Before March Madness Commences...Dub Save Me Soul...Pre-On-U

Was that as scary for you as it was for me? 

 

 

After a month of pop music I need some soul cleansing. So I'm diving deep into the pool of soul-cleansing Dub.
     "Ethereal, mystical, conceptual, fluid, avant-garde, raw, unstable, provocative, transparent, postmodern, disruptive, heavyweight, political, enigmatic … dub is way more than 'a riddim & a bassline', even if it is that too. Dub is a genre & a process, a 'virus' & a 'vortex'; it draws the listener into a labyrinth, where there are false signposts & 'mercurial' trails that can lead to the future, the past … or to nowhere at all."
          from the Introduction to Remixology-Tracing the Dub Diaspora by Paul Sullivan (a must-read for any Dubhead).

Here're some early Dub releases from Adrian Sherwood paving the way for that On-U sound.

In 1980 Sherwood founded the On-U-Sound Records label. It was a collaborative project involving Sherwood working with members of the original Creation Rebel crew plus various musicians from the Jamaican Dub & London post-punk scenes, such as The Slits' Ari Up, who helped form New Age Steppers, Mark Stewart (The Pop Group), Keith Levene & Jah Wobble (after PiL 1.0 split), Neneh Cherry, Vivien Goldman, & Steve Beresford.

Sherwood recalls:  
     "I remember having gigs and in the crowd you would have the Sex Pistols, The Slits, The Clash, Billy Idol … sometimes all these people at our gigs on the same night. The crowd would be watching the crowd! That's how I met Ari Up – we did The Slits tour with Don Cherry and Happy House. We were guests with Prince Hammer, then the next month we would support The Clash. We had a bit of a ground swell. We knew The Ruts through Misty and Roots. With a lot of this I was in the right place at the right time and a complete fan."

 

Before there was On-U Sound.

In 1977, Sherwood founded the Hit Run label with his friend Doctor Pablo when he was nineteen years old, which is when he began to showcase his own take on Dub. Sherwood's first proper studio experience was with Prince Far I's backing band Creation Rebel, which included drummer Lincoln Valentine 'Style' Scott (w/Adrian,below), a key member of the Roots Radics. Their first recording together was Dub from Creation (1978), made with the help of Dennis Bovell. Sherwood sold the records from the back of his car. 

 

 

These first two are on Hit Run Records.

On Dub from Creation: Tony Chinn - guitar; Clifton 'Bigga' Morris - keyboards; Doctor Pablo - melodica & percussion; Clinton Jack - bass; & Eric 'Fish' Clarke. 

 

Creation Rebel - Dub from Creation, Hitrun APLP 9001, 1978.
all decryption codes in comments

Side A -
Dub from Creation
Basic Principals
Rebel Rouser
Creation Vibration
Creation in a Iration

Side B -
Dub Fusion
Mirage
Liberation
Rising Star
Vision of Creation

 

 

 

 

At the same time, Adrian worked on Cry Tuff Dub Encounter, Chapter 1 , an album he had just finished mixing for Prince Far I , which was engineered by Dub producer & Gooseberry Sound Studios stalwart Mark Lusardi.

The first three chapters of Cry Tuff can be found here.

While Dub from Creation is a fairly traditional-sounding Dub album, the follow-ups, Rebel Vibrations (1979), the classic Starship Africa (truly unique in that it was mixed with the effects before the beats) & Psychotic Junkanoo (1981) grew progressively bolder in terms of using sound collage techniques to weave elements of world music, industrial noise, & ambient sounds into the Dub blueprint.

On Rebel Vibrations: Crucial Tony - guitar, bass, & percussion; Bigga Morrison - piano, organ, synthesizer, & percussion; Doctor Pablo - melodica & percussion; Lizard - bass & percussion; & Style Scott - drums & percussion. 

 

Creation Rebel - Rebel Vibrations, Hitrun APLP 9004, 1979.

Side A -
Rebel Vibration   
Jungle Affair
Hunger & Strife   
Ian Smith Rock (Dub)

Side B -
Diverse Doctor   
Mountain Melody   
Black Lion Dub   
Doctor's Remedy

 

 

 

 

On Starship Africa: Bigga Morrison & Fatfingers - organ & piano; Doctor Pablo - melodica & synthesizer; Tony 'Tsungirai' Henry & Lizard - bass; Charles 'Eskimo' Fox & Style Scott - drums; & Ranking Magoo & Sucker - percussion.

 

 

Creation Rebel - Starship Africa, 4D Rhythms 4DLP1, 1980.

Side 1 -
Starship Africa:
     Section 1
     Section 2
     Section 3
     Section 4
     Section 5

Side 2 -
Space Movement:
     Section 1
     Section 2
     Section 3
     Section 4

 

 

 

 

On Psychotic Jonkanoo: Crucial Tony - guitat, bass & vocals; Lizard Logan - bass & vocals; Eskimo Fox - drums & vocals; & Ranking Magoo - percussion & vocals.

Although given the On-U catalogue # ON-U LP4, it was not originally released by On-U Sound.

 

 

Creation Rebel - Psychotic Jonkanoo, Statik Records STAT LP4, 1981.

Side One -
The Dope
African Space
Chatti Mouth
Threat to Creation

Side Two -
Highest Degree
Mother Don't Cry
Yuk Up
Drum Talk 

"People get warped by dub … and they never recover." – Ian Penman

Madness coming soon,
NØ