Prince Far I – Virgin Bim Sherman and Singers And Players – Danger
Bim Sherman – Revolution Bim Sherman – Too Much Workload
Creation Rebel – Independant Man Creation Rebel – Creation Rebel
London Underground – Strange Things / Conspiracy London Underground – Why Do Fat Men…?
A clutch of goodies from Adrian Sherwood’s ONU Sound label. Absolutely huge later on in the 1980’s with a string of great LP’s which were appreciated by B-Boys, Rastas and Punk / Hippy crossover types alike. The list of collaborators on the recordings from this label included artists, Ari Up, Mark Stewart, Jah Woosh, Judy Nylon, Keith LeBlanc, Annie Anxiety, Prince Far I, Ashanti Roy, Jah Wobble, Bim Sherman, Keith Levine and members of the Roots Radics.
These, the first four 10″ ‘disco plates’ were available in very limited editions. The first track of the first release is a rant by Prince Far I slagging off Richard Branson for the Front-line Records fiasco in the late 1970’s. Would have been a pretty one sided fight if Prince Far I and Branson had met after Far I was ripped off! Bim Sherman and Creation Rebel releases are of the highest quality as anyone knowing anything about these artists would expect. The fourth release by London Underground, a band fronted by Pete Holdsworth (who runs the excellent Pressure Sounds Record label nowadays) who, with Adrian Sherwood himself, took a huge load of inspiration in reggae as a youth, was a companion of The Clash and visitor to Gunter Grove in Chelsea, John Lydon’s party house way back in the 1970’s. Real Dread At The Controls types! You can hear a slight PIL / Pop Group thing going on in the tracks on the London Underground 10″. All these artists contributed to further releases on ONU Sound, Creation Rebel, and London Undergound had a couple of full length LP’s, Bim had only the one, but he was a main figure on the four Singers And Players LP’s released. Try to check out the releases on ONU sound and Pressure Sounds labels from Amazon or local stores, it is all good.
All these tracks are dedicated to Paul Wilson, below left with Val Puppy, brother Mark Wilson and Nicky Puppy. Paul who is now based out west in beautiful Glastonbury, is celebrating his birthday this weekend.
john
February 9, 2008 at 11:26 pmthanks for more good stuff,how about tackhead and/or dub syndicate?
all my onu sound albums were stolen along with most of my record collection sometime ago .
Nic
February 10, 2008 at 12:00 pmGreat stuff, Pengy!
I’ve been wanting to get hold of the London Underground 10″…
On U sound were defineitely inspirational: I remember all kinds of people loving them back in the 80’s, particularly African Headcharge…
Funnily enough, we were having a shindig last night and blasted ‘Starship Africa’ by Creation Rebel…
(We fitted in the second Discharge single as well ;), before ‘Psychedelic Jungle’)…
I saw some great On U concerts in the 1980’s – including a nice one where they were joined by Wobble and Levine: cracking!
Paul Wilson
February 10, 2008 at 9:43 pmYou could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I read that dedication, so yeah, nice one 🙂
I only saw On-U sound once or twice in the early 90’s and the sound was so loud that it shook my pint right out of my hand. lol
Farmer Glitch
February 11, 2008 at 6:18 pmNice nice post – Sherwood is mixing it up in Bristol this Friday – lucky enough to have caught him at the excellent Venn festival 2 years back, mixing up live sound for the mighty Mark Stewart and Mafia – got a tape if you fancy a listen – sterling stuff !!
David Jones.
August 24, 2010 at 1:31 pmthose tackhead gigs in the 80s esp; the ones at t/c/ kentish town were legendary. did any one go see lee perry and dub syndicate perform the debut time bomb x devil dead at the town and country club. there was at least 12 – 14 singers+players+dancers on the stage with him. amazing gig one Ill allways cherish in me memory bank. just caught adrian and little roy at the one love festival, again wicked set. big up to adrian and the banner around the controls spiritualy sound. david jones.