On-U Sound Records | |
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Founded | May 1979 |
Founder | Adrian Sherwood and Pete Holdsworth |
Genre | Dub, reggae, experimental, electronic |
Country of origin | UK |
Location | London |
Official website | http://www.on-usound.com |
On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. [1] The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 [2] [3] [4] and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, Akabu, [5] [6] The London Underground, Little Annie, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail (who would have a number of Top 40 hits, like "Human Nature", credited to Gary Clail On-U Sound System), [7] [8] New Age Steppers, Audio Active, Asian Dub Foundation, and the dub collective Singers & Players. [9]
Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound, often incorporating elements of jazz, soul, funk, reggae, dub, R&B, and other forms of electronic music, as well as sampling from movie soundtracks and other eclectic sources.
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 Syndicate is a dub band, formed by Adrian Sherwood, which became a showcase for Adrian Sherwood's collaboration with Lincoln "Style" Scott, former drummer with the Roots Radics, Suns of Arqa and Creation Rebel.
Tackhead is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, industrial music and electronica intersect. The core members are Doug Wimbish (bass), Keith Leblanc (percussion) and Skip McDonald (guitar) and producer Adrian Sherwood. Despite being short-lived as a band proper, the legacy and output of these groups of musicians has been prodigious.
John Joseph Wardle, known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; he left the band after two albums.
Prince Far I was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer, and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics about government measures initiated at the time against violent crime.
Adrian Maxwell Sherwood is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms of electronic dance music and popular music outside of the genre. He has worked extensively with a variety of reggae artists as well as the musicians Keith LeBlanc, Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald. Sherwood has remixed tracks by Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy. In his role as a record producer he has worked with a variety of record labels; however, his best-known label is On-U Sound Records which he founded in 1979. Sherwood has been a member of the band Tackhead. He considers himself tone deaf, and focuses on making sounds and noises rather than melody.
Musique was a studio project by Patrick Adams, best known for the song "In the Bush". It consisted of five singers, Christine Wiltshire, Angela Howell, Gina Taylor Pickens, Mary Seymour and Jocelyn Brown.
Tom Novy is a DJ and producer from Munich, Germany.
Stephen William Mallinder is an English artist and musician who was a founding member of Cabaret Voltaire, and went on to work as Sassi & Loco, the Ku-Ling Bros., Hey, Rube!, Wrangler, and Creep Show.
Pitch Black is a New Zealand electronica duo from Christchurch.
Skip McDonald is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe.
New Age Steppers were a dub collective from the United Kingdom, formed by producer Adrian Sherwood and featuring members of various prominent 1970s UK post-punk groups, including Ari Up and Viv Albertine of the Slits, Mark Stewart and Bruce Smith of The Pop Group, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, John Waddington of Rip Rig + Panic, and Vicky Aspinall of The Raincoats. Other musicians included associates of Sherwood's On-U Sound label, including George Oban, Bim Sherman, Style Scott, and Eskimo Fox.
Gary Clail is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in clubs with the 1991 song "Human Nature".
Friendly as a Hand Grenade is an album by the American band Tackhead. It was released in 1989 through TVT Records.
Tackhead Tape Time is the debut album of Tackhead, released in 1987 through Nettwerk.
"Reality" is a single by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in January 1988 on On-U Sound Records.
"Ticking Time Bomb" is a single by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in March 1989 on World Records.
Fats Comet was a British/American industrial hip hop group formed by Adrian Sherwood, Keith LeBlanc, Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish. The band was known for producing dance tracks that were densely layered in samples and ahead of their time. In a 1987 article in Spin, Scott Burlingham commented that "songs like "Bop Bop" and "Stormy Weather" are three years old and they still don't fit in." The members eventually shifted their focus to another project Tackhead, under which they continue to produce music.
"Human Nature" is a song performed by English singer and record producer Gary Clail. It is produced by Adrian Sherwood and features Lana Pellay on backing vocals. Released in 1991 as the first single from his second album, Emotional Hooligan (1991), it was critically acclaimed, being named Single of the Week by Melody Maker and Record Mirror. The song peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the UK Dance Singles Chart. It was also the theme tune to BBC 2's TV-show Snub TV. A music video was produced to promote the single.