''Bass Culture'' is an album by dub poet

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His p ...

, released in 1980 on the Island Records label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell (credited as Blackbeard). Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson and Webster Johnson were members of Matumbi. The track "Reggae fi Peach" laments the death of

Blair Peach Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...

, an activist who was killed in London during a clash with police officers while protesting with the

Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...

against a

British National Front The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gai ...

meeting in 1979.

Track listing

All tracks written by Linton Kwesi Johnson # "Bass Culture" – 6:04 # "Street 66" – 3:43 # "Reggae fi Peach" – 3:09 # "Di Black Petty Booshwah" – 3:36 # "Inglan Is a Bitch" – 5:26 # "Loraine" – 4:08 # "Reggae Sounds" – 3:09 # "Two Sides of Silence" – 2:13

Personnel

*Linton Kwesi Johnson – vocals *Floyd Lawson (tracks: 1, 6), Vivian Weathers (tracks: 2–5, 7–8) – bass *Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson (tracks: 1, 3–8), Winston Curniffe (track: 2) – drums, percussion *

John Kpiaye John Ogetti Kpiaye (born 1948) is a reggae session and live guitarist.Larkin, Colin (1998) "John Kpiaye" in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , pp. 160-161 He was a member of The Cats who had a No. 48 UK hit with "Swan Lake", a ...

– guitar *Dennis Bovell, Webster Johnson – keyboards *

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The SpecialsStrong, ...

, Henry "Buttons" Tenyue – flugelhorn, trumpet * Julio Finn – harmonica *Clinton Bailey, Everald "Fari" Forrest – percussion *James Danton – alto saxophone *Henry "Buttons" Tenyue – tenor saxophone *

Rico The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

– trombone ;Technical *Dennis Bovell – engineer, mixing *John Caffrey, Mark Angelo Lusardi – engineer * Dennis Morris – sleeve concept and design

References

{{Authority control Island Records albums 1980 albums Linton Kwesi Johnson albums