dub

   From Rock Steady onwards, many Jamaican 45s (singles) contained an alternative version on the Bside. This ‘version’ would be a ‘dub’ recording, a remix of the A-side with the main vocal dubbed out and treated with special effects. Early dub was recorded on a two-track machine with the vocals on one channel and the band on the other. Dub was invented by record cutter Osbourne Ruddock, who began to cut out the band right after the introduction (leaving the vocals a capella), and then abruptly cutting out the vocals while simultaneously dropping the music back in, sometimes chopping off words or letting the tail end of a sentence echo into the distance. By the mid-1970s, companies had begun to release sneak previews of coming releases in dub form on acetates. These rare gems became known as ‘dubplates’.

   See also: black performance poets; Johnson, Linton Kwesi; reggae

   EUGENE LANGE