| "Chase the Devil" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Max Romeo and The Upsetters | ||||
| from the album War Ina Babylon | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:25 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Max Romeo and The Upsetters singles chronology | ||||
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"Chase the Devil" is a reggae song, recorded in 1976 by Max Romeo, with the backing of Lee "Scratch" Perry's house band, The Upsetters.
Composed by Perry and Romeo, "Chase the Devil" was released on the album War Ina Babylon in 1976. Also in 1976, The Upsetters recorded a version with different lyrics. The track, called "Croaking Lizard" and credited to The Upsetters and Prince Jazzbo, was included in their album Super Ape . Later, Perry made a dub remix of both versions, called "Disco Devil".
In a BBC interview recorded in 2010 Romeo describes the meaning of the song. He explains that the devil is everything negative in our minds, the iron shirt is our strength of spirit that allows us to cast out the devil. [2]
Lee "Scratch" Perry was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development of dub music with his early adoption of remixing and studio effects to create new instrumental or vocal versions of existing reggae tracks. He worked with and produced for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos, Max Romeo, Adrian Sherwood, Beastie Boys, Ari Up, The Clash, The Orb, and many others.
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy Johnson (tenor) and Cedric Myton (falsetto), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett (baritone), and have been active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records in the early 1970s, and later working with Lee "Scratch" Perry and King Tubby.
The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd.
Super Ape is a dub studio album produced and engineered by Lee "Scratch" Perry, credited to his studio band The Upsetters.
Revolution Dub is a studio album by Jamaican dub producer Lee Perry and his studio band The Upsetters, released in 1975 by Cactus. The album, which features nine pared down dubs, was the last in a line of releases that year in which Perry began exploring the possible studio techniques at his recently opened studio Black Ark in Kingston, Jamaica. In addition to making early use of a drum machine, the album is characterised by unpredictable drops in the beat, drastic stereo panning and samples of dialogue from television series, particularly British sitcoms, while Perry sings on the album in an eccentric falsetto and portrays different personas, including television characters from Kojak and Doctor on the Go.
Pressure Sounds is a British DIY record label, specialising in releasing reggae music. Run by Pete Holdsworth, it is one of the most enduring reggae labels in the UK, specialising in reissuing obsolete tunes. It was originally a subsidiary of On-U Sound.
"Police and Thieves" is a reggae song first recorded by the falsetto singer Junior Murvin in 1976. It was covered by the punk band The Clash and included on their self-titled debut album released in 1977.
The Dangermen Sessions, Vol. 1 is a cover album and the eighth studio album by the British ska band Madness, released in 2005. The album reached No. 11 in the UK which at the time was their highest chart position in the UK since 1984's Keep Moving.
Roy Samuel Reid, better known as I-Roy, was a Jamaican deejay who had a very prolific career during the 1970s.
Linval Roy Carter, better known as Prince Jazzbo, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer.
"Out of Space" is the fourth EP/single released by English electronic music group the Prodigy in 1992. The song is also featured on their debut album, Experience (1992), and is the fourth single from it. The song samples the 1976 song "Chase the Devil" by Max Romeo as well as some lines by rapper Kool Keith on the 1988 track "Critical Beatdown" by Ultramagnetic MCs.
"Girl Why Don't You" is a song originally performed by Prince Buster, covered by ska band Madness for their 2005 album, "The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1. It was the third cover of a Prince Buster song to be released by the group, following "Madness" and "One Step Beyond". The single failed to attract much air play from radio stations and made little impression on the UK Singles Chart, failing to reach the top 75.
War Ina Babylon is an album by Max Romeo and Lee Perry's backing band The Upsetters, released in 1976.
"Dust Devil" is a single by the ska/pop band Madness, released 11 May 2009, precisely one week before their album The Liberty of Norton Folgate.
Subatomic Sound System, founded in 1999 by Emch and Noah Shachtman, is an American record label and collective hosting musicians, producers, DJs, and visual artists from a variety of backgrounds and traditions. In late 2008, Subatomic Sound System garnered international attention for a limited edition vinyl 12" featuring their collaboration with Vienna's Dubblestandart and dub inventor Lee "Scratch" Perry, releasing the first songs from Perry in the dubstep genre, one of the first recorded examples of a tangible connection between the popular UK-based electronic genre that emerged in the early 2000s and the Jamaican dub from the 1970s, where dubstep's origins were rooted and which had been primarily originated by Perry himself.
Reggae Greats: Lee "Scratch" Perry is a 1984 Island Records compilation album featuring the work of Lee "Scratch" Perry. It focuses mainly on his work as a producer/composer rather than a singer. Perry only sings on three of the songs. All of the tracks are from the period between 1976 and 1979, and were recorded at Perry's Black Ark studio. The album is generally considered a good introduction to Perry's Black Ark work, and is often chosen as the best single album by Perry, but with tracks drawn from Perry's popular late 1970s albums, it has also been described as "not essential" and containing "no surprises".
Arkology is a compilation album by Lee "Scratch" Perry. Released in 1997, the album collects tracks produced by Perry and recorded at the Black Ark studio.
"Cow Thief Skank" is a 1973 single written and produced by Jamaican reggae musician Lee Perry and credited to his studio band the Upsetters. Released in Jamaica through Justice League and in the United Kingdom through Upsetter Records, it is one of Perry's series of 'skank' singles and is a duet between him and deejay Charlie Ace. The song was written as a diss track against fellow producer Niney the Observer, mocking an incident in Niney's youth where his thumb was cut off by a farmer after he attempted to steal one of his cows.
Perry essentially released a dub version of the Romeo and Jazzbo tracks, then followed it with a dub of the dub.
