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Labi Siffre

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Labi Siffre
Siffre in 2017
Siffre in 2017
Background information
Birth nameClaudius Afolabi Siffre
Born (1945-06-25) 25 June 1945 (age 79)
Hammersmith, London, England[1]
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • poet
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1970–present
Labels
Websitewww.intothelight.info

Claudius Afolabi Siffre[2] (born 25 June 1945),[1] better known as Labi Siffre (/ˈlæ.bi sɪfri/ LAB-ee SIF-ree),[3] is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (and later covered by the band Madness),[1] "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.

Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument.[4] In 2022, his life and work was explored in the series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

Early life and education

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Claudius Afolabi Siffre[2] was born in 1945 as the fourth of five children at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London,[5] to a British mother of English and Afro-Barbadian 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.[6] Despite his Catholic education, Siffre has stated that he has always been an atheist.[7]

Siffre studied music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in Wardour Street, Soho, London. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in Siffre's poem "education education education".[8] After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman, before deciding to concentrate on music.[1]

Siffre played jazz guitar at Annie Ross's jazz club in Soho, London, in the 1960s as part of a Hammond organ, guitar, drums house band.[7]

He released six albums between 1970 and 1975. In the early 1970s, three of his singles became hits: "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971, and performed the song on the BBC's Top of the Pops) (later covered by and a No. 4 hit for Madness,[9] for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972).[10] In 1978, Siffre took part in the heats to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed "Solid Love", co-written with Tom Shapiro, which placed fifth of the 12 songs up for consideration at the A Song for Europe contest.[11] Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad", performed by Bob James, which came in 10th.

Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985, when he saw a television film from Apartheid South Africa showing a white soldier shooting at black children.[12] He wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong" (No. 4, 1987),[10] which he also performed on Top of the Pops, and released four more albums between 1988 and 1998.

Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is".[13] As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2003.[14] The track was also featured in the Better Call Saul episode "Bagman".[15]

Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", the 10th track on his album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by rapper Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" on his third album Graduation.[16]

In February 2022, the BBC broadcast Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, in which Alan Yentob presented a film exploring Siffre's life and work.[17]

Personal life

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Siffre met his partner Peter Lloyd in July 1964 and they were together for 48 years. They entered into a civil partnership in 2005, as soon as it was legally possible in the UK.[7] From the mid-1990s until Lloyd's death in 2013, he and Siffre lived in a ménage à trois with Rudolf van Baardwijk in the village of Cwmdu, near Crickhowell, South Wales. Siffre and van Baardwijk married in December 2014. Van Baardwijk died in 2016.[18] Siffre now lives in Spain.[18]

In 2014, Siffre appeared on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives, championing the life of British author Arthur Ransome. Siffre said that Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books had taught him responsibility for his own actions and also a morality that has influenced and shaped him throughout his life.[19]

Discography

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Studio albums

[edit]
Year Album UK
[20]
1970 Labi Siffre —
1971 The Singer and the Song 47
1972 Crying Laughing Loving Lying 46
1973 For the Children —
1975 Remember My Song —
Happy —
1988 So Strong —
1991 Man of Reason —
1998 The Last Songs —
Monument (Spoken Word) —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live albums

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  • The Last Songs (Re-mastered) (2006)

Compilation albums

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  • The Best of Labi Siffre (1995)
  • It Must Be Love (The Best of Labi Siffre) (2016)
  • Gold (2019)
  • Watch Me (2023)

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Chart positions Certifications
UK
[20] 		AUS
[21][22] 		AUT
[23] 		BE (FLA)
[24] 		IRE
[25] 		NL 40
[26] 		NL 100
[27] 		US R&B
[28]
1970 "Too Late" — — — — — — — —
"A Little More Line" (Germany-only release) — — — — — — — —
1971 "Thank Your Lucky Star" — — — — — — — —
"Get to the Country" 53[A] — — — — — — —
"It Must Be Love" 14 46 — — — 21 25 —
1972 "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" 11 — — — — — —[B] —
"Watch Me" 29 — — — 7 16 14 —
1973 "Give Love" — — — — — — — —
"If You Have Faith" — — — — — — — —
"(Just) A Little More Line" (Netherlands-only release) — — — — — — — —
1974 "Dreamer" — — — — — — — —
1975 "Another Year — — — — — — — —
"Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love" — — — — — — — —
"Second Time Around" — — — — — — — —
1976 "Staride to Nowhere" — — — — — — — —
"You've Got a Hold on Me" — — — — — — — —
"Doctor Doctor" (France and Italy-only release) — — — — — — — —
1977 "Do the Best You Can" — — — — — — — —
1978 "Solid Love" — — — — — — — —
1980 "One World Song" (with Jackie) — — — — — — — —
1981 "Run to Him" — — — — — — — —
1982 "Nightmare" — — — — — — — —
1987 "(Something Inside) So Strong" 4 76 — 14 2 3 4 49
"Nothin's Gonna Change" 52 — — 8 — 21 24 —
1988 "Listen to the Voices" 81 — 5 25 — 23 22 —
1989 "I Will Always Love You" — — — — — — — —
"And the Wind Blows" — — — — — — — —
1991 "Most People Sleep Alone" — — — — — — — —
"A Matter of Love — — — — — — — —
"City of Dreams" (promo only) — — — — — — — —
2003 "I Got The..." — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Notes

  1. ^ Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".
  2. ^ "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" did not chart on the Single Top 100, but did reach No. 14 on the Single Tip chart.[29]

Notable cover versions of Siffre's songs

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Bibliography

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Poetry

[edit]
  • Nigger (Xavier Books 1993)
  • Blood on the Page (Xavier Books 1995)
  • Monument (Xavier Books 1997)

Plays

[edit]
  • DeathWrite (Xavier Books 1997)

Essays

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  • Choosing the Stick They Beat You With (Penguin 2000)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1218. ISBN 9780195313734.
  2. ^ a b Pollard, Alexandra (1 April 2020). "Labi Siffre, the black, gay musician whose music helped make Eminem famous". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. ^ TEDxBrayfordPool (5 December 2017). "Disturbing Definitions: Labi Siffre". Retrieved 1 February 2023 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Labi Siffre Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Labi Siffre's birthplace, Goldhawk Road". Hammersmith & Fulham. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. Virgin. p. 398. ISBN 978-1852279479.
  7. ^ a b c "Q&A: Labi Siffre". New Humanist. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2016. I've always been an atheist. I've never had religious belief. Pre-teens, I assumed God was in the same make-believe category as Father Christmas; a game of pretend between children and grown-ups.
  8. ^ "Labi Siffre - poetry into the light: poems / poetry: political". Intothelight.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b "It Must Be Love - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 498. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. ^ "14 singers you totally forgot did Eurovision (or failed to get there)". Smooth Radio. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  12. ^ Mathur, Paul (August 1989). "So Strong". Spin. p. 32. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  13. ^ Azpiri, Jon. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  14. ^ Jones, Lucy (27 September 2012). "When Sampling Goes Wrong". NME. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  15. ^ Fogarty, Paul (8 April 2020). "Better Call Saul: Bagman's use of Labi Siffre's 'I Got The...' wins praise from surprised fans". HITC. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  16. ^ Greenberg,August (29 October 2018). "Sample School: Labi Siffre". WVAU. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  17. ^ "BBC One - imagine..., 2022, Labi Siffre: This is My Song". BBC.
  18. ^ a b Jonze, Tim (31 January 2022). "'I had the perfect life – then both my husbands died': Singer Labi Siffre on love, loss – and happiness". The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Great Lives, Series 34, Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Labi Siffre | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  21. ^ Grant. "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1972". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  22. ^ Grant. "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1987". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  24. ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  25. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  26. ^ Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Labi Siffre". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Labi Siffre Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  29. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Labi Siffre - Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Labi Siffre - (Something Inside) So Strong". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  31. ^ "Madness Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  32. ^ a b "So Strong". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
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