Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Siffre in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Claudius Afolabi Siffre 25 June 1945 Hammersmith, London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels | |
Spouse |
Peter Lloyd
(m. 2005; died 2013)Rudolf van Baardwijk
(m. 2014; died 2016) |
Partner | Peter Lloyd (1964 - m. 2005) |
Claudius Afolabi "Labi" Siffre[1] (/ˈlæ.bi sɪfri/ LAB-ee SIF-ree,[2] born 25 June 1945)[3] is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released nine albums between 1970 and 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love" (later covered by the band Madness),[3] "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong" – an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary – which hit Number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.
In addition to music, he has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]Claudius Afolabi Siffre[1] was born in Hammersmith, London in 1945 as the fourth of five brothers[5] to a Yoruba Nigerian father and a mother of Bajan descent [6]. Siffre's father, whom he described as "a giant of a character", came to the UK in the late-1920s to work in law, but instead pursued a career in real estate. Siffre's maternal grandfather was from Barbados, while his maternal grandmother was "a Northern lass".[7]
Siffre was brought up in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School, in Ealing, West London.[8]
Siffre states that his first connection to music was while his family were living at 18 Pembridge Crescent in Notting Hill and heard "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" by Frank Sinatra:
I'd never heard anything like this; it really was overpowering. I absolutely understood that [the narrator] was somebody who had had love, through his own stupidity he'd thrown it all away and he was drowning his sorrows. I'm 10 or 11 years of age and I understood that. That was what poleaxed me. I played that track continuously for 2 or 3 weeks - I just couldn't get away from it. I knew this thing, which was music, was going to be really important to me.[7]
He went on to study music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in Wardour Street, Soho, London. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in Siffre's poem "education education education".[9]
After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman, before deciding to concentrate on music.[3]
Career
[edit]Siffre played jazz guitar at Annie Ross's jazz club in Soho, London, in the 1960s as part of a Hammond organ, guitar, drums house band.[10]
He signed to Pye International in 1970 and released his debut solo album in the same year, featuring a cover of the Bee Gees' 1968 top-10 single "Words", and the Harry Nilsson song "Maybe". The album produced the singles "A Little More Line" and "Too Late", but neither the singles nor the album charted in the UK.[11]
His sophomore album, The Singer and The Song, was released the following year, reaching No. 47 on the UK Albums Chart. The album features exclusively Siffre's own compositions, including the singles "Thank Your Lucky Star"[11], which failed to chart and "Get To The Country", which peaked at No. 53. The album also features "Bless The Telephone", which would go viral on social media over half a century after its original release.[12]
In 1972, Siffre had two hit singles from his third album Crying Laughing Loving Lying: "It Must Be Love", which reached No. 14, and the title track, which reached No. 11. The album itself reached No. 46 on the UK Albums Chart. Both singles were issued in the US on the Bell Records label, however both failed to chart or create a commercial impact for Siffre. A non-album single, "Watch Me" reached No. 29 in the UK.[13]
1973 saw the release of For The Children, which produced the singles "Give Love" and "If You Have Faith"[11], though both singles and the album failed to chart in the UK.
In 1975, Siffre signed with EMI Records and released two albums that year, the funk/soul inspired Remember My Song, and Happy, which saw him implement both the funk/soul heard on Remember My Song, and the singer-songwriter style of his earlier albums. The latter album featured backing vocals from Jackie Sullivan, who Siffre would go on to form the short lived duo, Labi and Jackie, with. They released one single together in 1980, which did not chart in the UK.[14]
Siffre's singles released on EMI were: "Dreamer" (1974), "Another Year", "Love-A-Love-A-Love-A-Love-A-Love" and "Second Time Around" (1975), "Staride To Nowhere" (1976), and "You've Got A Hold On Me" and "Do The Best You Can" (1977), none of which charted in the UK.[11]
In 1978, Siffre took part in the heats to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed "Solid Love", co-written with Tom Shapiro, which placed fifth of the 12 songs up for consideration at the A Song for Europe contest.[15] Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad", performed by Bob James, which came in 10th. "Solid Love" was issued as a single on EMI, but failed to chart.
In 1981, British ska band Madness covered Siffre's 1971 single, "It Must Be Love". It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart[16] and went Platinum for selling 600,000 copies.[17] Siffre makes a cameo appearance in the music video for Madness' cover, as a violin player.[18]
Although Siffre continued to regularly perform live, and sporadically release singles in the early 1980s ("Run To Him", released in 1981, and "Nightmare", released in 1982), it wasn't until 1988 that he released another album, So Strong. Inspired by what he had seen in a 1985 television film from Apartheid South Africa, showing a white soldier shooting at black children, Siffre wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong".[19]
Initially reluctant to record it himself, Siffre was adamant that it was to be sung by a black artist. He said:
It took us 18 months to get it recorded, because nobody wanted to touch it; they considered it to be too political. I'd actually decided that I wanted to quit the music business, and I didn't want to record it. I knew that it had to be recorded by somebody black, and I couldn't find anyone black to record it.[20]
Eventually, Siffre was persuaded by Derek Green of China Records to record it, and on release, the single reached No. 4 in the UK[13], and even marked Siffre's first appearance on a US chart, where it peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles.[21] The song remains his highest-charting single in any territory. Further singles from So Strong were: "Nothin's Gonna Change" (No. 52, 1987), "Listen To The Voices" (No. 81, 1988), and "I Will Always Love You" and "And The Wind Blows". The latter two singles were released in 1989, neither of which charted.
In 1991, Man Of Reason was released, an album that explored more contemporary styles of RnB. After a period of around 5 years of touring and playing festivals, Siffre released The Last Songs in 1998. It was a live album that collected recordings from the tour of the same name.[22]
In 2015, Siffre appeared on an episode of Later... with Jools Holland, performing a solo piano rendition of "(Something Inside) So Strong".
In May 2020, in reaction to Pride events globally being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Siffre released "(Love Is Love Is Love) Why Isn't Love Enough?", a re-working of a track from The Last Songs.[23]
On 16th February 2026, Siffre released "Far Away". On the same day, he performed at BBC Maida Vale Studios with the BBC Concert Orchestra as part of Radio 2's Piano Room Month, where he announced his first album in 27 years, Unfinished Business, which is set to release later in the year.[24][25]
Legacy
[edit]"(Something Inside) So Strong" is often considered one of the most defining cultural and political anthems of all-time.[20] It has been used in many contexts, including the anti-apartheid movement, vigils and memorials for politically-charged attacks and hate crimes, and as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.[7] In 2001, Siffre performed the song at the South Africa Freedom Day Concert in Trafalgar Square with the SA/UK Youth Choir.[23]
Siffre has found success and a steady career resurgence through the sampling of his work by other artists. "I Got The...", the opening track from Remember My Song, was sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, including by Jay-Z in the song "Streets Is Watching" from his 1997 album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 and most notably by Dr. Dre in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is".[26] As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2003.[27] Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", from his album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by rapper Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" on his 2007 album Graduation.[28]
In 2020, a retrospective box set of Siffre's career was announced. Labi Siffre: My Song brought together all nine of Siffre's studio albums, together with 44 bonus tracks from across his career.[29] To coincide with the box set's reissue in 2022, Siffre's life and work was made the subject of a BBC documentary, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, directed by Alan Yentob.[7]
In recent years, Siffre's music has had a resurgence, being used in a variety of films and television shows.[30] "I Got The..." was featured in an episode of Better Call Saul, and "Cannock Chase" was featured in an episode of Hacks and over the closing credits of Sentimental Value. A live BBC recording of "Watch Me" was included in an episode of Doctor Who, something which Siffre described as "An accolade".[31] Further, "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" was used in the soundtrack of The Holdovers, an Oscar-nominated film, which helped with "introducing Siffre to a new generation".[30]
In 2025, "Bless The Telephone", an album track from The Singer and the Song, went viral online, further spurring on the Siffre revival, and becoming Siffre's most streamed song, with more than 100 million streams, as of 2026.[32]
Personal life
[edit]Siffre is openly gay, and has been throughout his career. He met his partner Peter Lloyd in July 1964 and they were together for 48 years, until Lloyd's death in 2013. In 1998, Lloyd suffered a stroke, immediately after which, Siffre decided to quit the music business to become Lloyd's full-time carer.[23] They entered into a civil partnership in 2005, as soon as it was legally possible in the UK.[10]
From the mid-1990s, he and Siffre lived in a polyamorous relationship with Rudolf van Baardwijk in the village of Cwmdu, near Crickhowell, South Wales.
Siffre and van Baardwijk married in December 2014. Van Baardwijk died in 2016.[33] As of 2022, Siffre lives in Spain.[33]
In 2014, Siffre appeared on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives, championing the life of British author Arthur Ransome. Siffre said that Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books had taught him responsibility for his own actions and also a morality that has influenced and shaped him throughout his life.[34]
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Year | Album | UK [35] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Labi Siffre | — | |
| 1971 | The Singer and the Song | 47 | |
| 1972 | Crying Laughing Loving Lying | 46 | |
| 1973 | For the Children | — | |
| 1975 | Remember My Song | — | |
| Happy | — | ||
| 1988 | So Strong | — | |
| 1991 | Man of Reason | — | |
| 1998 | The Last Songs | — | |
| Monument (Spoken Word) | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Live albums
[edit]- The Last Songs (Re-mastered) (2006)
Compilation albums
[edit]- The Best of Labi Siffre (1995)
- It Must Be Love: The Best of Labi Siffre (2016)
- Gold (2019)
- Watch Me (2023)
Singles
[edit]| Year | Single | Chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [35] |
AUS [36][37] |
AUT [38] |
BE (FLA) [39] |
IRE [40] |
NL 40 [41] |
NL 100 [42] |
US R&B [43] | |||
| 1970 | "Too Late" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Little More Line" (Germany-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "Thank Your Lucky Star" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Get to the Country" | 53[A] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "It Must Be Love" | 14 | 46 | — | — | — | 21 | 25 | — | ||
| 1972 | "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | —[B] | — | |
| "Watch Me" | 29 | — | — | — | 7 | 16 | 14 | — | ||
| 1973 | "Give Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "If You Have Faith" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "(Just) A Little More Line" (Netherlands-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974 | "Dreamer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1975 | "Another Year | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Second Time Around" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976 | "Staride to Nowhere" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You've Got a Hold on Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Doctor Doctor" (France and Italy-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "Do the Best You Can" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1978 | "Solid Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | "One World Song" (as Labi and Jackie) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Run to Him" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Nightmare" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1987 | "(Something Inside) So Strong" | 4 | 76 | — | 14 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 49 | |
| "Nothin's Gonna Change" | 52 | — | — | 8 | — | 21 | 24 | — | ||
| 1988 | "Listen to the Voices" | 81 | — | 5 | 25 | — | 23 | 22 | — | |
| 1989 | "I Will Always Love You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "And the Wind Blows" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991 | "Most People Sleep Alone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Matter of Love | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "City of Dreams" (promo only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "I Got The..." | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | "Love Is Love Is Love) Why Isn't Love Enough?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2026 | "Far Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".
- ↑ "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" did not chart on the Single Top 100, but did reach No. 14 on the Single Tip chart.[44]
Notable cover versions and samples of Siffre's songs
[edit]- "It Must Be Love" was covered by Madness in 1981. The song reached Number 4 in the UK chart,[16] and Number 33 in the U.S. in 1983.[46] Siffre also made a cameo appearance in the music video.
- "(Something Inside) So Strong" was covered by singer Michael Ball in 1996, reaching Number 40 in the UK.[47] Rik Waller also covered the song while a contestant on Pop Idol, hitting Number 25 in the UK Singles Chart in 2002.[47] Kenny Rogers had also covered the song in 1989 as the title track to an album.
- "My Song" was sampled by rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, on his 2007 song "I Wonder" on the album Graduation. Siffre received a songwriting credit on the track as a result.[48]
- "I Got The..." was sampled by producer Dr. Dre for rapper Eminem's 1999 breakout single, "My Name Is" from the album The Slim Shady LP. Siffre initially denied the duo permission to use the sample, based on his objection to homophobic and misogynistic lyrical content in the song, but ultimately agreed to let them release the record having heard only the song's clean version.[49]
Bibliography
[edit]Poetry
[edit]- Nigger (Xavier Books 1993)
- Blood on the Page (Xavier Books 1995)
- Monument (Xavier Books 1997)
Plays
[edit]- DeathWrite (Xavier Books 1997)
Essays
[edit]- Choosing the Stick They Beat You With (Penguin 2000)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Pollard, Alexandra (1 April 2020). "Labi Siffre, the black, gay musician whose music helped make Eminem famous". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ↑ TED (5 December 2017). "Disturbing Definitions: Labi Siffre". Retrieved 1 February 2023 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 3 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1218. ISBN 9780195313734.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ↑ Atkins, Jamie (21 April 2024). "Labi Siffre: 'I've had far more difficulties in my life due to being a homosexual than being Black'". The Big Issue.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre Page". www.soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "BBC One - imagine..., 2022, Labi Siffre: This is My Song". BBC.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. Virgin. p. 398. ISBN 978-1852279479.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre - poetry into the light: poems / poetry: political". Intothelight.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Q&A: Labi Siffre". New Humanist. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
I've always been an atheist. I've never had religious belief. Pre-teens, I assumed God was in the same make-believe category as Father Christmas; a game of pretend between children and grown-ups.
- 1 2 3 4 "Labi Siffre". Discogs. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ Gordon, Lauren (10 October 2025). "People Are Rediscovering a '70s Folk Legend, 80: 'Truly Underrated Artist'". Parade. Archived from the original on 10 October 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 498. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ Labi Siffre - Happy, 1975, retrieved 24 July 2026
- ↑ "14 singers you totally forgot did Eurovision (or failed to get there)". Smooth Radio. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- 1 2 "It Must Be Love - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ↑ https://www.bpi.co.uk/page/certified-awards?awards=2_213_3335
- ↑ Madness (1 September 2011). Madness - It Must Be Love (Official HD Video). Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Mathur, Paul (August 1989). "So Strong". Spin. p. 32. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- 1 2 "Soul Music - Something Inside So Strong - BBC Sounds". BBC. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre Top Songs - Greatest Hits and Chart Singles Discography – Music VF, US & UK hit charts". www.musicvf.com. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre: The Last Songs (CD) | Demon Music Group". www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Jonze, Tim (31 January 2022). "'I had the perfect life – then both my husbands died': singer Labi Siffre on love, loss – and happiness". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ Hunter, Lauren (16 February 2026). "Labi Siffre announces first new album in 27 years". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ Forrest, Jo (16 February 2026). "Labi Siffre Announces New Album 'Unfinished Business'". TotalNtertainment. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ Azpiri, Jon. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ↑ Jones, Lucy (27 September 2012). "When Sampling Goes Wrong". NME. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ↑ Greenberg, August (29 October 2018). "Sample School: Labi Siffre". WVAU. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre: My Song (9CD) | Demon Music Group". www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 April 2026. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 Browne, David (5 August 2025). "A New Labi Siffre Compilation Will Finally Be Released in the U.S." Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ↑ Labi Siffre (11 April 2025). Labi Siffre - Discussion: Doctor Who. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Gordon, Lauren (10 October 2025). "People Are Rediscovering a '70s Folk Legend, 80: 'Truly Underrated Artist'". Parade. Archived from the original on 10 October 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- 1 2 Jonze, Tim (31 January 2022). "'I had the perfect life – then both my husbands died': Singer Labi Siffre on love, loss – and happiness". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Great Lives, Series 34, Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- 1 2 "Labi Siffre | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1972". Top100singles.net. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1987". Top100singles.net. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Labi Siffre". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 August 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Labi Siffre - Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ↑ "Labi Siffre - (Something Inside) So Strong". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ↑ "Madness Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- 1 2 "So Strong". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ↑ Pytlik, Mark. "Kanye West: Graduation". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ↑ "Q&A: Labi Siffre". Newhumanist.org.uk. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
External links
[edit]- Something Inside So Strong, Soul Music, BBC Radio 4
- Arthur Ransome, Great Lives, BBC Radio 4
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