Twinkle Brothers
Encyclopedia
The Twinkle Brothers are a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century.

History

The Twinkle Brothers were formed in 1962 by brother Norman (vocals, drums) and Ralston Grant (vocals, rhythm guitar) from Falmouth, Jamaica
Falmouth, Jamaica
Falmouth is the chief town and capital of the parish of Trelawny in Jamaica. It is situated on Jamaica's north coast 18 miles east of Montego Bay. It is noted for being one of the Caribbean’s best-preserved Georgian towns....

. The band was expanded with the addition of Eric Barnard (piano), Karl Hyatt (vocals, percussion), and Albert Green (congas, percussion). After winning local talent competitions, they recorded their first single, "Somebody Please Help Me" in 1966 for producer Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong was a Chinese Jamaican record producer.-Career:Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Street, Kingston...

. This was followed by sessions for other top Jamaican producers such as Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....

, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sid Bucknor, Phil Pratt
Phil Pratt
Phil Pratt, born George Phillips is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.Phil Pratt worked at Studio One for Coxsone Dodd as a box-loader during the rocksteady period when Lee Perry was operating there, before moving to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s...

, and Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...

. The band worked in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the island's hotel circuit, playing a mixture of calypso, soul, pop, and soft reggae, and in the early 1970s, they began producing their own recordings. Their debut album, Rasta Pon Top, was released in 1975, featuring strongly-Rastafari-oriented songs such as "Give Rasta Praise" and "Beat Them Jah Jah". As well as producing Twinkle Brothers work, Norman Grant also produced other artists in the mid 1970s. In 1977, the band were signed to Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

' Frontline label, leading to the release of the Love, Praise Jah, and Countrymen albums. When the band were dropped by Virgin Records in the early 1980s, Norman Grant moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and carried on effectively as a solo artist, but still using the Twinkle Brothers name, and continued with regular releases well into the 2000s, mainly on his own Twinkle label. Since the early 1990s Twinkle Brothers have been regularly collaborating with the Polish band Trebunie-Tutki
Trebunie-Tutki
Trebunie-Tutki is a folk musical group consisting of a family of musicians originating from Biały Dunajec village near Zakopane, Poland. Though there are many members of the extended family that play music, the core musicians currently are Władysław Trebunia-Tutki , his son Krzysztof and daughter...

 in which they fuse reggae and traditional music from the Tatra Mountains
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...

. An analysis of this collaboration can be found in the popular world music textbook, Worlds of Music and in more detail in the musical ethnography Making Music in the Polish Tatras.

Albums

  • Rasta Pon Top (1975) Grounation
  • Love (1977) Front Line
  • Praise Jah (1979) Front Line
  • Countrymen (1980) Front Line
  • Me No You (1981) Twinkle
  • Underground (1982) Twinkle
  • Dub Massacre part 1 (1982) Twinkle
  • Burden Bearer (1983) Twinkle
  • Enter Zion (1983) Twinkle
  • Crucial Cuts (1983) Virgin
  • Dub Massacre Part 2 (1983) Twinkle
  • Live From Reggae Sunsplash (1984) Twinkle
  • Right Way (1985)
  • Dub Massacre Part 3 (1985) Twinkle
  • Kilimanjaro (1985) Twinkle
  • Anti-Apartheid (1985) Twinkle
  • Respect and Honour (1987) Twinkle
  • Twinkle Love Songs (1987) Twinkle
  • All The Hits From 1970-88 (1988) Twinkle
  • New Songs For Jah (1989) Twinkle
  • Rastafari Chant (1989) Twinkle
  • Dub Massacre Part 4 (1989) Twinkle
  • All Is Well (1990) Twinkle
  • Free Africa (1990) Front Line
  • Live In Warsaw (1990) Twinkle
  • Unification (1990) Twinkle
  • Wind of Change (1990) Twinkle
  • Dub Massacre Part 5 - Lion Head (1990) Twinkle
  • Old Cuts (1991)
  • Don't Forget Africa (1992) Twinkle
  • Twinkle Love Songs volume 2 (1992) Twinkle
  • Dub With Strings (1992) Twinkle
  • Babylon Rise Again (1992) Twinkle
  • Higher Heights (1992) Twinkle Music (with polish folk band Trebunie-Tutki
    Trebunie-Tutki
    Trebunie-Tutki is a folk musical group consisting of a family of musicians originating from Biały Dunajec village near Zakopane, Poland. Though there are many members of the extended family that play music, the core musicians currently are Władysław Trebunia-Tutki , his son Krzysztof and daughter...

    )
  • Comeback Twinkle 2 (1994) Ryszard (with polish folk band Trebunie-Tutki
    Trebunie-Tutki
    Trebunie-Tutki is a folk musical group consisting of a family of musicians originating from Biały Dunajec village near Zakopane, Poland. Though there are many members of the extended family that play music, the core musicians currently are Władysław Trebunia-Tutki , his son Krzysztof and daughter...

    )
  • Dub Massacre Part 6 - Dub Feeding Program (1994) Twinkle
  • Dub Plate (1995) Twinkle
  • Dub Salute Part 5 (1996) Jah Shaka
    Jah Shaka
    Jah Shaka has been operating a South East London-based, roots reggae Jamaican sound system since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian term for God and that of a Zulu warrior, Shaka Zulu.-Career:...

  • Final Call (1997) Twinkle
  • Greatest Hits (1997) Kahamuk (with Trebunie Tutki)
  • Twinkle Love Songs, Vol. 3; Heart to Heart (2000) Twinkle
  • Live At Maritime Hall: San Francisco (2001) 2B1
  • Old Time Something (2002) Twinkle
  • Will This World Survive (2002) Twinkle
  • Give The Sufferer A Chance (2004) Twinkle
  • The Youthful Warrior (2004) Twinkle
  • Songs of Glory/Pieśni chwały (Warsaw 2008) - (with Trebunie Tutki)
  • Repent (2008), Sip a Cup
  • Praises to the King (2009) Reggae on Top
  • Gift of Jah (2011) Twinkle

External links

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