Westzeedijk 238 • 3016 AN Rotterdam • 010-4367699 • mail@antenna-men.com

 
Graphic design vinyl album and CD cover
Torso records / produced by Tim Simenon & Keith Leblanc / photography: Dick Weisz
Surkus were Steve ‘Slyde Don Cher’ Cotterli, Webster ‘Webby Jax Brixton’ Johnson & Lloyd ‘Tabloid’ Johnson. Their origin is British Jamaican although they lived in Rotterdam, NL when they started Surkus. They released 4 albums on the Torso label. Higher was produced by Tim Simenon (Bomb the Bass) & Keith Leblanc (Little Axe, Tackhead, Grandmaster Flash, Sugra Hill Gang).
Webster Johnson founded Surkus with his younger brother Lloyd; both excelent singers, composers and keyboardplayers. They composed their music using sequencers, drummachines and keyboards with Slyde adding live bass and guitar. They were excellent live performers who managed to make a name for themselves in a short time, resulting in a record deal with Torso.
Webster started out as a keyboard player in the successful UK reggae band Matumbi. He also performed on the albums 'Forces of Victory' and 'Dub Culture' by dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. He had his own ‘Lovers Rock’ hit with In the Rain in 1979. He worked with Peter Green and toured with Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Culture and Toots and the Maytals. During the early 90s he moved away from reggea for a while and got involved with an urban crossover mixture of techno music with his band Surkus. After that period he continued writing lyrics, composing and recording with his brother Lloyd.