Mike Alleyne is Professor Emeritus with the Department of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). His publications include co-editing the award-winning collection Analyzing Recorded Music (2023), The Essential Hendrix (2020), and The Encyclopedia of Reggae (2012), and co-editing Prince and Popular Music (2020). His work has been published in Popular Music & Society, Rock Music Studies, Popular Music History, Ethnomusicology Forum, and American Music Perspectives.

Acknowledgements List of Figures
Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Remixing Black Popular Music History: The Black and the British

The Cultural Sound Stage

Black British Outsiders

The Voice and the Instrumental Text

The Weight of History

Dread Out There: The Plight of Black British Reggae

Relocating Heatwave

Chapter 2: Crossing Over, Genre Politics and Music Production

The Mainstream and the Charts

Cultural Dislocation

Genre and Crossover: Charting a Discourse

Record Labels and Genre Labelling

Music Production

Chapter 3: Breaking Into America: The 1960s and 1970s

The Artistic Soundscape

The Beatles and Early Black British Pop

The Foundations: American Arrival

The Equals: The "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys"

Cymande: Sending the Transatlantic Cultural Message

Joan Armatrading: Beyond Stereotypes

Chapter 4: The Margin and the Mainstream: The 1970s

Hot Chocolate: "Brother Louie" and Breaking America

Beyond "Brother Louie"

Blue-Eyed British R&B: The Average White Band and Kokomo

Chapter 5: Transitions, Technologies, and Tensions: The Late 1970s and 1980s

The Britfunk Era and Echoes of the 1970s

Ska's Second Wave and American Indifference

Technology Topography

Imagination's New Dimensions

Chapter 6: The New Black British Invasion Continues: The 1980s

Total Contrast: Sync or Swim

Eddy Grant: Electric Propulsion

Billy Ocean: The Breakthrough Journey

Loose Ends: The Art of "Hangin' On"

Chapter 7: Commercial Consolidation: The 1980s and 1990s

Five Star: Broken by America

Des'ree: "Listen as Your Day Unfolds"

Soul II Soul: American Conquest

Visual Grooves: Soul II Soul Music Videos

Caron Wheeler and UK Blak

Roachford: A Single Instance

Sade: Platinum Life

Chapter 8: Selling Seal to the States

The Beginning

The "Crazy" Music Video

The Second Self-Titled Album

The Human Being Reset

Record Company Calamities

Black British Songstress Status

Chapter 9: The Ephraim Lewis Case Study: 1992-1994

Unveiling Skin

Discovery and Signing

The Music Video for "It Can't Be Forever"

The Textures of Skin

The Unreleased Second Album

Chapter 10: Remastering the Mix: 1990s Snapshots and Black British Echoes

Equalizing the Past

Maxi Priest: Reggae Roots, Pop Success

Massive Attack: Remixing Stardom

Mark Morrison: The Mack Hits Back

Atlantic Coda

Bibliography

Discography

Filmography

Index