During the 1980s, rock had become increasingly segregated and predictable, a departure from the late ’60s and early ’70s, when such musically and ethnically diverse artists as Jimi Hendrix topped the charts. But New York’s Living Colour was one band that helped break down the doors by the end of the ’80s, leading to a much more open-minded musical landscape that would help pave the way for future bands. The group first formed in the mid-’80s, with Reid being the only member with real prior band experience; he was a member of Ronald Shannon Jackson’s experimental jazz outfit, and had recorded with Defunkt and Public Enemy, as well as issuing a solo album with Bill Frisell, 1984’s Smash & Scatteration.
