Anthony Patrick Orlando Mossop was born on 9 October 1943 in
Kingston, Jamaica; his first performances were at that city's Ward Theatre aged nine. He moved to
Great Britain, taking a full time job in the post room of the
High Commission of Jamaica, London. In the mid-1960s, he joined the gospel outfit The Soul Seekers, from Calvary Apostolic Church in
Camberwell, and released an EP with them on
Herald Records. a song that had previously been a hit for
Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. The song's record label, Trojan Records, managed to misspell his stage name as "Tony Tripe". and backed with
the Rudies' "Blues", Mossop's version was performed by him on
Top of the Pops and charted at No. 46 on the
UK Singles Chart, The song's success can be attributed to its popularity among British
skinheads, though Ian McCann of the
Financial Times suggested in 2017 that the song had made the charts in spite of its "jerky ska rhythm" being "anachronistic even then". In January 2025, Samuel Moore of Singersroom.com described Tribe's version as the third best reggae song of all time. Mossop later performed on
Top of the Pops, before releasing a second single, a cover of "
Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" under the name "I’m Gonna Give You All The Love I’ve Got". On 21 September 1969, Mossop,
Johnny Nash,
Desmond Dekker,
Max Romeo, the Rudies,
Derrick Morgan,
Jackie Edwards,
Jimmy Cliff, Jimmy James,
the Skatalites, the Mohawks, Root and Jenny Jackson, and Black Velvet performed at
Wembley Arena For this performance, he dressed in
braces as a nod to the support he had received from skinheads.
Charlie Gillett of
Record Mirror wrote that Tribe's set had been "spoiled because of trouble with his group's amplification system", but that this did not "hide his beautiful soaring voice on "Speak Her Name" and his hit "Red Red Wine"". He also noted that the "thudding reggae beat which pounds through most discotheques and clubs was wisely restricted" during the festival, and this had enabled Mossop, Romeo, and Dekker "to prove themselves to be much better singers than their records suggest". Multiple sources, including McCann (2017) and
Tom Breihan of Stereogum (2021), claim that Mossop died in a car crash around the time of "Gonna...", with Smith (2009) further suggesting that it had happened in
Canada in 1970 and had also killed members of Mossop's family. What actually happened is that Mossop instead emigrated to Canada in 1972, where he resumed his Tony Kingston alias. After signing to
Yorkville Records, he released the double A-side single "
What We Need/Faith, Hope, and Charity", which flopped. Its follow-up single, "I Am the Preacher", was a cover of
Deep Purple's "
Hallelujah" and charted at No. 65 on the
RPM Top Singles chart and No. 15 on the
CHUM Chart, following which Yorkville released a flipped version of their first single. Mossop then signed with Marathon Records, who released the album
Tongue Tied in 1973, Chappell Publishing, under which he worked with Harry Hinde, and Sweet Plum Records, on which he released "What Did You Say", "Who's Gonna Sing My Rock and Roll Song", and "Too Heavy to Carry". Mossop's fatal car accident took place in 1979, following which he was interred at Pine Hills Cemetery in Toronto. == Legacy ==