Lover's Rock

Formed in the 1970s, the hybrid sound of lovers’ rock was inspired by an increasingly popular strain of reggae, perhaps best exemplified by releases like Domino Johnson’s take on "Summer Time". 

The name 'lovers' rock', however, is much easier to pinpoint: that was in 1977, when Dennis Harris and Dennis Bovell founded Lovers Rock Records to house a new sound born right here in the UK.

Soon, the two began to mix and when Harris and Bovell founded their new record label, this homegrown contribution to Caribbean culture finally had its name.

From its South London roots, lovers’ rock had grown to dominate the bass bins of London's soundsystems, like Chicken Hi-Fi, Success Sound and Soferno B. Most of the first wave of vocalists were Black British women— namely Janet Kay (see: "Silly Games").

It wasn't long before the men jumped on the mic and its appeal broadened. Soon, Jamaican artists like Horace Andy, Junior Murvin, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Sugar Minott started to take their cues from the sound.

They found their own success in the UK charts with lovers' rock classics like Brown’s "Money In My Pocket" and Minott’s "Good Thing Going", either side of the turn of the decade. 

However, the influence of lovers' rock endures to this day, stretching far beyond its '70s origins. Artists like Sade and Estelle both have albums named after the genre.