Lovers Rock: Riverside Studios

Menelick Shabazz

Menelick Shabazz

Director of ‘The Story of Lovers Rock’, Menelick Shabazz, talks about the movie. He talks about how the idea for the movie was conceived, why the genre of music and why the movie has been well received. Menelick tells us the significance of ‘The Story of Lovers Rock’ is to bring to light an invisible generation.

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Lovers Rock: Riverside Studios

Event Date: 05/01/2012

Wednesday 4th January, 2011 – The feature length documentary, ‘The Story of Lovers Rock’, depicts an era and a music that defined a generation in the late 70s and 80s through a feature length documentary. The music movement ‘lovers rock’ was frequently dubbed ‘romantic reggae’, and is a uniquely British sound that grew to be a global phenomenon as a result of it’s adoption into ska music. The influence of Lovers Rock over the British bands such as Police, Culture Club and UB40 characterise the impact the music was making in merging the multi-cultural divide that polarized this era. The film revisits this overlooked period of British music, social and political history. Lovers Rock was influential to the new generation of black Britain’s, who identified with the genre as it provided respite from so much racial tension, the riots – plus an alternative to the male dominated ‘roots’ scene. The Lovers Rock dance – known as scrubbing – offered a coping mechanism at parties and clubs, temporarily distracting from what was happening back outside on the streets. The docu-film includes live performances, dance, comedy sketches, interviews and archive footage from the era and the generation that embraced it. Hear from the director, Menelick Shabazz, and producer Paulette Harris, in our interviews conducted at Riverside Studios on Wednesday 4th January, 2011.