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City Winery Hudson Valley presents Steel Pulse 50th Anniversary live on Thursday, September 25th, at 7:30PM.

A manipulation of our minds has been influenced by a New World Order currently dominating humankind. Steel Pulse reappears at a fated moment, armed with compassion, encouraging all people to reject false ideals, set higher goals, and demand more from themselves to further this unification.

Bearing witness to the accelerating negativity of global affairs, Steel Pulse emerges with musical vengeance to halt the disarray of humanity. The bands twelfth studio production, titled Mass Manipulation (Rootfire Cooperative), reflects four decades committed to bettering mankind through music. Steel Pulse continues to be revolutionary in engaging controversial topics of racial injustice and human rights on a global scale. Their musical stance and conceptualizations are as potent and relevant today as they were at the beginning of their career. The album’s uniquely thematic approach provokes thought as it presses forward, toward humanities unification. A manipulation of our minds has been influenced by a New World Order currently dominating humankind. Steel Pulse reappears at a fated moment, armed with compassion, encouraging all people to reject false ideals, set higher goals, and demand more from themselves to further this unification.

Lead singer and guitarist, David Hinds’ creativity, human persona, and visionary views are revealed through inspiring compositions that capture the effects of the African Diaspora. These songs weave and interlock with each other, enticing all to stand together and unite.

Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar)

Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.[1] Collectively the band has won one Grammy award with nine nominations.

They were initially refused live dates in Caribbean venues in Birmingham due to their Rastafarian beliefs. During the popularization of punk rock in the mid-1970's, Steel Pulse began to play punk venues such as the Hope and Anchor in London and The Electric Circus in Manchester in 1976.

Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ronald McQueen (bass); along with Basil's brother Colin briefly on drums and Mykaell Riley (vocals, percussion). Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Collectively the band has won one Grammy award with nine nominations.

Basil Gabbidon and David Hinds became inspired to form Steel Pulse after listening to Bob Marley and The Wailers' Catch a Fire.[1] The band formed in 1975; their debut single release "Kibudu, Mansetta And Abuku" arrived on the small independent label Dip, and linked the plight of urban black youth with the image of a greater African homeland. They followed it with "Nyah Luv" for Anchor. They were initially refused live dates in Caribbean venues in Birmingham due to their Rastafarian beliefs. During the popularization of punk rock in the mid-1970's, Steel Pulse began to play punk venues such as the Hope and Anchor in London and The Electric Circus in Manchester in 1976

Aligning themselves closely with the Rock Against Racism organization and featuring in its first music festival in early 1978, they chose to tour with sympathetic elements of the punk movement,including the Stranglers and XTC. Eventually they found a more natural home in support slots for Burning Spear, which brought them to the attention of Island Records

Steel Pulse’s 1991 song “Taxi Driver,” from the album Victims, tackles racial discrimination in New York City, highlighting the struggles Black individuals and Rastafarians face when trying to hail a cab. Inspired by lead singer David Hinds’ own experience being ignored by taxi drivers, the track underscores systemic racism.

Hinds didn’t stop at music—he filed a class-action lawsuit against NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission and staged a public protest to expose the bias. Ironically, a cab stopped as soon as the media arrived, momentarily undermining the demonstration.

Musically, the song fits into Victims’ political half, continuing Steel Pulse’s tradition of reggae infused with sharp social commentary.