It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when it comes to the UK singles chart you are never too far away from a country, or a reggae, hit. These two genres seem to withstand the vagaries of taste, and trend, to pop up time and time again.
Pass the Dutchie, by Musical Youth (their 1st and only #1)
3 weeks, 26th September – 17th October 1982
And you’ll be relieved (at least, I am) to find out that this next #1 is of a reggae persuasion, rather than a country one. The intro is exuberant: a young voice announcing that This generation, Rules the nation! Attention duly grabbed, we slip into a gentle rhythm. Pass the dutchie pon de left-hand side…
First things first: what’s a dutchie? It’s a Jamaican cooking pot, which makes sense given the song’s refrain: How does it feel when you’ve got no food…? (And which probably seemed quite relevant given unemployment rates in the early ‘80s…) Except, one of the songs on which this is based is called ‘Pass the Kouchie’, and a kouchie is a cannabis pipe. So, what we actually have here is a bunch of kids hitting #1 with a thinly-veiled ode to the pleasures of the herb! Except all drug references are now food references.
This is a really fun record. You can imagine Musical Youth as the children of Dave and Ansil Collins, or the younger brothers of Althea and Donna. They were British-Jamaicans from Birmingham, aged between eleven and fifteen when this record made top spot. I was fully prepared for this to be a cheese-fest – ‘Musical Youth’ conjures up images of an after-school theatre club – but it’s pretty authentic. Yes, it’s on the poppier side of reggae, but there’s an grittiness to it that shines through.
The star of the show is the band’s youngest member: Kelvin Grant was only ten when he recorded that memorable opening line, and his subsequent tongue-twisting raps. (Legitimate question: Is he rapping? Or is he scatting? Or is there another reggae-specific term for what he’s doing? If he is rapping, then I’d say we have our first rap chart-topper!)
Musical Youth didn’t last too long beyond their sole chart-topper. They had one further Top 10 hit, but they packed a lot into their short time together. They worked with Donna Summer, won a Grammy (‘Pass the Dutchie’ also made the Billboard Top 10) and were the first black act to be played on MTV, which seems amazing given that MTV had been around for over a year before this record came out…
Sadly, the members haven’t had the happiest of lives since their early fame. Legal troubles broke the band up, and bassist Patrick Waite ended up in prison before dying aged just twenty-four. Musical Youth are now a duo, but they have continued to record and perform. More happily for fans of the genre, we are hitting a bit of a reggae groove at the top of the charts. More to follow…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Superb insightful write-up as ever, but I’m afraid this record just failed to press the right buttons with me at the time, and I still can’t raise any enthusiasm for it. There have been some fine reggae hits in the past – Bob Marley, Upsetters, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, Harry J and the All Stars, etc. (and my peers at school used to say to me, ‘eurgh, you don’t actually LIKE that stuff, do you?’) – but this one just reeked of the ‘a bunch of youngsters making a novelty record’ thingy. It was however sobering to read that life was not a happy one for them afterwards.
It sounds very modern to me, in the non-singing bits. Or at least, if not modern then maybe ten-fifteen years ahead of its time. But I can also imagine not being seen dead liking it had I been a fifteen-year-old at the time!
There was a lot of crooked managers around them also…I think one of the songwriters got ripped also. I like the reggae part but it’s just not something I would listen to.
Yeah, sounds like they had quite a sad decline, in more ways than one…
I don’t know about now in todays time but back since the 50s…there has been some terrible managers….the Beatles were extremely lucky to get Epstein.
Yep. Junior year. Not a bad song.
Its great fun. I bought it helped it top the charts and it topped mine. Its just so exuberant, great melody, and compare it with a manufactured kiddie group of american Jackson 5 wannabees coming up in a few weeks in your review and it seems positively cool. Reggae is always welcome, whatever variety, stardom at an early age less so. Not everyone is equipped to deal with it. Plus, everyone knew what it was about so it had that extra bit of cred and naughtiness about it. I think reggae rap is called toasting. It was a thing long before rap, i think. Double Barrel anyone? Though thats more rhythmic spoken word to rhythm music. Or rap. 🙂
Yes, you are right about ‘toasting’. I think that’s what they’re doing here… Sounds pretty close to rap to my ears, though. In ‘Double Barrel’ I think it was more ad-libbing and MC-ing over a beat. Does that mean that said group of Jackson 5 wannabes is actually the first #1 to feature a rap…?
Tomato tomarto to me too. Toasting is rap. Anything spoken is rap rhythmically is rap. Not sonething i can do apart from some reggae and early 80s stuff like white lines. You may well be right about the kiddie candy track though ive not heard it in ages. First proper rap is prob 1984 and chaka khan though…
Yes, rap was much slower back in the day… I could rap Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ word for word when I was sixteen. Doubt I still could…
Pingback: 510. ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’, by Eddy Grant | The UK Number Ones Blog
Pingback: Recap: #481 – #510 | The UK Number Ones Blog
Pingback: 521. ‘Candy Girl’, by New Edition | The UK Number Ones Blog
Pingback: 526. ‘Red Red Wine’, by UB40 | The UK Number Ones Blog