Babylon (1980 Film)
''Babylon'' is a 1980 British drama film directed by Franco Rosso. Written by Franco Rosso and Martin Stellman (''Quadrophenia''), and shot by two-time Academy Award winner Chris Menges (''The Killing Fields''), ''Babylon'' is an incendiary portrait of racial tension and police brutality set in Brixton, London. The film, anchored by Dennis Bovell’s propulsive score, is partly based on Bovell’s false imprisonment for running a Jamaican sound system, Sufferer’s Hi Fi, in the mid-70s. Produced by Gavrik Losey and the National Film Finance Corporation, the film is regarded as a classic. Plot ''Babylon'' follows a young reggae DJ ( Brinsley Forde, M.B.E., frontman of the British group Aswad) of the Ital 1 Lion sound system in Thatcher-era South London as he pursues his musical ambitions while also battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbours, police, and the National Front. Cast Production ''Babylon'' was filmed on the streets of Deptford ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Franco Rosso
Franco Rosso (29 August 1941 – 9 December 2016)Bill Douglas Centre"Franco Rosso 1942-2016" ''Babylon'', 27 December 2016.Martin Stellman"Franco Rosso obituary" ''The Guardian'', 2 January 2017. was an Italian-born film producer and director based in England. He is known for making films about Black British culture, and in particular for the 1980 cult film ''Babylon'', about Black Jamaican youth in south London,Miguel Cullen"30 years on: Franco Rosso on why Babylon's burning" ''The Independent'', 11 November 2010. which was backed by the National Film Finance Corporation. Life and career Rosso was born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, but grew up in London, where his parents (who had been Fiat workers in Turin) brought him when he was aged eight. After attending comprehensive school in Battersea, Rosso went on to Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art (at which he was a contemporary of Ian Dury). [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aswad
Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Turn Around" (1988) and " Shine" (1994). "Aswad" is Arabic for "black". They are three-time Grammy Award nominees. History The members of Aswad are UK descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean. They attended John Kelly/Holland Park School. Aswad was formed in 1975 in Ladbroke Grove area of West London. The original members of Aswad were guitarist/vocalist Brinsley "Chaka B" Forde, drummer/vocalist Angus "Drummie Zeb" Gaye, lead guitarist/vocalist Donald "Dee" Griffiths, bassist George "Ras" Oban, and keyboardist Courtney "Khaki" Hemmings. Aswad were the backing band of Burning Spear's 1977 ''Live'' album, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Other contributors included Vin Gordon, and Karl Pitterson. Initially, the band produced ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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King Sounds
Roy Livingstone Plummer (born c. 1948), better known as King Sounds, is a Jamaican reggae musician who released several albums from late 1970s onwards. Biography Born Roy Livingstone Plummer, c.1948 in Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, King Sounds emigrated to the UK in 1964, having already made some recordings in Jamaica.Butaumocho, Rita (2010)Zimbabwe: King Sounds Coming, ''The Herald'', 5 November 2010, retrieved 2 July 2011Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 154-5 Known simply as 'Sounds', he acted as an MC for reggae shows, and impressed Alton Ellis so much that Ellis gave him the name 'King Sounds'. His debut single was "Rock and Roll Lullaby", released in 1975.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 167-8 He formed the Grove Music collective in Ladbroke Grove with Mikey Campbell. He performed regularly with artists such as Asw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vilma Hollingbery
Vilma Jean Napier Brown (21 July 1932 11 September 2021), known professionally as Vilma Hollingbery, was a British character actress. She appeared in various television programmes and films over a span of sixty years, and was known for her appearances as Claudia Wren in ''Psychoville'', and has also appeared in ''A Touch of Frost'', the 1980 film ''Babylon'', ''Doctor Who'' and ''The Bill'', in which she appeared six times as different characters. She also portrayed Barbara in ''Motherland''. She was married to the actor and director Michael Napier Brown, the couple had a daughter together, who also became an actress. Napier Brown died in August 2016. Hollingbery died on 11 September 2021, aged 89. Filmography References External links *Vilma Hollingberyat the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gary Whelan
Gary Whelan (born 1953) is an Irish actor, known for his work on British television. Early life Whelan was born in Ireland but he relocated to London when he was ten years old. He then attended Holloway School. The Old Camdenians Club Retrieved 31 January 2015 Acting He has portrayed several roles in the force. He has twice featured in the ''EastEnders ...
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Alan Igbon
Alan Igbon (29 May 1952 – 9 December 2020) was a British actor, best known for his roles in television series such as ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'', ''Coronation Street'' and ''Boys from the Blackstuff''. Life and career Igbon was born in Hulme, Manchester, in May 1952. His father was Nigerian and his mother was Irish. Igbon took the background part of inmate Meakin in the cinematic re-make of the controversial borstal TV film ''Scum (film), Scum'' (1979), whose character launched an emotional tirade against senior members of staff after the suicide of another convict. the cast included Ray Winstone and Patrick Murray (actor), Patrick Murray. Igbon appeared as Angadi, part of a kidnapping gang in the LWT drama ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals''; episode ''The Acorn Syndrome'' (1980). Igbon starred as Loggo in ''Boys from the Blackstuff'', a BBC television drama about a group of unemployed men in Liverpool during the recession-ravaged ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Gant
David Gant (born 1943) is a Scottish actor and model. Formerly a banker, Gant changed careers at age 30 to study dramatic art at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Graduating in 1974, he has found roles in theatre, film and television. His credits include Coriolanus at Chichester Festival Theatre, and the films ''Victor/Victoria'' (1982), ''The Draughtsman's Contract'' (1982), ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1982), ''Gandhi'' (1982), ''Brazil'' (1985), '' Chaplin'' (1992), ''Restoration'' (1995), '' Braveheart'' (1995), '' The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'' (1999), ''Lagaan'' (2001) and Jonathan Creek: ''The Sinner and the Sandman'' (2014). He also voiced Oswald of Carim in the 2011 video game ''Dark Souls'' and Lord Aldia in the sequel, ''Dark Souls II'', more specifically its special edition rerelease ''Scholar of the First Sin''. Gant is an Associate and Licentiate of the London College of Music. Gant was the voice actor of Emperor Ie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drummie Zeb
Angus Gaye (24 September 1959 – 2 September 2022), better known as Drummie Zeb, was a British musician. He was the drummer and vocalist for the reggae band Aswad, as well as a record producer for other artists. Early life Gaye was born in London on 24 September 1959. His parents immigrated to the United Kingdom from Carriacou, Grenada, as part of the Windrush generation. He grew up in the Ladbroke Grove area of West London and studied at the Holland Park School in his hometown where he met his future bandmates Tony Robinson and Brinsley Forde. Gaye took an interest in drumming after a cousin, who was a drummer, started living at his family home as a tenant. He would use anything he had at hand to use as a drum. His father bought him his first drum at the age of eight so he would stop damaging family property and Gaye eventually became a kit drummer in the local steelpan band called the "Metronomes". Career In 1975, Gaye saw an advertisement for the band Aswad and turned up ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mikey Dread
Michael George Campbell (4 June 1954 – 15 March 2008), better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. Biography Born in Port Antonio,Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 99–101 one of five children, from an early age, Campbell showed a natural aptitude for engineering and electronics.Clayson, Alan (2008)Mikey Dread, ''The Guardian'', 25 March 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2016 As a teenager he performed with the Safari and Sound of Music sound systems, and worked on his high school's radio station.Katz, David (2015)How Mikey Dread revolutionised Jamaican music several times over, '' Fact'', 15 September 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016 He studied electrical engineering at the College of Arts, Science and Technology, and in 1976, started out as an engineer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC). Campbell wasn't impressed that th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark Monero
Mark Monero (born 1968) is a British actor and musician. He has had various roles including parts in ''Babylon'', ''Wilt'', ''Prayer for the Dying'', ''Sid and Nancy'' and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1991–96), although he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles. Career Acting Born in London, England, to Afro-Caribbean parents, Monero began acting when introduced to Anna Scher's theatre school in Islington, London, in the late 1970s. One of his earliest roles was in the seminal 1980s film ''Babylon'', in which he plays the brother of Brinsley Ford's character "Blue". Monero started with some early roles in TV serials such as ''Play for Today'' (1980), ''Bless Me Father'' (1981) and a role in the BBC children's programme ''Grange Hill'' (1983). He later went on to secure the role of Woody in the popular detective series ''Lovejoy'' (1986). Later he had a role in ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' (1986) and a par ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stefan Kalipha
Stefan Kalipha (born Stephen Siegfried Behrendt, 1940) is a Trinidad-born British actor who has been active since about 1970. He played Ramon, the Cigar Factory Foreman in the film ''Cuba'' (1979), Daoud in '' The Curse of King Tut's Tomb'' and Fat Larry in ''Babylon'' (both 1980). He also appeared as Hector González, a Cuban hitman, in the James Bond film '' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981). Kalipha's other film roles include Wali Dad in ''The Crucifer of Blood'' (1991) and Buldeo in ''The Jungle Book'' (1994). His television roles include ''Quiller'', episode: "Objective Caribbean" and '' Tales of the Unexpected'', episode: "The Finger of Suspicion". Early life Stefan Kalipha was born Stephen Siegfried Behrendt in Trinidad in 1940 and spent his childhood in Port of Spain. He is of Indian, African, Portuguese, and German descent. He grew up with fellow creatives Horace Ové, his cousin, and Mustapha Matura, his best friend. Kalipha moved to England in 1959 and studied at East 15 A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Australian author * Maggie Alphonsi (born 1983), English rugby union player * Maggie Anderson (born 1948), American poet * Maggie Anderson (activist) (born 1971), American activist * Maggie Atkinson (born 1956), English educator * Maggie Baird (born 1959), American actress * Maggie Bandur (born 1974), American television writer * Maggie Barrie (born 1996), Sierra Leonean sprinter * Maggie Barry (born 1959), New Zealand politician * Maggie Batson (born 2003), American actress * Maggie Baylis (1912–1997), American graphic designer * Maggie Beer (born 1945), Australian cook * Maggie Behle (born 1980), American Paralympic alpine skier * Maggie Bell (born 1945), Scottish vocalist * Maggie Benedict (born 1981), South African actress * Maggie Betts, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |