Dubmones – Dubmones

The Ramones were punks before punk rock was even invented. With their catchy, sing-along tunes, iconic hair styles and outfits, Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy rewrote rock history and are now, as part of the first wave of US punk, firmly considered part of the subcultural world heritage. In the DUB-cultural world, on the other hand, their footprint has been pretty slim, particularly if one considers their stomping, three-chord songs, instantly recognizable chants (“Gabba gabba hey!”) and laconic humour. There are a few reggae and Latin versions of their songs online, but never before have the Ramones been honoured with an entire album in early reggae style…until now, bang on time for the band’s 50th anniversary in 2024.

The label Echo Beach, a bit of a specialist for missions such as these with a string of releases including “Bad Brains in Dub”, “Dubby Stardust”, got together with André Meyer (production, bass) and Manougazou (production, guitar). Both were part of the 2008 Echo Beach New Wave/Dub project DubXanne and were involved in the production and subsequent live shows. Also back in the team is keyboarder and DubXanne mastermind Guido Craveiro, who plays Hammond organ and piano on half of the tracks. The other two additions to the core team are singer and all-round instrumentalist Sebastian Sturm and drummer Raul Pfeffer.

Together they homed in on the 11 most iconic Ramones three-minute-singalongs, including “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “I Wanna Be Sedated”, “Pet Sematary” and “Rock’n’Roll Highschool”, and treated them to a reggae make-over. The whole process was kicked off by a slightly off-beat question (reggae music does that to you): What if Joey, Johnny, Tommy and Dee Dee had gotten together not in NYC, but in Kingston? And then stepped up to the mic alongside local singing and deejay greats?

In musical terms the answer is surprisingly plausible and the line-up is sensational, even for a label like Echo Beach with its unrivalled connections. From up-and-coming youngsters to living legends, everyone is included, albeit with a focus on the elder statemen and stateswomen: the vast majority of the guests are over 60 and look back on deeply impressive careers! The artists come from Jamaica, the USA, the UK and Germany. All contributed one or two songs, and all of them tackle the songs in pairs with infectiously good humour, transforming legendary punk rock bangers into unpredictable dub tracks. Ramones’ classics such as “Blitzkrieg Bop” with its trademark battle cry “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!”, “Sheena Is A Punkrocker” and “The KKK Took My Baby Away” are slowed down and underpinned with roots and rocksteady riddims. It almost goes without saying that the lyrics have been adapted to everyday Jamaican life with a great deal of fun and creativity. And amidst all the icons of early reggae, the Ramones also make an appearance: in the opening track “Pinhead”, for example, we learn that the Ramones did actually listen to reggae and had even been planning a reggae album.

The following sing and toast – in order of their appearance:

Sebastian Sturm has been an integral part of the European reggae scene since his third album “Get Up and Going”; he also provides backing vocals and additional keyboard and guitar tracks.

Susan Cadogan is the first Jamaican reggae legend on “Blitzkrieg Bop”. She recorded her first album with Lee “Scratch” Perry. Since then, she has alternated between singles successes in the UK (“Hurt so Good”), concert stages and her job as a librarian.

Welton Irie – Jamaican deejay veteran – is represented on a bunch of singles and albums for and with Sylford Walker, Joe Gibbs and Coxsone Dodd. After working as a selector for Jamaican Gemini Sound for a while, he has been active on the microphone again since the mid-2000s.

Alpheus was born in England as the son of Jamaican immigrants. After moving to New York, the venerable Coxsone Dodd took him under his wing and he later entered into a productive partnership with producer Robert Sanchez. Since then, the man has earned a reputation as a stage luminary for ska, rocksteady and reggae.

Ranking Joe absorbed sound system culture from a very early age: his father ran a sound system, he himself went to school with Earl Sixteen and U Brown. Joe first recorded for Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One, later also for Greensleeves, Trojan, Ariwa, as well as with Sly & Robbie and Joe Gibbs, among others.

Just like Welton Irie, Prince Alla was also given a second career thanks to a compilation on the “Blood & Fire” label. Originally a signer with the vocal group The Leaders, thanks to UK greats such as Jah Shaka and the band Jah Warrior, his mystically deep vocals are still present today.

 As previously mentioned, U Brown was a schoolmate of Ranking Joe and comes from the same deejay generation. In Jamaica he recorded for Duke Reid, Yabby You and Bunny Lee, among others, and since the beginning of the 80s has been touring in the UK, including as a vocalist for Jah Warrior.

British singer Shniece is the youngest in this circle: as a singer/songwriter and performer, she is at home in all styles between reggae and street soul and has recorded versions of Kraftwerk’s “Das Model” and Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” with Prince Fatty and Horseman, among others.

After decades in the background, Horseman has recently stepped into the limelight as a vocalist. Following a series of singles in collaboration with Prince Fatty and Holly Cook on Mr Bongo, his album “Dawn of the Dread” was released there in 2014. With the Dubmones, he also plays drums and percussion on the songs “Pinhead” and “I Wanna Be Sedated”.

With the combination of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, we go back a little further in Jamaican music history. The vocal duo Keith Rowe and Phillip Texas Dixon had their first hits as Keith & Tex in 1967 for Chris Blackwell’s Island label with “Stop That Train” and “Tonight”.

With Dennis Alcapone, we have finally reached reggae royalty. As one of the first spoken-song deejays ever, he is considered the grandfather of all singjays. His heyday, with a (deejay) record number of No.1 singles and albums for Studio One and Trojan, among others, was between 1971 and 1977, since then he has been a guest on On-U Sound and Ariwa productions, among many others.

Jr Thomas alias Thomas McDowell comes from Minneapolis and fronted the band The Volcanos, among others. With producer Brian Dixon, the band cultivates a repertoire of historic reggae and rocksteady from the “Golden Years” of the Jamaican music industry.

UK singer Ranking Ann is best known for her sassy vocals on Mad Professor’s Ariwa label, including “Feminine Gender” and “Shalom” with the Japanese Silent Poets! Her album “A Slice of English Toast” is quite rightly regarded as a milestone in female UK reggae. Pop fans may recognise her voice from Scritti’s Politti’s single “The World Girl (Flesh and Blood)”.

Earl Sixteen has been in the business since the early seventies and shows no sign of slowing down. After apprenticeships with Lee Perry and Boris Gardiner, among others, as well as his milestone “Malcom X”, he was omnipresent in the nineties, e.g. as frontman of UK band Dreadzone, Leftfield (“Release the Pressure”) and Spacemonkeys vs. Gorillaz.

Oku Nagba Ozala Onuora deserves a place of honour at the end of the list. He is considered the father of dub poetry, not least because of his album “Pressure Drop” (1984 with AK47). He has performed with the greats, ranging from Cedric “Im” Brooks’ Lights of Saba to Monty Alexander.