Zion Band – “Freedom City”

Released on Limited Edition Black Vinyl with a replica of the original insert (300 Copies only) 27th March 2026 via Bristol Archive Records

 

The beginning of the 1980s wasn’t a great time to be young, between
1979 and 1981 youth unemployment more than doubled to over 900,000.
Many approaches were tried to tackle the problem and one of the more
innovative was the Arts Opportunity Theatre a charity founded in Bristol
by Reynold Duncan and Yvonne Deutschman. Financed by assorted public
bodies, it aimed to train young people in a range of performing arts as
well as the multiple skills needed to produce, organise and put on
shows.

Over a seven year period the Arts Opportunity Theatre put on a
succession of shows not only locally, but travelling as far as the
Continent and trained hundreds of young people in everything from
music to book keeping. People who passed through the collective would go on to form the core of many local bands and be involved in a large proportion of Bristol music releases, especially reggae.
The first show put on in 1981 and 1982 was “Freedom City” which
prominently featured Zion Band. In May 1982 the Zion Band musicians
from the show went into Right Track Studio in Bristol and recorded four
vocals and two dubs that would be released the following January on a
12” single.
Back in 2011 Bristol Archive Records included “Twelve Tribes” on a
compilation and would later also compile “Babylon Fire/Babylon Dub”,
but the other three tracks could only be found on the scarce original 12”
which in recent years has rocketed in price fetching in excess of £150.
We believe music should be affordable and available so 2026 will see
Bristol Archive Records reissue the Zion Band “Freedom City” 12” in it’s
Entirety, complete with its original picture sleeve and insert with a limited pressing
of 300 copies on black vinyl.
This release is dedicated to the late Reynold Duncan RIP.

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