The band now boasts a singularly tight performance routine that has attracted to its stages the likes of Stevie Wonder and, over the three decades of its existence, positioned the Pulse as openers for Bob Marley & the Wailers, Peter Tosh, Sting, Inxs, Santana, Robert Palmer, Herbie Hancock and Bob Dylan.

Maintaining its original commitment to message music, the group continues its stance against injustice and toils for education of the masses, promoting its pet causes through spiritually uplifting music, dealing with positive spirits, arguing against guns, drugs and all things it considers social ailments, especially those negatively affecting the progress of black communities.

In 1992, Steel Pulse filed a US$1 million lawsuit in the Supreme court, challenging the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, asserting that their cab drivers discriminated against black people in general and Rastafarians in particular, litigation that inspired a video for the song "Taxi-Driver", supported by cameo appearances from a phalanx of famous American personalities including Jay Leno, Rev Al Sharpton, Branford Marsalis, C Thomas Howell and actor Robert Townsend. In the year following, invited by the Clinton Administration, the group became the first reggae band to perform at a presidential inauguration.

Now England's most highly regarded roots reggae outfit, Steel Pulse originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School in Birmingham, comprising Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals) and Ronnie McQueen (bass) and David Hinds, primarily on lead vocals and guitar but whose songwriting talent has been part of the group's driving force, given his ability to link the band's core philosophy with the plight of urban youth and steer its course toward alignments with the likes of Burning Spear for whom they opened on enough occasions to bring them to the attention of Island Records.

By this time their ranks had swollen to include Selwyn 'Bumbo' Brown (keyboards), Steve 'Grizzly' Nesbitt (drums), Fonso Martin (vocals, percussion) and Michael Riley (vocals) and later switched to Elektra, where they unveiled their most consistent collection of songs. Elektra prevailed on Steel Pulse to alter its style and emulate the likes of Eddy Grant which, some say, temporarily changed the group's focus, although they produced the Babylon The Bandit album during that period, which contained their signature song, the anthemic "Not the King James Version", a powerful indictment on the omission of black people and history from certain editions of the Bible.

Among their burgeoning catalogue of successful albums is the seminal State Of Emergency (on MCA) and Rastafari Centennial, which was recorded live at the Elysee Montmarte in Paris and dedicated to the Centennial of the birth of Haile Selassie. Apart from the Grammy for Babylon The Bandit, Steel Pulse enjoyed a number of nominations for other discs including Earth Crisis, Victims and Rage & Fury and contributed to the soundtrack of Spike Lee's movie Do the Right Thing.

In an astonishing mid-1990s resurgence, Steel Pulse headlined a number of large-scale music events including the US Reggae Sunsplash Tour, Japan Splash and Northern California's Reggae on the River Festival and embarked on a successful tour of South America, followed by a 1995 Caribbean junket and an appearance at the prestigious Hollywood Rock Festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo which featured Page and Plant, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins and Aswad amongst others. They have remained at the forefront of authentic reggae ever since. Already this year, Steel Pulse has appeared in Hawaii, the US mainland, Japan and Europe.

Their 18th and latest album, African Holocaust, released last year (2004), takes the group squarely back into the frame of bold, thought-provoking messages, guaranteed to please the ear and stimulate the mind. Though musically upbeat and danceable, all 13 tracks deal with very serious topics including environmental destruction, racism and the continuing legacy of slavery and even its liner-notes makes compelling reading for history students.

The appearance by Steel Pulse at the Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan & Jazz Festival closes a week of top-flight performances from a collection of international and local acts, including Al Jarreau, David "Fathead" Williams, Lenora Zenzalai Helm and homegrown icons Black Stalin, David Rudder, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and the Desperadoes and Trinidad All Stars steel orchestras.