Exile One Exile One

Vinyl LP pressing. Gordon Henderson's musical career began in various teenage bands, performing at talent shows and dances on the island of Dominica (where he was born). In 1970, he relocated to Guadeloupe where he became the English speaking "Caribbean Soul" singer of the group "Les Vikings". With "Les Vikings" Henderson enjoyed international hits and toured all over the Caribbean and Europe. Through the next four decades Gordon went on to write, produce & play with various bands and artists. Enjoying tremendous record sales and receiving numerous awards for his work at home and abroad. Now we're taking you back to 1973 when Gordon decided to start his own band. He asked his former high schoolmate and co-musician Fitzroy Williams to select the best available young local musicians... soon after EXILE ONE saw the light! Mixing funk, reggae, calypso and Afro-Caribbean fusion in their set, Exile One performed a popular repertoire that was deeply influenced by Sixties soul music and bands like Osibisa & Earth, Wind and Fire. Because French Antillean audiences wanted to dance instead of just watch a concert, the band "Creolized" their repertoire by introducing a mix of Haitian and Calypso music styles in combination with a full horn section and modern instruments like synths. The bands' fusion of the traditional with the contemporary would turn into a new style which became a turning point in World Music... Cadence-Lypso was born and it was a HUGE success! Exile One and their Creole dance formula would later have a profound effect on popular World Music genres like Zouk and Soca. Exile One released several successful albums for the equally influential label Disques Debs and in 1975 they became the first Créole language act to sign a major recording contract with the French label Barclay (today part of the Universal Music Group). Exile One went on to receive several gold records.