Lovers Rock: A Night of British Reggae

Steve James said a Kingston concert set for Sunday, May 17, will center on two singers who helped define different phases of British lovers rock. The second edition of “Lovers Rock: A Night of British Reggae” is scheduled for Pon Top Seafood Grill & Bar, where organisers say the songs of Vivian Jones and Bitty McLean will be featured. James, the event’s main organiser, told the Jamaica Observer that this year’s staging will run longer than the first show held at the same venue in February. The programme will include a tribute to the late Jones and what James described as a mini-feature on McLean. ### Which two singers are being honoured in Kingston? Vivian Jones and Bitty McLean are the two artists at the centre of the May 17 event, according to the Jamaica Observer. The publication said the show will spotlight songs by Jones, a Jamaican-born singer who moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1960s, and McLean, a British-born singer of Jamaican parentage associated with a later wave of the genre. (jamaicaobserver.com) Jones was born in Trelawny and rose in Britain during the 1970s with recordings that blended roots reggae and ballad styles, the Observer reported. The paper cited “Sugar Love” and “Strong Love” among his known songs, while identifying McLean’s “Walk Away From Love” and “The Real Thing” as major hits in Britain and Jamaica. (jamaicaobserver.com) ### Why is Vivian Jones being remembered this year? Vivian Jones died on October 27, 2025, at age 68, according to Reggaeville and a separate Jamaica Observer report from the time. The May 17 programme is being framed by organisers as a tribute to the late singer, whom James referred to as Vivian “Sugarlove” Jones. (jamaicaobserver.com) The late singer’s Jamaica birth and British career make him a fitting figure for an event built around UK lovers rock with Jamaican roots. The Observer’s May 13 report said Jones represented an earlier era of the sound, while McLean stands for a newer generation. ### What did the organiser say will be different this time? (reggaeville.com) Steve James said the second event will not repeat the February format. “We have extended the timeframe to give patrons more music to listen to,” he told the Jamaica Observer, adding that the show would also include the McLean feature and the Jones tribute. (jamaicaobserver.com) February’s first edition was held at the same Kingston venue and drew Jamaicans who had lived in the United Kingdom for many years, the Observer reported. The paper said some attendees, including producers Bertie Grant and Blacka Dread, were among figures involved in developing the British reggae sound. (jamaicaobserver.com) ### How does the event connect to the history of lovers rock? James described lovers rock to the Observer as a mellow reggae sound that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The paper linked the style to artists including Janet Kay, Peter Hunnigale, Carroll Thompson and Maxi Priest, many of them British-born children of Jamaican parents. (jamaicaobserver.com) That framing places the Kingston event inside a cross-Atlantic story rather than a one-off tribute night. The organisers are presenting British reggae as music shaped by migration, with Jones and McLean used as examples of different generations within that history, according to the Observer’s account. (jamaicaobserver.com) ### Where is the event being held and what happens next? Pon Top Seafood Grill & Bar in Kingston is the listed venue for the May 17 staging, and business listings place the restaurant at 29 Westminster Road. The Jamaica Observer identified the show as the second edition of “Lovers Rock: A Night of British Reggae,” following the first staging in February at the same location. (jamaicaobserver.com) Sunday, May 17, is the next fixed date in the story. James told the Observer the programme will feature a tribute to Vivian Jones and a Bitty McLean segment at Pon Top Seafood Grill & Bar in Kingston. (jamaicaobserver.com)