The posting of the first volume of African Rubber Dub seemed to be quite popular and after receiving an anonymous request for volume two thought I would show goodwill to all mankind and offer it up for all interested parties. Once again, not certain of the whole Bim Sherman connection , as he is only listed as one of the percussionists and the vocal snatches are even briefer than the first volume so I suppose as before what we have are dubs of Bim Sherman cuts . Overall a less "dense" and organic production, more of the Adrian Sherwood style type mixes , no King Tubby this time . Some familiar rhythms throughout. Although not quite up to the very high standards of the first volume this is still very much worth a listen especially if you got into the first volume . Track five "Nightmare" is the highlight for me complete with train whistles , Bim Sherman whispers and a weird wobbly metallic sounding instrument (does have a name but it's long slipped from my mind) that I strangely remember from Rentaghost .Vol 2 here.
Hot on the heels of previous post, thought I'd offer another Sting-Rays related quickie. Remember seeing this at the time in 1984 on everyones favourite Friday tea time music show of the 80s' The Tube. There was a feature on current garage bands featuring Thee Milkshakes ,The Prisoners, The Sting-Rays and The Tall Boys and this ep was released by Big Beat to coincide with it . You can't go wrong with Thee Milkshakes with the mighty Billy Childish at anytime for me , but the real highlight for me on re-listening is The Prisoners with their psychedelic Hammond organ and trash guitar sound .A lot of the , er "madchester" sort of bands must have been taking lotsa notes . They passed me by at the time but gonna definitely investigate further . Here is the EP.
And here is the whole sequence , thought I'd never see this again . I bow down once again to the miracle of YouTube and the saints who have been digging up all their old VHS and maybe Betamax and Philips 2000 tapes so we can gawp and sometimes cringe at this stuff again .
Oh and look out for Tracy Enim bouncing around , who was Billy Childish's partner at the time leading to his name being featured in her artwork "The Tent"
The debut album from The Stingrays released in 1983 , probably owes more to psychedelia and prime 60s' Nuggets type garage than the psychobilly scene that that they were often lumped in with.It still retains a frantic rockabilly beat on some tracks especially "Blue Girl" complete with great slap bass playing . "My Flash On You" and the sly " Joe Strummer's Wallet " are particular highlights on this very diverse album . The last track on the album "Ah What! " stands up really well, it sort of reminds me of Love and is probably my favourite on the album at this moment in time .
Psychobilly was mostly ignored or briefly mentioned with a snobby attitude by the music press of the time , so I am not holding out for any articles in any of the retro music mags anytime soon , am getting pissed off with repetitive Beatles , Stones , "how great the 60s' were " type articles and endless 50 best of whatever lists content of these mags at the moment. They must be taking us for fools . And I subscribe to one of them . And I have just renewed it and got a free CD wallet . Hold on ! Oh well, it's something to read on the bog .
Am crediting this as a Bim Sherman dub album, although as there is so little info about this that I am not so sure. At the moment this album seems to be a bit hard to get hold of as well . Mixes by King Tubby, Prince Jammy and tellingly Adrian Sherwood as this has a very distinctive On U Sound type flavour to the overall sound ,although I suppose to define a definitive "On U Sound" sound is near impossible . Musicians include Style Scott, Bingy Bunny , Sly & Robbie , Roots Radics Band and The Gladiators . Lots of Niyabinghi style drumming ,warm percussive instruments , horns and Bim Sherman vocals drifting in and out make up a sort of soothing dub album , although as I have a bit of man flu at the moment this may be influencing my feeling towards it but whatever state Im in I still love this album. I do have volume 2 as well so if anyone wants this too , let me know . For now vinyl rip here .
After seeing The Specials blow the roof of Hammersmith last Friday night thought I would post this Trojan compilation released in 1984 which acknowledges ,via the cover art ,Two Tones role in releasing covers of tracks first released in the UK on Trojan Records in the late 60s' and early 70s' .It was through listening to The Specials,The Selecter, Madness etc as a kid that led me ,and probably many out there, to Reggae,Ska,Dub,Rocksteady. It contains tracks covered and made hits or featuring on best selling albums by artists including The Specials,The Selecter,Bad Manners,UB40 and err Boney M amongst others .All tracks absolute classics and all have been available on numerous compilations ,you know the ones ,out during the summer cos Reggae to the masses seems to be all about sun kissed beaches,palm trees,Shaggy and Big Mountain. But this one is quality , if you don't have all of these tracks get them now . Vinyl rip here.Then buy Trojans "Tighten Up!" series .
1. Red Red Wine - Tribe, Tony 2. Sweet Sensation - Melodians 3. Love Of The Common People - Nicky Thomas 4. Johnny Too Bad - Slickers 5. Pressure Drop - Toots & The Maytals 6. Liquidator - Harry J & The All Stars 7. Skinhead Moonstomp - Simaryp 8. Long Shot Kick De Bucket - Pioneers 9. Please Don't Make Me Cry - Winston Groovy 10. Many Rivers To Cross - Cliff, Jimmy 11. 007 (Shanty Town) - Desmond Dekker & The Aces 12. Rudie A Message To You - Dandy Livingstone 13. Version Girl - Boy Friday 14. Cherry Oh Baby - Eric Donaldson 15. Fattie Fattie - Clancy Eccles 16. Keep On Movin' - Bob Marley 17. Time Hard - The Pioneers 18. Monkey Man - The Maytals 19. Rivers Of Babylon - Melodians 20. Train To Skaville - Ethiopians
Oh yeah , The Specials. Saw them at Brixton in May and at Hammersmith on Friday , bruised all over and got an accidental smack in the mouth but loved every minute . Must admit after watching them on Jools Holland earlier in the year I was a bit apprehensive but was completely blown away both times . It must be a world tour next , after that who knows ? New material ? With or without Jerry ? Even if they just left it that ,well, its been an absolute blast and far beyond what I could have imagined.
Been meaning to re-upload this for sometime, was available through Last FM page but link has expired . Anyway here is Dr. Phibes' performance from Glastonbury '93 where they had a large "Dr. Phibes" balloon hovering over the festival for the duration of most of the festival (Im sure there is a story about it losing it's mooring and causing chaos at higher altitudes above the site to a plane or hopefully a police helicopter).I did go that year but got sort of distracted and missed them , as you do or did at Glastonbury , but managed to pick up a C90 of the set the next day . Audience recording but still very much worth a listen . Apologies in advance as I'm not 100% on the correct track-listing and also for the piss poor knocked out "cover" ,novice at photoshop/image type software, feel free to make a better one and send it to me.Check out wiki and first post for more on the "should of been massive" and seriously under appreciated Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations. Glasto '93 here.
Thanks to Keith for these links to some quality French broadcast recordings .
Another classic dub set featuring King Tubby and The Aggrovators along with the mighty Tommy McCook leader of The Skatalites . Produced by Bunny Lee and mixed by King Tubby, this contains more tracks worth a place in anyones playlist type thing of dub, including the much used hook to "Ring Of Fire" on "Happy Dub" ,a version of Dave Brubecks "Take Five" on "Jah Love Rockers Dub" and the deeply cavernous sound of the title track "Dub Station" ,the set is worth having for this track alone.Yet another example of the genius of King Tubby. First released in 1975 and re released in 2007 with 12 extra tracks . Here .
Another music blog pissing in the wind with a selection of sounds given a spin to on any one particular fine day while gazing out of the loft window onto the mega city below .Hope you can join me too.Anything goes sound wise , although if your looking for the latest "hits" to hoover up for free to add to a never listened to itunes library this probably ain't the place for you.All other music lovers most welcome and hope you find something to groove to, as I have on some of the prolific and interesting blogs that are out there.
If you download the music from the links provided and find you dig the groovy sounds man you can do the right thing and support the artists by maybe buying thier CDs,product etc.If you don't like the music just delete it from your computer and try something else.
