The talented Gabbidons

The two Gabbidon boys, Colin (left) and Basil (right), who formed Birmingham's finest ever roots reggae band, Steel Pulse, in the mid-70s, who later had success with Bass Dance and now entertain today's reggae audiences as part of the band simply named Gabbidon, are pictured with their mum, Dorothy, at The Drum in Birmingham. Dorothy, a nurse, followed her husband Joseph to England in search of a better life for her young family in the early 60s. Soon after Jamaican independence, in 1963, Basil aged eight, alongwith Colin aged six, followed their parents to Britain and took up residence in the thriving Afro-Caribbean community in the Birmingham inner city area of Handsworth. There are two more brothers and a sister. The event at The Drum was to celebrate Colin's first-ever solo exhibition of his paintings and drawings. Read more about the event here.