Janet Kay is not called the Queen of Lover’s Rock for nothing. Cited in the Music Guinness Book of Records as the first Black British woman to have a hit reggae song in the British pop charts with the classic Silly Games, Kay hasn’t slowed down in her artistic pursuits.
With a successful singing career under her belt she became a songwriter before turning to acting. She joined the Black Theatre Co-operative in 1980 and tread the boards in its play Mama Dragon. Soon after, she helped the co-operative to create the groundbreaking cult comedy series No Problem. In the 1990s she and a group of talented black actresses, including Judith Jacob and the late Joanne Campbell, formed the Bibi Crew, a successful all female theatre company. Since then she has acted in films, collaborated on music with artists such as Fat Boy Slim, and has a significant following in Japan.
With the appeal of Lover’s Rock on the rise, Kay (along with fellow luminaries Carroll Thompson and Victor Romero Evans) created Lover’s Rock Monologues which first showcased in 2012 and now returns to the Tricycle Theatre for a limited run. Kay tells Joy Francis how she broke into the music industry, why Lover’s Rock is so enduring and why black artists have no choice but to multi task their careers.
Lover’s Rock Monologues returns to the Tricycle after a successful run in 2012. What is it like bringing a much loved and uniquely Black British genre of music to a theatre audience?
It’s a fantastic experience and it’s something which hasn’t really been done for the theatre before. We [Victor Romero Evans and Carroll Thompson] have always talked about doing a Lover’s Rock musical, but the logistics were beyond our means, and with the cuts to arts funding, we had to find another way of doing it. Victor had seen the Vagina Monologues and said: Why don’t we use this format, and then went about writing it.
What can people expect from the show?
There are nine monologues between the three of us, charting the 60s, 70s and 80s and how Lover’s Rock came to be. We look at the fashion of the time, our becoming teenagers, falling in love for the first time and the story of Lover’s Rock. Each monologue seamlessly blends into our hit songs of that era, and by the end of the monologues, it becomes a gig. It’s just a great show.
Why do you think Lover’s Rock is so enduring?
For our age group, it takes them back to their youth and they get a chance to walk down memory lane. For their children who heard the music when they were young, the show will be familiar to them as Lover’s Rock was the backdrop to their childhood. It also crosses cultures as we went to school with all cultures from white to Indian, and they were also into the music, just like their black peers.
You were in secretarial college and got into Lover’s Rock after a friend roped you in. How were you captured?
I have loved music from a young age and I always wanted to perform, although I was extremely shy and didn’t know how it would happen for me. At school, I was part of the school band, Girls Brigade choir and church choir. I never went to drama school and I didn’t have singing lessons. I was the eldest of six children. My dad worked and my mum was a stay at home mum. Things fell into place for me because I was in the right place at the right time. I turned up at a rehearsal room with a friend of mine and was mucking around on the mic. I thought no one was listening, but I was heard by a member of Aswad who mentioned me to the late great Alton Ellis, who produced my first recording Loving You in 1977. Back then we didn’t have mobile phones so I got a letter inviting me to record at the studio. I came from a strict family so before I could go to the studio, Alton had to meet my parents to get permission.
You are also an actress with an acting career that started with the Black Theatre Co-operative in 1980, moving on to the TV show No Problem and then the Bibi Crew, which you helped to establish. What was that transition like?
This was down to another chance meeting. I was friends with Aswad back in the day and they did the music for the movie Babylon. One day I went to the movie set and I was introduced to Victor [Romero Evans] who was starring the film. A few weeks later I was in the Arawak record shop in Finsbury Park. I was signing copies of my album on the opening day and Victor walked in. I thought – let me ask him how to get into acting. He said he was about to do a play [Mama Dragon] and they were looking for someone who could sing and act. He spoke to the director Charlie Hanson and I got the part. That was the start of my acting career. Then we [Black Theatre Co-operative) were approached by Humphrey Barclay who was the head of comedy at London Weekend Television. He asked us to come up with a comedy series which led to No Problem, the first comedy of its kind.
You have had such a diverse career. What is your view of the treatment of Black British talent in the UK?
I don’t see a lot going on. You see one or two young actors coming up, but in terms of the seasoned black actors in the UK, they are not getting the work and there is very little out there for them. In terms of the music industry, it has completely changed. We are not in the vinyl world anymore; everything is digital. It is easier now for independent artists to be more self sufficient, what with home studios, YouTube, social media and iTunes.
What next for you?
I am doing my first one woman show for many years – Up Close and Personal with Janet Kay – from 22 to 24 January 2015 at the Dugdale Centre, Enfield. After that I will hopefully take the show around the country. We’d also like to do a Lover’s Rock Monologues part two and involve other Lover’s Rock artists in the show. We need people to support the show and the music so that it can live on. Lover’s Rock is our thing, created and developed in the UK.
What advice do you have for any budding singer/songwriters and actors?
Follow your dream. Work hard and don’t give up. Find out everything you need to know about the business side of the music industry before you get involved, and protect yourself as you really do need to do that in this industry. Get yourself a good music lawyer as you never know when you may need their services.
Lover’s Rock Monologues will run at the Tricycle Theatre from 2-7 February 2015.