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,

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, 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,

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, and Jeffrey Williams gave early performances at these nights – which proved to be pivotal to their later careers. International names topping the bill included

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, and Def Jam's Tashan. McKoy cited his influences as

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, Chaka Khan,

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, and Nelson Mandela.

Biography

Born in South London, McKoy fronted the

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in the early 1990s and has duetted with

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, Vanessa Simon,

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, and Ebony Alleyne. He released five solo albums and, in 2007, he recorded new songs for the record producer

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'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

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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