Jamaica's most prominent international reggae band, Third World, began an extensive tour of the United Kingdom on October 2, the first such in many years for the group, which is celebrating 34 years in the music business.

"It's the first time Third World will be going to the UK in a long while," band leader Stephen 'Cat' Coore told Splash on the eve of the tour. "It's very exciting, because for many years we really haven't done that, and the UK was our real fan base where we launched off with Now That We Found Love, so we're looking forward to it." Commenting further on the tour that runs from October 3 to the 21, he said, "We will be doing over 18 shows that will take us to Scotland, Ireland, England, where most of the dates will be in places like Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester. And we're hoping that everything will go smoothly."

It is clear from Coore's upbeat tone that the tour will provide a special bounce for the group famous for blending reggae, soul, funk/rock, and whose achievements, since it was formed in 1973, have truly justified its designation as the 'international reggae ambassadors'.

The fillip from the tour is expected to carry over into the group's annual year-end gala concert in December. "We are working on it (the December concert), with all our heart, it will be the third time at King's House, but we've done it before at the Courtleigh Manor (Hotel), as you know. We don't know if we will get it yet, but we're hoping for King's House," said Coore.

While he was obviously being cautious about divulging details at this point in time, he nevertheless hinted at not just another star-studded event, but moreso one with a diverse entertainment package.

"I don't want to say much at this time, but we're hoping to get somebody from foreign with a different flavour... we looking at that right now," Coore said, adding, "Monte Alexander said he'll definitely play with us, so that should show you the kind of difference that we want, not that we don't want our regular acts. We'll be having a couple of those too, but you dig what I'm saying."

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