Joseph Hill

Frontman of Culture

Joseph Hill, singer and songwriter: born Linstead, Jamaica 22 January 1949; (one son, two daughters); died Berlin 19 August 2006.

Originally released in Jamaica in 1977, Two Sevens Clash, the début album by Culture, was the roots reggae import album of choice in the punk era. Don Letts, the DJ at the Roxy Club in London, the Clash and the singer John Lydon, who left the Sex Pistols in 1978 to form Public Image Limited with his friend Jah Wobble, another reggae and dub aficionado, all identified with its lyrical message.

The title track, highlighting the Rastafarian belief that the apocalypse would begin on 7 July 1977, the opening track, "Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion", and the single "See Them A Come" became firm favourites on the John Peel show and, when the album eventually gained a British release in 1978, it made the UK charts. Rolling Stone magazine subsequently included Two Sevens Clash in its list of the "50 Coolest Records" of all time. Culture followed in the footsteps of Bob Marley and Burning Spear to find an international audience and released more than 20 albums, including Harder Than The Rest (1978) and World Peace (2003).

A committed Rastafarian, Joseph Hill was the lead vocalist, main songwriter and focal point of Culture throughout its 30-year existence and was fronting the trio during a European tour when he was taken ill in Berlin on Saturday.

Born in Linstead, Jamaica, in 1949, Hill began his musical career as a disc selector, the Jamaican term for a DJ operating one of the island's sound systems. In the early Seventies, he played percussion and sang harmony vocals with the Soul Defenders on recordings by Freddie McKay, Dennis Brown and Burning Spear (Winston Rodney), a singer he greatly admired, for the Studio One producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd.

Hill eventually made his début as lead vocalist in 1972 on "Behold The Land" and "Take Me Girl", two singles issued by Coxsone, but he struggled and played the hotel circuit until 1976 when his cousin Albert "Randolph" Walker suggested they form a trio with Roy "Kenneth" Dayes on harmony vocals. Originally called the African Disciples, the group changed their name to Culture to reflect the mystical nature of Hill's songwriting.

The Mighty Two partnership of the producer Joe Gibbs and the engineer Errol Thompson oversaw the recording of "This Time", the group's first single, as well as the Two Sevens Clash material which launched them internationally. However, Gibbs did not pay the group any royalties and Hill fell out with the producer, later commenting: "It was like The Harder They Come movie, the way that guy Gibbs treat us."

Culture switched allegiance, first to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle operation, and then to Sonia Pottinger's High Note label, where they got paid, were much happier creatively and recorded Harder Than The Rest (1978), Cumbolo and International Herb (both 1979), three albums which further enhanced their status and were distributed by Virgin Records' reggae imprint Frontline. In April 1978, Culture appeared at the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, an event which saw the headliner Bob Marley bring the prime minister Michael Manley, and his rival Edward Seaga out on stage in an attempt to pacify the situation in Jamaica.

Culture toured the world and worked with the drummer Sly Dunbar and the bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who were on their way to becoming the number one rhythm section in Jamaica but, by 1982, they were exhausted. Hill cut Lion Rock solo with the Soul Defenders and recorded one of several John Peel sessions, but eventually he reunited with Walker and Dayes in 1986 for the albums Culture at Work and Culture in Culture.

An energetic and charismatic frontman who performed karate kicks on stage, Hill still owned a farm in Jamaica but loved spreading the Culture message of Rastafarianism and acceptance around the world. "Jah gives me the strength," he said in 2004, (referring to God), when promoting World Peace, the last Culture studio album.

I always feel that there is something there watching out for me. I love to play for the people. They are also part of my inspiration. These are what have inspired me through out these years.

He continued: "You know, people should respect one another. To be used, abused, refused and our hearts trampled by fear, and living in doubt, thinking we are living on top of the world. No we shouldn't live that way. We have to seek happiness, love, mutual respect, joy and justice of God around us, and peace would find its rightful place."

Pierre Perrone