Musical Youth

Musical Youth are mainly remembered as a child novelty act - but that's not really fair. Formed in Birmingham in the early 1980s by [a=Freddie Waite (2)], formerly of [a=The Techniques] as his backing band, Musical Youth could genuinely play and worked in Birmingham pubs (guitarist Kelvin Waite debuting at the age of 7!) before being signed by MCA in 1982. A condition of their signing was that a lead singer "your own age" was acquired, and so Dennis Seaton joined the Waite and Grant brothers. Their first MCA single "Pass The Dutchie", a version of [a=The Mighty Diamonds] classic "Pass The Kouchie" with the references to ganja removed, was an enormous global hit, and they were the first black act to appear on MTV, beating [a=Michael Jackson] to it by several months. Their 15 minutes of fame ensued, recording with [a=Donna Summer], appearing with [a=Irene Cara], touring around the world and releasing a well received LP "Youth of Today". But things soon started to fall apart as the band tried and failed to find a hybrid between serious reggae and cheerful fresh faced youth; one example being the single "Never Gonna Give You Up" and its B side the theme from "Jim'll Fix It"! A second LP "Different Style" was a flop and the band disintegrated under a combination of family pressures and squabbles, avaricious middle men, and legal wrangling. Only Michael Grant has continued in the music business as part of [a=5am]; reportedly both Junior Waite and Kelvin Grant have both struggled with mental problems and Patrick Waite died of a heart condition at the age of 24, awaiting trial on drugs charges.