WHITFIELD BATSON
Whitfield Batson was born in Paddington, West London. His parents moved from Barbados to the United Kingdom in the early 1960’s.
At the age of three he was sent to live with his Mother’s family in Barbados and had no choice but to fall in love with music as he was heavily influence by his Uncles, who owned and operated Reid’s Hi Fi, a popular sound system from the sixties and seventies.
He returned to England as a teenager and thought it fitting to become certified in Audio Engineering and Videography. His love for music drew him into music management when he took on The Undivided Roots Band in 1984. Under Batson’s management, THE UNDIVIDED ROOTS BAND released their first chart topping album “Ultimate Experience” in 1985 and off loaded several hit singles: Party Nite, Rock Dis Ya Music and Nature of Love to name a few.
Their efforts were conclusively recognised by the media and those in the reggae music industry, as a result, in 1988, they were voted for the first time Best Reggae Group at the British Reggae Industry Awards.
As interest in the Band’s live performances continued to grow so did the interest in the Band’s recordings, resulting in a contract singing with Mango/Island Records in 1990.
The band has irrevocably been respected over the years as one of the most talented group of Reggae Musicians and Producers to emerge from the United Kingdom.
Batson also developed a talent for writing and wrote or co-wrote songs for Glen Goldsmith, Slim Batson and The Undivided Roots Band.
In 1990, Whitfield’s keen interest in the music industry was spotted by Carl Palmer who invited him to join Jet Star Phonographic; at that time, the largest UK based company specialising in the distribution of black music throughout Europe.
Whitfield returned to live in Barbados in 1994 and has managed or coordinated projects for local acts like Slam City, Lil Rick, Buggy Nhakente, Red Alarm and Shane Forester. He’s also developed a love for acting and appeared in the 2014 folk musical “How Hard the Times”
After years of working behind the scenes, Batson now finds time to work on his own projects but is always ready to share his experience with others.
