As long as there has been reggae music there has been reggae in Britain. The British reggae scene has played an integral part in the growth of Reggae Music. However, as the reggae genre had to fight for exposure and acceptance in its formative years, British reggae had its own battle to be accepted as authentic reggae even amongst the reggae loving community.
This was because the reggae sound was driven by the artists and producers from Jamaica who believed that authentic reggae could only be made by Jamaican musicians. However, one of the British reggae bands aiming to prove this assumption wrong was the Ruff Cutt Band.
The foundation was a band called The Undivided Roots which developed into a superb outfit, capable of reproducing authentic reggae equal to Jamaican based
musicians. Their work soon came to the attention of CSA Records, who released their first single, the self-produced, True Love, penned by Antonio Phillips and recorded at Ruff Cutt studio. They had a
UK Top 40 hit in 1986 with Party Night as their reputation grew.
However, after the departure, for a solo career by then lead singer Don Campbell, the Undivided Roots Band metamorphosised into the Ruff Cutt
band.
As reggae grew in popularity Jamaican reggae artists saw the UK as a new market and began to tour. However, UK promotors didn't want to bear the additional cost of bringing Jamaican backing bands over to the UK so they used the most authentic-sounding reggae outfits available and Ruff Cutt was one of the best the UK had to offer.
Ruff Cutt began to concentrate on backing touring artists and this gave them more exposure and also enabled them to build relationships with these artists which led to collaborations.
“Ruff Cutt is more then just a band, a studio or a record label; it’s an organisation…”
Ruff Cutt started to produce and record several of the artistes they were working with on their Ruff Cutt label. The needs of the large population of singers, musicians and producers led them to upgrade their studio to help meet demand.
Ruff Cutt Records has had several number one UK hits. Including Beres Hammond, (Say Thank You)', Mykal Rose (Last chance), Gregory Isaacs, Glen Washington, (Give Jah Praise Everyday) Don Ricardo,(First to Know) and Nereus Joseph (You Can Keep Loving Me). As well as success with Don Campbell and Jazzwad, one of their original protégés.
With the rise in popularity of dub music, (see my post Is DUB Music the Next EDM) Ruff Cutt Records have their own offering Ruff Cutt Dub album 1.
The album kicks off with the classic Studio 1 Star riddim but with a twist as the tempo is increased and it drops inna steppers style. The dub is kept interesting with plenty of the original instrumentation with a little snippet of Richi Dan vocals towards the end. It is not packed full of audio effects so has a nice balance.
The steppers tempo continues when Ruff Cutt meets the Revolutionaries on their classic Bionic Man riddim with Bubblers on the mix in true dubwise style and keeping the interest high with a good selection of effects that enhance the groove.
2. Slow Down Dub 04:17
3. Neighbourhood Dub 04:17
4. Live and Dub 03:56
5. Hurting 03:40
6. Born Inna Dub 04:09
7. Cornershop Dub 04:04