Formed in 1979 while still in school, Musical Youth is just that - youthful musicians. Formed by father Frederick Waite Sr., Waite learned of his sons' talents Patrick and Frederick and immediately envisioned a reggae band that incorporated their Jamaican roots. With Junior on the drums and Patrick on the bass, the brothers recruited Kelvin Grant to play guitar and his older brother Michael on keyboards. Though Waite initially sang vocals for the group, as the quintet started to see local success thanks to performances with Duddleston Manor School in Birmingham, Waite thought a younger vocalist would be better suited to the group and hired Dennis Seaton to replace him. In 1981 the group signed with MCA and found success instantly with their pro-weed single "Pass the Dutchie." The single sold four million copies and had both critics and fans optimistic that the teenagers would see a long career in the music business. After their 1982 hit, however, several more covers and major collaborations (including the Donna Summer "Unconditional Love' single and "Sixteen") the Musical Youth was passing little else over the next few years, when finally in 1985 the group took an indefinable hibernation after the departure of Seaton.

While the group saw chart success around the world with singles like "The Youth of Today," "Heartbreaker" and "Never Gonna Give You Up," the group had difficulty seeing similar "Dutchie" smashes in their UK or the US. While reunion rumors began to emerge in the early years of the '90s, Patrick Waite's untimely death retained them. In the years since the Musical Youth has become musical adults, Kelvin continues to suffer from psychological problems while Junior suffered a nervous breakdown. Grant played with the PWL affiliated group 5AM before he and Seaton (who formed XMY after departing from the group in the ‘80s) reformed Musical Youth in 2001.