Labi Siffre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Labi Siffre |
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Siffre in 2017
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Claudius Afolabi Siffre |
| Born | 25 June 1945 Hammersmith, London, England |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels |
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Claudius Afolabi Siffre (born 25 June 1945), better known as Labi Siffre (pronounced /ˈlæ.bi/, SIF-ree), is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. His best known compositions include "It Must Be Love" which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (a song later covered by the ska band Madness), "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.
Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and two volumes of poetry: Blood on the Page, and Monument. In 2022, his life and work was explored in the BBC series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.
Contents
Early life and education
Claudius Afolabi Siffre was born as the fourth of five children at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London to a British mother of mixed Barbadian and Belgian descent and a Nigerian father. Siffre was brought up in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School, in Ealing, West London. Despite his Catholic education, Siffre has stated that he has always been an atheist.
He studied music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in Wardour Street, Soho. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in his poem "education education education". After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman before deciding to concentrate on music. He moved to Cannes, France, where he played guitar with various soul musicians and bands, but returned to the UK in the late 1960s.
Personal life
Siffre met his partner Peter Lloyd in July 1964 and they were together for 48 years. They entered into a civil partnership in 2005, as soon as it was legally possible in the UK.
Labi and Rudolf (Ruud) van Baardwijk married in December 2014. Ruud died in 2016. Siffre now lives in Spain.
In 2014, Siffre appeared on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives, championing the life of British author Arthur Ransome. Siffre said that Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books had taught him responsibility for his own actions and also a morality that has influenced and shaped him throughout his life.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | UK |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Labi Siffre | — | |
| 1971 | The Singer and the Song | 47 | |
| 1972 | Crying Laughing Loving Lying | 46 | |
| 1973 | For the Children | — | |
| 1975 | Remember My Song | — | |
| Happy | — | ||
| 1988 | So Strong | — | |
| 1991 | Man of Reason | — | |
| 1998 | The Last Songs | — | |
| Monument (Spoken Word) | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Live albums
- The Last Songs (Re-mastered) (2006)
Compilation albums
- The Best of Labi Siffre (1995)
- It Must Be Love (The Best of Labi Siffre) (2016)
- Gold (2019)
- Watch Me (2023)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
AUS |
AUT |
BE (FLA) |
IRE |
NL 40 |
NL 100 |
US R&B |
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| 1970 | "Too Late" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Little More Line" (Germany-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "Thank Your Lucky Star" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Get to the Country" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "It Must Be Love" | 14 | 46 | — | — | — | 21 | 25 | — | ||
| 1972 | "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Watch Me" | 29 | — | — | — | 7 | 16 | 14 | — | ||
| 1973 | "Give Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "If You Have Faith" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "(Just) A Little More Line" (Netherlands-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974 | "Dreamer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1975 | "Another Year | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Second Time Around" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976 | "Staride to Nowhere" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You've Got a Hold on Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Doctor Doctor" (France and Italy-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "Do the Best You Can" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1978 | "Solid Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | "One World Song" (with Jackie) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Run to Him" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Nightmare" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1987 | "(Something Inside) So Strong" | 4 | 76 | — | 14 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 49 |
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| "Nothin's Gonna Change" | 52 | — | — | 8 | — | 21 | 24 | — | ||
| 1988 | "Listen to the Voices" | 81 | — | 5 | 25 | — | 23 | 22 | — | |
| 1989 | "I Will Always Love You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "And the Wind Blows" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991 | "Most People Sleep Alone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Matter of Love | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "City of Dreams" (promo only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "I Got the..." | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
Notable cover versions of Siffre's songs
- "It Must Be Love" was covered by Madness in 1981. The song reached Number 4 in the UK chart and Number 33 in the U.S. in 1983. Labi Siffre also made a cameo appearance in the music video.
- "(Something Inside) So Strong" was covered by singer Michael Ball in 1996, reaching Number 40 in the UK. Rik Waller also covered the song while a contestant on Pop Idol, hitting number 25 in the UK Singles Chart in 2002.
See also
In Spanish: Labi Siffre para niños
