A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Fact Magazine HQ to park up on their couch and interview UK reggae legend David Rodigan MBE. With confirmation only coming in the night before, I rocked up sleep-addled, ill prepared, and caught off guard by Rodigan’s manager discussing an interview brief I knew nothing about, barely minutes before the cameras rolled.
Regardless we had a great chat – Dave’s an eloquent and insightful guy with decades of experience and the stories to show for it, and I’m glad we managed to touch on his lesser known acting career, even if the bit about his early roles in a couple of salubrious brit-sex-comedies didn’t make the cut. There’s no dirt here, they’re no raunchier than your average Carry On film and he was happy to chat about them, I guess there was just too much info to edit into 3 bite-size video clips which you can now watch below…
With vinyl flying off the shelves, some of you have been asking whether my Incredible remix will be getting a digital release, and the answer this week is, yes! Grab yours today via iTunes, Juno, Amazon and various other download stores.
Speaking of downloads, Superteng’s been riding up the Juno charts over the last week, topping the dub and drum & bass charts, and lingering around the breakbeat and dubstep top 10′s, even hitting number 9 on their overall sales chart for a brief moment which was nice. Anyway, if you still haven’t grabbed your copy, here’s the Juno link, or grab it direct from Tru Thoughts.
If you weren’t aware, I was invited by Trojan years ago to do a dub mix of Harry J’s Liquidator which since getting pressed on a limited 10″ has now been out of print for years so in honour of Harry J who sadly passed away last week, you can now grab an mp3 of my Liquid Rock Dub via the soundcloud link below, strictly limited of course so dawdle and don’t get none…
Lastly I couldn’t resist a Thatcher themed Skank Blog post so if you fancy a listen to a spiky dub rendition of Maggie’s Farm or some early UK rap action with more than a nod to the iron lady then go here now.
You know what they say, you wait endlessly for a Wrongtom production and then 2 come along at once. Ok, I’m sure no one’s ever said that but that’s exactly what’s happened today.
1st up, the 2nd single from In East London drops today. Superteng is our downbeat dancehall tribute to Prince Jammy, Dj Zinc and Muhammed Ali all at once. The digital only single comes complete with a bevvy of remixes including a Mo’Matic bouncing hip hop relick, Scoop, Alter Ego & Rico taking it to the club with some piano led dubstep and Benny Page’s big room DnB reworking of Jump + Move + Rock, and for those who already have the LP there’s the original instrumental and the extended version of the original which had to be cut down to fit on the album. Grab it direct from Tru Thoughts today!
The Superteng video’s also almost in the bag but in the meantime, if you’re still not familiar, here’s Steve Lamacq playing it on his BBC6 show a few weeks back…
Also out today (i think, the label’s a bit vague) is a remix I put together with the vocal assistance of Deemas when I was invited to take Mirrors into the dancehall. “Dip You (Wrongtom & Deemas J Do The Dip)” drops today on Loungin’ Recordings and you can grab it on 12″ or digi. Have a listen to the track in full…
You’re probably more than familiar with my General Levy remix by now but if not, Rodigan joined the party yesterday by dropping it on his BBC 1xtra show. Cop your copy of the 7″ before they sell out (again!) and have a listen below.
And finally, if you wanna listen to the Superteng & Incredible rhythms getting the version excursion treatment, here’s a mix I put together for John Kennedy’s Xfm show last week featuring Deemas J, Mark Professor (who’s poised to release his debut 7″ on my Rongorock label soon), General Levy, Roots Manuva and Marcia Griffiths all on mic duties…
If you’ve caught me playing out some time since last summer, you’ve probably already heard this but now thanks to the joint efforts of the nice people of Nice Up and the legends at Fashion Records you can take home a 7″ of my remix of General Levy’s iconic Incredible General.
For those not in the know, Incredible General started life as a dancehall track on The Wickeder General album from ’92, morphing into a jungle relick as Wikkeda!! and then topping the charts as Incredible with M-Beat at the controls a couple of years later.
Flash forward to 2012 and Fashion soon furnished me with the original a capella and the results can be heard below. In the shops on 7″ on March 25th with an equally wicked rework of Cutty Ranks’ As You See It by Daddy G’s mate Mr Benn, til then though…
I’ve got a super smashing treat for all Wrongtom Meets Deemas J fans here – for those of you who recognised the nod to a certain jungle classic on our LP track Superteng, you can now download the bootleg mix I’ve been playing out for the last few months from the link below, info to follow…
Wrongtom Meets Deemas J “Supersharpteng”
Here is a tried and tested bootleg that Wrongtom has been rocking dancefloors with – Deemas J’s “Superteng” a cappella reworked into DJ Zinc’s classic “Super Sharp Shooter” – and he has now decided to share it as a free download. Spread the love!
An official single release of Wrongtom Meets Deemas J’s original “Superteng” will follow soon.
The second single to be lifted from Wrongtom Meets Deemas J’s critically acclaimed album ‘In East London’, which came out on Tru Thoughts in September, this official single release will feature “Superteng” (Orginal, Instrumental and A Cappella cuts) plus remixes including a floor destroying Benny Page rework of first single “Jump + Move + Rock”.
More info on that soon! Meanwhile, enjoy rinsing “Super Sharp Teng”.
A slice of the praise for ‘In East London’:
• “Essential listening” – 4 STARS – MOJO
• “See how the seeds were sown for everything from Dizzee to James Blake” – BBC MUSIC
• “Perfect” – 4 STARS – Q
• “The strongest modern reggae set to emerge from the UK for many years” – THE WIRE
• “Pushing socio-political concerns to the fore in one instance…setting the party alight
• in the next…compelling” – CLASH
• “Good album, we’ll play more from that” – STEVE LAMACQ (BBC 6MUSIC)
• “Brilliant” – CERYS MATTHEWS (BBC 6MUSIC)
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Fact Magazine HQ to park up on their couch and interview UK reggae legend David Rodigan MBE. With confirmation only coming in the night before, I rocked up sleep-addled, ill prepared, and caught off guard by Rodigan’s manager discussing an interview brief I knew nothing about, barely minutes before the cameras rolled.
