Great Lost Albums
Gary Clail & On-U Sound System
End of the Century Party (On-U Sound, 1990)
The freshest forgotten albums of yesteryear. Not the usual fawned over suspects (usually due for re-release and consequent advertising revenue) but albums that ‘net-trawlers and second-hand shop aficionados may come across and should snap up NOW…
Guy Oddy recommends…
Do you remember the late ‘80s? Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Loadsamoney, Britain ruled the waves again after the Falklands War! Now think a bit harder. Remember an autocratic, right-wing government, unemployment, nuclear paranoia, privatisation mania and inner cities awash with heroin. Out of this amalgam came the On-U Sound System with its sound of resistance, keeping the flag flying between the politically-charged agit-pop of the early eighties indie and post-punk scenes and the anarchist, angry rave sounds from the likes of the Spiral Tribe in the early nineties.
It is difficult to adequately describe the profound influence of Adrian Sherwood and the On-U cast of thousands on contemporary music, from dub, techno and drum and bass, to any number of new waves of punk, electro and ambient. Obsessed by reggae, Sherwood’s early sound took the genre off on new tangents, twisting it into soundscapes that drew inspiration from Lee Perry’s trippy collages and King Tubby’s sonic depth charges, often polishing things with metallic sheets of noise and rounding them off with distorted thunder.
Adrian Sherwood
On-U Sound Records was formed in 1980 and was soon setting new standards of dub production. Sherwood produced a vast army of reggae, funk and rock artists, including: New Age Steppers, Mark Stewart and the Mafia, African Head Charge and the mighty Dub Syndicate. In addition, his live mixes for these bands and visiting reggae royalty, like Prince Far-I and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, were nothing short of magnificent. All this and the first (and possibly only) decent football songs to be laid down on vinyl, courtesy of the Barmy Army!
During the mid ‘80s, Gary Clail (the self-styled “scaffolder from Bristol”!) became a regular warm-up for On-U Sound System parties with his “On-U Sound in the area!” crowd calls. Gary’s real impact, however, was to introduce and roadtest new On-U rhythms and tunes, and to recycle old favourites with his chants and toasting. He made his first vinyl appearance in October 1985, on the spectacular ‘Half Cut for Confidence’. The backing musicians were essentially Tackhead (who had previously been known as hip hop pioneers, the Sugarhill Gang), but were credited as The Occult Technology of Power. The following year, Gary released ‘Hard Left’ in his own right and ‘Reality’ as Tackhead’s featured vocalist. ‘End of the Century Party’, his first proper album, was released in 1990 and was a follow-up to ‘Tackhead Tape Time’, which was basically a greatest hits compilation, including versions of all of Gary’s contributions to their catalogue.
Gary Clail
‘Beef’, a duet with reggae legend Bim Sherman, opens ‘End of the Century Party’. Although pre-dating the BSE crisis in the UK, it nevertheless sounded a prescient warning on the dangers and morality of consuming the end products of the factory-farming industry. It also featured ex-PiL men Keith Levene and Jah Wobble, who played and shared a co-credit on the track. As well as this recorded collaboration, they also played live with On-U Sound that Autumn to rave reviews. It was the first and last time that they would play together since leaving John Lydon’s mob.
‘Two Thieves and a Liar’ is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the set, with a relentless bass line, incisive sample about the wickedness at work within the City of London (“…I’ve never seen such dishonesty and greed…”) and Bim Sherman’s crooning contrasting with Gary’s strident chanting. The style is pure fire and brimstone.
Continuing Gary’s long-running theme of delivering contemporary, socially-conscious lyrics, ‘Privatise the Air (parts 1 and 2)’ was particularly hard-hitting. The track lifted the rhythm from Barmy Army’s ‘Stadium Rock’ and saw Gary come as near as he got to a genuine JA early ‘80s toasting style. The ‘Rat Race’, ‘Rave On’, ‘House Building’ triptych had a totally different sound, sampling the contemporary rave sounds that were then terrorising middle England. While the final track, ‘A Man’s Place on Earth’, found Gary collaborating again with Keith Levene, and spitting out the refrain, “Poverty’s the crime, not what you have to do to get out of it”.
The U-ON Sound System ‘family’
Gary Clail’s presence on the On-U Sound scene brought a new feeling of energy to the live gigs and, although his vocal styling can be objectively described as limited and his lyrics sometimes trite, he certainly produced gold for these tunes and the earlier Tackhead singles. In fact, ‘End of the Century Party’ distilled all the best elements of the On-U sound and created the scene’s most perfect statement. Unfortunately, it didn’t get its deserved recognition and despite ‘Beef’ appearing on a number of radio play-lists, it soon disappeared out of the public gaze.
After ‘End of the Century Party’, Clail went on to release material through Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. This union was to result in a Top of the Pops appearance, when the single ‘Human Nature’ reached number ten in the charts. However, while Gary’s time at Perfecto brought him his biggest commercial success, helped in no small part by the remixing talents of Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne, the partnership was to be short-lived. While 1991’s ‘Emotional Hooligan’ album sold well, a combination of Clail’s unrealistic belief that he was now a fully-fledged pop star, coupled with a lack of new musical direction and his record company’s increasing lack of interest in promoting him, saw an acrimonious parting in 1993. In particular, the almost complete lack of promotion of the ‘Dreamstealers’ album, left a bitter taste in the mouths of both Clail and Adrian Sherwood.
‘Dreamstealers’ album
A new deal was struck with French label, Yelen Musiques, for 1995’s ‘Keep the Faith’ album. It featured more of Clail’s lambasts against the injustices of the world, but largely passed unnoticed, before he slipped quietly out of the music scene in the late ‘90s, to run a guest-house in Penzance.
