Althea & Donna

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Althea & Donna
Origin Kingston, Jamaica
Genres Reggae
Years active1977–present (sporadic)
Labels Virgin, Lightning, Front Line, Caroline
Past membersAlthea Rose Forrest
Donna Marie Reid

Althea & Donna are a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althea Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single "Uptown Top Ranking", which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978, [1] making them the first Jamaican female duo to top the UK Singles Chart. [2] Following the song's success, they became the first Jamaican female duo to be signed to a major record label. [3]

Contents

Early life

Althea Forrest grew up in Hughenden, St. Andrew, and attended Queens School. [2] Donna Reid was raised in the Hope Road area of Kingston and attended St. Andrew High School for Girls. [2] The two were school friends who began singing together on the streets of Kingston. [4]

The duo was discovered by Jacob Miller, lead singer of Inner Circle, who encountered them singing on a Kingston sidewalk. [3] Miller drove them to Joe Gibbs' studio at Retirement Crescent in Cross Roads to audition. [2]

Career

Breakthrough (1977–1978)

The Jamaican teenage singers Althea Forrest and Donna Reid – then 17 and 18 years old respectively – caused a chart surprise when their reggae song "Uptown Top Ranking" became a no. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in February 1978. [5] [6]

Producer Joe Gibbs, working with engineer Errol Thompson as the production duo known as the Mighty Two, had been seeking a female "answer song" to Trinity's 1977 hit "Three Piece Suit". [4] The song's breakthrough came unexpectedly when BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel accidentally played it on air, having intended to play the B-side, "Calico Suit" by the Mighty Two. [7] The broadcast generated numerous listener requests, and Peel continued to champion the track. [7] Despite spending 11 weeks on the charts, it enjoyed only a single week at the summit. [7]

Following the song's success, Althea & Donna appeared on the BBC television programme Top of the Pops to promote the single. [3] They toured the UK accompanied by Donna's father, as both singers were still teenagers at the time. [2]

One Love Peace Concert

On 22 April 1978, Althea & Donna performed at the historic One Love Peace Concert at the National Stadium in Kingston. [8] The concert, organized to promote peace between Jamaica's warring political factions, marked Bob Marley's return to Jamaica after 14 months in exile following an assassination attempt. [8] Althea & Donna were among the early performers on the bill, appearing after The Meditations and before Dillinger. [8] [9]

Album and subsequent recordings

They released the album Uptown Top Ranking in 1978, backed by The Revolutionaries, on the Virgin Records subsidiary Front Line. The album was produced by Karl Pitterson. [10] Tracks included "No More Fighting", "Jah Rastafari", "Make A Truce", "Oh Dread", "The West", "Jah Music", "If You Don't Love Jah", "Sorry", and "They Wanna Just". [3]

The duo recorded several more singles with little success. [11] In 2001, Caroline Records reissued the album, Uptown Top Ranking, with bonus tracks including "It Mek" (a previously unreleased outtake) and "Going to Negril" (a 1978 12-inch single). [12] [13]

Later career

After their initial period of activity in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Althea & Donna largely withdrew from the music industry. [3] Forrest relocated to New York, where she works as an event planner, while Reid moved to Florida, where she works for the state government. [2]

The duo has reunited for occasional performances. Their last major performance in Jamaica was at the Rebel Salute festival in January 2018, as part of the event's 25th anniversary celebration. [14]

Legacy

In 2020, "Uptown Top Ranking" was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for achieving sales of over 200,000 digital copies in the UK. [2]

The song has been covered by numerous artists across various genres. Notable covers include versions by Portishead in the late 1990s, [15] Black Box Recorder (1998), and Estelle with Joni Rewind. [16]

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 188. ISBN   0-85112-250-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Althea And Donna's 'Uptown Top Ranking' Digital Release Certified Silver By British Phonographic Industry". DancehallMag. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Althea & Donna – Reggae Top Rankin Female Duo". Reggae.University. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Up Town Top Ranking (Althea & Donna)". Jon Kutner. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Althia & Donna". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 21. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  7. 1 2 3 "One Hit Wonders: Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking". Classic Pop. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 "Remembering the One Love Concert for Peace". Caribbean Beat Magazine. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "The Music Diaries: 40th anniversary of '78 One Love concert". Jamaica Gleaner. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  10. 1 2 Greene, Jo-Ann. Uptown Top Ranking at AllMusic . Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  11. ↑ Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Greenwood Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN   0-313-33158-8.
  12. ↑ Prato, Greg. Althea & Donna Biography at AllMusic . Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "Althea and Donna – Uptown Top Ranking". Soul Jazz Records. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "Impressions: Photos from Rebel Salute's 25th Anniversary". LargeUp. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  15. ↑ "Althea & Donna". Apple Music. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Uptown Top Ranking by Althea & Donna". WhoSampled. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
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