Tony Harrington (born August 17, 1948, in Lexington, Kentucky), grew up in Bracktown, Lexington, Kentucky. He was often better known to his friends as Doctah X, was a DJ, singer, and musician who operated the House of Dub Studio in Columbus, Ohio, and hosted a radio program on WCRS Columbus. [1] He died of natural causes on December 24, 2020, at his home in Columbus, Ohio.
Doctah X's music was firmly rooted in Jamaican Reggae, and he ventured deeply into the realm of Reggae known as Dub music and Dubstep. His music encompassed Eastern and African sounds. He performed at clubs and festivals throughout the Midwest (Dayton Reggae Fest, Psych Fest in Columbus, and annually performed at Hot Times Festival and the Community Festival in Columbus, Ohio). He also performed at clubs and events in his native Kentucky, and in New York City at Roberta's, [2] Tonic and The Knitting Factory. In the 1970s and 80s, as a blues guitarist, he recorded and toured in Europe with Cream drummer Ginger Baker and played with blues legends John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins, [3] Lele Gaudi and recorded more with Umar Bin Hassan on Stay Focused Records. He has performed with his group Scarob alongside Lee "Scratch" Perry, Dr. Israel, and Subatomic Sound System at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York as well as at Bourbon Beach in Negril, Jamica.
In 1997, in sharp contrast to his musical image, he applied for a job with the Main Library in Columbus. Of this he says:
I came here to get some DVDs, and I saw a guy with long red hair and a nose piercing. I thought, 'If they hired him, maybe I can get a job here.' [4]
He continued to do library programs for children and teens even after he formally retired, and twelve of his albums are now listed in the library's catalog. [4]
Previous releases are Shadowthief [5] and Doctah X "Agent from Kabul". [6] He works with the Fuse Factory Electronic and Digital Arts Lab, an art and technology not-for-profit initiative based in Columbus,Ohio in conjunction with The Greater Columbus Arts Council. [7] Label: Boom One Records, Subatomic Sound.
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 a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and is commonly considered a subgenre of it as well as a genre of electronic music, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae. In the context of reggae, the style consists predominantly of partly or completely instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually through the removal of some or all of the vocals, 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.
Chill Out is an album by reggae band Black Uhuru, released in 1982. The album was recorded at Channel One Studios in Jamaica and produced by Sly and Robbie. Featuring The Revolutionaries, an influential session group, Chill Out, together with its dub companion The Dub Factor, is widely considered a classic of reggae music.
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.
Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s, as well as in London, England and Toronto, Canada, cities which have large populations of Caribbean immigrants. The term "Dub Poetry" was coined by Dub artist Linton Kwesi Johnson in 1976, and further popularized by artist Oku Onoura, which consists of spoken word over reggae rhythms, originally found on the backing or "version" side of a 12 or 6 inch vinyl record.
Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop, electronica, and Brazilian music, including bossa nova.
Midnite was a roots reggae band from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, which started playing in 1989.
Ariane Daniele Forster, known by her stage name Ari Up, was a German vocalist best known as a member of the English punk rock band The Slits.
Musical Revue is a live album featuring Prince Far I and Suns of Arqa released on ROIR Europe in 1988. The album was produced by Phil Rainford and features a live recording of Prince Far I with Suns of Arqa at Band on the Wall in Manchester on 7 December 1982.
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and sound systems that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, but reggae penetrated local consciousness via the popularity of reggae among the non-Jamaican population of England in the 1960s and 1970s. Many indigenous musicians have embraced reggae, both for its musical qualities and its ethos of resistance. Examples include Mantaka, No Fixed Address, Zennith and Coloured Stone.
Zomby is a British electronic musician who began releasing music in 2007. He has released music on several labels, including Hyperdub, Werk Discs, and 4AD. Zomby's influences include oldschool jungle music and Wiley's eskibeat sound.
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 begin of the first decade of the 21st century and the Jamaican dub from the 1970s where dubstep's origins were rooted and which had been primarily originated by Perry himself. Beginning in 2008, Subatomic Sound System started hosting weekly radio shows on 91.5fm, Radio New York and webcast on Brooklyn Radio. In 2011 Subatomic Sound System began performing as Lee "Scratch" Perry's backing band with a hybrid of electronics and live instruments. In 2013 they performed together at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and afterwards became Perry's exclusive touring band in North America. In 2017, Subatomic Sound System released their first full-length album with Perry entitled 'Super Ape Returns To Conquer' which debuted No. 5 on the Billboard reggae chart and No. 2 on iTunes US reggae album chart and reached No. 1 on North America World music NACC charts.
The Bush Chemists are a British dub reggae group.
Josh Heinrichs is an American reggae singer/songwriter who was the former lead singer of internationally known indie reggae band, Jah Roots and current owner/operator of indie reggae record label, GanJah Records. Since leaving the band in 2008, Heinrichs has launched a successful solo career and has released several albums, including a #1 Billboard charting release with Good Vibes in 2016.
Earl Anthony Johnson, better known as Earl Zero, is a Jamaican reggae singer whose career began in the 1970s. He is the uncle of Toronto rapper Raz Fresco.
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is an American reggae and jam band from Rochester, New York, founded in 2001 and known for their live performances and authentic roots reggae and dub sound.
Positive Vibration - Festival of Reggae is a festival based in Liverpool (UK), which celebrates and showcases reggae music and Jamaican culture.
Desire Sibanda is a Zimbabwean reggae singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Dizzy Dee. He moved to Australia in 2007 and currently resides in Melbourne where he performs and works as a disk jockey on a regular basis.
Street Fight Radio, or Street Fight is an American politics and humor radio show and podcast founded in June 2011 and hosted by Brett Payne and Bryan Quinby. The show produces three distinct episodes per week. In addition to producing the radio show and podcasts, through its Patreon, Street Fight Radio also publishes a monthly zine and additional video content.
Dubblestandart is a dub reggae band from Vienna, Austria. They were founded in 1987 and achieved breakthrough success in 1992. The band has collaborated with Lee "Scratch" Perry, Ari Up from the Slits, and film director David Lynch, on their studio album Return From Planet Dub in 2009. They describe their style as "hi-energy dub" or "21st century dub".
