The Gladiators are a Jamaican roots reggae band who in the 1970s and 80s had a String of hits, such as "Roots Natty", "Bongo Red" and "Jah Jah Go Before Us", among others! The History of the Gladiators begins in 1965, initially with Albert Griffiths, David Webber and Errol Grandison. In 1969 Clinton Fearon replaced David Webber and in 1973 Errol Grandison left the group and was replaced by Gallimore Sutherland. So since then the trio has consisted of Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon and Gallimore Sutherland. At that time, roots reggae was in decline in decline. A new kind of reggae - based on drum machine, sampler, synthesizer and organ - emerged in the 1980s; ragga. One of the reasons for the rapid spread of ragga is that it's generally is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae, which is played on traditional musical instruments. Despite this, the Gladiators released eleven studio albums in the 1980s Years, the Gladiators released eleven studio albums. They soon found a home with the U.S.-based label Nighthawk Records and released Symbol of Reality in late 1982, followed by Serious Thing in 1984 A year later, the Gladiators switched labels again, this time to Heartbeat Records Records, where they released albums throughout the latter half of the decade.
