Sister Love were formed in south London, England, by Coral Williams and her best friend, Sandra Williams. The two girls enrolled Marcia Henry and approached a collective known as Company X. They arranged a successful audition with Greensleeves Records, who were branching out into lovers rock. The group emerged in the mid-70s and in 1978 topped the UK reggae charts with ‘Goodbye Little Man’ on the Cool Rockers label. The song was voted as one of the top singles of 1978, beating competition from the crossover hits performed by Janet Kay and Dennis Brown. In 1980 the group released ‘Every Little Bit Of My Heart’, followed by ‘Waiting On You’, both of which made a significant impression on the reggae chart. While enjoying their success in the group, Henry elected to pursue a solo career; she was replaced by Sandra Sampson and the group released ‘It’s Over’. Henry completed sessions as a backing vocalist for Doctor Alimantado on his 1979 release Kings Bread, as well as joining with the Heptones on ‘Marcus Garvey School’. In 1981 Henry re-emerged as Ika Black, releasing her solo, self-produced debut, ‘Human Life’, on her own I&I label. Henry’s association with Doctor Alimantado then resulted in her signing to his Keyman label and the release in 1983 of her hit ‘Crucial World’ and Special Love. With the label she also released ‘Loving Vibration’ and undertook a hectic touring schedule of Europe.
While Henry’s solo career progressed, Sister Love worked with the Soundoff organization, releasing ‘At The Station’. Their success in 1980 led to the outfit being voted the best UK vocal group by the readers of Black Echoes in their 1981 reggae awards. In 1984 the group split, which led to Sandra Sampson and Sandra Williams joining Sandra Cross in the Wild Bunch, and they recordedThe Wild Bunch at Ariwa Sounds the same year. The group toured the USA as part of the Ariwa Posse Tour alongside the truculent DJ Ranking Ann and UK rockers Aquizim.
