555

Three very different variations on the theme of 555 by Delakota, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Augustus Pablo.

 

Delakota were short-lived: a single album, One Love, and a clutch of singles between 1998 and 2000. Formed by Cass Browne and Morgan Nicholls after their previous band The Senseless Things ended in 1995, the sound incorporated dance music, indie rock and use of movie samples to great effect. 

 

Their releases attracted an impressive roster of remixes by Fatboy Slim, Freddy Fresh, Adam & Eve (aka The Beloved), Tim Goldsworthy, Sound 5, Joshua Falken (aka Kieran Hebden) and David Holmes. I featured the latter in a previous Dubhed Selection and wrote about when Delakota repaid the favour to David Holmes in a guest post for The Vinyl Villain.

 

555 was one of four Top 100 UK hits for Delakota, crashing in at #42 for one week only in February 1999.

Charlotte Gainsbourg is famously the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin and has forged an impressive career as an actor and singer/songwriter, the latter including some inspired collaborations with the likes of AIR, Jarvis Cocker, Neil Hannon, Beck and SebastiAn. I'm a huge fan of her work and Charlotte was the focus of a Dubhed Selection in December 2021.

 

5:55 is the title track of Charlotte's second album (her first as an adult), which managed a single week at #78 in the UK album charts in September 2006. A few promos did the rounds in 2006 with an official vinyl 7" release of a pair of remixes by Metronomy and Black Ghosts that didn't trouble the charts in any way. 5:55 a wonderful, piano-driven song with words and music by the aforementioned AIR and Jarvis Cocker and the legendary Tony Allen on drums.

Last but certainly not least is the mighty multi-instrumentalist and melodica maestro, Augustus Pablo. 555 Crown Street was released on 7" vinyl on the Rockers International label in Jamaica around 1975. I was shocked to find that I've only featured Augustus Pablo here once before, and that with a Version on the flip of I-Roy's Cow Town Skank 7". This criminal oversight will be rectified with an Augustus Pablo Dubhed Selection in due course.

For this post, I've found a YouTube clip which pairs the full 7" with 555 Crown Street and it's Version on the B-side. As good a five minutes as you're likely to hear all day.