Bovell began his musical career in the early 1970's as a member of Matumbi, one of the first British reggae bands. He was sentenced to three years under false charges, but got out in six months and resumed his music career in time for the "punky reggae party" and Rock Against Racism.
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“I had so many different projects that I was involved with, to get them out there at the same time I couldn’t have put Dennis Bovell on all of them. So I made up several different stage names,” he explained in a recent Bandcamp interview. His aliases included Blackbeard, The Dub Band, African Stone, and The 4th Street Orchestra. Bovell's Dub Band backed Linton Kwesi Johnson in the studio and on stage throughout LKJ's recording career.
In 1979, Dennis Bovell produced the massively influential debut albums by The Slits and The Pop Group, and early 80's singles for Factory, Rough Trade, Y Records, and other indie labels. Major label work followed for Garland Jeffreys, Bananarama, Orange Juice and others. Bovell became known worldwide: during the 80's he produced the Swedish artists Perfekt Alibi and Giant Steppers, as well as Norway's Tredi Tilstand, Israel's Avi Matos, and Liberian singer Miatta Fahnbulleh.
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In his Baker's Dozen feature for The Quietus, Bovell talks about his formative musical influences, as well as some of the significant records that he worked on and his sense of "kinship" with punks. "We were both facing the same pressures, the same attacks. We were socially in the same bag - at the bottom of the ladder."
Bovell At The Controls volume 1 features production and remixes from 1978-1982, and volume 2 covers the rest of the 80's (plus Vic Godard's 1993 single Won't Look Back). There's a bit of cod reggae as well as dub, post-punk and dance music. Speaking of the former, please also check out my cod reggae compilations DIY Dub (on Jonderblog) and Sleeping In Hammersmith Palais (courtesy of Nothin' Says Somethin').
