Covered Dub

Back in April, I posted Under Dub Covers, a selection of reggae and dub cover versions and it was well received, so here's the follow up!

Fourteen tracks this time, a 50/50 split between reggae and dub, 60s-90s and 21st Century, but 100% certified excellent. Well, the tunes, if not the sequencing!

Some of my all-time favourite singers are featured, opening with Pat Kelly and Marcia Griffiths, taking in Horace Andy, Dennis Brown and Jackie Edwards and, more recently, Shniece McMenamin.

Sly & Robbie, Adrian Sherwood and Lee 'Scratch' Perry feature heavily throughout, whether up front or in the studio.

This week in 1985, I Got You Babe by UB40 "with guest vocals by" Chrissie Hynde first entered the UK singles chart at a modest #22. It was Top 5 a couple of weeks later and #1 a couple of weeks after that. 

There was a dub version on the flip side but no extended version on the 12", so I've taken the liberty of creating my own edit for this selection. I've literally spliced the dub intro and outro with (most of) the vocal version. A dub sandwich, if you will, crackles and all.

1) Stoned In Love (Cover of 'I'm Stone In Love With You' by The Stylistics): Pat Kelly (1979)

2) It's Too Late (Cover of Carole King): Marcia Griffiths (1974)

3) A Wonderful Version (Cover of Louis Armstrong): Rhoda Dakar ft. Natty Campbell (2023)

4) Safe From Harm (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood) (Cover of Massive Attack): Horace Andy (2022)

5) Night Nurse (Dub With Vocal) (Remix By Mick Hucknall) (Cover of Gregory Isaacs): Sly & Robbie ft. Simply Red (1997)

6) To Love Somebody (Album Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry) (Cover of Bee Gees): Busty Brown (1969)

7) The Model Dub (Cover of 'Das Modell' by Kraftwerk): Prince Fatty ft. Shniece McMenamin (2020)

8) Chase The Devil (Adrian Sherwood Dub) (Cover of Max Romeo): Dubblestandart ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Coshiva & Emch (2014)

9) I Got You Babe (Dub Sandwich Re-Edit By Khayem) (Cover of Sonny & Cher): UB40 ft. Chrissie Hynde (2025)

10) Long As I Can See The Light (Adrian Sherwood's Dub Lighting) (Cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival): Monkey Mafia ft. Shirzelle (1998)

11) Dock Of The Bay (Cover of '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of Tthe Bay' by Otis Redding): Dennis Brown (1972)

12) Everything I Own (Dub Version By Stewart Levine) (Cover of Bread): Boy George (1987)

13) All Shook Up (Cover of Elvis Presley): Jackie Edwards (1979)

14) Exodus (Dubvisionist Dub) (Remix By Felix Wolter) (Cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers): Tackhead (2011) 

1969: The Upsetter: 6

1972: Superstar: 11

1979: So Proud: 1

1980: All Shook Up EP: 13

1987: Everything I Own EP: 12

1997: Night Nurse EP: 5

1998: Long As I Can See The Light EP: 10

2011: Exodus EP: 14

2014: Dubblestandart In Dub: 8

2015: Play Me / Sweet And Nice (Expanded Edition): 2

2020: Disco Deception Dubplate LP: 7

2022: Midnight Rocker: 4

2023: What A Wonderful World EP: 3

2025: I Got You Babe (bootleg MP3): 9

Covered Dub (59:23) (GD) (M)

You can find Under Dub Covers here

A few cover versions that didn't make today's final selection were produced by the legend that is Dennis Bovell. That didn't sit right with me so, as compensation, I've restored links to the two DB-themed selections that I've previously posted. With the above, that's pretty much four hours of dub nutrition!

Weakened/Weekend In Dub (August 2023)

From Conception To The Grave (October 2021)

Dub Revelutions

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that Lee 'Scratch' Perry died yesterday (29th). The BBC obituary doesn't even begin to do justice to the man's influence, as artist, producer, remixer, collaborator, eccentric and innovator, but how do you attempt to encapsulate a life and career that profoundly changed music and continues to inspire and influence right now? 

I have a deep love of reggae and dub so Perry's work features heavily in my music collection and whilst his output and quality control was less consistent in the 1990s and 2000s, his collaborations with Adrian Sherwood and The Orb in the last decade marked a creative high. I had never managed to see Lee 'Scratch' Perry in concert and planned to see him in Gloucester in November.

I don't have any standalone Lee 'Scratch' Perry mixtapes that I could post here today, so I've hastily cobbled together a tribute selection in the last hour and a half. Some obvious choices are omitted: nothing by Bob Marley & The Wailers or The Clash and no Police & Thieves (although Bad Weed uses the same riddim). I've included some of Perry's more unexpected remixes: Sign Your Name was a #2 hit in the UK in January 1988 and I wonder what TTD's mainstream fans made of the 'Scratch' remix 12", peppered with animal sounds and dub effects. NYC band Gang Gang Dance was also an unusual choice, but Perry toasts over the top and makes it his own. The selection spans his early singles in the late 1960s through to his 2019 album Rainford and last year's appearance on Denise Sherwood's debut solo album. It's only a flavour of the man's genius but given the haste in compiling the selection, I think it hangs together pretty well.

Farewell then to Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Alien Starman and Dub Revolutionary.

 

1) Cloak & Dagger: Lee 'Scratch' Perry & The Upsetters ft. Tommy McCook (1973)

2) Rockhead: Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2008)

3) Bad Weed (Discomix By Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Junior Murvin (1977)

4) Return Of Django: The Upsetters (1969)

5) Chase The Devil (Adrian Sherwood Dub): Dubblestandart ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Coshiva & Emch (2014) 

6) Sign Your Name (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1988)

7) Doctor On The Go: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975)

8) Last Train To Doomsville: Dub Syndicate ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (1988)

9) MindKilla (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Gang Gang Dance (2011)

10) I Am The Upsetter: Lee King Perry (1968)

11) Run Evil Spirit (Album Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Adrian Sherwood): Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2019)

12) Ball Of Fire: The Orb ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2012)

13) Music Shall Live (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Vital Elements): Denise Sherwood ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2020) 

14) Dr. Lee, PhD (Album Version By Beastie Boys & Mario Caldato Jr.): Beastie Boys ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Money Mark (1998)

15) Allergic To Lies (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

16) Dub Revelutions: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975) 

 

Dub Revelutions (A Tribute To Lee 'Scratch' Perry) (1:15:08)