Lloyd Brown

Born on 23 March 1964 in London, England, Brown entered music as a teenager through an association with the UK-based Jah Marcus Hi Power sound system. Although he began as a DJ, his brief spell as an MC ended after an eight-month stay in Jamaica. Exposure to the Jamaican television programme Where It’s At, which showcased Dennis Brown and Big Youth, prompted him to pursue singing. Back in London he refined his voice by joining the local outfit Sweet Distortion. In 1984 the group received a Newcomers Of The Year nomination and supplied backing for Gregory Isaacs and Aswad. Sweet Distortion issued a pair of esoteric singles, yet their profile rose further when they portrayed the Jackson Five in the well-received production Black Heroes In The Hall Of Fame.

Once the show closed the band split, prompting Brown to launch a solo career. A string of modest successes followed, beginning with the debut single ‘Ring My Number’. The producers of Black Heroes In The Hall Of Fame recruited him again, this time to play Otis Redding; the engagement took him across the USA, the Caribbean and Europe. Returning to the UK in 1990, he scored his first number-one reggae hit with a version of Dr. Hook’s ‘Sharing The Night Together’, quickly followed by the chart-topping ‘Love You Down’. The releases earned him the Best Single Of The Year award and strengthened his standing within British reggae circles. In 1995 he teamed with Tippa Irie for the tracks ‘It’s A Love Thing’ and ‘Stress’, securing a contract with Arista Records. The label issued the contentious ‘Baby Mother’, which failed to connect with audiences.

After the setback Brown withdrew for two years before Lloyd ‘Musclehead’ Francis persuaded him to record the album Rhyme And Reason. The project enjoyed commercial and critical success. At Cave Studios with Danny Ray he cut reggae interpretations of the Lighthouse Family’s ‘Lifted’ and Santana’s ‘Maria Maria’, both featured on the Pop Hits Inna Reggae Style series. His most notable single from this period was a cover of Craig David’s ‘Fill Me In’. In 2001 he began collaborating with Bitty McClean.