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King Tubby

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Kingtubs

King Tubby (January 28, 1941 – February 6, 1989) was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s. Born Osbourne Ruddock, Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the role of the mixing engineer to a creative fame previously only reserved for composers and musicians, would prove to be influential across many genres of popular music. He is often cited as the inventor of the concept of the remix, and so may be seen as a direct antecedent of much dance and electronic music production. Mikey Dread stated, "King Tubby truly understood sound in a scientific sense. He knew how the circuits worked and what the electrons did. That's why he could do what he did"......read more

Links To Peel[]

King_Tubby_-_Dub_Magnificent

King Tubby - Dub Magnificent

Peel had been playing reggae on his shows since 1969, and continued to chart its evolution when dub evolved as a sub-genre. It achieved widespread exposure in the early to mid 70s: Tubby was among the first, if not the first, to capitalise on the popularity of the 'version' (basically, leaving the vocal track off the A side of the single and making an instrumental on the flip for DJs to either remix or 'toast' (=rap) over). For his Radio 3 series Where It's At (1976), John tracked the history of reggae and included King Tubby's Dub Magnificent as an example of producers becoming as well-known as the artists they recorded, and adding that the title was also his opinion of the track.

However, King Tubby virtually retired from production in the early 1980s and died a violent death in early 1989. He spent his later years mixing occasional dubs and managing record labels (one of these, Firehouse, launched the career of another Peel favourite, Anthony Red Rose). Having spent all his working life in Jamaica, there was no opportunity for him to be booked by the BBC, and it is as yet unknown whether Peel marked his passing in any way. However, he programmed several tracks late in the year from a posthumous compilation, King Tubby's Special 1973-1976, which, he noted, "will never fail to give satisfaction." Numerous compilations were subsequently made available and promoted by the use of Tubby's name, which ensured that John continued to play his productions to the end of his life.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

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Sessions[]

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Other Shows Played[]

(The list below features only tracks with King Tubby in the major credits (including King Tubby & Friends, King Tubby, etc); for other tracks he worked on, please see the page for the named artist. The list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add further information if known.)

1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980

1981

1982
1986
  • 28 July 1986 (& Lee Perry): King Tubby And The Upsetter At Spanish Town (LP - King Tubby Meets The Upsetter At the Grass Roots Of Dub) Fay Music Inc.
1988
1989
King tubby's special
1990
1991
1992
  • 03 January 1992 (BFBS) (& Yabby You): Tribulation (album - King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You)) Prophet
  • 05 January 1992 (& Yabby You): Plague On The Land (album - King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You)) Prophet
  • 10 January 1992 (BFBS): Fire Round Town (album - King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You)) Prophet
  • 11 January 1992: Parade Dub (LP-King Tubby's Special 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 12 January 1992: Rebel Dance (LP-King Tubby's Special 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 18 January 1992: Casanova Dub (2xCD: King Tubby's Special 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 24 January 1992 (BFBS): Parade Dub (LP-King Tubby's Special 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 25 January 1992: Casanova Dub (CD - King Tubby Special Trojan 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 26 January 1992 (& Yabby You): Walls Of Jerusalem (album - King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You)) Prophet
  • 22 February 1992 (BFBS): Silver Bullet (LP-King Tubby's Special 1973-1976) Trojan
  • 08 March 1992: Sir Niney's Rock (CD - King Tubby's Special 1973-76)
  • 14 March 1992: Jam Down (CD – King Tubby’s Special 1973-76) Trojan
  • 01 March 1992: Dubbing With The Observer (CD-King Tubby's Special: 1973-1976) Trojan (JP: “Nothing, of course, to do with the Sunday newspaper that turned its back on me a few years ago, when I was their man in pop music.”)
  • 09 October 1992 (& Yabby You): Dub Of Jerusalem (LP-King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson) Prophet
  • 16 October 1992 (& Yabby You): Fire Fire Dub (LP-King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson) Prophet
  • 04 December 1992 (& Yabby You): Dub Of Jerusalem (LP – King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson) Prophet
1993
1994
King tubby
  • 29 April 1994: unknown (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979 ) Blood & Fire
  • 30 April 1994: Satta Dread Dub (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
  • 30 April 1994: Real Gone Crazy Dub (album - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood And Fire
  • 30 April 1994 (BFBS) (& Yabby You): Conquering Dub (album - Prophecy Of Dub) Prophets
  • 06 May 1994: Exalted Dub (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
  • 07 May 1994 (BFBS): The Champion Version (album - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Simply Vinyl / Blood & Fire
  • 07 May 1994: Dreada Version (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire (JP: ‘..and I still have to sit down and be fanned by a member of staff every time that I contemplate the fact that that’s [Blood & Fire Records] run by Simply Red’s management.’)
  • 13 May 1994: No Love (Version) (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood And Fire
  • 14 May 1994 (BFBS): unknown (album - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
  • 20 May 1994: Exalted Dub (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood And Fire
  • 21 May 1994 (BFBS): Exalted Dub (album - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
  • 21 May 1994: Wreck Up A Version (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
  • 03 June 1994: Hold Them In Dub (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979 ) Blood & Fire
  • 10 June 1994: Step It Up In Dub (CD - Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979 ) Blood & Fire
  • 11 June 1994: Dub Fi Gwan (CD: Dub Gone Crazy - The Evolution Of Dub At King Tubby's 1975-1979) Blood & Fire
1995
1996
1997
1999
2000
2001
2002
Firehouse
2003
2004
Other
  • Best Of Peel Vol 12 (1990): (JP: "I wish you could see me tonight. I think I look, well, at my loveliest, actually, in a white T-shirt that says 'King Tubby' on it and was given to me by Adrian Sherwood.")

See Also[]

Don_Letts_on_King_Tubby

Don Letts on King Tubby

John Peel Archive, 2015

External Links[]

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