Mad Dub

An hour (more or less) of Mad Professor aka Neil Fraser to dub up your Sunday. 

 

Fourteen collaborations with or dubs for other artists, spanning an incredible four decades and providing a perfect excuse to sit down and chill out. Just like this ring-tailed lemur, that seemed largely indifferent to the agog Clan K standing just a couple of feet away at Wild Place in Bristol a couple of weekends ago.

Sticking with Bristol, the earliest song in this selection is by Restriction from 1983. The band featured Rob Smith (of Smith & Mighty and RSD fame) and came to my attention via the excellent compilations issued by Bristol Archive Records. 

Another Bristol act who really need no introduction is Massive Attack and, to be honest, I could easily have stuck with a Mad Professor selection just focusing on the many top-notch dubs he's produced for them since the 1990s. I have plumped for a Protection-era version but one which didn't appear on the companion album, instead popping up on a compilation to raise money for the charity Shelter. As an added bonus, it's a dub of Better Things, featuring Tracey Thorn. 

Sticking with the more obscure is Mad Professor's dubby vocal mix of Chapterhouse's 1991 song Mesmerise. I think it was one of several remixes of early 1990s indie acts commissioned exclusively for the 1999 film Splendor. I bought the soundtrack CD, I've never seen the film.

 

Slick Sixty make their second appearance this week (a Justin Robertson remix appeared in Friday's selection), not bad for an act who only released three singles, two promos and one album in their lifetime. 

Rather more well known but possibly an unexpected choice are Depeche Mode. Slowblow was a B-side to 1997 single It's No Good but Mad Professor's dub remained unreleased until the Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 in 2004 and even then only as a limited 'rare tracks' download companion available on their official website. 

The selection draws to a close with Mad Professor's inspired partnership with Xan Tyler on one of my favourite albums of 2022, Clarion Call. This is a dub of their version of Townes Van Zandt's 1969 song Be Here To Love Me and available as a bonus track on the digital edition of Clarion Call. Recommended.

 

1) Love Is Stronger Than Pride (Mad Professor Mix): Sade (1992)

2) Life's A Beach (Mad Professor Dub): Django Django (2022)

3) Restriction (Single Version By Restriction & Mad Professor): Restriction (1983)

4) Jamaica (Mad Professor Dub): Van She (2012)

5) Analógica Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Frente Cumbiero (2010)

6) Dubbing Home: Bob Andy & Mad Professor (1989)

7) Guilt-Edged (Single Version By Tony McDermott & Mad Professor): Champion Doug Veitch & The Igbira Nation (1984)

8) Margo's B&B (Mad Professor's B&B): Slick Sixty (1998)

9) Slowblow (Mad Professor Mix): Depeche Mode (1997)

10) Marijuana Dub: Mad Professor & Prince Fatty ft. Earl Sixteen (2015)

11) Suck Me Up Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn (1995)

12) Mesmerise (The Mesmerising Vocal Mix By Mad Professor): Chapterhouse (1998)

13) Free South Africa (Dub) (Remix By Lindel Lewis & Mad Professor): Benjamin Zephaniah (1983)

14) Be Here To Dub Me (Cover of 'Be Here To Love Me' by Townes Van Zandt): Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)

1984: Not The Heart EP: 7

1989: Bob Andy's Dub Book: As Revealed To Mad Professor: 6

1989: Rasta (bonus tracks) (Switzerland CD): 13

1992: Feel No Pain EP: 1

1997: Foundations: Coming Up From The Streets: 11

1998: The Wrestler EP: 8 

1999: Splendor OST: 12

2004: Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 (Rare Tracks): 9

2010: Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor: 5

2011: The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983: 3

2013: Modular Presents Modyssey: 4 

2015: Mad Professor Meets Prince Fatty In The Clone Theory: 10

2021: Clarion Call (bonus tracks): 14

2022: Django Django Meets Mad Professor: A Dub Rework: 2

Mad Dub (59:28) (Box) (Mega)

The Undisputed King Of Caledonian Cajun Swing

I resisted yesterday's subliminal suggestion from Ernie Goggins* to post a Status Quo selection today (with apologies also to Jez**). Instead, you get Champion Doug Veitch, for my money the better option (with apologies again to Jez).

 

A much later posting today, following yesterday's festivities (my family, not the Royal family) and a slight musical detour that turned out to be rather unnecessary. When I woke up a couple of hours ago, this post still a half-formed thought, the sum total of my Champion Doug Veitch collection was the three 12" singles you see pictured above. I got them all in one go, in a bulk-buy second-hand 12" purchase from Plastic Wax Records in Bristol, many years ago.

However, a quick bit of research revealed that The Original, the 1989 compilation of these and other singles plus a few John Peel session tracks, was available on Apple Music but nowhere else as far as I could tell. I don't buy music from Apple as a rule, although I did have an iTunes gift voucher a long, long time ago. I know this because when I logged on to my Apple account, I was still registered at the Bristol address I left over a decade ago. Anyway, I threw caution to the wind and parted with £7.99 for a download of The Original. Be nice to have a digital copy, I thought, as the part-completed rips of my vinyl are a bit crackly.

It turns out that the Apple Music version of The Original is ripped from an even more crackly vinyl than mine! Buyer beware...

Anyway, I've stuck with the three 12" singles I physically own for today's selection, presenting 6 tracks in 27 minutes, guaranteed to bring some extra sunshine into your life, wherever you are.

 

Margarita is a cover of Trinidadian calypso legend Slinger Francisco aka Mighty Sparrow. There's a great performance of Margarita and Mharajin Sister from 1989's Notting Hill Carnival on YouTube, Mighty Sparrow and band in fine form. 

 

Jumping Into Love is a reworking of Marcia Griffiths' 1968 hit Feel Like Jumping. Cue another fantastic performance at the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Benicasim, Spain in 2019. Marcia was 69 at the time of this show though you'd hardly know it.

 

The Banks Are Made Of Marble was written and recorded by Les Rice in 1950. I don't think I've ever heard the original, though I was vaguely familiar with the song from Pete Seeger's version before I came to this.

One Black Night was original released as a 4-track 12" in 1985. I've instead gone for the Mad Professor remix from the Margarita 12", along with further dub excursions of Jumping Into Love and Margarita to round things off.

 

1) Margarita (12" Mix By Tony McDermott) (Cover of Mighty Sparrow) (1986)

2) Jumping Into Love (Full Length Mix By Tony McDermott & Mad Professor) (1985)

3) Banks Of Marble (Single Version By Tony McDermott) (Cover of Les Rice) (1985)

4) One Black Night (Re-Mix By Mad Professor) (1986)

5) Deep End Version (Full Length Mix By Tony McDermott & Mad Professor) (1985)

6) Margarita (Mix Mescales By Mad Professor) (1986)

 

1985: Jumping Into Love EP: 2, 5

1985: One Black Night EP: 3 

1986: Margarita EP: 1, 4, 6

The Undisputed King Of Caledonian Cajun Swing (27:10)

 

 

 

* An essential visit after this post is the excellent 27 Leggies. I've lost track of how many fantastic artists and sounds from around the globe I've been introduced to via Ernie's posts and today is no exception.

 

** A History Of Dubious Taste is also a permanent fixture on the sidebar to the right. Jez's music selections and musings are always good value and his Friday Night Music Club mixes are inspired.