Coventry’s little-known past in bringing reggae music to international ears will be explored in an exhibition and documentary to be screened at The Herbert

Champion Sound will explore the sound system culture which saw the city’s West Indian residents build their own huge speakers and amps and play the reggae and ska music popular in Jamaica but unknown in Britain in the 1950s.

The exhibition will be launched at The Herbert on Saturday, May 3 at 8pm during a free reggae themed evening with Caribbean refreshments.

Classic reggae from the 1950s to the 1980s will later be played during a special performance by renowned Coventry sound system DJ Buster in the Herbert’s café bar.

Stacey Bains, cultural diversity officer at The Herbert, said: “The launch party will be a fantastic night, bringing together legendary DJs from this influential part of Coventry’s past for the first time in decades.”

A special screening will also take place on Tuesday, May 13 of the Champion Sound documentary – produced by city-based media production company Frontline AV.

Fran Porter, project producer from Frontline AV, said: “For people who moved to Coventry from Jamaica in the 1950s there was no opportunity to play their own music – it was not played on the radio or available in shops.

“Sound systems are a huge part of Jamaican culture with people gathering together to enjoy music until late at night and which, again, did not fit into the British 50s lifestyle where pubs would close around 10pm.

“People began to build their own sound systems over here and wrote back for the latest Jamaican produced records to be sent across, which they would play at blues parties in their homes and later on in dance halls.”

The exhibition will explore the development of sound systems and their music from the 1950s up to today and includes contributions from Coventry residents and also key figures from the industry including Freddie McGregor and Pete Waterman.

Fran added: “The sound system scene has not received the recognition it deserves because it is very much seen as an underground culture due to the nature of the systems being home-made.

“It would not be an understatement to say that black music in general would not have found the international audience it did without the sound system culture – and Coventry’s role within that is significant.”

A website has also been set up to accompany the exhibition onto which people are invited to record their memories of Coventry’s sound system culture.

The exhibition runs from Saturday, May 3 until Tuesday, June 3 and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information contact The Herbert on 024 7683 2386 or Fran Porter at Frontline AV on 024 7622 4221 or visit www.championsound.org.uk