In the early 90’s I had a notion to learn the bass guitar. As reggae has always had the best basslines, I bought a cassette of Lee Perry and the Upsetters ‘Blackboard Jungle Dub’ from Real Groovy, in the vain hope that I could teach myself to play the bass. The bass sat idle while my reggae collection started to expand.

Around the mid 90’s I was listening to Duncan Campbell’s ‘Sound system’ show on bFM, playing reggae on a Sunday. A short time later I discovered Dubhead’s show too. There were certain dub tunes that really made an impression on me and from there I started my journey into seriously collecting reggae music. Dub versions included in this mix such as King Tubby’s ‘Harder Dub’ and the iconic Scientist albums such as ‘Big Showdown’ were mixed unlike anything I’d heard.

Skip forward a few years to 1998. The Roots Foundation with Danny Lemon played a dance at a church hall in Auckland and a track list of his selections was passed out. I still have that list, and some of the tunes are featured in this mix. Danny was, and still is a big inspiration.

Dub and reggae have been my passion for more than 25 years and when I was putting this mix together, I recalled visits to Camden Lock in London where I’d buy cassette mixtapes. Often live sessions or dub mixes put together by Gaffa Blue who still produces and distributes reggae music in the U.K.

This selection is strictly dub wise – in the spirit of those mixtapes.

More info on Mikey Majestic – Majestic Roots Sound System Facebook

Track listing

Intro: Clint Eastwood

African Brothers – Righteous Version (Black Roots)

Eek-A-Mouse – Creation Dub (Eek-A-Mouse Records)

Millions – Love of Jah Jah Children Version (Typhoon)

Michael Rose – Freedom Dub (Observer)

Glen Brown – Zion Dub (South East Music)

Rafiel – Spirit of 77 version (Weed of Wisdom)

Ras Norris – Revelation (Magnum Force)

Tyrone Taylor – Life Table Version (Wolf)

Everal Cooper and the High Two – Help out This Nation Dub (Songhai)

Jacob Miller – Stop Them Jah (Pablo International Dubplate)

Keithus I – Dread A Rule Dub (Jah Dynasty)

Winston Fergus – Long Time Dub (Trojan)

Steve Baswell – I Am Getting Bad Version (Phase One)

Al Campbell – Crucial Bunny Version (Yard Music)

Simeons – Jah Rastafari Dub (Roots Traders)

Anthony Johnson – Africa Dub (Thompson Sound)

The Revolutionaries – Ghetto Dub (Revolutionary Sounds)

Mikey Dread – Yoruba Dub (D.A.T.C.)

Christine – Saturday Night Dub (Observer)