Publicity shot 1976

Steel Pulse - November 1976 version [copyright Colin Gabbidon]

I've got the bug now as regards early photographs of Steel Pulse and here's one I haven't brought you before even though its been on my Steel Pulse website for about six years. Its a very early publicity shot of the band, a year before they signed for Island Records and really took off. It was in the collection of Colin Gabbidon, the band's drummer at the time of the photo, November 1976, and just before Colin decided to call it quits after being involved from the very beginning. As you can see they were already trying different angles to get themselves an identity so they stood out from the crowd of bands trying to break through. It looks like clothes were beginning to play a part too, the yellow Taffri gown on the right was popular around that time and this was the forerunner of the distinctive stage act which the band were to perfect a year or two later. The band line up at the time, just as they released their first single, Kibudu, Mansetta and Abuku, was: [back row LtoR] Selwyn Brown, David Hinds, Michael Riley, Basil Gabbidon. [front row] Ronnie McQueen, Colin Gabbidon. See more photos from 1976 here.