The Ragga Twins, also known as RTC, are an English ragga and jungle MC duo of Deman Rocker (David Destouche) and Flinty Badman (Trevor Destouche). Originating from Hackney, England, they started out on London's Unity sound system, and are regarded as pioneers of the scene. AllMusic called them "crucial cogs in the development of U.K. dance music."[1]
The duo first came to prominence with a number of groundbreaking singles in the early 1990s including "Spliffhead", "Wipe the Needle", "Hooligan 69" and "Mixed Truth", with production by Shut Up And Dance. This was followed by album Reggae Owes Me Money in 1991. They resurfaced in 1995 on Positiva, and continued to release tracks intermittently into the 2000s.
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Links to Peel
In Margrave Of The Marshes, Sheila Ravenscroft placed the Destouche brothers high on a rundown of special Peel favourites, writing of “the buzz he [Peel] got from the Undertones and the Fall, Ragga Twins and Big Black,” among others.[1]
Peel especially enjoyed the two Ragga Twins sessions for his show, which were both repeated multiple times, including as year-end selections and in later sessions retrospective specials. In 1992, the brothers’ second session kicked off with a shout out to “big John Orange Peel” at the start of “Bring Up The Mic Some More”.
Both sessions also featured the production team Shut Up And Dance, credited with turntables and mixing, who were session artists in their own right and whose label released the Ragga Twins’ influential early singles and first album. Bringing together elements from reggae sound-system culture and rave, including breakbeats, the records are often seen opening the way to the development of jungle, drum & bass and other sub-genres later featured by Peel.
The DJ also gave generous airtime to the Ragga Twins' cover version of Black Uhuru oldie “Shine Eye”. This also included vocals from Junior Reid, who had been in late-80s lineups of the Jamaican trio.
In 2014, Mala of Digital Mystikz selected the Ragga Twins’ debut LP “Reggae Owes Me Money” in his Record Boxes choices from Peel’s record collection.[2] He commented:
“The Ragga Twins deserve definitely much respect and credit for their contribution to jungle music, because it was these guys that were bringing their vibe and their sound and energy to those breakbeats, in my opinion shaping and forming that whole genre and that whole style of the MC on the beat.”[3]
Festive Fifty Entries
- None
Sessions
Spliffhead & Jugglin' by the Ragga Twins (1991 BBC Session)
Two sessions only, both featuring PJ and Smiley of Shut Up And Dance. No known commercial release.
1. Recorded: 1991-05-14. First broadcast: 16 June 1991. Repeated: 31 August 1991, 22 December 1991.
- Spliffhead & Jugglin' / Wipe The Needle/Hooligans
2. Recorded: 1992-01-21. First broadcast: 23 February 1992. Repeated: 25 April 1992, 19 December 1992
- Bring Up The Mic Some More/Ragga Trip / The Truth/Tansoback
Other Shows Played
- 1991
- 05 May 1991: Illegal Gunshot (album - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 11 May 1991: The Homeless Problem (album - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 26 May 1991: The Homeless Problem' (LP - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 02 June 1991: Juggling (album - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 22 June 1991: Hooligan 69 (Remix) (7") Shut Up And Dance
- 30 June 1991: Hooligan 69 (Remix) (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 01 July 1991 (BBC World Service): Love Talk (LP - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 01 July 1991 (Ö3): Hooligan 69 (LP-Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance (JP mistakenly gives the LP's title as 'Reggae Owes Me A Living.')
- 1992
- 02 February 1992: Bring Up The Mic Some More (12" EP - The Truth) Shut Up And Dance
- 16 February 1992 (BFBS): Bring Up The Mic Some More (7" - E.P.) Shut Up And Dance
- 13 March 1992: Tan So Back (12"-The Truth) Shut Up And Dance
- 20 May 1991 (BBC World Service): The Homeless Problem (LP - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 25 May 1991 (BBC World Service): Illegal Gunshot (LP - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up And Dance
- 06 June 1992 (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12 inch) Shut Up And Dance
- 12 June 1992 (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 20 June 1992 (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 21 June 1992 (BFBS) (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 06 July 1992 (Ö3) (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 13 September 1992 (BFBS): Hooligan 69 (LP - Reggae Owes Me Money) Shut Up and Dance
- 1997
- 01 October 1997: Spliffhead & Jugglin' (session #1) (in sessions retrospective during special tribute programming to mark 30 years of JP on Radio One, pre-recorded, introduced by Peel)
- 1999
- 26 August 1999 (featuring Junior Reid): Shine Eye (12") Shut Up And Dance
- 31 August 1999: Bring Up The Mic Some More / Ragga Trip (session #2) (in sessions retrospective, introduced by Mary Anne Hobbs, during six-hour special from Maida Vale to celebrate the 60th birthday of Peel the previous day)
- 2004
- 02 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank): Homeless Problem (LP- Reggae Owes Me Money') Shut and Dance
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ Pg 396, hardback edition.