Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande

This fascinating documentary opens with a song called ‘Dove’ that I would guess many people will recognise, though ask: who are the band? For about the first ten minutes it’s an intro to Cymande’s music from people who had never heard of them but helped get them back on the musical map.

In some sense this is an all too common story of a band that achieves a certain level of success then folds due to lack of interest. But there were other dynamics at play here that both boosted and finished the band for a long time.

The backdrop of the band’s formation was the call from the UK to the people of the Caribbean to come and help rebuild the country. Arriving to hatred and prejudice many found it difficult to get jobs and integrate. It was from this that talented musician pooled together and formed Cymande to the indifference of the press and media of the early 1970s.

Nevertheless they persevered got an album out and invited to tour the US with the biggest soul stars of the day Al Green. His audience took to them. The enthusiasm, dancing and all-around feeling of inclusion was a far cry from the disdain of the UK they left and to which they returned to. This eventually forced the band to split.

But something else was going on. Back in New York, the early days of Hip-Hop and DJs were sampling Cymande’s music and going down a storm with the clubbers. Plus asking who they were.

The film here concentrates a little more on the development of Hip-Hop, the skill of the DJs and sampling. The band were sampled all over the place which led to collectors tracking down their albums and upping their profile. The legality and royalties due – if any – are skimped over. But the main point was that Cymande’s music was being played, streaming and now far more accessible.

Inevitably there was a call for the band to reform and playing a hometown show at Brixton in 2014 to surprisingly young crowd. From there they have hardly looked back.

What director Tim MacKenzie-Smith very skilfully does is present the wonderful music of Cymande in the context of some truly appalling hatred in the US and UK and juxtaposing with its inclusivity and influence it had and has.

There are dozens of contributions from all sections of the music industry. Its not confined to the US either. The UK through the then developing artists set the ball rolling and the band are a significant influence on the rap scene in France.

Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande will be in UK cinemas on 16 February 2024.