Steve Skaith was the singer and co/writer of the band Latin Quarter, best known for the 80s hit single -Radio Africa- but which produced 6 albums between 1985-97, the last two, Long Pig 1993 and Bringing Rosa Home 1997 being probably the best 2.
In 1999 after the band finally split up, Steve went to live in Mexico where he met and began to play with Mexican musicians to produce three albums> Mexile (2003), Empires and Us (2005) and Imaginary Friend (2007). These albums mix British folk Rock with Latin and even African sounds and rhythms. They are released on Plaene Records and Westpark Music.
In May 2007, Steve returned to the UK where he has begun to play with local musicians on the Bournemouth folk scene. He plans to build a new band which will develop a basically British folk sound but retaining the rhythmic drive of the Mexican albums. The Mexican drummer Ricardo Serrano is still central to the project and has already recorded the drum tracks for a new album to be released late 2008 or early 2009. The album is a re/recording of early Latin Quarter songs but with a radically new sound. It will include the accordion, whistle and mandolin playing of talented UK folk musicians Cath Burke and Siobhan Culhane.
The songs chosen for this project are not only there for Steve-s nostalgic pleasure but because, written with the tremendous lyricist Mike Jones, they contain a freshness and relevance that no one would have imagined when they were first recorded 20 years ago.
However the immediate priority in the first half of 2008 will be live playing, firstly in the South West but as opportunities arise, throughout the UK.
Hiya Steve Leonard Cohen was a rare joy - worth the 25 year wait! He said ‘I know many of you have endured financial and geographical inconvenience to come to ‘this’’- looking up at the monster that is the O2. Lol! malcolmx
What was the line?'Big ears - but small wages'? Oddly,when that pic was taken. I was singing Desert Rose softly under my breath. MX Did I tell you Sarah got me a Cohen ticket?Think I might of already told you!?:)
In 1978 I was in Bournemouth. I tried to learn english for school with a friend. I did not learn anything. But we met some nice girls in Bournemouth. Back in Berlin, we could tell some storys.
