Chapter 36: As The Dubs, They Disappear
In which I pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses with the help of the Ragga Twins.
Hello! Apologies once again for going AWOL in November. I now have a backlog of half-finished posts which were all vying for the Chapter 36 position. One of which lamented the loss of (former failed Tory councillor) Tim Davie from the BBC for apparently being too left wing, and another took a look back at London Posse’s Gangster Chronicle LP on the 35th anniversary of its release. I also began writing about the first record I bought with my own (pocket)money back in 1985, but there’s been so much everyday stuff (and a couple of fun jobs) to contend with that they’re all festering in my drafts section. I’ll endeavour to finish them off as soon as I can, so expect a deluge of Dubstacking as December progresses.
Another chapter I had planned was a tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses who we lost back in November, but my main focus was a mix that pieces together the influences which led to ‘Fools Gold’. It was perhaps a little ambitious considering my lack of spare time, but following this week’s episode of The Rough Guide To Rongorongoland when my old mates the Ragga Twins joined me for a chat at Soho Radio, I realised I had something quite special to share in Mani’s honour…
It might be a little disingenuous of me to say I’m a Stone Roses fan. A few years back I committed career suicide live on BBC’s Round Table when I admitted to Steve Lamacq that I’d never heard their debut album (or Nevermind by Nirvana) in full. I was soon lambasted on Twitter by angry, sallow-faced men, beside themselves that someone so bereft of musical know how should be given a platform on 6 Music to air their misguided opinions; I gave full marks to ‘Kong’ by Neneh Cherry, but I think I was a bit mean about a band called The Touts.
Back at home, while dealing with the fall out—OK, laughing at angry tweets from grown men in Gola trainers—I decided to rectify the situation and listen to the album in full. Turned out I knew all but a few tracks including the blink and you’ll miss it skit ‘Elizabeth My Dear’ and the supremely funky ‘Shoot You Down’ which reminded me that Mani and Reni could be a pretty formidable rhythm section, and perhaps if I’d heard it at the time, ‘Fools Gold’ wouldn’t be the solitary Roses release on my shelves.
It’s not all my cup of tea, or course, but Mani’s gorgeous melodic basslines shine through on much of it, so when the Ragga Twins agreed to join me on my radio show the other day, another light bulb lit up above my jumbled head.
With my editing cap on, I set about dubbing up the rhythm section on ‘Waterfall’, a song with more than a subtle skank about it, and you could happily bogle to Reni’s beats, if that’s your thing. I had a strong feeling the Twins could deliver some of their microphone magic to the Waterfall rhythm, which I’m happy to announce they did, with gusto.
Listening back to the show, the mic levels were very high, and the backing almost inaudible in places, so I’ve extracted Flinty and Deman’s vocals, and relaid them over my Waterfall edit, which you can now download below the clip of the Twins in action. And for my full subscribers, there’s a bonus dub mix behind the paywall…
