Sunday, May 18, 2008

Pato Banton - A Video Compilation of his Collaborations


Pato Banton was the original "Pop Idol" (the UK equivalent of American Idol).
In order to satisfy the many requests for toasting challenges, the Beat sponsored a competition to find the best one of them around late 1981 to early 1982. With Ranking Roger as judge, these vocalists battled for the opportunity to record a single on the Go Feet label. Pato Banton rose to become the victor.

Pato Banton (born Patrick Murray) is, like the Beat, also from Birmingham where he had been engaged in the reggae scene for years. It was the single that he recorded for Go Feet that really launched his professional recording career though. Ago Talk brought the toasting of Pato and Roger together to form a very catchy, danceable reggae song backed by the Beat. It may not have charted (the Beat singles were no longer making the charts in the UK at this point), but Ago Talk quickly became a fan favorite. Pato had great success touring along with the Beat for a while. However even when Pato was not with them, the Beat would still receive requests from the audience to hear his song.

Roger and Pato had become good friends and would record together several more times throughout the years as Pato's success continued to grow. In 1985, Roger aided by producing Pato's single Hello Tosh, which went as far as reaching number 3 in the UK independent reggae charts. Two years later, they joined up again to record Pato And Roger Come Again. It would be another 5 years until the two recording together again. Bubbling Hot managed to break into the UK Top 20 in 1992.

Pato has also performed on the hit songs, “Hip-Hop Lyrical Robot” and “King Step” on UB40’s Baggariddim and Little Baggariddim albums, which also featured the chart topping, “I Got You Babe”. He's recorded his own albums and tours the US regularly (we opened for him last summer at The Canal Room in NYC).


Over the years, Pato's success has continued to grow and he has become a big figure in reggae. He has even received a grammy nomination. In 2002 he established the Music Technology School in Birmingham to spread his love for music. Pato Banton is still very much an active force.

Here is a video mix of some of Pato's musical collaborations.

Pato & Roger Ago Talk w/The English Beat




Bubbling Hot w/Ranking Roger





Baby Come Back w/UB40





Hip Hop Lyrical Robot w/UB40





The King Step w/UB40





The Buzz Feeling w/UB40



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