A Pathé News film crew were on hand to interview the new arrivals and Kitchener improvised ‘London Is The Place For Me’ for them. When the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in June 1948, ushering in the post-war boom in Caribbean migration to Britain, among the travellers was the Calypsonian Lord Kitchener. (Melodisc 78rpm single, 1951) (Reissue pictured)Īn atypically upbeat opener…. It begins, appropriately, with a calypso, the Notting Hill Carnival’s original soundtrack. Here are ten spins on migration – international, internal, compelled and self-propelled. The 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke famously wrote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Fortunately, there are many good men and women who are doing plenty, and so long as the will to resist exists, the battle with modern demagoguery is winnable. What binds them together is a shared sense of humanity, where diversity is understood to be a plus rather than a minus, and justice is the entitlement of all. Others are observers, offering friendship and support to their new countrymen and women.

Some are migrants or the children of migrants, their singing and songwriting informed by personal experience of migration. The artists performing them are similarly diverse. This selection of records dealing with migration spans rap, reggae, calypso, acoustic folk music, rock and Afrobeat. Confronted by complex social issues, populist politicians offer simplistic solutions which invariably involve the scapegoating of “immigrants.” This dehumanizing collective description includes people fleeing tyrannical regimes to so-called “economic refugees” seeking better lives. Bigotry is resurgent across the Western world, and with the rise of nationalist demagogues such as Donald Trump and Nigel Farage comes the demonisation of minority groups.

Sadly, in 2017 it is no longer possible to make a statement like this and then, as the lawyers say, rest your case. Carnival is irrefutable proof that a multi-cultural society is more fun than a mono-cultural one – and a happy society is a productive society. What began as a small party for Britons of African-Caribbean heritage has grown into a mass celebration enjoyed by people of every ethnic background. The clearest evidence of musical migration to Britain is London’s annual Notting Hill Carnival. One the eve of another Notting Hill Carnival, Chris May looks at the broad musical legacy left by the movement of people over the last eighty years.

Solidarity songs