As summer finally deigns to show its face, the time comes around once more for some Dang In Dub action. Following on from installments one and two, we now have volumes three and four headed your way for the sunshine of 2008. For volume three though, it is Wrongtom stepping up to the mix with a point to prove. Whilst doing our radio show, I’d made a comment that I really didn’t like much digital reggae stuff, and generally considered it inferior to the classic 60s and 70s sounds of Jamaica. Tom begged to differ, and offered to do a Dang In Dub installment to prove just how great some of it was. Always happy to be proven musically wrong, I leapt at the chance to hear his case. So, here it is: Dang In Dub 3 – Dang In Digital, and I shall hand over to Tom to explain it:

For a while now I’ve been meaning to knock together a mix of 80′s dancehall and digital reggae tracks so when my normally astute friend Mr Trick scoffed at the notion of a good digital dub record I figured there was no better way to prove otherwise than to rummage through my shelves for some of that synthesized gold and offer him another chapter in his Dang In Dub series.

Dang In Digital covers the first decade of digital reggae and from the moment Wayne Smith showed up at Jammy’s with his mate’s Casio MT40 to Jazwad and Herbie’s take on a rhythm made famous by the gravel throated Shaggy. The big names and big rhythms are all accounted for alongside some not so famous tracks. Some of it’s vocal, some of it’s versioned and some sections I’ve dubbed out myself like Tiger’s Bam Bam which shouldn’t be confused with the Pliers’ cover of the Toots classic.

Maybe I should apologize for the crackles and noise on some of these records but I’m afraid they’ve seen a lot of action over the years, some of them having been mainstays in my record box as long as I can remember, and i guess you can also rest assured I haven’t simply been sifting through blogs downloading other people’s discoveries.

So here you go, one hour’s worth of the nicest sounds charting the dawning of the computer age in Jamaican music.

Enjoy,

Wrongtom

Click here to download the mix! (113Mb)

Tracklisting:
1. Ken Bob ‘Bad Sound’
2. Bobby Konders ‘Tempo Version’
3. Anthony Redrose ‘Tempo’
4. Tenor Saw ‘Fever’
5. Sugar Minott & Admiral Ken Jones ‘Stalag Version’
6. Half Pint ‘Crazy Girl’
7. Johnny Osbourne ‘Ice Cream Sound’
8. Morris Johnson ‘Real Rock’
9. Admiral Bailey ‘Big Belly Man’
10. Flourgan ‘Big Batty Girl’
11. Daddy Lizard ‘A Fi Fly Out’
12. Winston Riley ‘Version’
13. Courtney Melody ‘Bad Boy’
14. Tiger ‘Bam Bam’
15. L. James ‘Bam Bam Version’
16. King Jammy ‘Sleng Teng Version’
17. Johnny Osbourne ‘Budy Bye’
18. Shinehead ‘Know How Fe Chat’
19. Frisco Kid ‘Big Tings A Gwaan’
20. Noel Davey ‘Sleng Teng Version’
21. Jazwad & Herbie ‘Woman Of Samaritan Version’
22. Ansel Collins ‘Pretty Lady’
23. Red Dragon ‘Hell Rider’
24. Courtney Melody ‘This Sound A Them Trouble’
25. Steelie & Clevie ‘Super Rock Version’
26. Pam Hall ‘Dear Boopsie’
27. Winston Riley ‘Boops’
28. Steelie & Clevie ‘Spliff Version’
29. Bob Livingston ‘Want A Two Year Old’
30. Lady Junie ‘Naa Get Punaunie’
31. King Tubby ‘Punaunie Riddim’
32. Michael Palmer ‘Lick Shot’
33. Tenor Saw ‘Golden Hen’
34. Gorgon Players ‘Golden Dub’
35. Super Cat ‘Cry Fi De Youth’
36. Tenor Saw ‘Live – Radio’

Dang In Digital artwork by Dave The Chimp and Ekta