Gavin B.

The Songs

Lazer Beam - Don Carlos - Lazer Beam came out of a 1983 session produced by Bunny Lee with the Aggrovators and Sly and Robbie playing the riddim track. Don Carlos founded the stellar reggae group Black Uhuru in 1974 and left the band after one single to perform with a band called Gold. The 12 tracks recorded from the Bunny Lee sessions were the best work Don Carlos recorded in his post Black Uhuru years primarily because of Bunny Lee's minimalist dubwise production values.



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War - Wailing Souls- War was the Wailing Souls' 1976 epistle against violence in the Jamaican national elections. "War in the East, war in the West, rumors of war." Rumors swirled through the streets insisting the guns were supplied by the CIA, a charge later confirmed by numerous witnesses. As the carnage rose, fears grew of a U.S.-sponsored coup. That was untrue, but with the fall of the Allende's government in Chile still fresh in people's minds, the fear was real, and the violence seemingly unstoppable.

"War only bring destruction," the trio insisted, and so it proved. By the time the PNP swept the elections in December, over 100 Jamaicans lay dead, and much of the inner city ghetto had turned to ashes. Beyond the island, too, havoc reigned. 1976 was a blood strewn year, and the Souls also refer specifically to the terror raging in Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe).

This is the original 12" single of War with dub. The toaster sounds uncannily like U-Roy but in reality it was a 16 year old protege of U-Roy's named Ranking Trevor (Trevor Grant). Trevor was was a major force in the sound systems on both sides of the Atlantic during the roots age. Most of his recordings remain infuriatingly out of print, and his singles and albums, now with hefty price tags attached, are much sought after by collectors.



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Police in Helicopter- John Holt- Police in Helicopter was a militant anthem in response to the crackdown on herbs cultivation by the Jamaican police and the CIA in the early Eighties.

In 1983 the Reagan CIA used crop dusters to spray a defoliant called paraquat with crop dusters to kill the marijuana crop. Later Jamaican drug agents showed up to burn the remains of the defoliated marijuana crop.

The paraquat defoliation of the herbs crop caused a great deal of hardship on the island. The spraying was not only killing herbs crop, but also killed the bread fruit, banana and coconut harvest which are staples of a poor person's diet in Jamaica. I was in St. Ann's parish that year and personally witnessed the damage the paraquat spraying did to the food supply in the hills. You never heard about the epidemic of starvation in the bush and the hills of Jamaica because of the Reagan era paraquat spraying policy.

Back in the 80s when Jamaicans were complaining about the paraquat spraying by the CIA, the Reagan State Department officials ridiculed those claims, insinuating that the complainers were a bunch of paranoid Rastafarians who were high on marijuana. By 1990, Freedom of Information Act requests by journalists actually proved that the Reagan CIA actually did underwrite paraquat spraying of the herbs crop in the Eighties...Jah know know.

Police In Helicopter was the ubiquitous song of the moment in 1983 in all the Jamaican dancehalls. Holt's defiant tone, threatening toward the herbs burning agents with militant retaliation, "If you continue to burn up the herbs, we're going to burn down the cane fields." It was an invocation of the Maroon rebellions in the days of slavery. Runaway outlaw slaves often hid out in the mountains but returned under the cover of darkness to burn the fields of their former British masters just before the sugar cane harvest during the Maroon rebellion.

It was produced by Henry Junjo Laws and the Roots Radics are the session band.



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__________________

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Editorial

Reflections on the Relationship Between the Dance Hall DJ & the Hip-Hop Rapper

Some of the most significant trends in contemporary mainstream pop were reggae innovations including the dancehall sound system, dub, and track remixing.

Most importantly, there would be no rap music today without U-Roy, Big Youth and the other Jamaican deejays who exported the practice of toasting to the hip hop scene in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the Seventies. One of the reasons I've never been terribly fond of rap music is that U-Roy was rapping a long time before Kurtis Blow, the Furious Five or Run DMC.

Back the Seventies, African American music promoters began sponsoring dance parties in lofts and empty warehouses in Brooklyn & the Bronx. Those promoters simply did a one night rental of an empty space, hired one or two deejays and charged the general public 5 bucks at the door. It was illegal to serve liquor at these dance parties, so folks usually brought their own bottles to the dance party. Many of the deejays began spin reggae dance music in addition to their usual musical fare of soul, funk and disco. Pretty soon a few Jamaican born deejays started spinning at these dances, and began featuring live toasters to rap over their reggae dub plate music. It was only a matter of time before the African American deejays hired on their own American toasters to rap over dub plates of funk and soul music...And hip-hop music was born.

One of the first American toasters to break into the Brooklyn/Bronx party scene was Shinehead, a Jamaica born deejay who moved to New York and he obtained American citizenship as a teenager. But prior to the rise of Shinehead, several native born Jamaican toasters were touring & playing dance party gigs in the Bronx & Brooklyn. Those Jamaican dancehall toasters became a crucial influence upon the African American funk community.


Jazz poet Gil Scott Heron was an early influence the hip-hop/rap scene

Prior to the rise of hip-hop, jazz poet Gil Scott Heron developed his own singular style of jazz rapping... And Scott-Heron, in turn, was influenced by the Last Poets, a militant collective of black consciousness poets who used jazz music as a backdrop at their poetry recitals in the Sixties. A handful of American rappers were influenced by Scott-Heron & the Last Poets, but it was the omnipresent Jamaican dancehall music played at dance parties in Brooklyn and the Bronx that had the biggest influence on the budding hip-hop scene.


Blondie and other NYC punk groups played a big role in bringing reggae & hip-hop music to the ears of white American youths.

The New York downtown punk club scene also played a crucial role in introducing both Jamaican dance hall toasting & hip-hop to a white audience in America. Blondie's 1980 hit Rapture was a tribute to Grandmaster Flash. Grandmaster Flash returned the favor by sampling Rapture on his mega-hit single, Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel. Another Blondie hit The Tide Is High was a cover of a Jamaican ska era hit by John Holt & the Paragons.

The Tom-Tom Club song Genius of Love was actually sampled by Grandmaster Flash & the Funky 4 plus 1 on their hit single It's Nasty. Another Tom Tom Club song Wordy Rappinghood had a hip-hop influenced rap vocal. Nearly all of the Tom-Tom Club songs had reggae influenced one-drop drumbeats in the background.


The Tom Tom Club dabbled in both reggae music and hip hop music

The original Jamaican toaster,U-Roy, had better lyrics and a more refined delivery than any American rapper. Only only a trio American hip hop groups come close to the political consciousness and lyrical sophistication of the original Jamaican toasters and dub poets. Those groups were Public Enemy, Arrested Development and Digable Planets. The rest of the American hip hop scene was consumed by slackness rappers, bling boyz and gangsta wannabes.

Eminem for all of his supposed lyrical and rapping prowess would be blown away by old school Jamaican toasters like U-Roy, I-Roy, Papa Levi or Charlie Chaplin in a rap throw-down.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the hip-hop scene in the UK has developed into a far more sophisticated scene than their American counterparts. Brilliant artists like Massive Attack, Neneh Cherry, Ghostpoet, Dizzee Rascal & M.I.A. have expanded the artistic vision of hip hop over the two decades, while the American hip hop scene has stagnated, a victim of it's own bling-oriented myopia.

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

The Music of Joseph Hill & Culture


Joseph Hill, lead singer of Culture

Culture has always been my favorite reggae band. Part of my love of Culture had to do with my friendship with Joesph Hill, the charismatic singer and songwriter for the group.

I first met Joseph in 1982 when I hosted a dinner for the Culture and the Roots Radics during an east coast tour in support of their newly released album on the St. Louis based Nighthawk Records. After that dinner and rambunctious game of soccer in the park across the street, Joesph was distraught about not having a suitcase to carry all of his albums he purchased in the USA back to Jamaica. I gave him one of my cheap pieces of luggage and from that point on Joseph called me the Suitcase Man and that became my permanent street name whenever we visited.

Culture's material was devoted almost exclusively to spiritual, social, and political messages, and Hill delivered them with a fervent intensity that grouped him with Rastafarian militants like Burning Spear and Black Uhuru. Off stage Joseph was quiet and diminutive man who only stood about 5' 6" tall but his stage personnae transformed him into a towering lion of Rastafari.

Over the years he'd visit me at home or the radio station whenever he was on tour and I visited him at his family home at Linestead in St. Catherine Parish in Jamaica. Joseph was generous with his time and despite his devout Rastafarianism had a wicked sense of humor. Joseph was always gracious to my friends and taught me much a about life and music. Through Joseph I met the Itals, Albert Griffiths and the Gladiators and the Tamlins who also became vistors to my home and my reggqae radio show in Boston whenever they were touring the East Coast. I was heartbroken when Joseph collapsed on stage in Berlin and died unexpectedly in August 2006.

Dem A Payaka - Culture The anthem on behalf of the youths was produced Sylvian Morris at Harry J.'s studio with the Roots Radics providing the riddims It. is one of my favorite Culture tunes. The lyrics on on the YouTube screen. It was released on that Nighthawk collection called Calling Rastafari in 1982.



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This Time - Culture- This Time came out of the same Harry J./Roots Radics session and in another cry for justice on behalf of the youths of the ghetto.

Lyrics for This Time
Quote:
Burning an illusion in Babylon (3 x)

Ia seh If Babylon kill one more rastaman, I seh,
The sun will stop from shining
The grass will stop from growing

Blood, blood, blood ina Babylon (3 x)
This time...no other time
This time...we're not waiting any longer
This time... it's time to come over
This time.... the youths are crying out
This time

Babylon is your turn to go on the cross...this time
No other time, the youths request it now

Fire fire fire ina Babylon (3 times)



======================


International Herb - Culture Culture's joyful ode to the use of the herbs. Virgin's original 1979 LP version of International Herb generated some controversy thanks to its front cover, which showed Culture's members smoking large spliffs while standing in front of a tall, bushy marijuana plant. Marijuana advocates loved the cover, marijuana opponents hated it.



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__________________

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Three Early Eighties Monster Hits from Henry "Junjo" Lawes


Jujo Lawes strikes a pose with his massive sound systme speakers

Henry "Junjo" Lawes had no studio of his own but usually worked out of Channel One Recording Studio at Maxfield Avenue, north of Spanish Town Road. His session band of choice was the Roots Radics. Lawes is important because he established himself as the leading producer of the next generation's dancehall sound. He discovered and first recorded Barrington Levy, Frankie Paul and Eek-A-Mouse.

During the early Eighties Junjo produced such smash hits as Diseases by Michigan and Smiley, Wa Do Dem by Eek A Mouse, Water Pumping by Johnny Osbourne, Under Mi Sensi by Barrington Levy, Rocking Dolly by Cocoa Tea, Ram Jam Dancehall by Charlie Chaplin, Zungguzunggugguzungguzeng by Yellow Man, and the Wailing Soul's classic lp Firehouse Rock. No producer in the history of reggae was as attuned to the sound of the street and voices of the youths as Junjo.

Pass the Tu Sheng Peng - Frankie Paul Another monster hit in 1984 from producer Henry Junjo Lawes. The hook on this one was the brass arrangement of Norweigan Wood to counterpoint the bubbin' riddims of the Roots Radics. With Jah as my witness, Tu Sheng Peng is the most irie song to listen to when you're high on the herbs.



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Please Jah Jah - Barrington Levy Barrington Levy is letting loose with the bounciest sufferer's song around. It's Friday, but he didn't get paid, he ends up in jail, and didn't get no bail, no wonder he's crying out to Jah for justice. The Radics fiery backing perfectly complement the singer's aggrieved tones, as he wails over his misfortune, shouting out to Jah for relief. A classic.



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Prison Oval Rock - Barrington Levy This song came from the same session as Please Jah Jah and was another smash hit. On all three songs you can hear the emerging trademark dancehall style as it was being perfected by Junjo and the Roots Radics... The bubblin' percision of the Radics, the use of reverb on vocals, one-drop rim shots from drummer Style Scott, and the use of dubwise mixing board techniques. The Radics also did double duty as Gregory Isaac's studio and touring band.



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__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Three Hits from Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark Studio


Wild man & reggae producer, Lee "Scratch" Perry at the controls in his Black Ark studio

Life Is Not Easy - Meditations- This is the original 10 minute dub single of Life Is Not Easy that was a big hit for the Meditations in 1978. The dub plate version includes a special appearance by the legenday Black Ark cow.

Lee "Scratch" Perry always worked the sound board standing up and dancing.

Lee Perry pulls a switcheroo when he flips over to the dub version, listen carefully, it's no longer the Meditations singing... it's the distinctive sound of the Heptones, another Perry produced vocal trio. The two groups sound very similar but faithful listeners can tell the difference.



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Fisherman - Congos- From the masterpiece album 1978 Heart of the Congos which many reggae enthusiasts consider the best roots reggae album that ever came out of the Black Ark Studios. The duo of Cedric Myton and Roy "Ashanti" Johnson had a unique sound, revolving around the former man's crystalline falsetto, which was set off by the latter's rich tenor. The Meditations provide the background vocals on the track. The video has amazing footage of a community fishing event that looks like it was filmed around Negril.



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Beat Down Babylon - Junior Byles This 1972 smash hit complete with Perry's use of the bullwhip effect was a crucial song in the forthcoming dub revolution. It's the first Lee Perry production I ever heard and it blew me away.



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__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Dread Ina Inglan Part I -

The Dub Poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson



Inglan Is A Bitch - Linton Kwesi Johnson The studio performance of Ingland Is a Bitch with the magnificent Dub Band headed by Dennis Bovell. Swear to jah... the Dub Band was the best live reggae band I've ever heard. I deejayed an appearence of LKJ and the Dub Band and Gil Scott Heron at a Boston club in 1984 and it was the best concert I ever attended. I've transcribed the lyrics to Inglan Is A Bitch beneath the YouTube embed.



Lyrics to Inglan Is a Bitch by LKJ

w´en mi jus´ come to Landan toun
mi use to work pan di andahgroun
but workin´ pan di andahgroun
y´u don´t get fi know your way around

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no runnin´ whey fram it

mi get a lickle jab in a bih ´otell
an´ awftah a while, mi woz doin´ quite well
dem staat mi aaf as a dish-washah
but w´en mi tek a stack, mi noh tun clack-watchah

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
no baddah try fi hide fram it

w´en dem gi´ you di lickle wage packit
fus dem rab it wid dem big tax rackit
y´u haffi struggle fi mek en´s meet
an´ w´en y´u goh a y´u bed y´u jus´ can´t sleep

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
a noh lie mi a tell, a true

mi use to work dig ditch w´en it cowl noh bitch
mi did strang like a mule, but bwoy, mi did fool
den awftah a while mi jus´ stap dhu ovahtime
den awftah a while mi jus´ phu dung mi tool

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y´u haffi know how fi survive in it

well mi dhu day wok an´ mi dhu nite wok
mi dhu clean wok an´ mi dhu dutty wok
dem seh dat black man is very lazy
but if y´u si how mi wok y´u woulda sey mi crazy

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y´u bettah face up to it

dem a have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly
inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry
fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah
now awftah fifteen years mi fall out a fayvah

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no runnin´ whey fram it

mi know dem have work, work in abundant
yet still, dem mek mi redundant
now, at fifty-five mi gettin´ quite ol´
yet still, dem sen´ mi fi goh draw dole

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
is whey wi a goh dhu ´bout it?

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Mi Want Fe Goh Rave - Linton Kwesi Johnson A great live performance of Mi Want Fe Goh Rave by LKJ and the Dub Band. This video gives you a good picture of the power and precision of the Dub Band's playing. The are all expert players bringing elements of funk, jazz and blues to the reggae riddims of LKJ's dub poetry. Dennis Bovell is the bass player with the kerchief on his head.

I transcribed the lyrics to Mi Want Fe Go Rave below the YouTube embed.



Lyrics to Mi Want Fi Goh Rave by LKJ

I woz
waakin doun di road road
di addah day
when a hear a lickle yout-man say

him seh:
y´u noh si mi situation
mi don´t have noh accamadaeshan
mi haffi sign aan at di station
at six in di evenin´
mi seh mi life got no meanin´
ah jus´ livin´ widout feelin´

still
mi haffi mek a raze
kaw mi come af age
an mi want fi goh rave

I woz
waakin doun di road
annadah day
w´en ah hear annadah yout-man say

him seh:
mi naw wok fi noh pittance
mi naw draw dem assistance
mi use to run a lickle rackit
but wha, di police dem di stap it
an ah had woz to hap it

still
mi haffi mek a raze
kaw mi come af age
an mi want fi goh rave

I woz waakin doun di road
yet annadah day
w´en ah hear annadah yout-man say

him seh:
mi haffi pick a packit
tek a wallit fram a jackit
mi haffi dhu it real crabit
an´ if a lackit mi haffi pap it
an´ if a safe mi haffi crack it
ar chap it wid mi hatchit
but
mi haffi mek a raze
kaw mi come af age
an mi want fi goh rave

====================

Peach Dub by the Dub Band- Dennis Bovell's Dub Band backed Linton Kwesi Johnson on his first four albums and was his touring band for several European and American tours. On Peach Dub, Bovell (aka Blackbeard) shows off his smokin' dub wise soundboard techniques.



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__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

The Songs


Tenement Yard - Jacob Miller= Jacob Miller's 1978 debut solo album Dread Dread was United Artists first attempt to sell reggae music to a crossover audience. Oddly enough the cut Tenament Yard and the other cuts on Dread Dread were actually Jamaican hits by Inner Circle, the band Miller sang for. United Artists released the Inner Circle material as a solo album by Miller, causing chaos for future reggae music archivists.

This video clip is from the movie Rockers. I used it instead of the original single because it gives you a pretty good idea of Jacob's charismatic stage presence.



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Sweet Sensation - Melodians- This is an 1969 ska hit by the Melodians produced by Leslie Kong. The Melodians successfully reinvented themselves as a reggae group and recorded By the Rivers of Babylon, perhaps the most covered song in reggae history.



===========================


Country Living - The Mighty Diamonds- "City life is not for me," lead vocalist Donald "Tabby" Shaw insists. "I'm going back to country living." And so the Mighty Diamonds bid farewell to Kingston and head off to where the skies can be seen. The backing Revolutionaries seem eager to accompany them on their way. Sly & Robbie lay down a toe-tapping rhythm that sets the piece jauntily on its way while the rest of the group keeps the melody bouncing gaily along.

Producer JoJo Hookim keeps it clean and bright, and Country Living found much of Jamaica wishing for a return to country life in 1975 when the song was released. This early single was released in Jamaica around 1975. It was the same year Mighty Diamonds inked a deal with Virgin around this same time, however Country Living wasn't released in the States or the UK until 1977.

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Dread Is Not Dead - Three Post Millenium Reggae Stars

Cold Feet - Anthony B.-Anthony B. is proof that dread is not dead in reggae music and launched his career with a single that covered a Tracy Chapman's song, Cold Feet, a sufferer's tale about the hazards of the gunman lifestyle. Lyrics are below the YouTube embed.



Cold Feet - Music and Lyrics by Tracy Chapman as Sung by Anthony B.

Ooohhhoohhh
M-16, AK-47, pump rifle, desert eagle
All home made one to

Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
'Cause they've got
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet

There was a little boy
Once upon a time
Who inspite his young age
Small size knew his mind
For every copper penny and clothes he would find
Making wish for better days
And for all time for no more

Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet
2x

He grew up to be a worker
Determined to succeed
Made a life for himself
Free from worry wants and needs
With nobody to share his life with
With nobody to keep him warm
At night when he go to sleep
He sleep alone with his

Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet

He struggled all his life just to be an honest man
Proud of the dirt in his palm the soil of the land
Some guys I knew from my school days
Said they had a plan
To get rich too quick
They had to bound to me, Lawd

Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
'Cause they've got
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet

He decided to drive a car
He decided to carry a gun
To take the biggest risk of all
Prove his loyalty to his friends
He decided to tell his wife things would soon turn around
Said a little boy is dead
A man stand wid him now, Lawd

Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
Dem a walk wid gun in the hand and a run the town
All in front ah station man ah shot man down
'Cause they've got
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet

He didn't stop to set his clock right
He didn't stop to set his watch
He left in such a hurry
He didn't think to wish for luck
Makes no difference if you're early
No difference if you're late
Once you're out of time
And the flowers have been laid
You're six feet underground with your
Cold feet, cold, cold, cold, cold feet

==================================

Barack Obama by Cocoa Tea- Cocoa Tea had a monster international hit his 2008 dreadwise tribute to Barack Obama. Various video versions of the the song went viral on the internet and got millions of YouTube hits during the 2008 election campaign in the USA. Anyone can run for president of the United States but Barack Obama is first candidate to have his own reggae tribute song.



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No More My Love- Culver City Dub Collective- [Cut to 2008] .. out in LA, the Culver City Dub Collective a group of skateboard slackers and reggae culturalists began producing their own homemade dub records and videos. CCDC's first album Dos sparked a wave interest in roots reggae and dub out there in LaLa Land.

There is a touch of post-modern irony in their music but I've seen CCDC live and deh are de real ting, mi bredren. The song remains the same.


__________________

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Winston Rodney- aka Burning Spear, the Elder Statesman


Burning Spear is one of the last surviving first generation reggae stars.

Carrying the torch for the gospel of Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear is the single greatest proponent of self-determination and self-reliance for all African descendants, but his message is not exclusively based on the teachings of Garvey. Through his music, Burning Spear has consistently been able to educate, inform, and uplift people the world over with his positive message based on honesty, peace, and love.

Spear is now 66 years old, still making albums and touring. He only does only thing: roots reggae music... But it does it better than anyone.

Down the Riverside - Burning Spear This 1977 song by Spear is still my one of my favorites. Burning Spear's sound is called "churchical" in Jamaica, because because a lot of it comes from gospel music.


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Days of Slavery - Burning Spear I never went to a Spear concert where he left the stage without singing this classic song from his 1975 Marcus Garvey album. It has a hynotic groove. The video is from a live concert at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in 2012.



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Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear- The video is a studio re-recording of a song from his classic Marcus Garvey album. I chose these newer sessions because I'm sure most reggae fans have heard the originals and these sessions show that Spear is capable at age 66 of pouring the same amount of passion into the songs he wrote while he was still in his twenties.


__________________

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

Gavin B.

Masters of the Dub Universe

Mad Professor's Lesson in Dub

Mad Professor is a second generation dubmaster who was a protegee of Lee "Scratch" Perry. The Professor is credited with bringing dub music to the alternative electronic music scene when he remixed the entire Blue Lines album for Massive Attack in the early Ninties.

Mad Professor was born Neal Fraser (or Neil Fraser) circa 1955 in Guyana, a small country in the northern part of South America. He earned his nickname as a preteen, thanks to his intense interest in electronics; he even built his own radio. At age 13, his family moved to London, and around age 20, he started collecting recording equipment: reel-to-reel tape decks, echo and reverb effects, and the like. In 1979, he built his own mixing board and opened a four-track studio in his living room in the south London area of Thornton Heath. Calling it Ariwa, after a Nigerian word for sound or communication, he began recording bands and vocalists for his own label of the same name, mostly in the lovers rock vein.

In the video below, Mad Professor will school you in the art & science of head-spacing dub.



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Roots and Culture- Mikey Dread- Mikey Dread (birth name: Michael Campbell) was Jamaican deejay who repatriated to London around 1978 after leaving a big mark on the Jamaican reggae scene in the mid-Seventies.

Mikey is internationally known for his production work on the Clash's 1980 Black Market Clash extended play ep. It was Mikey Dread's production that brought dubwise studio production techniques to the Clash's punk sound.



Michael Campbell came to national prominence in Jamaica the early '70s with a weekly radio show on JBC (Jamaican Broadcasting Company). Taking the name Mikey Dread, the DJ's four-hour spot, which he called Dread at the Controls, was a revelation. Jamaican radio had not revolved around local talent, but rather imported music mostly from the United States

When I was living down in Jamaica in the early Seventies, most of the local Jamaican radio stations were playing American country and western, easy listening artists like Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin & classic America soul music. The Dread at the Controls show changed all that and listeners could hear locally produced reggae music on the radio for the first time. The only place you heard reggae music prior to Mikey Dread's show was in dancehalls and record shops.

Mikey also produced and recorded an album titled Dread at the Controls a crucial roots dub album which was influential in both in the UK & Jamaica. In October 2007, it was announced that Campbell was being treated for a brain tumor. He died on 15 March 2008, surrounded by his family, at the home of his sister in Stamford, Connecticut.

My YouTube video selection,Roots and Culture, is from Dread's first big mainstream album release Pave the Way (1979). Roots & Culture also became the theme song for Mikey Dread's Channel 4 television show in the early Eighties.

Among the session players on Roots & Culture are Rico Rodriguez, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Flabba Holt, Ashante Roy, and the Clash's Paul Simonon. Roots and Culture almost sounds like it could be an outtake for the Black Market Clash ep.


___________________________________

Scientist Ganja Dub - Scientist - Overton Brown (aka Scientist), like Mad Professor, was also child prodigy at fixing electronic gadgets and King Tubby originally hired to keep his massive sound system up and running. King Tubby was so impressed with Overton's knowledge of electronics he dubbed him Scientist and gave him his first shot at the mixing board at age 16. Scientist's dub remix of Ganja Dub was a massive hit in the late Seventies and is one of the most frequently sampled songs in reggae
music history.



_______________________

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt