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Banner - Black History Month October '05
Trevor McDonald
What happened in 1973:
  • Trevor McDonald joins ITN as a reporter from the BBC World Service and becomes Britain's first black TV news reporter.

  • Kung Fu star Bruce Lee dies at the aged of 32.

  • Marlon Brando rejects his Academy Award in protest at Hollywood's degradation of American Indians.

  • Following the success of blaxplotation movie Shaft in 1972, it became a TV series with its original star Richard Roundtree.


In the music:
  • DJ Kool Herc begins spinning two turntables at neighbourhood parties playing the instrumental breakdown section of his favourite funk, soul and reggae songs sending partygoers to the dancefloor in droves. His innovations inspired other NY DJs to do the same.

  • The first major article citing disco and its rapid spreading social phenomenon appears in US Billboard Magazine.


  • Roberta Flack releases the awesome classic Killing Me Softly taken from her fifth album of the same name. It's an instant smash and goes on to win four Grammies. It was later covered by the Fugees in 1996 reaching No 1 in the US and UK charts

  • Jamaica was about to put reggae on the map with the release of the underground movie classic The Harder They Come starring Jimmy Cliff. The theme tune to the movie, sung by Jimmy Cliff turned him from a Jamaican pop star into an internationally acclaimed reggae artist.

  • Bob Marley and the Wailers released Catch a Fire. This was their first major label debut on Island, and the first of their albums to be released outside Jamaica. It immediately earned worldwide acclaim. It is now thought to be one of the finest reggae albums ever. Six months later they released Burnin spawning hits like Get Up Stand Up and I Shot the Sheriff.

Notable releases:
Albums:
  • Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack
  • Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
  • Call Me - Al Green
  • African Herbsman - Bob Marley & The Wailers
  • Burnin - Bob Marley & The Wailers
  • Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
  • The Harder They Come - Soundtrack
  • Catch A Fire - Bob Marley
Singles:
  • Superstition - Stevie Wonder
  • Touch Me In The Morning - Diana Ross
  • Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
  • Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
  • Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
  • Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes
  • I Shot The Sheriff - Bob Marley
  • Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley
  • Stir It Up - Bob Marley
Grammy awards:
  • Superstition - Stevie Wonder (2 Grammys)
  • Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack
  • Master Of Eyes - Aretha Franklin
  • Innervisions LP - Stevie Wonder
  • Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips
  • Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) - Gladys Knight and the Pips
Banner - Black History Month October 2004


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