Black British Music in America, 1967–2000

Mike Alleyne is Professor Emeritus with the Department of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). His publications include co-editing the award-winning collection Analyzing Recorded Music (2023), The Essential Hendrix (2020), and The Encyclopedia of Reggae (2012), and co-editing Prince and Popular Music (2020). His work has been published in Popular Music & Society, Rock Music Studies, Popular Music History, Ethnomusicology Forum, and American Music Perspectives.

Black British Music in America, 1967–1998: Atlantic Crossover is a timely and original intervention that strengthens the growing body of scholarship on Black British music and its transatlantic relationships. Alleyne combines musicological insight with industry experience to chart how questions of race and cultural legibility affect the reception of Black British artists in the United States during a pivotal period. His attention to recordings and archival sources, enriched by lived testimony, highlights the politics of diaspora and the emergence of distinctly Black British modes of expression. This book should be a key reference for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the historical dialogue between Black British and Black American musical worlds.Matthew Williams, University of York, UKI've been waiting for someone to write this book. Mike Alleyne has finally documented the transatlantic journey of Black British artists properly, from Hot Chocolate and Cymande through to Soul II Soul and Seal, with the chart data and interview evidence to back it up. As string arranger on Soul II Soul's first album and co-writer on Mark Morrison's first single, I know this terrain well. The domestic indifference, the American confusion about artists who didn't fit their categories, the constant question of whether to sound "American enough." Alleyne gets this. He's done the work, spoken to the producers, traced the label politics. That chapter needed telling and Alleyne's told it well.Mykaell Riley, University of Westminster, UKIn this deeply researched and comprehensively surveyed account of Black British popular music in the 1970s and 1980s, Mike Alleyne evaluates the production, the politics, and the price of traversing the Black Atlantic. From the Equals to Massive Attack via Hot Chocolate and Joan Armatrading, this essential study traces the challenges and complexity of commercialising diverse Black British musical identities for the US record industry. Packed with sociological insights, musicological analysis, and industry context–and unflinching in its critique of the music industries–this book effortlessly blends several contemporary theories and methods in its (re)appraisal of Black British music history. The influence of Caribbean music, heritage and locality on Black British musicians and their output is beautifully framed and celebrated throughout. Readers will find extraordinary stories behind some of Britain’s most popular and successful artists and tracks, revelatory moments of technological and industrial change, and will come to view these outstanding artists in a whole new light. Powerful, valuable, and timely, Black British Music in America takes readers on an unforgettable journey through a pivotal era for Black British musicality.Samantha Bennett, The Australian National University

• Acknowledgements List of FiguresPrefaceIntroductionChapter 1: Remixing Black Popular Music History: The Black and the BritishThe Cultural Sound StageBlack British Outsiders The Voice and the Instrumental Text The Weight of HistoryDread Out There: The Plight of Black British ReggaeRelocating HeatwaveChapter 2: Crossing Over, Genre Politics and Music ProductionThe Mainstream and the ChartsCultural DislocationGenre and Crossover: Charting a DiscourseRecord Labels and Genre LabellingMusic Production Chapter 3: Breaking Into America: The 1960s and 1970sThe Artistic SoundscapeThe Beatles and Early Black British PopThe Foundations: American ArrivalThe Equals: The "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys"Cymande: Sending the Transatlantic Cultural Message Joan Armatrading: Beyond StereotypesChapter 4: The Margin and the Mainstream: The 1970sHot Chocolate: “Brother Louie” and Breaking AmericaBeyond “Brother Louie”Blue-Eyed British R&B: The Average White Band and KokomoChapter 5: Transitions, Technologies, and Tensions: The Late 1970s and 1980sThe Britfunk Era and Echoes of the 1970sSka’s Second Wave and American IndifferenceTechnology TopographyImagination’s New DimensionsChapter 6: The New Black British Invasion Continues: The 1980sTotal Contrast: Sync or SwimEddy Grant: Electric PropulsionBilly Ocean: The Breakthrough JourneyLoose Ends: The Art of “Hangin’ On”Chapter 7: Commercial Consolidation: The 1980s and 1990sFive Star: Broken by AmericaDes’ree: “Listen as Your Day Unfolds” Soul II Soul: American ConquestVisual Grooves: Soul II Soul Music VideosCaron Wheeler and UK Blak Roachford: A Single InstanceSade: Platinum LifeChapter 8: Selling Seal to the StatesThe Beginning The “Crazy” Music VideoThe Second Self-Titled AlbumThe Human Being ResetRecord Company CalamitiesBlack British Songstress StatusChapter 9: The Ephraim Lewis Case Study: 1992-1994Unveiling SkinDiscovery and SigningThe Music Video for “It Can’t Be Forever”The Textures of Skin The Unreleased Second AlbumChapter 10: Remastering the Mix: 1990s Snapshots and Black British EchoesEqualizing the PastMaxi Priest: Reggae Roots, Pop SuccessMassive Attack: Remixing StardomMark Morrison: The Mack Hits Back Atlantic CodaBibliographyDiscographyFilmographyIndex