If you want something, go out and have a look for it .. it does not come and knock at your door
Trailblazer Rhoda Dakar on her life in the music world and advice for budding stars
NO ONE was going to tell Rhoda Dakar what she should wear or how she should behave when she blazed a trail in all-female ska band The Bodysnatchers in the early 80s.
She was at the forefront of the 2-Tone scene and went on to form The Special AKA with Jerry Dammers, with whom she co-wrote the hit Nelson Mandela.
She’s keen to help new musicians and will speak at a music business convention in Scotland.
Rhoda, 59, still performs, records, DJs and teaches and will be speaking at Wide Days from April 20-21 in Edinburgh.
She is mum to Liela, 18, who is a premiership rugby player, and Frazer, 21, known as “French”, who is a music student.
Being a parent has helped her become a good music teacher – and it’s also influenced her views on today’s scantily clad female pop stars.
“If it were my daughter… but I’m not here to tell people not to behave in a certain way. If they have a choice, I would maybe respectfully suggest that once you have established your career, you don’t have to keep painting your outfits on.
“Nobody has ever told me how to dress because I had a reputation for being fairly argumentative.
“It wouldn’t have occurred to people to tell me what to wear.”
It was unusual when Rhoda joined an all-female band – but she didn’t realise it at the time.
She said: “I hadn’t been in any other band. I had nothing with which to compare it. All I had to go on was my life experience at the time and the fact that there were seven of us and most of us were fairly shouty and we would insist on going to everything together. It was fairly difficult for people to mansplain.
“We would go in mobhanded and shout until we got what we wanted.
“The music business is a microcosm of the real world. There were the same men with the same attitudes.
“When we were first getting in a band, the idea of ‘nudge nudge, wink wink, nice work if you can get it’ was prevalent in the culture.”
Despite her past success, single mum Rhoda is far from well-off.
She’s stayed in touch with many musicians from the bands of the era including Madness, The Specials, The Selector and The Beat.
Rhoda said: “Some of the people have made good money out of it but most of them didn’t at the time.”
Nowadays, many are performing live to make money rather than earning money through selling CDs and downloads.
Rhoda, who’s been performing since she was nine, has advice for musicians starting out.
She’s said it’s important to learn what you can about the industry and conferences such as Wide Days are important.
Rhoda added: “There was loads I didn’t know. I probably lost out through bad deals and following other people. I probably lost out on thousands and had to start from scratch more than once.”
But she’s enjoyed her career and loved getting to meet artists including Elvis Costello and Paul Weller.
Rhoda said: “I’m no longer tongue-tied when I speak to Elvis Costello. He produced Nelson Mandela and I couldn’t speak to him at first. I was too in awe.”
She urged budding musicians to make their own way. “If you want something, you can go out and have a look for it at the very least. It doesn’t come and knock at your door.” Rhoda will be inconversation on Friday from 3.30pm to 4.20pm at The Study. For details, go to www.widedays.com Her new single, A Change Is Gonna Come (Never Again) was made in tribute to the Florida shooting survivors. Check out the video: https://youtu.be/p1daKanRE54