Interview: Third World

The Groove Thief: We are honored and thrilled to have you here. The legendary Cat Coore of Third World here on KGNU fm 88.5 Boulder, KGNU 1390 Denver. You’re in the middle of a tour. Can you tell us how it’s going and what songs are slaying it in 2025?

Cat Coore: The tour is going pretty good, I have to say. We’re out in Cali here. We’ve actually been south and north. We’re a little bit north now. We’re more like the Frisco area, but we’re coming from like Venice and Santa Barbara and we’re coming from a little bit further south and all the directions have been beautiful, wonderful. I’d say the people, they like a mixture of everything that’s happening in terms of the old stuff. They like the old school stuff and they’re liking the new stuff that we did with Damien as well, like Loving You Is Easy and You’re Not The Only One they’re really into. They’re really into some of those tracks from the More Work to Be Done record, so it’s a nice mixture for us. Basically, we’re getting a chance to showcase songs from every era of the band, we’re going back and we’re coming right up through all those songs. And the people, the folks are really loving it. We really appreciate the way the audience has been treating us and they’ve been coming out too. It’s surprising, the turnouts haven’t been too bad. I have to tell you. 

The Groove Thief: Give thanks for that. And we’re really excited to host you here in Colorado. Specifically KGNU Presents Third World with special guest Kumar Fyha at Ophelia’s. And that is this coming Friday, April 18th. This is, as you said, your fifth decade as Third World. How does it feel reflecting back on your body of work? If you are a band that has always prided itself on blending genres and taking reggae into often unexpected directions. So how are you feeling thinking about preparing tours like this and piecing together your sonic history? 

Cat Coore: I think that’s a really good question. I think that, overall, looking at it from the overall picture, I think it’s very good. I think we really feel extremely accomplished because what we see happening now in the younger generation is what we were the ones who pioneered everybody’s mixing music now, so you’re getting reggae mixed with, like much Yahoo type approach. You’re also getting, revolution type approach. You’re getting tribal seeds type approach and stuff. And back in the days when we were doing stuff like that, it was unheard of, I really believe that we were the pioneers, we were the blockbusters for that kind of thing. Yes, I agree that Third World is a little bit more R&B oriented than rock. I agree with that, because we had songs that clearly were very accessible to R&B ears. So I think that what is happening now, when I look and I see the blend and the mixture, and particularly right now with the African music, I noticed the Afro music. It’s mixing with the Jamaican music and it’s mixing and it’s extremely popular, so I think that’s why we really have something to really be proud of in terms of like that we were the ones who really first got out there and did stuff like that. You know what I’m saying? We’re really proud of that. And we’re also proud of the fact that we can still remain true to our world. Our  roots reggae sound, because we can play it. We’re not joking, we can play it. We have that blessing that when we were growing up, we were able to listen to James Brown and stuff. And we were influenced by that. And then along with Bob Marley and others on the other side of the coin, we really ended up with a nice mixture and a nice mixed vibration, as a musical entourage and as a brand. And I think it really is one of the things that sets us apart from other groups. So I take your point and I hope I’ve expressed to you what I think most Third World fans and the band itself really at the core of it, we’re very good at doing stuff like that, at mixing chemistries and  Latin or Afro African rhythms or you, or rock or punk or anything at all. We’re a very musical group, but we like to frame it in reggae, you know what I’m saying? 

The Groove Thief: Yeah, much respect, and I’m really delighted to hear you describe it that way, like how you frame it. And I do want to touch on one thing that you know you personally bring, which is the cello. And I’m a former cellist myself. Growing up and it really impacted my own career in music that’s led me to being a radio host and a lot of other things. What drew you to the cello? Obviously it has a unique range of sounds and why do you view it as so important to the Third World sound that you feature it still today? I think notably with Redemption Song as always a poignant moment in at least the last time you played here in Denver at Levitt Pavilion. Tell us more about the origins of the cello and the importance of that. 

Cat Coore: The cello is really my origin because that’s the first instrument I played. My mom was one of the greatest music teachers the Caribbean has ever seen, and she was mainly a piano teacher. She was taught by Andrew Lloyd Weber’s father Lloyd Weber, and she was an island scholar. She won the one scholarship for the whole Caribbean to go and study music at McGill University and then furthering from that onto the Royal School. So her influence on me was basically the piano first, but that didn’t really work out somehow I just, I don’t know. And I just fell in love with, she used to play music on what we call the gramophone in those days. And I used to really get excited when I heard the cello and then somehow my grandmother found a cello that was small enough for me to play when I was about six or seven years old. And I started playing that and I really fell in love with it. And it’s never left me really. There was a period where I put it down and I was just playing the guitar. I was really into my whole Third World and doing rock guitar playing and everything like that. Then I got a cello on Christmas as a gift and I started to play it again and I really just got into it and it just became such a different note in Third World’s performance, if I can put it that way. It became a moment that was totally different in reggae and it has lived with us and it’s become a part of me. It’s a whole part of me. It’s a whole part of what I do. So I’m really grateful for it. I’m grateful for the knowledge that I have at cello and really and truly I’m a little sad I didn’t take anything more seriously and really,those years where I didn’t play, I could have been progressing much better than even where I am now. But at the same time, I’m grateful for the fact that I actually can play it. And I look forward to playing it every night and the folks love it.

Blood Preshah: Yeah, man 

Cat Coore: It’s something that’s close to my heart, something that will live with me forever. And as I say, it’s a part of me now. 

The Groove Thief: Yeah, definitely. And it is a mesmerizing part of the show for sure. So thanks for sharing the kind of origins of that part of Third World’s sound. And I’m joined in the studio by my man, DJ Blood Preshah, and he’s got a couple questions for you as well there, Cat.

Blood Preshah: Hey, happy birthday Cat. Have blessed Earth strong man. T

Cat Coore: Thank you very much for being here. How you doing, man?

Blood Preshah: Yeah, man, blessed, giving thanks. And we’re looking forward to the show. Friday night at Ophelia. 

The Groove Thief: April 18th coming in hot.

Blood Preshah: With Kumar and Third World will be in Colorado and man, we can’t wait to see the eye on Friday. Who named the band Third World? When we mentioned Africa, I thought to myself who named the band Third World? Why do you call yourselves Third World?

Cat Coore: We call ourselves Third World because in those days[inaudible]  was our Prime Minister and he was like de facto leader of the third world, which was a new movement that was happening, which was countries, all countries who were like third, in other words. And you had the first, which was the USA and and the big European boys. You had the second, which was India and Brazilian and Kenya people. And then you had the third world, which was. Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America and stuff. And we just saw ourselves as well. First of all, we were called Sons of the Third World. Then we dropped the Sons of and just became Third World when we signed with Chris Blackwell for Island Records. So it’s one of these things where we reflected on who we were or where we came from. And that gave us the name, but it was prompted by Clancy Eccles. I don’t know if you know who he is, but.

Blood Preshah: I know the name. 

Cat Coore: Yeah. Clancy was pretty famous for singing songs like Rod of Correction and that was his famous one because that was one that helped Michael to win the election.

The Groove Thief: Yeah, big political tune 

Cat Coore: Politics wasn’t so centered so much around personalities, you know what I’m saying?  So when he came out with a song like that, and, people really loved the song and so on, and so the song really helped to propel the whole message of what [inaudible] was saying at the time. So that’s kinda how that whole Third World thing came up. But when we signed withIsland Records in England in ‘75, Chris Black said he loved the name, but he just figured that’s why we should drop the “sons of” and just called ourselves Third World, so there you go.

Blood Preshah: Yeah, man. 50 years later we’re on the radio. Were you all friends together as youths growing up? Did you all know each other and then as you got older, you decided to make a band like. Who decided that, “okay, you are gonna be the drummer, you are the guitarist, you are going to be bassy”? 

Cat Coore: Once again, that’s another great question because the basic answer is yes, but there are some things that go with it because in the era that I grew up in was like a new era, and it was for like successful middle income people. It wasn’t a really rich area. It was a new era where people were moving. My dad and mom moved there, we used to live nearby the stadium, and we moved from the stadium and we moved up to this area called [inaudible] And there were a number of people who ended up either being in bands or were associated with bands. People like Wayne Amman from Chales. Michael Cooper, who was in Third World. All those people come from that general area there, and we were all, we knew of each other and we knew that this one loved music or that one loved music, or that person got a guitar. In those days, I saw the electric guitar, I went nuts and I went home and went absolutely nuts because I’d only seen it on TV with the Beatles or the Rolling Stones or something like that. I had never seen an electric guitar. That was a moment for me. Now I walk into a store and I said 500, just sitting there open on a shelf. The world is really different for us. But, as I said, we were associated with each other in a way, but we got much closer when we started to figure out who could do what. Not everybody could play or could handle themselves in a musical way. There were lots of people I think, who really wanted to go into the business, like what we did, but they never had the talent or it wasn’t their thing. So they did other things. Some went on to be pilots, some went on to be doctors, some went on to be racing car drivers. It’s just one of those things, it’s just one of those things. So we definitely come from an area where the association was close, but we were in a circle before, like myself and Prilly Hamilton, Ibo Cooper, Bunny Rugs. It’s a break away kind of thing, like you break away from one band and you start another band and that’s the vibe of the whole thing. So it’s a great story. It’s a long one. It’s a very long story, but it’s a great one and it’s well appreciated by all. I can tell you that. And we’ve lost quite a few along the way here and now because Prilly Hamilton just passed away and we have lost quite a few, but those who are still around are extremely appreciative. 

Blood Preshah: Yes.

Cat Coore: We really are, we’re very appreciative of it. You know what I’m saying? 

Blood Preshah: Same here. Same here, man. Thanks for all you’re doing. All you’ve done and all you’re gonna do. 

Cat Coore: Yeah, man. And thanks to you too, man.

Blood Preshah: Do you have any new recordings in the works? Do you guys plan to make any new releases?

Cat Coore: Yeah, that’s what we’re working on right now. We are out there on the road now hustling, doing some live appearances and making sure that everybody knows that we’re still around and we’re still alive and all that stuff. So we’re doing that and making sure of our vibration. Definitely looking to go back in the studio with Damien. That’s a must. 

Blood Preshah: Yeah, man. Shaya too, huh? 

Cat Coore: Yeah. Yeah, I just spoke to him on the phone.

Blood Preshah: Cool. That’s great, man. He grew up around reggae. He must have just been right there next to you as a child growing up. That’s no wonder he is a musician. 

Cat Coore: Yeah. So it’s a whole, it’s a whole, it’s a whole bag. It’s a whole thing. 

Blood Preshah: Nice. We’re really looking forward to having you here Friday night, man. It’s gonna be great. 

Cat Coore: I’m really looking forward to it too. 

The Groove Thief: Yeah, we’re so honored to have you coming back to Colorado again. That’s Third World with Kumar Fyah at Ophelia’s Friday, April 18th. It is KGNU Presents 9:00 PM, 21 and up. 

Cat Coore: Alright, give some pre inspection and I hope Kumar Fyah gets to you, so you can have a talk with him too.

The Groove Thief: That’d be splendid. And thanks again for taking the time and on behalf of all the KGNU listeners, we’re really thankful for you. Sharing a little bit more about Third World, its evolution, its sound, and crucially that cello. 

Cat Coore: Yeah, man. Alright. Much respect man. Good times.