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.
Douglas Arthur Wimbish is an American bassist, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Depeche Mode, James Brown, Annie Lennox, Tarja Turunen, and Barrington Levy.
On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, Akabu, The London Underground, Little Annie, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail, New Age Steppers, Audio Active, Asian Dub Foundation, and the dub collective Singers & Players.
Skip McDonald is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe.
Keith LeBlanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead.
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.
"What's My Mission Now?" is a single by the American industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in October 1985 on On-U Sound. Scott Becker of Option called it "Sherwood as his outrageous best: wild stereo effects, a crucial beat, a bit of dubbing-it-up, found vocals, odd sounds, the works."
"Mind at the End of the Tether" is a single by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in 1986 on On-U Sound Records. Although the record states otherwise, the B-side is actually the Fats Comet song "King of the Beat".
"Ticking Time Bomb" is a single by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in March 1989 on World Records.
Tackhead Sound Crash is a remix album by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead. It was released on November 13, 2006 on Beat and On-U Sound 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.
Strange Parcels was an industrial hip-hop group, formed in 1991. The nucleus was guitarist Skip McDonald, drummer Keith LeBlanc and bassist Doug Wimbish. The group also enlisted the aid of numerous guest musicians, including Mark Stewart, Bim Sherman, Jesse Rae, Talvin Singh and Basil Clarke.
If You Want Loyalty Buy a Dog is the seventh album by Little Axe, released on October 24, 2011 by On-U Sound. It was the first album Skip McDonald produced without the aid of fellow Tackhead members Keith LeBlanc and Doug Wimbish.
The discography of industrial hip-hop group Tackhead consists of four studio albums, four compilation albums, twelve singles and one remix album.
"No Sell Out" is a hip hop piece composed by American drummer Keith LeBlanc and credited to Malcolm X, released in November 1983 on Tommy Boy Records. It marked one of the earliest usages of sample-based composition in popular music as well as being the first hip hop song to use Malcolm X's voice for artistic and political reasons.
"The Game (You'll Never Walk Alone)" is a single by the industrial hip-hop group Tackhead, released in 1987 on 4th & B'way Records.
The English Disease is the only album by the Barmy Army, a moniker for British producer Adrian Sherwood. Released in October 1989 through the musician's label On-U Sound Records, it features bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald from Tackhead, whom Barmy Army are sometimes described as an alias of, and drummer Style Scott among other musicians and contributors.
"Human Nature" is a song performed and written by English singer and record producer Gary Clail. It is produced by Adrian Sherwood and features Lana Pellay on backing vocals. Released in 1991 by Perfecto and RCA as the first single from Clail's 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.
