cultural band from Birmingham, UB40 weren’t drawn into trying to sound "authentic," and there was considerably more depth to their music than that of many punk and 2Tone bands. "I’m a British subject, not proud of it, whilst I carry the burden of shame," they sang on one of the tracks. Accepting the truth of their own situation amidst a sea of other reggae songs proclaiming black heritage gave us a valuable insight into where UB40 were coming from. They were unafraid to stand up and be counted, and British audiences instinctively loved them for it. "Signing Off" duly went to No. 2 in the UK and stayed on the nation’s album charts for 72 weeks.

On September 2nd, 2013, UB40 released their latest album ‘Getting Over The Storm’ on Universal/Virgin Records.

Nathan Dawe x Abi Flynn - Hold On- out now:
Listen here: https://NathanDawe.lnk.to/HoldOn

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