As we continue to highlight the many crucial contributions to reggae and dub made by our friends in the UK, I have some great news.  Fred “Reggaelover” P has worked his magic yet again, and I am preparing for an interview this week with Mr. Steve Barrow, British reggae historian, writer and producer.  Don’t worry, it’s OK if you’ve never heard of him.  I mean, what has he done really?  Let’s take a look:

Co-wrote The Rough Guide to Reggae with Peter Dalton, 1997 for the first edition, Rough Guides Limited
Co-wrote The Rough Guide Reggae: 100 Essential Cds, 1999, Rough Guides Limited
Co-wrote King Jammy’s, with Beth Lesser, 2002, ECW Press, UK
Co-founded Blood and Fire, a UK based record label specialized in reissuing older Jamaican music (A&R Director)
Co-founded another reggae reissue label, Hot Pot Music.
Co-wrote Reggae Soundsystem: Album Cover Art published by Soul Jazz, 2012
Co-wrote Reggae Soundsystem: The Label Art of Jamaican Singles published by Soul Jazz, 2012
Owns one of the largest single reggae record collections in the world exceeding 22,000

…so as you can see, this one is a real blessing and I give thanks to Fred and to Mr. Barrow for showing MR some love.

So here is a little treat that follows on the heels of my album pick this week. 

Dub Syndicate is a dub band, formed by Adrian Sherwood, and it became a showcase for Adrian Sherwood’s collaboration with Style Scott, former ace drummer with the Roots Radics and Creation Rebel.

Dub Syndicate initially evolved out of Creation Rebel and had a classic dub sound until the third album, Tunes From The Missing Channel (1985), where Dub Syndicate gave birth to a highly experimental more technological dub sound. Dub Syndicate’s new sound centered around the interaction of Scott, Sherwood, and members of Tackhead, Skip McDonald, Keith LeBlanc, and Doug Wimbish.

Dub Syndicate has collaborated with many other artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bim Sherman (vocals), Deadly Headley (saxophone) and Dr. Pablo (melodica), (N.B. Dr. Pablo is not Augustus Pablo).

Most of the band’s output has appeared on On-U Sound Records, and has been produced by the label’s owner Adrian Sherwood. Recently Dub Syndicate content has been released on Style Scott’s own Lion & Roots record label and production duties have been split between Adrian Sherwood, Scientist, and Style Scott himself. More recently Dub Syndicate has worked with Dancehall artists such as Luciano, Capleton, and Jr. Reid.

1  Dub Syndicate – Ravi Shankar  6:40  
2  Dub Syndicate – No Alternative  6:22  
3  Dub Syndicate – Stampede  4:55  
4  Dub Syndicate – Stoned Immaculate  6:10  
5  Dub Syndicate – Secret Laboratory Dub  5:50  
6  Dub Syndicate – Slummy Ghetto  7:05  
7  Dub Syndicate – Cuss Cuss  6:20  
8  Dub Syndicate – Too Hot To Handle  5:43  
9  Dub Syndicate – Simple Life  5:05  
10  Dub Syndicate – Walking On The Edge 

Bass – Junior Moses
Drums, Percussion – Style Scott
Guitar [Lead] – Skip McDonald
Guitar [Rhythm] – Renford Bailey
Mixed By, Effects [Samples] – Adrian Sherwood
Other [Linernotes] – Steve Barker
Percussion – Talvin Singh
Piano – Carl Gentles
Vocals – Barbara Grossett, Bim Sherman, Valerie Skeete, Vyris Edgehill*