The Hall of Legends - The Dub Syndicate: Transmission 67, 2013 October 19

We herewith induct The Dub Syndicate into the BOMBAST Hall of Legends, where they join A.R.Kane, Little Annie, Dif Juz, Prince Far I, Coil [part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4], Billy Childish, Stereolab [charter members], and The Fall [charter members]. Here is a hastily-assembled program, thrown together on account of DJ Helen Stride's sudden illness. As I mention during the show, it's been a while since I've done this sort of thing. The madness of this past summer exhausted my "reserve" of tunes, at least those which had been sorted into "coherent" programs [LOL-ed.]. The Dub Syndicate are definitely Hall-worthy and were very much in the proverbial pipeline for induction. It was a good night for dub--when is it not?--so when opportunity knocked, I opened the door.

I'ma go off on a tangent for a sec., but I'll return to the point soon enough. I don't know if this "Arthur Parker" fellow who wrote the liner notes for Lonely Is An Eyesore was really Tom Friedman in disguise, but sure enough, he deploys a fictional "cab driver" to share this bit of wisdom: "The only incandescent pearls of light within a mile radius of the Cocteau Twins...are in their music. Not your gob, mine, or anyone else's." I was recently reminded by Rudy Tambala that this is true of any great band. SO--getting back on topic--I have nothing to say regarding The Dub Syndicate's music that the music can't tell you itself. I'm happy to reiterate, perhaps needlessly, that L.V. "Style" Scott is an absolute monster drummer, and that I can't think of any percussionist-led bands that are even in The Dub Syndicate's league. [Sorry, Genesis and Rush fans.] Come to think of it, African Head Charge is close at hand, but that's another program for another day.

Anyway, my life would be much emptier had I not stumbled upon Tunes From the Missing Channel in my local record store, during my first term at college. "Friend of Bombast" Mr. D will attest that we used to blast "Ravi Shankar" and "The Show is Coming" from our dorm room, much to the consternation of the Eddie Money and Van Halen fans living close by. When I attend a party, I usually arrive late, and this case is no exception: TFTMC was my first On-U Sound record, and what a gateway it proved to be. The Pounding System seemed like ancient history then, but still sounds like the future now. As do the other Dub Syndicate records. So much for not saying anything.

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I've figured out something about the Hall of Legends. Would you like to know what that is? Of course you would. It struck me, around the time of our last induction, that we had played about 800 different musical acts on the program, and that we had inducted 8 acts into the Hall. That seems to me a good ratio. And here we are, on our ninth induction, having played about 900 different musical acts at this point. [If we're not careful, we'll break the 1000-act barrier before the show's first birthday--how great does that "anti-rotation policy" look now?] Bill James has observed that roughly 1 out of every 10 plate appearances in the history of Major League Baseball have been taken by a Hall of Fame player, so let no one accuse us of having low standards. At any rate, doing an induction special at or around the time we pass each of these milestones feels about right. Bombast: a program for the musical 1%.

Also--I was excited to receive, around the time of our last induction, our first listener nomination for the Hall of Legends. How awesome is that? Very awesome IMO. I won't give it away, but let's just say the label which released this act's records begins with "4" and ends with "AD." And not one of the obvious choices either. Anyway, that is a thing that will happen sooner or later--probably later, as I am hoping to digest this book before going down that path again, and I don't want to be pigeonholed as "that guy" who rhapsodizes about all "those bands." We are mostly a "current music" program, after all.

That said, Dub Syndicate, you're still going, right? Feel free to swing through Ithaca, anytime.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 October 19, 2000-2200:

1. "Train to Doomsville" | Lee Perry & Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 2 | On-U Sound - Nettwerk
2. "Humourless Journalist Works to Rules" | The Dub Syndicate | The Pounding System | On-U Sound
3. "10K at 0 VU - 60Hz - Mind Boggles!" | The Dub Syndicate | The Pounding System | On-U Sound
4. "Stoned Immaculate" | The Dub Syndicate | Stoned Immaculate | On-U Sound
5. "Lighthouse" | The Dub Syndicate | Night Train | Industrie Discografiche Lacerba
6. "Chapter 4" | The Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 4 | On-U Sound
7. "The Precinct of Sound" | The Dub Syndicate | Classic Selection Volume 2 | On-U Sound
8. "African Landing" | The Dub Syndicate | Murder Tone | On-U Sound
9. "Haunting Ground" | The Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 2 | On-U Sound - Nettwerk
10. "Ravi Shankar" | The Dub Syndicate | Live At The T + C - 1991 | On-U Sound
11. "93 Struggle" | The Dub Syndicate | Echomania | On-U Sound
12. "Shout It Out" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound
13. "The Show Is Coming" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
14. "Can't Stop Dancing" | The Dub Syndicate | Classic Selection Volume 2 | On-U Sound
15. "Mafia" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound
16. "Man of Mystery" | Dr. Pablo & The Dub Syndicate | North of the River Thames | On-U Sound
17. "Dr. Who?" | Dr. Pablo & The Dub Syndicate | North of the River Thames | On-U Sound
18. "Vibrate On" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | From My Secret Laboratory | Island Jamaica
19. "Over Board" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
20. "Forever More" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
21. "2001 Love" | The Dub Syndicate | Echomania | On-U Sound
22. "I'm the Man for You Baby" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound

next time: shutting [TF] up. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis