Tackhead



Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) are an industrial hip-hop group that were most active during the 1980s and early 1990s. The core members are Doug Wimbish (bass), Keith LeBlanc (percussion) and Skip McDonald (guitar) and producer (sometimes credited as "mixologist") Adrian Sherwood. In the late 1970s, Wimbish, LeBlanc and McDonald were members of the house band for the Sugarhill Records record label. Soon after British producer Sherwood met LeBlanc during a visit to New York in the mid-80s, the trio of Wimbish, LeBlanc and McDonald relocated to London and began working on tracks for Sherwood's On-U Sound record label.



Collaborations included taking over band duties in "Mark Stewart and the Maffia," with former Pop Group member Stewart on vocals, for three LPs between 1985 and 1990. Another tie-up was with the On-U sound system touring MC as "Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System," leading to a 1987 LP, Tackhead Tape Time. LeBlanc also released two solo LPs that both featured all Tackhead members. On the first Tackhead LP proper, Friendly As A Hand Grenade (1989), vocalist Bernard Fowler joined the line-up and many older instrumental tracks re-appeared with lyrics. The follow-up album, 1990's Strange Things (the first on a major label, EMI), was not as well received by critics.

Despite not releasing any further material as Tackhead until 2010, group members continued to record as the backing band or with various Sherwood-led On-U Sound productions artists such as Gary Clail's solo efforts, African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers and others. Subsets of the group have also appeared in various guises, including Strange Parcels, Barmy Army and the blues-oriented Little Axe. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
Peel was a long-time fan of Tackhead member Adrian Sherwood's work as a producer. The DJ had also played hip-hop releases featuring US musicians Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc and Skip McDonald as part of the Sugarhill house band. In 1984, Peel aired Sherwood’s early collaboration with drummer LeBlanc on the one-off Enemy Within miners’ benefit 12”, built around vocal samples of UK miners' leader Arthur Scargill.

The producer’s subsequent work with Tackhead coincided with a shift by Sherwood to a harsher industrial sound in a period when he worked less frequently in the reggae field, following the 1983 death of mentor Prince Far I, with Tackhead's trio of American musicians quickly becoming involved in a wide range of On-U Sound projects. In a 1988 Observer article, Peel suggested that “tracks made with singer Mark Stewart [with Tackhead musicians as "The Maffia"] have been especially disconcerting”.

In a 2016 interview, Sherwood recalled Peel giving airtime to the second Tackhead single, 'Mind At The End Of The Tether' (1985), which featured apocalyptic readings from HG Wells:

"'I can remember John Peel playing it on the radio — the most interesting radio show in England at the time — and he was just blown away by it.'"

On a lighter note, the DJ was also hugely enthusiastic about the producer’s football-centered Barmy Army side project, describing the ‘Sharp As A Needle’ single as “the only football record of merit yet released”. It is not currently known whether Peel played the earlier and similarly themed Tackhead single ‘The Game (You'll Never Walk Alone)’, but both Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald from the band appeared on the Barmy Army LP. 

As well as regular Tackhead releases, Peel also played recordings put out under the name Fats Comet and Keith LeBlanc solo material featuring all members of the band, plus tracks by later groupings based on Tackhead personnel, including Strange Parcels and Little Axe.

In 2012, the ‘Tackhead Tape Time’ and ‘Friendly As A Hand Grenade’ LPs were among the first 100 albums by artists beginning with T when details of Peel’s record collection were initially released via TheSpace website. (See Record Collection: T.)

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None as Tackhead.
 * Before relocating to the UK, Tackhead musicians Wimbish, LeBlanc and McDonald all played as members of the Sugar Hill house band on "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, which placed #3 in the 1982 Festive Fifty.
 * See also Barmy Army.

Sessions

 * None as Tackhead.
 * Adrian Sherwood was credited as producer and engineer of the New Age Steppers only session, recorded 1983-06-12, first broadcast 18 August 1983.

Other Shows Played

 * Tackhead / Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System

1987
 * 1986
 * Peel February 1986: Mind At The End Of The Tether (12") On-U Sound
 * 12 May 1986: Man In A Suitcase (promo)
 * 09 December 1987: Reality (LP - "Tackhead Tape Time") Nettwerk
 * 1988
 * 16 May 1988: What's My Mission Now? (Fight The Devil) (LP - "Tackhead Tape Time") Nettwerk


 * 01 June 1988 (Rockradio): What's My Mission Now? (Fight the Devil) (album - Tackhead Tape Time) Red Rhino & On-U Sound
 * 07 June 1988: What's My Mission Now? (7") On-U


 * 1989




 * 06 March 1989: Body To Burn (b/w 12" - Ticking Time Bomb) World
 * 08 March 1989: Ticking Time Bomb (12") World
 * Peel 120 (BFBS) (21 October 1989 (BFBS)): 'Airborn Ranger (LP-Friendly As A Hand Grenade)' (World)
 * 09 November 1989: Tell Me The Hurt (LP - Friendly As A Hand Grenade) World (JP: "Our engineer was suggesting that it might be a good idea to get Adrian Sherwood to mix down the tapes of the forthcoming Knebworth entertainment. I think I might listen to it then.")


 * 1990
 * 14 June 1990: Repetition (7" - Dangerous Sex) SBK 7014


 * The Maffia (with Mark Stewart)
 * Peel 072 (BFBS) (1987-10-16): Survival (LP-Mark Stewart) Mute
 * Peel 074 (BFBS) (1987-11-20): Forbidden Colour / Forbidden Dub (LP-Mark Stewart) Mute
 * 09 May 1990: Fatal Attraction (Contagious) (12" - Fatal Attraction) Mute
 * 14 May 1990: Collision (album - Metatron) Mute
 * 07 June 1990: Collision (album - Metatron) Mute


 * Doug Wimbish ft. Fats Comet
 * 05 June 1985: Don't Forget That Beat (12") World
 * 25 June 1985: Don't Forget That Beat (12") World


 * Fats Comet
 * 22 April 1986: Rockchester (12") World


 * 11 March 1987: Rockchester (12") World
 * 25 March 1987: O.K. Bye! (12" - Rockchester) World


 * Keith LeBlanc solo
 * 16 June 1986: I'll Come Up With Something (LP - Major Malfunction) World
 * 24 June 1986: You Drummers Listen Good (LP - Major Malfunction) World
 * 25 July 1989: Major Malfunction (LP - Major Malfunction) World


 * Strange Parcels
 * 31 March 1991: Hearts Desire (Album, Comp.: Pay It All Back Volume 3) On-U Sounds
 * 21 April 1991: Disconnection (compilation - Pay It All Back Volume 3) On-U Sound
 * 04 June 1993 (& Bim Sherman): More Is Insane (10 inch) On-U Sound
 * 18 June 1993 (& Bim Sherman): More Is Insane (10 inch) On-U Sound
 * 26 June 1993 (BFBS) (& Bim Sherman): More Is Insane (10 inch) On-U Sound


 * Little Axe
 * 15 October 1994 (BFBS): Ride On (Fight On) (Fluke Mid - Fi Surprise) (12" - Ride On (Fight On)) Wired
 * 13 January 1995: Back To The Crossroads (2xLP-The Wolf That House Built) Wired
 * 17 December 2002: One Drop Blues (Various LP - Chainstore Massacre) On-U Sound
 * 17 April 2002: Dark As The Night Cold As The Ground (LP – Hard Grind) On-U Sound