Steel Pulse to Play at S.D. Street Fair

Steel Pulse is the latest addition to this year’s annual Michelob Street Scene. The popular British reggae band will appear Sept. 7 on the Worldbeat/Reggae Stage, at 7th Avenue and J Street.

Of the more than 40 acts scheduled to perform at the two-day event, Steel Pulse is one of the best-known. The group has been touring relentlessly for 15 years, and, although none of its albums could be considered a smash, record sales have been quite respectable.

Steel Pulse was formed in Birmingham, England, in 1975. A year later, the group released its first single, “Kibuda, Mansetta and Abuku,” on a small independent label. The group moved to London in 1977 and hit the clubs, frequently sharing the bill with punk bands like Generation X and the Stranglers.

On the basis of powerful live shows, Steel Pulse was signed by Island Records in 1978 and went on to score a series of hit singles on the British pop charts. The group’s career received a further boost when the late Bob Marley invited it to open for him on an extensive European tour.

In the early 1980s, Steel Pulse began touring the United States, and, despite the group’s non-Jamaican roots, was invited to perform at the Jamaican Sunsplash Reggae Festival in 1981.

Since then, the group has steadily built up its live draw, both in the United States and abroad, and record sales have continued to go up.