Blackbeard

While I've been listening to Dennis Bovell for years, it's also taken me years to realize it. In addition to recording numerous dub albums in which he plays the majority of the instruments, he also produced The Slits, The Pop Group and played alongside Linton Kwesi Johnson, producing the "LKJ in Dub" LP. I was a bit oblivious to his influence until I picked up the Pressure Sounds compilation and found this "I Wah Dub" LP recently. Bovell has done a great job of bridging the gap between reggae and new wave dub, tying the 70's to the 80's and really helping propel dub in a lasting direction. Here's the first track from "I Wah Dub" from 1980, complete with Polymoog...

Electrocharge by Dennis Bovell

MORE ARTHUR BAKER 80'S POP REMIXES

Props to my Blackcrackers for these additional recommendations:



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Bruuuuuuuce!!! (and Arthur Baker?!...)

This overdue blog entry is for my old man who took me to my first concert ever 25 years ago this month. It was the Bruce Springsteen "Born in the U.S.A" tour at beautiful Alpine Valley, a natural outdoor amphitheater in Southern Wisconsin. Now Bruce is Bruce and most output after that period I could care less about, but watching him and the E-Street Band play for four hours set the standard pretty high for the rest of my concert-going days...
And for all of you Bruce non-believers, you need to start believing. The cult of celebrity may have caught up with him a little, but he had a lot to say on records like "The River", "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." Little did I know that he collaborated with Arthur Baker for a disco dub 12" of "Cover Me". Props to my deep diggin' roomie for discovering this 12" for fifty cents at Academy. No one I know knows of this and even if you don't like Bruce, this is a fun record that some of you Serrato heads will enjoy dropping this summer.
The first mix is more of a remix...
Bruce Springsteen "Cover Me (Undercover Dub)"
... and the dubs are more nutty and both worth a listen...
Bruce Springsteen "Cover Me (Dub Mix 1)"
Bruce Springsteen "Cover Me (Dub Mix 2)"
Thanks Pappy!