{{Short description|British funk band}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Rokotto | genre = Britfunk | years_active = 1975–81 | label = State Records | origin = Dundee, Scotland | past_members = * Sister B (vocals) * Hugh Paul (vocals) * Cleveland Walker (vocals) * Derek Henderson (guitar) * Owen "Lloyd" Wisdom (bass) * Stewart Garden (keyboards) * Howard "Bongo" Macleod (drums) }}
'''Rokotto''' was a Britfunk band from Dundee, Scotland, active in the late 1970s. It was made up of vocalists Sister B (Lorna Bannon),<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dundee lass to sing for Prince Charles |journal=Dundee Evening Telegraph |date=27 October 1988 |page=1}}</ref> Hugh Paul, and Cleveland Walker, backed by guitarist Derek Henderson, bassist Owen Wisdom, keyboardist Stewart Garden, and drummer Bongo Macleod.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Graham |title=Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004 |date=2004 |publisher=Collins |location=London |page=658}}</ref>
==Overview==
The band was formed in September 1975,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Musicscene |journal=Fife Free Press |date=24 June 1977 |page=25}}</ref> when Caribbean musicians McLeod, Walker, and Wisdom travelled to Dundee as part of a steel drum band, and fell in with musicians on the local funk scene; the name Rokotto being "the word for 'making love' in some African dialect".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Introducing Rokotto |journal=Blues & Soul |date=November 1977}}</ref> The band soon gained a residency at Ronnie Scott's club in London<ref>{{cite journal |title=Big names at Caley... |journal=Highland News |date=5 August 1976 |page=2}}</ref> and in August 1976 signed to State Records,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Ramsay |title=Pop talk |journal=Aberdeen Evening Express |date=11 August 1976 |page=8}}</ref>
The band made its television debut on ITV show The Entertainers on 10 April 1977, the episode consisting of 30 minutes of a concert.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Entertainers: Rokotto |journal=TV Times |date=14 April 1977 |page=45}}</ref> Rokotto enjoyed two hits in the UK singles chart; "Boogie On Up", which reached number 40 in November 1977, and "Funk Theory", which reached number 49 the following June,<ref>{{cite web |title=Rokotto |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16550/rokotto/ |website=Official Charts Company |access-date=28 November 2025}}</ref> the band performing each single on Top of the Pops.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rokotto |url=https://www.totparchive.co.uk/artist.php?name=rokotto |website=TOTP Archive |access-date=28 November 2025}}</ref>
The band's final single releases came in 1981. McLeod and Walker later formed the funk band McLeod,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Wanted - next big thing on the Scottish music scene |journal=Dundee Courier |date=4 June 1992 |page=7}}</ref> Sister B - under a new nom de disque, Lorna B - became a backing vocalist and singer on television themes (including children's' television show Fun House) and adverts, and also sang with Shakatak on the Night Birds album.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lorna B returns and wants to party on |journal=The Stage |date=27 April 1995 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Lorna Bannon at the Jazz Bank |journal=Perthshire Advertiser |date=25 July 1995 |page=18}}</ref> In 1995 she scored a pair of top 40 hits as guest vocalist with DJ Scott.<ref>{{cite web |title=DJ Scott featuring Lorna B hits |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/31103/dj-scott-feat--lorna-b/ |website=Official Charts Company |access-date=28 November 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokotto}} Category:British funk musical groups Category:Scottish pop music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1975 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Category:Musicians from Dundee Category:State Records artists