Althea & Donna were a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althea Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single "Uptown Top Ranking", which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978.
The Jamaican teenage singers Althea Forrest and Donna Reid – then 17 and 18 years old respectively – caused a chart surprise when their reggae song "Uptown Top Ranking" became a no. 1 hit in the UK in February 1978. Conceived as a mere light-hearted “answer song” to Trinity’s Three Piece Suit, it was an inauspicious beginning. The track, produced by Joe Gibbs, was essentially based on the 1967 Alton Ellis tune I’m Still In Love, which had already been repopularised by Marcia Aitken as I’m Still In Love With YouBoy. However, it was the Three Piece Suit version – itself a Joe Gibbs production – which sparked the new, improvised lyrics from Althea & Donna. In another odd twist, Uptown Top Ranking was originally played by John Peel completely by accident (at the right speed for once from Peelie, though), and the legendary taste-making DJ was soon inundated with listener requests to give the record more spins on his show. The song eventually hit No. 1 in the UK charts in February 1978 after a notable Top Of The Pops appearance. Despite spending 11 weeks on the charts, it enjoyed only a single week at the summit.
They released the album of the same name in 1978, backed by The Revolutionaries, on the Virgin Records subsidiary Front Line, The album was produced by Karl Pitterson. The duo recorded several more singles, but did not meet with any more tangible success thereafter. In 2001, Caroline Records reissued the full-length Uptown Top Ranking.
