Althea & Donna

Althea & Donna were a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althea Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single "Uptown Top Ranking", which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978.^[1]

Althea & Donna
Origin	Jamaica
Genres	Reggae
Years active	1977–2001
Labels	Virgin, Lightning, Front Line
Past members	Althea Forrest Donna Reid

Career

The Jamaican teenage singers Althea Forrest and Donna Reid – then 17 and 18 years old respectively – caused a chart surprise when their reggae song "Uptown Top Ranking" became a no. 1 hit in the UK in February 1978.^[2][3] They released the album of the same name in 1978, backed by The Revolutionaries, on the Virgin Records subsidiary Front Line, The album was produced by Karl Pitterson.^[4] The duo recorded several more singles with little success.^[5] In 2001, Caroline Records reissued the full-length Uptown Top Ranking.^[6]

Discography

Albums

• Uptown Top Ranking (1978), Virgin/Front Line^[4]

Singles

• "Uptown Top Ranking" (1977), Lightning/Joe Gibbs/Warners (1978), Virgin^[3]
• "Love One Another" (1978), Lightning/Joe Gibbs/Warners
• "Puppy Dog Song" (1978), Front Line
• "Going to Negril" (1978), Front Line
• "Top Rankin" (1995), Ice Town Music

See also

• List of one-hit wonders on the UK Singles Chart
• List of reggae musicians
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• Caribbean music in the United Kingdom

References

1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 188. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
2. "Althia & Donna". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 21. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
4. Greene, Jo-Ann. Uptown Top Ranking at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
5. Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Greenwood Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-313-33158-8.
6. Prato, Greg. Althea & Donna Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 30 July 2014.