Lloyd Bradley
Lloyd Bradley (pictured in the late '70s with George Clinton) is one of the UK's foremost black music experts and a seasoned cultural commentator both in print and in person. His book Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (Penguin) remains the world's bestselling book on Jamaican music and culture; the internationally acclaimed Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital (Serpents Tail) is the first and only to explore Britain's modern black music as one continuous thread; he co-authored Ian Wright: A Life In Football (LittleBrown), positioning the Arsenal legend firmly in context as a contemporary black icon.
Lloyd is co-curator of the Black Cultural Archive's best-attended exhibition, Black Sound: Black British Music's Journey of Creative Independence, was organiser and co-curator of 2015's Sounds Like London Film Festival– two days of films and talks about London's black music history; and was Associate Producer of BBC2's award winning series Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music. He was among the UK's first black pirate radio crew on the iconic Dread Broadcast Corporation; has compiled and written sleevenotes for numerous soul, funk and reggae albums; and has spoken and lectured the UK, the US and Jamaica black music and its socio-cultural resonance.
A veteran marathon runner, Lloyd contributed to Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Runner's World, and was Health & Fitness Editor at GQ before becoming Editorial Consultant with Men's Health International in the US and Men's Health and Runner's World in the UK. He has written The Rough Guide to Men's Health and The Rough Guide to Running, both best sellers in their fields, and The Rough Guide to Cult Sport.
With a background of over 30 years as a music journalist – alongside the health & fitness title his CV includes MOJO, Blues & Soul, the Independent, the Observer, Q Magazine, Esquire, Smash Hits, Music Week and the NME, Lloyd has lectured in journalism and magazine theory & presentation in the UK and the US, devising and delivering courses for media studies and journalism students.
Forward, the autobiography of Marcia Barrett – co-authored by Lloyd – was published by Little, Brown in February 2018, and he is currently writing Funk Is Its Own Reward, the story of 1970s soul music.
Lloyd is a classically trained chef, who splits his time between London and Florida.
Lloyd with Tom Vickers on the RBP podcast
143 articles
List of articles in the library
Central Line: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 9 October 1979
CENTRAL LINE — COMING ON STRONG ...
George Clinton, Funkadelic, Parliament: P-Funk: Dispatches from Uncle Jam's H.Q.
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 20 November 1979
The news that Dr Funkenstein is to retire has sent shock waves throughout the funk world, but has provided George Clinton with a little breathing ...
Billy Preston, Syreeta: Billy Preston & Syreeta: Rebirth? A Fast Break is all it Takes...!
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 29 January 1980
Lloyd Bradley talks to Billy Preston and Syreeta, the latest in a select line of classic hit pairings ...
Kurtis Blow: Rumble In The (Concrete) Jungle!
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 29 January 1980
A Blow by Blow account... ...
The Gap Band: Rap with the Gap
Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 8 April 1980
What we got here, folks, is speech from the breach, as Lloyd Bradley traces the rise and rise of the Gap Band from the main ...
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 22 April 1980
WAR(RIORS) COME OUT TO PLAY-AY ...
War: Slippin' Back to Darkness...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 22 April 1980
JOHN MILTON (1608-1674), probably ranked among England's top five poets, once said "For what can war, but endless war, still breed?" I don't think me ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 12 August 1980
ON THE west side of Los Angeles lies Venice, situated between LA proper and the ocean. Most of it is beach. ...
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 21 May 1981
AFTER A wait of nearly a quarter of an hour, I was admitted to the hotel room to find the subject of my journey loudly, ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 4 July 1981
Slicing through the funk fat: The Fatback Band: Tasty Jam (Spring); Cameo: Knights Of The Sound Table (Chocolate City); General Caine II: Get Down Attack ...
Beggar & Co: Work Till You're Muscle Bound
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 19 September 1981
Lloyd Bradley encounters Beggar & Co and discovers how they avoided flunking the funk. ...
Sylvester: Too Hot To Sleep (Fantasy/Honey import)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 10 October 1981
I COULD never really take Sylvester seriously, I had him filed away as an instantly disposable product of the confusion of the late Seventies. Now, ...
Kool And The Gang at the Apollo Theatre, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 1982
WHEN THE American Funk Band Of The Month comes to town it doesn't really matter who they are as long as they're on the Robbie ...
Stevie Wonder: Original Musiquarium I
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 1982
FOUR MONTHS late, four sides long, only four tracks new but fortunately containing enough sterling old stuff to make it a realistic proposition (economicswise) comes ...
James Brown: Twilight Of The Godfather
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 23 January 1982
APART FROM several Arsenal players, James Brown was my first hero. ...
Gil Scott-Heron: The Homeland Is Where The Hatred Is
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 13 March 1982
JUST ONE CHANGE of buses, and the sound stages of Century City, Ca., where platinum-plated cowboys bite the props department dust, are replaced by the ...
Rick James: Blowing Out Tinsel Town
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 10 April 1982
Not So Long Ago:THERE WAS a time when nearly everybody in the world owned a Motown record. Motown was like a baby's security blanket, warm, ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 17 April 1982
The West Street Mob: The West Street Mob (Sugarhill) The Sequence: Sugarhill Presents (Sugarhill) The Sugarhill Gang: 8th Wonder (Sugarhill) Various Artists: Greatest Rap ...
Steel Pulse: Steel Pulsing After All These Years
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 1 May 1982
Lloyd Bradley takes the temperature of Handsworth's long distance dreads. ...
Stevie Wonder: Original Musiquarium I (Motown)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 15 May 1982
A WONDER DOWN MEMORY LANE ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 22 May 1982
WATER-WALKIN' ...
Aswad: Stepping Across the Front Line
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 21 August 1982
Lloyd Bradley finds out why Britain's foremost reggae rockers still aren't satisfied. ...
Aretha Franklin: Telephone Hang-Ups
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 9 October 1982
Aretha Franklin keeps LLOYD BRADLEY hanging on the transatlantic telephone — the new Duchess of Disco fails to 'Jump To It'... ...
The Time: What Time Is It? (WEA)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 9 October 1982
TIME IT WAS AND WHAT A TIME IT WAS ...
Funkadelic, George Clinton: George Clinton: Computer Games (Capitol)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 11 December 1982
A GEORGE Clinton solo album? Not a bit of it. Right down to Pedro Bell's quirkily barbed sleeve artwork, this is a Funkadelic record. The ...
George Clinton: The Return Of Doctor Funkenstein
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 15 January 1983
Two years ago, George Clinton was freeing the galactic ass at the head of an unparalleled funk troupe – Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Sly Stone, ...
Dennis Bovell, Matumbi: The Dennis Bovell Dub Band; Matumbi: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 22 January 1983
DUB AT THE BLACKBOARD ...
Luther Vandross: Bland, Dull and Vandross
Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 5 February 1983
LUTHER VANDROSS' world could be cut out from the pages of Jackie magazine. ...
Syl Johnson: Ms Fine Brown Frame (Erect/Import)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 12 February 1983
FINE BROWN FATBACK FRAME ...
Amazulu: Daughters of the Nation
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 5 March 1983
So what's an (almost) all girl reggae combo from London with a fake African name doing singing about Egypt? Lloyd Bradley finds out. ...
Joan Armatrading: The Key (A&M)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 26 March 1983
UNTIL RECENTLY, I never spent much time thinking about Joan Armatrading or her music. The associations between it and the kind of redbrick radicalism that ...
Madonna: In Time with the Perfect Beat
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 26 March 1983
THE WEEK Madonna arrived in London was the same week that the winter we thought had forgotten us called in. In circumstances like this, most ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 7 May 1983
LIFE IS A BANANADRAMA FOR THIS BUNCH OF GIRLS. LLOYD BRADLEY UNZIPS A SOB STORY. ...
War: Life (Is So Strange) (RCA)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 8 October 1983
THERE IS a shroud of controversy over this release. Rumour was that the group were far from satisfied with it, didn't want it put out ...
Michael Jackson: Thrills, Spills & Dollar Bills: Making Michael Jackson's Thriller
Film/DVD/TV Review by Lloyd Bradley, Black Music, May 1984
LLOYD BRADLEY drops a dissenting opinion into the torrent of hyperbole surrounding Making Michael Jackson's Thriller ...
Five Star: 5 Star: "Like Any Father, I Just Want The Best For My Kids"
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1986
No discos. No stepping out with the opposite sex. Arranged marriages a distinct possibility. Is Buster Pearson, 5 Star's father and manager, being a touch ...
Big Audio Dynamite: No 10 Upping St.
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1986
IN THE HILLS above Rio, until his recapture, lived Jose Carlos dos Reis Encina, a violent criminal and provider of food and medicine to the ...
The Beastie Boys: So Long, Suckers!
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, June 1987
A curse has come upon the youth of America. It turns boys into beer-swilling, lecherous nerds. It makes girls dress with scant regard for common ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1987
WHITNEY HOUSTON had a lot to live up to from the moment 'Saving All My Love For You' and its shiny video went public. Its ...
Peter Tosh, The Wailers: Peter Tosh: 'Volatile'
Obituary by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1987
Bitter, violent, a few bricks short of the load, Peter Tosh was a hard man to love. Lloyd Bradley investigates the gangland connections that resulted ...
LL Cool J: Rap – A Storm In A Teacup
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988
WITH WORLDWIDE sales of his second album, Bigger And Deffer, approaching the three million mark (50,000 in Britain) three times more than the last David ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988
THE SINGLE, 'SKELETONS', made a couple of bold statements: its earthy, chunky bass synth lines proved Stevie Wonder to have recaptured the simple approach to ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Final Chapter?
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1988
ON WEDNESDAY 10 February, the usual knot of press photographers and television camera crews on permanent point duty outside the Law Courts in The Strand ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1988
Hot House: they can manage without soul legends, thanks. ...
Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1988
On July 12, Michael Jackson arrived in the UK for his first ever solo appearances here. It was to become the largest and most lucrative ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1989
TRUE BLUE was not going to be bettered and the three years since haven't been Madonna's easiest, so Like A Prayer follows the only logical ...
Fairground Attraction: Diversion!
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, June 1989
THE FIGURE WAVING wildly from inside the bar of The American Hotel, Amsterdam, is Mark E. Nevin, guitarist and songwriter in Fairground Attraction. As the ...
The Specials: More Specials (2-Tone)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1989
GIVEN THE QUANTITY of ska compilations on the market at the moment, it's a good time to revive the ska revival of 10 years ago. ...
Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1989
AT 11 O'CLOCK on Friday June 30, shoppers in Oxford Street's HMV Records noticed a growing number of predominantly female teenagers filing into the store. ...
Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 30 September 1989
Hits that missed ...
Gloria Estefan: Treasure Island Ahoy!
Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989
BASKING IN FLORIDA'S almost blood temperature waters, with the ice cream-coloured Miami Beach architecture in the background, the 50-acre, man-made haven of Star Island is ...
Janet Jackson: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989
IT'S ALMOST FOUR years since Janet Jackson's last album – Control The Remixes hardly counts – and nearly 12 months since she began recording this ...
Tears For Fears: The Seeds Of Love
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989
FOUR YEARS and the best part of £1 million are ominous amounts of time and money to spend following up a huge-selling album. In this ...
The The: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 6 October 1989
Definite articles ...
Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 27 October 1989
Acid casualties ...
Milli Vanilli: 2X2 (Cooltempo CTIPD11 LP/Cass/CD)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989
IT'S NO surprise that the same duo that etched themselves on a pop public's consciousness by wearing those mildly pervy tights on TOTP — it ...
Wet Wet Wet: Holding Back The River
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989
PLEASANT AS it was, Wet Wet Wet's first album, Popped In Souled Out, was always too slick to be really interesting. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1990
THE SECOND VOLUME of classic reggae songs – the first album, released in 1983, spawned the group's first Number 1 single ('Red Red Wine'), topped ...
Chet Baker: Let's Get Lost (15) (Bruce Weber)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990
CHET BAKER'S James Deanish looks, rebel-type lifestyle and romantic jazz style made him a cult figure in the '50s, when he became one of photographer ...
Miles Davis: Miles, The Autobiography
Book Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990
THE PERFECT BIOGRAPHY, operating on three levels: an insight into Davis's often abrasive personality; an on-the-spot commentary on the evolution of jazz as a music ...
The Mission: It's For You-Hoo!
Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990
IN A CRAMPED loft-conversion on the outskirts of Leeds, something of a party atmosphere prevails. Ring pulls are being pulled, Silk Cuts smoulder in ashtrays, ...
New Kids on the Block: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis TN
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 23 February 1990
Young bloods in Memphis: the boys from next door ...
Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1990
PUBLIC ENEMY ARE one of the last, relevantly active crews from the second wave of hip hop that included Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Mantronix and ...
Prefab Sprout: Jordan: The Comeback
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1990
ALMOST THREE YEARS on from Langley Park To Memphis, Prefab Sprout are once again produced by Thomas Dolby, and on first impression there's no obvious ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1990
Confrontational classics from Bob Marley ...
Prince: Music From The Graffiti Bridge
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1990
THE GRAFFITI BRIDGE of the title being Prince's scheduled-for-August-but-yet-to-be-finished feature film. ...
George Michael, Wham!: Bare: George Michael, His Own Story by George Michael and Tony Parsons
Book Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1990
The Life Of George: from self-conscious childhood, to soul boy suburbia, to immense wealth, incredible fame and alarming desirability – all between hard covers. ...
George Benson: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 16 November 1990
All what jazz? ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, 1991
"At least people know what I look like now." ...
Monie Love: Good morning, America!
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1991
Time, once more, to place that seat-back in the upright position, adjust the watch to New York time and take your Battersea-born brand of rap ...
Gloria Estefan: Into The Light
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1991
GLORIA ESTEFAN'S FIRST new album since a coach crash last March left her with, among other things, a broken back. ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991
EASTERN BLOC RECORDS in Manchester's rapidly-becoming-fashionable Oldham Street is, at first glance, no different to any other specialist dance music emporium. ...
Mantronix: The Incredible Sound Machine
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991
FIVE YEARS AGO, hip hop duo Mantronix were among the best there was: techno-boff Mantronik's search for that perfect beat involved the unlikeliest noises fed ...
DeBarge, Marvin Gaye, Rick James, Soul II Soul, Stevie Wonder: Motown: Designer label
Report by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 9 May 1991
Lloyd Bradley on the changing fortunes of the Motown label ...
Profile by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1991
AS THE BAND'S FINAL CHORD dies away, the young man who's been singing tender words of love looks up and flashes his audience a dazzling ...
Incognito, Omar, Young Disciples: Talkin' Loud: Really saying something
Report by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 8 August 1991
Lloyd Bradley on Talkin' Loud, trying to become to dance music what Blue Note is to jazz ...
Guns N' Roses, Skid Row: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 2 September 1991
Bad attitude ...
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 5 September 1991
Lloyd Bradley stays up way past his bedtime to hear the new-look Boney M actually sing ...
Maxi Priest, Shabba Ranks: Shabba Ranks: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 24 September 1991
Send for a Priest: Lloyd Bradley on some baggy clothes and some sloppy delivery from Shabba Ranks at Brixton Academy ...
Nina Simone: Here Comes Trouble
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1991
"BE PUNCTUAL," they implored. "Be punctual, and everything should be all right." Ask about Nina Simone at her publisher's offices and you'll soon be appraised ...
Love Compilations: The Fast Food Of Love
Overview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1992
Passion to go. Ambience-U-Like. Take-away smooch. Marketing men have discovered the public's appetite for romantic compilation albums. "Everyone loves love," they tell Lloyd Bradley. "We've ...
Barry White: Greater lurrve hath no man
Profile by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 12 March 1992
AN IMPORTANT part of Barry White's stage set owes nothing to laser lights or hydraulic cherry pickers, in fact it has no moving parts whatsoever. ...
Shakespears Sister: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 26 March 1992
Staying, for better or worse: Lloyd Bradley finds Shakespears Sister too much like hard work ...
Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole: Natalie Cole: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 21 May 1992
Not really so unforgettable: Lloyd Bradley is dazed and confused by Natalie Cole at the Royal Albert Hall. ...
The Eagles, Glenn Frey: Glenn Frey: Life After The Eagles
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 2 July 1992
GLENN FREY's just-released Strange Weather has all the guitar interplay, sheer whimsy and wry lyrical content you'd expect from the man who helped to write ...
Just a Thought…Whatever Happened To New Age Music?
Comment by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1992
Dreamy celestial soundscapes. Tinkly cosmic meditations Worryingly little public interest...Is the music of the future becoming a thing of the past? ...
Michael Jackson: Normal Rules Do Not Apply
Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1992
Weird as ever but somehow less intriguing than before, the planet Michael Jackson still spins in its own orbit. His tour arrives in Britain this ...
Buju Banton, Shabba Ranks: "Using Guns. That's Nothing To Do With Any Sort Of Music."
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 17 April 1993
A man was hurt in a shooting at a ragga concert. Is violence taking over? Lloyd Bradley looks for some answers ...
Kenny G: No Accounting For Taste
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1993
AS PART of last year's campaign, Bill Clinton appeared on MTV's Rock The Vote, taking questions from a studio full of young electors. ...
Charles & Eddie, En Vogue: Harmony Singing: You Have A Lovely Singing Voice
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1993
Three years ago it had all but disappeared beneath the deluge of hard rap and technological beats. Now, from the choreographed trouser arousal of En ...
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1993
After 35 hit singles and 13 big-selling Lps, UB40's secret is out – they're a load of idle layabouts! Their new album is making the ...
Stevie Wonder: Radio City Music Hall, New York
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, March 1995
WHEN STEVIE WONDER EASES INTO 'YOU AND I', ACCOMPANIED only by his acoustic grand piano, the whole auditorium goes quiet. Not just silent, like nobody's ...
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, July 1995
'Laura We're On Our Last Go Round'Single 1962 (Youngstown) ...
The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones in Hyde Park # 2
Memoir by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, July 1995
MENTION THE STONES IN THE PARK to me or a dozen or so other guys from Stationers' School in Hornsey and, chances are, we'd start ...
Jimmy Cliff: Dread Inna Dean Street
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, October 1995
"I HAVEN'T KILLED ANYBODY...YET." Jimmy Cliff is joking. We think. Although at 8.45am in the Groucho Club in Soho's Dean Street it's difficult to he ...
Jodeci, Mary J. Blige: Jodeci/Mary J. Blige: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 1995
TO YER AVERAGE SOUL traditionalist, the notion of New Jack City as today's Muscle Shoals is tantamount to heresy. But the point is that hip ...
Review and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 1995
GIVEN THE CHOICE that exists in the Golden Earring department, it's scandalous that we've been forced to wait this long to hear War on CD. ...
Curtis Mayfield: People Get Ready!
Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, March 1996
THE LAST FIVE YEARS HAVE SEEN THE BOX-setting of James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Bob Marley and a fair few other giants of black ...
ZZ Top: Ten Questions For ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, August 1996
Antenna and the new album Rhythmeen: returns to form for ZZ Top? ...
George Clinton: The Brother From Another Planet
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, September 1996
From the ancient civilization of Doo Wop he came, stopping off via Cosmic Soul and the Acid Rock asteroid to found the P-Funk Galaxy, his ...
Review and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Mat Snow, MOJO, October 1996
JUST WHEN THE TOP WERE sounding like they'd run out of juice a mere 26 years into their career, they pull out a plum. Could ...
Mighty Diamonds, The Twinkle Brothers: The Mighty Diamonds/The Twinkle Brothers: The Forum, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, April 1997
IT'S A RARE THING THESE DAYS THAT Ralston Grant, the guitar-playing half of The Twinkle Brothers, leaves Jamaica, and for the last decade or so ...
Missy Elliott: Missy "Misdemeanour" Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly (EastWest)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, January 1998
Hip hop's hottest singer/rapper/producer cuts her own album. Mixes original music, samples, beats, big name guest rappers and singers. Result: modern urban black music of ...
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, September 1998
DIGNITY OR DESPAIR: How are these funk giants confronting the present day? ...
King Tubby: "This is a journey into sound"
Retrospective by Lloyd Bradley, James Maycock, MOJO, April 1999
Sonic visionary, dancehall supremo and obsessive money-launderer, he played the sliders like Jimi played a Fender. Lloyd Bradley and James Maycock chronicle the crowning glories ...
Public Enemy: Pride & Prejudice
Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 1999
A TRIPLE X PRODUCTION STARRING CHUCK D, FLAVOR FLAV, PROFESSOR GRIFF AND THE PUBLIC ENEMY POSSE IN AN EPIC ROMANCE OE MAYHEM, OUTRAGE AND CULTURAL ...
Retrospective by Lloyd Bradley, The Evening Standard, 15 September 2000
This is the story of reggae in West London — from the sound systems of the Fifties to the Carnival of today. Lloyd Bradley celebrates ...
Prince Buster: The Forum, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, December 2000
WHERE DO skinhead women go during the week? You see the blokes: driving white vans, doing unmentionable things to your u-bend or even practicing as ...
Heshima: Do the Harlesden Shuffle
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Evening Standard, 16 February 2001
NW10 is a patch of London that suffers a reputation for drugs and violence — a "murder hotspot" according to the Met. But Harlesden has ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley And The Wailers: Live!
Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, July 2001
ALONG WITH the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club and Prince at the Lyceum, these shows played in London by Bob Marley And The Wailers ...
Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, August 2002
ASK JAMAICA'S PRIME MINISTER ABOUT THE SKATALITES and he'll come over all misty-eyed. Never mind that, at the moment, PJ Patterson is running a country ...
Funkadelic, George Clinton, Parliament: George Clinton: Motor Booty
Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, October 2003
In 1963 George Clinton took a first step toward funk overlordship. He shut his East Coast barbershop and flew to Motown. Lloyd Bradley finds out ...
Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Wiley: London Calling
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 2004
Dizzee Rascal is the first artist to score two five-star MOJO reviews with successive albums. Yet Britain's freshest music star is only the most visible ...
George Clinton: An Interview with George Clinton
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, October 2006
Mix Motown, acid, Jethro Tull and a guitarist in a nappy and you get George Clinton. But where now for the sage of Parliament/Funkadelic? "The ...
Whitney Houston: I Look To You
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, August 2009
It's good to have her back in the spotlight for the right reasons. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 14 September 2009
They still bristle with a pop energy born out of total conviction. ...
Smokey Robinson: Time Flies When You're Having Fun
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2 November 2009
Smokey delivers exactly what you expect, but can still surprise. ...
Caro Emerald: Deleted Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2010
It's not rocket science – good songs sung well makes a great album. ...
The Staple Singers: Be Altitude – Respect Yourself
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2010
One of the Stax label's greatest triumphs. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2010
30th anniversary edition of the group's great debut album. ...
Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, February 2010
An extraordinary and stylish history lesson of an album ...
Ramsey Lewis: Songs From the Heart – Ramsey Plays Ramsey
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 15 March 2010
A credible jazz album for those who never knew they liked the genre ...
Max Romeo: The Best Of Max Romeo
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 26 April 2010
A fascinating album which revisits Romeo classics and presents them in new ways ...
John Legend, The Roots: John Legend and the Roots: Wake Up!
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 21 September 2010
A masterclass in how to respectfully update and enhance classic music. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 25 March 2011
Vintage touches and modern twists combine on an irrepressible soul record. ...
Booker T. Jones: The Road From Memphis
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 9 May 2011
It might lack surprises, but this is solid, high-quality Booker T. fare. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 9 May 2011
The uniquely British band is rightly celebrated on this fine collection. ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, June 2011
He's kept grime moving forwards with some truly audacious sounds. ...
Alicia Keys: Songs in A Minor – Collector's Edition
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 28 June 2011
Expanded 10th anniversary edition of a modern soul classic ...
Various Artists: The Story of Trojan Records
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, August 2011
An incredibly diverse five-CD set celebrating the legendary British label ...
Mary J. Blige: My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act I)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 21 November 2011
Blige's most enjoyable, exciting and consistent album in years ...
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2012
Hill’s multi-award-winning debut became part of the mainstream on its own terms. ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Marley (Original Soundtrack)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 16 April 2012
A collection strong enough to stand apart from its parent documentary. ...
Bettye LaVette: Betty LaVette: Thankful N' Thoughtful
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 1 October 2012
Possibly the best set of songs she's ever recorded. ...
Various Artists: Reggae Golden Jubilee –50th Anniversary – Origins of Jamaican Music
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 5 November 2012
A connoisseur-satisfying collection, yet completely accessible for novices. ...
Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah: "This is What London Is": The Growth of Grime
Book Excerpt by Lloyd Bradley, Serpent's Tail Books, August 2013
"WHEN I INITIALLY started producing, I started grabbing reggae influences, hip-hop influences, mixing it with my own London flava, then you got the MCs on ...
Eddy Grant: Eddy Come Back: Eddy Grant and the Equals
Book Excerpt by Lloyd Bradley, Serpent's Tail Books, August 2013
AS THE 1970S progressed, the keys to the buoyant Afro- funk recording industry were two of black London's biggest music-business movers-and-shakers, Eddy Grant and Aki ...
Janet Kay: Lover Boys and Girls: Lovers Rock in the UK
Book Excerpt by Lloyd Bradley, Serpent's Tail Books, August 2013
GIVEN THE TIDAL wave of superb dance records that flowed out of Jamaica in the 1960s, and the growth of UK sound systems, the island's ...
Soul II Soul's Jazzie B: "Ride what you've got until the wheels fall off"
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Evening Standard, 11 June 2014
Some people already know that Jazzie B is a London Legend but tonight at the first London Music Awards he takes the title officially. The ...
Various artists: This Is Trojan 50! review — the label that changed Britain
Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 26 July 2018
Trojan's releases introduced the UK to reggae, deejaying, toasting, lovers rock, dancehall — and Five Star's dad. This is an immaculately curated collection of a ...
Buju Banton: "Every black man have to fight": Buju Banton on prison and liberation
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 2 July 2020
Jamaica's reggae megastar received a hero's welcome when he came home after seven years in a US jail. "No guts, no glory — that's my ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 14 August 2020
Fun and fury from Nigerian pop polymath. By rooting modern production in traditional melody, and drawing on various musical styles while staying true to African ...
Jimmy Cliff: The return of Jimmy Cliff: 'Rebel spirit is still in the Jamaican people'
Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 6 August 2021
As he releases new music at the age of 77, one of reggae's foundational figures charts his astonishing life in music, via swinging London, Brazilian ...
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