Illegal Foreign Object

When reggae dub’s most exalted cosmic being, Lee “Scratch” Perry, returned home in 2021 following an 85-year stay with us here on Earth, he left behind a rarely-walked map to the outer outreaches of time and space for those of us groovy enough to follow it.

Lee “Scratch” Perry’s influence on music is astounding. When you wade through the dub, pop, reggae, rock, R&B, or jazz waters, you must understand that the breadth of his influence touched everything. He was a powerhouse and an innovator — the Black Ark Noah — the producer. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards once called him, “the Salvador Dali of music”.

In 1976, Perry was at the helm for one of reggae’s finest moments: the Upsetters’ Super Ape. The Upsetters, Perry’s in-house band, was comprised of a wide range of talented musicians, many of whom worked with other legendary reggae artists like Peter Tosh (trumpet player Bobby Ellis, percussionist “Skully” Simms, and saxophonist Richard Hall), Burning Spear (saxophonist Herman Marquis), and Junior Murvin (bassist Boris Gardiner). The band, named after Perry’s nickname “the upsetter” (a mocking dig at former boss and fellow record producer Coxsone Dodd, with whom Perry had a falling out), had made a career out of backing other artists, like Bob Marley and the Wailers on their 2nd and 3rd albums, 1970s Soul Rebels and the 1971 release Soul Revolution II. The band had also recorded several albums under its own name, and when Perry hit it big with Island Records (thanks to the Max Romeo track “War In A Babylon”), the Upsetters positioned itself for the furthest global reach it had ever known. Having played on countless singles and albums, the members of the Upsetters were at their absolute creative apex for Super Ape. It is a groovy, seamless record — its sound floats through the air like a feather dancing in the persistent breeze. Bathed in menace and murkiness (trademarks of Perry’s Black Ark sound), Super Ape delivers unto the listener the Upsetters at its deconstructed dubbiness.

Besides his band and the aforementioned Bob Marley, Perry’s Black Ark Studios was home to vital recording sessions from the Clash, Augustus Pablo, Junior Murvin, Paul McCartney, Mighty Diamonds, the Congos, King Tubby, and Robert Palmer. By 1979, however, the mood around the studio had gotten decidedly evil. At the end of his rope with many of the people around him (some of them rumored to have been of the gangster variety), Perry covered every square inch of the studio in permanent marker writings, then burned it to the ground to cleanse it of “unclean spirits”. Soon after, he left Jamaica for Europe.

Years after the fire, Perry was asked why he started the blaze. “Too much stress in Jamaica, all the time,” he said. “Everybody want money, everybody want paid. Everyone got problem and want me to solve their problem. Nobody gave me anything; people just took everything. Everybody take this and take that. The atmosphere in the Black Ark studio was changing; it wasn’t like it used to be. Then I decided to make a sacrifice as the energy wasn’t good anymore.”

No one in the history of reggae (or any of its subgenres) has ever been more committed to being an individual than Lee “Scratch” Perry. The man buried microphones beneath the base of palm trees, then slapped rhythmically on the trunks to acquire a kick drum sound no one else had. He recorded and manipulated everyday sounds such as breaking glass, torrential downpours, and crying children. He was a genius of sound exploration. He was also a con man and a conqueror, a lunatic and a self-proclaimed extension of God, a funky scientist, an obsessive-compulsive genius, and once said of himself: “The Upsetter is a two-edged sword. I upset to bring them up, but I also upset to destroy them!” His was a mad brilliance, but it was brilliance all the same.

Track List:

1. Zion’s Blood 10/10
2. Croaking Lizard (w/ Prince Jazzbo) 9/10
3. Black Vest 8/10
4. Underground 7/10
5. Curly Dub 8/10
6. Dread Lion 10/10
7. Three In One 8/10
8. Patience 8/10
9. Dub Along 8/10
10. Super Ape 10/10
11. Rastaman Shuffle 9/10
12. Magic Touch 9/10
13. Corn Fish Dub 9/10

Grade: 87