Arthur Kay & The Originals

Arthur Kay & The Originals

Arthur Kay & The Originals is a ska and reggae group led by Arthur Kay, a South London musician and songwriter whose work draws on mod, rocksteady, reggae and two-tone influences. Kay first appears in 1979 with the 7-inch single Ska Wars/Warska, released on Red Admiral Records, a label he partly finances. His writing begins in London in the 1960s, after early involvement in the mod scene and an interest in the sound of Jamaican ska.

Early background

Kay grows up in South London and plays in his first proper band, The Next Collection, which performs a mix of Tamla, Stax soul and original songs. The band records for Decca with Harry Beckett and trombonist Rico, and later continues as Second Hand after Kay leaves, signing to Polydor. He also does session work for Vic Keary and Emill Shallet and writes songs that later become a major part of The Originals’ repertoire.

His early musical influences include Dion, Prince Buster, The Specials and Selector, along with the wider mod and ska scenes in Brixton, Streatham and London. He also works in a factory in Islington and is involved around the time of Quadrophenia, when the Who film scenes are shot near his workplace.

The Originals and related projects

After hearing The Special AKA perform live, Kay forms The Originals. The group includes Kieron O’Connor on drums, Pete Scott on bass, Paul Mylnarz and George Sketcher on saxophones, Frank Wildbore on trombone, and Bob Coltart on guitar. They release the follow-up single Play My Record, then begin gigging more regularly. With later personnel changes, the group records High Flyer and No One But You, and another incarnation records Doctor Bird and Watching the Rich Kids under the name The Originator.

Kay also performs with Diz and the Doormen and meets keyboard and accordion player Geraint Watkins, leading to the formation of The Balham Alligators with Kieron O’Connor, Gary Rickards and Robin McKidd. The band plays London pubs, appears on the main stage at Glastonbury, and backs Dr. John on several occasions. Kay later returns from the group because of family circumstances.

Albums, recordings and later work

Link Records releases Rare n Tasty by The Originals in 1988, followed by The Sparkes of Inspiration in 1989. The third studio album, The Count of Clerkenwell, is recorded with Bob Coltart and later released after the band travels to Berlin for a major ska festival in Potsdam, where they appear alongside The Specials and Dawn Penn. The set from that performance is released on Step 1 Records.

Further recordings include The Last Of The One Named Singers, a tribute to Dion, Back Street Warrior, written about Kay’s boxing grandfather, and Night Train to Lhasa, written for the free Tibet campaign. The group also becomes Judge Dread’s backing band, plays on his final studio recording Skinhead Moonstomp, and backs him at his last gig at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury, where he dies on stage.