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THE ITALS
Long before the
Itals were a spark in their
producer’s eye, Keith Porter
recorded his first hit single,
“Hitey Titey”, with the
Westmorelites on the Studio One
label in 1967. Around 1969,
Keith joined Soul Hermit,
singing lead, backed by Eugene
Gray and Wignal Henry on
guitars, and Reginald Seewell
and Nash on base and drums. They
played in numerous entertainment
sectors of Jamaica until Owen
Sinclair put together a new band
in 1971. Called Future
Generation, the band was
composed of Dalton James and Roy
Hilton on drums, Devon Henry on
keyboards, Eugene Gray, guitar,
Scott on sax, and Keith on
vocals. They performed all over
Jamaica for X amount of years,
singing all styles of music,
American R&B and love songs and
native Jamaican songs.
Tiring of the club scene around
1975, Keith ran into Ronnie
Davis on Orange Street in
Kingston and asked him who was
auditioning. Ronnie gave him a
cassette with a rhythm he’d just
had a hit on. “I was so happy
with that rhythm I didn’t look
any further,” says Keith. “In
less than a week I had written
Ina Disa Time and came back to
Kingston to record it for Lloyd
Campbell’s SpiderMan label.
Lloyd felt it needed some
harmonies with my lead, so
Ronnie and I both added harmony
parts. There was no intention of
forming a group called the Itals;
the record first came out as
Keith Porter. After the song was
on its way to becoming a hit in
Jamaica, we all went out to do
some promotion. Lloyd, Ronnie,
myself and Brian Thomas of RJR
were sitting out back in the
cantina, when Brian said ‘why
not call them the Itals’,
because now there was more than
one person singing. Everyone
liked that name. It sounded
good, so all of a sudden, Itals
was a group. It was never
intentional. I’ve always
wondered if the name was the
result of Brian noticing how
strict I was about the food I
ate, strictly Ital.”
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Campbell quickly
repressed the record as ‘the
Itals’ to meet demand. Today the
song remains the Itals'
signature tune, and has been
described by Keith Richards of
the Rolling Stones as “the
perfect reggae track”. It is
included on the Rolling Stones’
Artist Choice cd, released in
2003, available through
Starbucks Coffee from Hear
Music, a division of EMI, and in
selected major chains.
The success of
"Ina Disa Time" saw the group
return to the studio with the
addition of Lloyd Ricketts
singing a third harmony part on
a series of superb recordings
for the SpiderMan label. Tunes
like "Don't Wake The Lion,"
"Brutal," and "Temptation"
followed on 7” release in
Jamaica and New York in ’77 and
‘78, establishing the Itals
among the best Jamaican singers
and songwriters. The Itals were
twice finalists in the Jamaica
Festival Song Competition, and
their 1981 tune, "Jamaican
Style," earned them a place at
Reggae Sunsplash that year. 1982
saw the release of the first
Itals' album, "Brutal Out Deh"
on Nighthawk Records. The Itals
toured the US and Canada backed
by the Roots Radics. Their
second album, "Give Me Power,"
was released to critical acclaim
and hit #1 on CMJ's Reggae Route
chart. In 1985, Pollstar
Magazine placed them in the top
100 artists of the year.
Their third album, "Early
Recordings," gathers together
all the Itals' early singles and
several rare pre-Itals tracks
for a collector's feast from
Nighthawk. The Itals' fourth
recording, "Rasta Philosophy,"
won a Grammy nomination for best
reggae album in 1987, followed
by "Cool And Dread." Next came
the Rhythm Safari album “Easy to
Catch”, followed by “Modern Age”
on Ras Records, and continued
touring throughout the U.S.,
Canada and Europe. 2003 saw the
release of “Mi Livity”, with an
emphasis on Keith Porter and a
later compilation album in 2007,
both on Ital Music.
Over the years, the Itals have
performed countless shows
worldwide. Although the
background harmonies have
sometimes changed, they always
sound as sweet as ever. Look for
an all new Itals album release
in May 2009.
The
Itals Links:
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