New Cross Fire

A sense of injustice? Like the New Cross Fire, for starters. 13 kids killed in January 1981 when fire tore through a building in the New Cross Road, south London, where a birthday celebration was taking place. Accident or arson? Revenge or racism? The verdict remains open. But at the time there was a real sense of anger among the local black community about the response from the Police and other authorities, and a real feeling that concerns were not being taken seriously. When an Action Committee was formed and voices raised in protest press coverage was particularly negative. The tragedy generated a number of songs by artists including LKJ, UB40, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Johnny Osbourne's 13 Dead And Nothing Said. And on the short-lived London reggae label KG Imperial there was this number by Roy Rankin and Raymond Naptali. If you're left with a need to hear more then there is an excellent mix posted at Dancecrasher of KG Imperial DJ cuts ...