The Gladiators (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Gladiators


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Origin = Kingston, Jamaica
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Genre = Roots reggae
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Years_active = 1968 - present
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Current_members = Albert Griffiths
Gallimore Sutherland Alan Griffiths Anthony Griffiths
Past_members = Clinton Fearon
Errol Grandison David Webber
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The Gladiators were a popular Jamaican roots reggae band during the 1970s and 1980s.

Overview

Albert Griffiths, founder of The Gladiators, cut his debut record "You Are The Girl" (a b-side to The Ethiopians hit record "Train to Skaville") in 1966. Following the success of the record, Griffiths recruited childhood friends David Webber and Errol Grandison in 1968 to form the original Gladiators vocal group.

The group's name was allegedly suggested by a fellow bus passenger during the time of their first recordings. [http://hjem.get2net.dk/sbn/gladi/story.htm#prologue The Gladiators - The Story] Retrieved on 2008-03-25]

The group's first major success was with the single "Hello Carol" in 1968, for producer Coxsone Dodd, which topped the Jamaican music charts. Shortly afterwards, in 1969, Webber was stricken with a mental illness and was replaced by Clinton Fearon, one of Griffiths' proteges. Similarly Grandison left the group in 1973 for family commitments and was replaced by Gallimore Sutherland. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0pfpxq85ldte~T1 allmusic.com Biography] Retrieved on 2008-03-25]

During the early 1970s the Gladiators cut numerous records for various producers such as, Lloyd Daley and Lee Perry, but it was their recordings for Dodd at Studio One that became the biggest hits, both locally and in Britain. During this time at Studio One the Gladiators hits included "Bongo Red", "Jah Jah Go Before Us", "Mr. Baldwin", and "Roots Natty" among others.

The success of these recordings garnered the attention of Britain-based Virgin Records who gave the group their first major recording contract in 1976. Their debut full-length released on Virgin was the Tony Robinson-produced "Trenchtown Mix Up", which included revisions of many of their early hits and was a success in both Jamaica and in Britain. They followed this effort with "Proverbial Reggae" in 1978 and both "Naturality" and "Sweet So Till" in 1979. Dodd and Studio One also released "Studio One Presenting the Gladiators", a compilation of some early Gladiators records in 1978.

The group's next album "Gladiators" was recorded at Coach House Studios in Britain with local producer Eddy Grant. It was the first Gladiators album on which no member of the group played any of the instruments, as a few members of the band Aswad were brought in. The album did much worse than their previous work and they were subsequently dropped from their contract with Virgin. Virgin would subsequently release two compilation records "Vital Selection" in 1981 and "Dreadlocks The Time Is Now" in 1983.

Over the next year they would release a handful of live and studio albums on numerous labels, including Tony Robinson's own label. However, they quickly found a home at U.S.-based Nighthawk Records and released "Symbol of Reality" in late 1982 followed by "Serious Thing" in 1984. One year later the Gladiators would change labels again, this time moving to Heartbeat Records, where they would release albums throughout the latter half of the 80's. In 1987 Fearon left the group after 18 years, but Griffiths and Sutherland have continued to release albums on various labels since then.

In 2005 the Gladiators released "Fathers and Sons" which has been regarded as Albert Griffiths farewell, presumably replacing himself with his sons Alan and Anthony in the future.

tudio Albums

Compilations and live albums

Notes and references