Handsworth Revolution

The first Steel Pulse single for Island Records, Ku Klux Klan (a call for resistance against forces of racism) was released in February 1978. Five months later, their debut album was released to great critical acclaim; Handsworth Revolution, produced by Karl Pitterson, who'd previously worked with top Jamaican acts like Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh and others. The album reached ninth spot in the British LP charts in just ten days after its release and the band had arrived big-time, attracting both white and black audiences in droves and were soon to support the legendary Bob Marley & The Wailers on a European tour in June and July 1978. The twelve-date tour included sold-out concerts in Paris, Ibiza, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brussels and kicked off with an outdoor festival at the New Bingley Hall in Stafford (Marley later released an album culled from some of the live shows, Babylon By Bus.) David Hinds recalls:

We learned a lot of discipline on that tour that rubbed off - rehearsal, execution on stage, how to tour, stability [...] that's when the doors really started to open for us. It has always been one of the most memorable moments of my career. To play as part of that package exposed Steel Pulse to audiences that literally were in awe of our message. Of course, being formally introduced through Bob Marley helped us tremendously. Playing for audiences, especially those in Paris who saw the force of Steel Pulse and the force of Bob Marley play on the same bill, enabled us to sell out shows every time since then.

The band headlined their own tour in 1978, released two more singles from the album, "Prodigal Son" and "Prediction", but it came at a price, with Mykaell Riley leaving the band because of musical differences. Whilst Riley went onto success with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and as producer for a number of top artists and TV themes, his departure propelled Hinds into the spotlight and in an attempt to draw a stronger black audience, the group adopted the banner of the Rastafari movement. Their success also attracted the media and appearances on television included mainstream shows like Top of the Pops and Rock Goes to College, which added to their popularity. At one of their frequent 'Rock Against Racism' appearances, in Victoria Park, East London in April 1978, more than 80,000 people watched a gig that also included The Clash, Tom Robinson Band and X-Ray Spex. The track "Macka Splaff" appeared on a compilation album that year called Live at the Electric Circus, alongside offerings by The Fall, Joy Division and Buzzcocks. Two of their tracks were also included in the film Reggae in Babylon that documented the reggae movement in the UK in 1978, alongside Aswad, Matumbi, Jimmy Lindsay and Alton Ellis.