Kingston's Dub Revolution
Kingston's Lee 'Scratch' Perry and King Tubby play the mixing desk, transforming B-sides like Junior Murvin's "Police & Thieves" into dub, a new art form that reshapes music worldwide.
Tracklist
- None Shall Escape The Judgement — Johnny Clarke
- Police & Thieves — Junior Murvin
- Curly Locks — Junior Byles
- Curly Dub — The Upsetters
- King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown — Augustus Pablo
- Dance Of The Vampires — Scientist
- Chase The Devil — Max Romeo
Transcript
Welcome to OffStereo. Late night session. Let's get into it.
You know that feeling when the flip side just hits different? Tonight, we're diving deep into the Kingston studios where pioneers like Tubby and Perry turned the console into a whole new instrument, making the B-side the real star of the show.
None Shall Escape The Judgement — Johnny Clarke
None Shall Escape The Judgement by Johnny Clarke — this is where the thread starts.
Police & Thieves — Junior Murvin
In Kingston, Jamaica, engineers pioneered a sound revolution, transforming the mixing desk into an instrument and elevating instrumental B-sides into a distinct compositional art form. Lee 'Scratch' Perry produced this iconic Junior Murvin vocal from his legendary Black Ark studio.
Curly Locks — Junior Byles
At his Black Ark studio, built behind his family home in Washington Gardens, Lee Perry was known for crafting soulful vocal tracks like "Curly Locks." He often used eccentric production techniques, even burying microphones at the base of a palm tree for unique bass drum effects.
Curly Dub — The Upsetters
What began as instrumental 'versions' on B-sides for sound system DJs evolved into an art form through creative manipulation. Lee Perry famously declared, "My studio must be like a living thing — it must breathe," treating his rudimentary four-track setup as a living instrument. This is the dub companion, "Curly Dub."
King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown — Augustus Pablo
Across Kingston, Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, an electronics repairman, customized his four-track mixer, making faders smoother to "play" the desk like an instrument. He is widely credited with inventing the remix, transforming tracks like Jacob Miller's vocal into this seminal dub, "King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown."
Dance Of The Vampires — Scientist
King Tubby's groundbreaking work in Kingston profoundly influenced global genres, from early hip-hop DJs like Jamaican-born Kool Herc to electronic music. His protégé, Scientist, continued this evolution, showcasing further innovations in albums like 1981's 'Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires,' featuring "Dance Of The Vampires."
Chase The Devil — Max Romeo
Back at Black Ark, Lee Perry's innovative spirit created a dense, distinctive "Black Ark sound" that baffled contemporaries. He masterfully overdubbed layers of sound effects and instrumentation onto limited tracks, as heard on Max Romeo's powerful vocal, "Chase The Devil."
Thank you for listening to OffStereo. May you forever hear the engineer's ghost in the mix, turning the flip side into an entirely new sonic adventure.