02/08/2019: “Beautiful Dub” by Tappa Zukie

Although reggae has a reputation for being very slow and relaxing, it has usually tended to be dance music, played on huge soundsystems very loudly.

A song like this really brings out the natural movement in reggae, with an enthusiastic drum part, bouncing piano skank, and trademark thick bassline.

The horns and flute provide catchy melodic flourishes too, alongside a dubby little guitar which picks away with muted abandon.

His mastery of the mix is evident here too, emphasising different elements at different times while layering up a busy rhythm section.

Tappa Zukie is one of the big dub producers, achieving real success in the 1970s with his versions of roots tunes. Although he was good at toasting too, his main talent was always behind the controls.

“Beautiful Dub” was released in 1976 on the album Tappa Zukie In Dub, which was mainly a dub album of his vocal M.P.L.A. However, this is a dub of “Rastaman Come From Zion/ Rastaman Say” by Junior Ross, released in the same year.

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