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By Thomas Burrows
When we cast a nostalgic glance back towards the 1980s, and in particular, popular British music from the period, we can quickly see that a number of stars synonymous with 80's pop culture had real connections to East Yorkshire – some in unlikely places. For instance, when Nigerian-born fashion design graduate Helen Folusade Adu joined latin funk band Pride as a backup singer, she probably had no idea that she would eventually become the front woman for an iconic band named after her, that would go on to sell more than 75 million records. But while the band Sade is now a household name, it is less well-known that some of the other founding members of the band were from Hull and East Yorkshire.
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Sade Adu was born in Ibadan to a Nigerian father, Adebisi, a lecturer in economics, and an English mother, Anne, a district nurse. When she was four years old, her parents split, and Sade, her mother, and her elder brother Banji (named for the middle name of Paul Robeson of whom Anne’s grandfather was a fan) relocated to the Essex market town of Colchester, where they settled.[1]
At 18, she moved down to London to enrol at Saint Martin’s School of Art, completing a three-year course in fashion design. After graduating, she briefly worked as a fashion model before joining Pride as a back-up vocalist, but she had greater ambitions. It was in Pride that she met the East Yorkshire members. Sade formed a songwriting partnership with Stuart Matthewman, a Hull-born multi-instrumentalist and saxophone player in Pride. Alongside the two of them were bassist Paul Denman (born in Hull in July 1957) and drummer Paul Cooke (born in Hornsea in December 1961). Both men had moved down to London with another band, but had been persuaded to join Pride by Matthewman, a family friend of Cooke’s, once that band had ended.
Sade’s star power led to her signing to Epic Records in 1983 with the rest of the band signed to her as contractors in 1984.[2] However, the terms of that deal led to disagreements between her and Cooke, resulting in his acrimonious departure from the band early in 1984.[3] He was replaced by Andrew Hale, who remains in the band to this day. |
The band had recorded their debut album, Diamond Life, in a six-week stint prior to signing the record deal, and it was released in July 1984. Their jazz-infused, soulful sound further popularised the ‘quiet storm’ sound to UK and US audiences, selling over 1.2 million copies in the UK, and over 4 million in the US. Their success continued throughout the 80s and early 90s, with the releases of Promise (1985), Stronger Than Pride (1988), and Love Deluxe (1992), as well as accompanying world tours to cement their global success.
Since 1992 and today, the band have only released two records, 2000’s Lovers Rock and 2010’s Soldier of Love. Sade’s notorious aversion to intrusive media publicity seems to be a major factor in these lengthy break periods, but the band’s absence of output seems to have only increased her popularity. Around 25 million of the 75 million records the band has sold were shipped from the mid-90s onwards, and she still receives adulation from her main fanbase in the US.
Since 1992 and today, the band have only released two records, 2000’s Lovers Rock and 2010’s Soldier of Love. Sade’s notorious aversion to intrusive media publicity seems to be a major factor in these lengthy break periods, but the band’s absence of output seems to have only increased her popularity. Around 25 million of the 75 million records the band has sold were shipped from the mid-90s onwards, and she still receives adulation from her main fanbase in the US.
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She was awarded an OBE in 2002, and a CBE in 2017, both for services to music, and these days she resides in the market town of Stroud in Gloucestershire. As for the East Yorkshire lads still in the band, the other members of Sade formed their own jazz/funk outfit, Sweetback, in 1994, during the first lengthy hiatus between albums.[4] Their trademark soulful sound has led them to work with a number of Black R&B stars, including Amel Larrieux, Maxwell and El DeBarge.
Sade is not the only band with a Black or African star backed by the sounds of East Yorkshire-born musicians. Million-selling soul outfit The Christians also had their own connection to Hull, in the form of keyboardist Henry Priestman, a Hull-born musician. Priestman was the fourth founding member of the band, having grown up in Liverpool, and played with them as they topped the charts between the late 80s and early 90s.[5] |
The success of Sade proves that some of the biggest stars had a connection with the Hull and East Yorkshire area. Other artists simply passed through – pop and R&B acts like Haircut One Hundred (with notable Black drummer Blair Cunningham) and Joan Armatrading played notable gigs in the city during the 70s and 80s – but ultimately we can hear the sound of East Yorkshire in the most unlikely of places.[6]
With thanks to
Robert Sandall’s article for The Times, Sade emerges from her country retreat:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sade-emerges-from-her-country-retreat-h70c0x3v32r
Sade and Stuart Matthewman on hip-hop and longevity:
http://lifeandtimes.com/sade-stuart-matthewman-discuss-music-hip-hop-and-longevity
Paul Denman interview:
http://www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/paul-s-denman-sade39s-groove-operator/26141
Robert Sandall’s article for The Times, Sade emerges from her country retreat:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sade-emerges-from-her-country-retreat-h70c0x3v32r
Sade and Stuart Matthewman on hip-hop and longevity:
http://lifeandtimes.com/sade-stuart-matthewman-discuss-music-hip-hop-and-longevity
Paul Denman interview:
http://www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/paul-s-denman-sade39s-groove-operator/26141
Footnotes
[1] http://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/paul-robeson.html
[2] https://www.last.fm/music/Sade/+wiki
[3] http://sadedrummer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cooke-vs-sade-saturday-february-25-2006.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetback_(band)
[5] http://www.henrypriestman.com/biography/
[6] https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9RdGUNYHn0/WAD9uUGKO3I/AAAAAAAAGac/aHJU01TNxrIiOk3X6Hg5YTYJRFEWn5O3wCLcB/s1600/Haircut%2B100%2B-%2BCaird%2B2%2BMar%2B1982.jpg
[1] http://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/paul-robeson.html
[2] https://www.last.fm/music/Sade/+wiki
[3] http://sadedrummer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cooke-vs-sade-saturday-february-25-2006.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetback_(band)
[5] http://www.henrypriestman.com/biography/
[6] https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9RdGUNYHn0/WAD9uUGKO3I/AAAAAAAAGac/aHJU01TNxrIiOk3X6Hg5YTYJRFEWn5O3wCLcB/s1600/Haircut%2B100%2B-%2BCaird%2B2%2BMar%2B1982.jpg