The Twinkle Brothers are a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century under Norman Grant's lead.

History

The Twinkle Brothers were formed in 1962 by brothers Norman (vocals, drums) and Ralston Grant (vocals, rhythm guitar) from

Falmouth, Jamaica Falmouth ( jam, Falmot) 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 t ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, 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 (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was an influential Chinese-Jamaican reggae 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 Stre ...

. This was followed by sessions for other top Jamaican producers such as

Duke Reid Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Troja ...

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

, Sid Bucknor,

Phil Pratt Phil Pratt, born George Phillips (born 1942 in Kingston, Jamaica)Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 316. is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer. Career Phil Pratt worked at Studio One for Coxsone ...

, and

Bunny Lee Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD (23 August 1941 – 6 October 2020), better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records i ...

. 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 Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of ...

-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 since the mid-1970s, including several albums by

E.T. Webster Errol "E.T." Webster (born c. 1945)
, ''

. In 1977, the band were signed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

' 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, 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 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 Krzys ...

in which they fuse reggae and traditional music from the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak language, Slovak () or in Polish language, Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovak ...

. 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.'' Currently lead by founding member Norman Grant - as well as legendary bass player Dub Judah, Black Steel & Jerry Lions on guitar, Aron Shamash on the keyboards, Barry Prince on drums, and their engineer Derek "Demondo" Fevrier - the Twinkle Brothers are widely considered to be one of the best live foundation reggae bands in circulation, and they continue to play regularly all over the world to a loyal fanbase.

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) *''Kilimanjaro'' (1985) Twinkle *''Anti-Apartheid'' (1985) Twinkle *''Dub Massacre Part 3'' (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

) *''Comeback Twinkle 2'' (1994) Ryszard (with Polish folk band

) *''Dub Massacre Part 6 - Dub Feeding Program'' (1994) Twinkle *''Chant Down Babylon'' (1995) Twinkle *''Dub Plate'' (1995) Twinkle *''Dub Salute Part 5'' (1996)

Jah Shaka Jah Shaka, also known as the Zulu Warrior is a Jamaican reggae/dub sound system operator who 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 t ...

*''Final Call'' (1997) Twinkle *''Greatest Hits'' (1997) Kahamuk (with

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 Krzy ...

) *''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

) *''Repent'' (2008), Sip a Cup *''Praises to the King'' (2009) Reggae on Top *''Culture Defender'' (2011) Gussie P Music *''Gift of Jah'' (2011) Twinkle *''Bribery And Corruption'' (2012) Twinkle *''Bunker Buster'' (2012) Twinkle *''Glimmer Of Hope'' (2012) Twinkle *''Do It Again'' (2019) Twinkle *''Pass It On'' (2019) Twinkle

Members

;Current members *Norman Grant – Vocals (1962–present) *Ralston Grant – Vocals, Rhythm guitar (1962–present) *Dub Judah – Bass (1990–present) *Black Steel – Guitar (1986–present) *Jerry Lions – Guitar (1987–present) *Derek "Demondo" Fevrier – Engineer (1986–present) *Barry Prince – Drums (2004–present) *Aron Shamash – Keyboards (2004–present)

References

External links

DiscographyInterview on Reggae Vibes
* https://soundcloud.com/adry-itus/rasta-pon-top-bass-itus-rmx {{authority control Jamaican reggae musical groups Musical groups established in 1962 1962 establishments in Jamaica Roots Reggae Library