Robert Blackwood, also known as Ranking Dread, was raised in the impoverished ghettos of Tivoli and Trenchtown alongside Tappa Zukie. They engaged in illegal activities as rude boys and operated a sound system. During his rise to fame, he was implicated in the shooting of a police officer, resulting in his imprisonment. After escaping custody, he lived the remainder of his life as a fugitive. Ranking Dread passed away while incarcerated in Jamaica in 1996.
After the reissue of the original LP on CD in 2004 by then US-based Silver Kamel Audio (SKA), Italy-based Real Rock Records has now released a remastered version of the album on vinyl with a different track order. The original LP had King Tubby alongside Sly & Robbie, the riddim twins, on the album’s first five tracks, while the five tracks featuring Scientist along with the Roots Radics were included the B-side. Here’s it’s a bit mingled up.
In 1982, Tubby’s involvement as mixing engineer was quite limited, whereas Scientist emerged victorious with a plethora of dub releases that received widespread acclaim. The distinction between the two is evident here, as Scientist’s remixes outshine those of his mentor in numerous aspects. The opening drum sequence of Give Them Dub is truly wicked! The track 19000 Dub starts off with a spoken intro and classic rewind, before Ranking Dread’s vocal snippets come in to elevate the dub sound. Yes Yes Dub is the crucial dub version of the Dawn Penn song No No No, complete with the well-known horn riff, while Dub It On Yah, is the dub rendition of the captivating and enchanting Pick Up The Pieces riddim. In between these Scientist dubbed up versions is Dub Land, a typical 1970s dub workout by King Tubby. No More Waiting takes on a completely different sound, almost being instrumental, as it transforms Bob Marley’s Waiting In Vain riddim. And then there’s aso Bom Dub, the acclaimed dub version of Ranking Dread’s 1981 smash hit Fattie Boom Boom, which rounds off this interesting set.