Labbi Siffre
| Labi Siffre | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Claudius Afolabi Siffre |
| Born |
25 June 1945 Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Soft rock, soul, Jazz, funk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, poet and writer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1970—present |
| Labels | EMI, Pye, China |
| Website | www |
Labi Siffre (birth name Claudius Afolabi Siffre; (born 25 June 1945) is a British singer, songwriter, musician and poet. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. He has published essays, the stage and TV play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry which are Nigger, Blood On The Page and Monument.
Born the fourth of five children, at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London to a British mother of Barbadian–Belgian descent and a Nigerian father, Siffre was brought up in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School, in Ealing, west London. Despite his Catholic education, Siffre has stated that he has always been an atheist.
Siffre played jazz guitar at Annie Ross's jazz club in Soho in the 1960s as part of a Hammond organ, guitar, drums house band.
He released six albums between 1970 and 1975. In the 1970s he released 16 singles, three of which became hits: "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971) (later covered by and a No. 4 hit for Madness, for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972). In 1978, Siffre took part in the UK heats of the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed his own composition "Solid Love", which placed fifth of the twelve songs up for consideration at the A Song for Europe contest. Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad" performed by Bob James, which came tenth.
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