Noel McKoy
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Noel McKoy ( – 3 November 2022) was a British
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...
singer. His music was a collection of soul,
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
, funk and Northern soul. McKoy created, produced and presented the Dutch Pot new artist nights in London – which ran for five years. Over 300 artists including Hill St. Soul,
Shaun Escoffery Shaun Escoffery is a British soul and R&B singer and actor. His first major release was the single "Space Rider", released by Oyster Music in March 2001. It was played regularly by the BBC Radio 1 DJ Trevor Nelson and the Dreem Teem. It peak ...
,
Michael Jackson (writer) Michael James Jackson (27 March 1942 – 30 August 2007) was an English writer and journalist. He was the author of many influential books about beer and whisky. He was a regular contributor to a number of British broadsheets, particularly ''Th ...
, and Jeffrey Williams gave early performances at these nights – which proved to be pivotal to their later careers. International names topping the bill included
Omar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
,
Lynden David Hall Lynden David Hall (7 May 1974 – 14 February 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who emerged during the late 1990s as part of the neo soul movement. In 1999, he was the first UK performer ever voted "Best Male ...
, and Def Jam's Tashan. McKoy cited his influences as
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
,
Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...
, Chaka Khan,
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and Nelson Mandela.


Biography

Born in South London, McKoy fronted the
James Taylor Quartet The James Taylor Quartet (or JTQ) are a British four-piece jazz funk band formed in 1985 by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners, and in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy. The band co ...
in the early 1990s and has duetted with
Juliet Roberts Juliet Roberts (born 6 May 1962) is a British jazz, rock, soul and house music singer of Grenadian descent. Career Roberts was born in London, England. She originally recorded as Julie Roberts in 1982, and performed on the 1983 top 10 hit s ...
,
Mica Paris Michelle Antoinette Wallen (born 27 April 1969), known professionally as Mica Paris (), is an English singer, presenter and actress. Paris was born in Islington in North London, but moved to Brockley, South London, when she was nine. She rel ...
, Vanessa Simon,
Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...
, and Ebony Alleyne. He released five solo albums and, in 2007, he recorded new songs for the record producer
Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...
's ''Northern Soul 2007'' and ''Disco 2008'', the latter also featuring his sisters. In 2018, he was interviewed for the documentary ''Battersea Junction - Stories from the Winstanley and York Road Estates'' which was put together by Wandsworth Heritage Service and Year 6 children from Falconbrook Primary School. The programme was shown on
Together TV Together TV (formerly The Community Channel) is a British free-to-air television channel owned by The Community Channel, a community benefit society. The channel targets a women's audience aged 40 to 60, with programming related to health an ...
and featured the McKoy and Colorman track "Family 2000" as part of its soundtrack. McKoy died on 3 November 2022, at the age of 60.


Music career

McKoy's musical journey started when he and his siblings released the songs "I'm Lucky" and "Family" in 1989. His first album, ''Full Circle – Within A Social Soul'' was released in 1993, followed four years later by ''Mind Is the Keeper''. In 1998, he owned his own record label, Right Track Records, and released his third album, ''Please Take This Personal''. His fourth solo album, ''Brighter Days'', was released in 2009 on soul label Tri-Sound, and featured the singles "Jealousy" as well as the title track. As recently as 2021, he teamed up with ex-
UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
sax player, Brian Travers, and reggae-fusion trumpet player Patrick Anthony Tenyue to release the self-penned track, "Liberation", for TEK2 Productions.


Albums

*''Full Circle – within a spiritual social soul'' (1993) (as 'McKoy') *''Mind Is the Keeper'' (1997) *''Please Take This Personal'' (1998) *''Brighter Day'' (2009) *''Cut From The Same Cloth'' (2013) (as 'McKoy') *''People Make Change'' (2019)


References


External links


Interview Noel Mckoy by Michael "The Dood" Edwards, ''UK Vibe'', August 2010

"Noel McKoy: Nothin' But the Real McKoy" – interview by Pete Lewis
''Blues & Soul'', August 2010.
"In conversation with Noel McKoy"
Unity101 Conversations, 6 January 2021. * * * Listed Londoner interview - Robert Elms BBC Radio London show October 2019 Year of birth missing 1960s births 2022 deaths 21st-century Black British male singers English soul singers James Taylor Quartet members Musicians from London {{UK-singer-stub