IN what could be the party of the year, music legends Soul II Soul celebrate tonight at the O2 Academy Bournemouth marking 25 years of beats, bass and fashion.

Its dreadlocked frontman Jazzie B is renowned for shaping the British club and soul music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The group’s seminal album Club Classics Vol. One went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in America winning them two Grammys.

The tracks Keep on Movin, Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) and Fairplay formed the backdrop of urban London life influencing a new generation of British stars and rekindling an interest in 70s soul.

The group even branched out to open three shops in the capital bearing the Funki Dred logo and branded clothes, jewellery and other merchandise.

Speaking about his return to Bournemouth, Jazzie B told the Daily Echo: “It’s always been good for me over that way, it feels a bit like a homecoming. Bournemouth can expect a happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race and a lot of good music.”

Before he found fame, Jazzie spent many years working as a soundman and touring the country with his sound system. By the mid 1980s they were attracting an eclectic crowd to their regular Sunday night gig in Covent Garden’s Africa Centre.

So alternative and unique was the crowd that they drew that Jazzie recalls “it was like Benetton down there”.

But Jazzie, who was later awarded an OBE for his services to music, points out that their roots were more humble when they squeezed into a small Fiat Uno to get around to play at gigs.

“You had to show yourself and you broke ground that way. What was nice is that we had the reputation of the sound system and DJ’s, so there was always an undercurrent of underground people turning up.

At that time, the current scene was filled with Stock, Aitken and Waterman and those guys deemed to be soul people.”

Jazzie, 51, added: “I was surfing this whole wave of success at the time and spent a lot of time in America. Back then it was truly segregated and that was my first real culture shock.

“From seeing America as all that and a bag of chips, to discovering you’ve first got to do the black circuit, then the college circuit and then the crossover circuit. We went through all that and as it happened we managed to break through.”

The pioneering British musician has also been honoured with a multitude of awards and honours over the last 10 years.

“I’ve managed to be immortalised in a statue. I’m in bed at the minute and I can see this London Legend award presented to me from Boris Johnson. I was thinking of shrinking it down and wearing it around my neck, which would have worked in the 80s.

“25 years later people are still interested, as that period in time has now become the foundation of the current music industry.”

The gig features the band’s original line-up including singer Caron Wheeler. It is followed by an after party featuring Rowetta, from the Happy Mondays and DJ Norman Jay MBE.

n The concert runs from 7-11pm and tickets are priced at £27.50.

The after show runs from 11pm-5am and costs £15, or a combined £37.50 for both. Contact 01202 399922 or o2academybournemouth.co.uk for tickets and therandomactsclub.com