Labi Siffre

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Labi Siffre
Birth nameClaudius Afolabi Siffre
Born (1945-06-25) 25 June 1945 (age 79)
Hammersmith, London, England[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • poet
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1970–present
Labels
Websitewww.intothelight.info

Claudius Afolabi Siffre[2] (born 25 June 1945)[1] is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. His best known compositions include "It Must Be Love" which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (a song later covered by the ska band Madness),[1] "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK charts. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.

His music has been sampled extensively by US hip-hop artists such as Eminem,[3] Kanye West and Jay-Z. Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument.[4] In 2022, his life and work was explored in the BBC series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

Early life and education

Claudius Afolabi Siffre[2] was born as the fourth of five children at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London[5] to a British mother of mixed Barbadian and Belgian descent and a Nigerian father. Siffre was brought up in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School, in Ealing, West London.[6] Despite his Catholic education, Siffre has stated that he has always been an atheist.[7]

He studied music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in Wardour Street, Soho. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in his poem "education education education".[8] After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman before deciding to concentrate on music.[1] He moved to Cannes, France, where he played guitar with various soul musicians and bands but returned to the United Kingdom in the late 1960s.[1]

Musical career

Siffre played jazz guitar at Annie Ross's jazz club in Soho, London in the 1960s as part of a Hammond organ, guitar, drums house band.[7]

He released six albums between 1970 and 1975. In the early 1970s, three of his singles became hits: "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971, and performed the song on the BBC’s Top of the Pops) (later covered by and a No. 4 hit for Madness,[9] for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972).[10] In 1978, Siffre took part in the heats to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed his own composition "Solid Love", which placed fifth of the twelve songs up for consideration at the A Song for Europe contest.[11] Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad" performed by Bob James, which came tenth.

Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985, when he saw a television film from Apartheid South Africa showing a white soldier shooting at black children.[12] He wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong" (No. 4, 1987)[10] which he also performed on Top of the Pops, and released four more albums between 1988 and 1998.

Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is".[13] As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2006.[3]

Siffre's 1972 Song "My Song", the tenth track on his junior album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" off his 3rd album Graduation.

In February 2022, the BBC broadcast Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, in which Alan Yentob presented a film exploring Siffre's life and work.[14]

Personal life

Siffre met his partner Peter Lloyd in July 1964 and they were together for 48 years. They entered into a civil partnership in 2005, as soon as it was legally possible in the UK.[7] From the mid-1990s until Lloyd's death in 2013 he and Siffre lived in a ménage à trois with Rudolf van Baardwijk in Crickhowell, South Wales. Van Baardwijk himself died in 2015.[15] Siffre now lives in Spain.[15]

In 2014, Siffre appeared on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives, championing the life of British author Arthur Ransome. Siffre said that Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books had taught him responsibility for his own actions and also a morality that has influenced and shaped him throughout his life.[16]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album UK
[17]
1970 Labi Siffre —
1971 The Singer and the Song 47
1972 Crying Laughing Loving Lying 46
1973 For the Children —
1975 Remember My Song —
Happy —
1988 So Strong —
1991 Man of Reason —
1998 The Last Songs —
Monument (Spoken Word) —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live albums

  • The Last Songs (Re-mastered) (2006)

Compilation albums

  • The Best of Labi Siffre (1995)
  • It Must Be Love (The Best of Labi Siffre) (2016)
  • Gold (2019)

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Certifications
UK
[17] 		AUS
[18][19] 		AUT
[20] 		BE (FLA)
[21] 		IRE
[22] 		NL 40
[23] 		NL 100
[24] 		US R&B
[25]
1970 "Too Late" — — — — — — — —
"A Little More Line" (Germany-only release) — — — — — — — —
1971 "Thank Your Lucky Star" — — — — — — — —
"Get to the Country" 53[A] — — — — — — —
"It Must Be Love" 14 46 — — — 21 25 —
1972 "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" 11 — — — — — —[B] —
"Watch Me" 29 — — — 7 16 14 —
1973 "Give Love" — — — — — — — —
"If You Have Faith" — — — — — — — —
"(Just) A Little More Line" (Netherlands-only release) — — — — — — — —
1974 "Dreamer" — — — — — — — —
1975 "Another Year — — — — — — — —
"Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love" — — — — — — — —
1976 "Staride to Nowhere" — — — — — — — —
"You've Got a Hold on Me" — — — — — — — —
"Doctor Doctor" (France and Italy-only release) — — — — — — — —
1977 "Do the Best You Can" — — — — — — — —
1978 "Solid Love" — — — — — — — —
1980 "One World Song" (with Jackie) — — — — — — — —
1981 "Run to Him" — — — — — — — —
1982 "Nightmare" — — — — — — — —
1987 "(Something Inside) So Strong" 4 76 — 14 2 3 4 49
"Nothin's Gonna Change" 52 — — 8 — 21 24 —
1988 "Listen to the Voices" 81 — 5 25 — 23 22 —
1989 "I Will Always Love You" — — — — — — — —
"And the Wind Blows" — — — — — — — —
1991 "Most People Sleep Alone" — — — — — — — —
"A Matter of Love — — — — — — — —
"City of Dreams" (promo only) — — — — — — — —
2003 "I Got the..." — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Notes

  1. ^ Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".
  2. ^ "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" did not chart on the Single Top 100, but did reach #14 on the Single Tip chart[26]

Notable cover versions of Siffre's songs

  • "It Must Be Love" was covered by Madness in 1981. The song reached Number 4 in the UK charts[9] and Number 33 in the U.S. in 1983.[28] Labi Siffre also made a cameo appearance in the music video.
  • "(Something Inside) So Strong" was covered by Kenny Rogers in 1989 (and became the title track to a hit album). The song was also covered by Vanessa Bell Armstrong in 1988 and again by a host of gospel artists as a tribute to Rosa Parks in the mid-1990s. It was covered by Eternal in 1994 as part of their EP Crazy. In late 2009, it also featured in the hit BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey, where it was adapted into a Welsh chapel christening ceremony.
    • Michael Ball also released a cover of the song in 1996, which reached Number 40 in the UK.[29]
    • Rik Waller, while a contestant on Pop Idol, reached #25 in the UK Singles Chart with the song in 2002.[29]

Bibliography

Poetry

  • Nigger (Xavier Books 1993)
  • Blood on the Page (Xavier Books 1995)
  • Monument (Xavier Books 1997)

Plays

  • DeathWrite (Xavier Books 1997)

Essays

  • Choosing the Stick They Beat You With (Penguin 2000)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1218. ISBN 9780195313734.
  2. ^ a b "Labi Siffre, the black, gay musician whose music helped make Eminem famous". The Independent. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Lucy (27 September 2012). "When Sampling Goes Wrong". NME. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Labi Siffre Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Labi Siffre's birthplace, Goldhawk Road". Hammersmith & Fulham. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. Virgin. p. 398. ISBN 978-1852279479.
  7. ^ a b c "Q&A: Labi Siffre". New Humanist. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2016. I've always been an atheist. I've never had religious belief. Pre-teens, I assumed God was in the same make-believe category as Father Christmas; a game of pretend between children and grown-ups.
  8. ^ "Labi Siffre - poetry into the light: poems / poetry: political". Intothelight.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b "It Must Be Love - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 498. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. ^ "14 singers you totally forgot did Eurovision (or failed to get there)". Smooth Radio. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  12. ^ Mathur, Paul (August 1989). "So Strong". Spin: 32. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  13. ^ Azpiri, Jon. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  14. ^ "BBC One - imagine..., 2022, Labi Siffre: This is My Song".
  15. ^ a b Jonze, Tim (31 January 2022). "'I had the perfect life – then both my husbands died': Singer Labi Siffre on love, loss – and happiness". The Guardian.
  16. ^ "Great Lives, Series 34, Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Labi Siffre | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  18. ^ Grant. "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1972". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  19. ^ Grant. "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1987". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  21. ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  23. ^ Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Labi Siffre". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Labi Siffre Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  26. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Labi Siffre - Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Labi Siffre - (Something Inside) So Strong". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Madness Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  29. ^ a b "So Strong". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

External links

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