It goes "him-an-a-dem-an-a-dem-an-a-him-an-a-us-an-a-dem-an-a-war"....not a lot has changed in a decade...
Doctors of Dub started life in 1991 as an 11-piece collective, based in London, UK, with a shared interest in reggae, jazz & world sounds. Over a period of 6 - 7 years, before the band finally shrunk and mutated into a studio-based unit called Species, we toured extensively in the UK giving rave-received live performances at festivals, clubs and arts centres from Penzance to Cupar.
Whilst the band was principally a live unit our recorded material was interesting and innovative along broadly dub-reggae lines. Only a handful of DoD recordings exist - a 12" ep 'Themanawar', 6-track k7 and the CD ep 'Tartarsaurus' from which this track was taken. We also recorded a session in 1995 for Andy Kershaw's Radio 1 programme.
Here is a very rare video of Doctors of Dub featuring our trademark strange stage attire (since quite widely copied by other bands) and some of the characters who used to people the stage - not least the legendary Tartarsaurus. The re-mix of one our most popular live tracks, around which this video is based, was performed by Andy Montgomery, a stalwart of the trendsetting On-U Sound crew, and, I hope you'll agree, there are some awesome dub moments. The other two tracks on the ep were re-mixed by Tom 'Another Fine Day' Green and Manchester's hard-hitting Yam-Yam team.
In concert the band eschewed rock-star pyrotechnics, opting instead for low-key ultra-violet lighting and face/body painting coupled with vibrant day-glo stage gear. Audiences loved this approach, although various lighting engineers across the country have been known to throw a sulk at us.
The video, made at the height of the bands popularity in 1996/7, was crafted on what we'd see today as very primitive tools. For me this gives the video a kind of timeless charm which might appeal to today's generation of dubsters. Enjoy, let me know what you think.
Dave Atkin February 2007

Doctors of Dub personnel (original line-up):
Bass guitar: Vernon Munday
Rhythm & lead guitar, vocal: John Warner
Rhythm guitar: Dom Williams
Keyboards & violin: 'Trouser' Dave Thompson
Lead vocals: Oli Johnson
Alto sax, flute, visuals, backing vox: Chrissy Quayle
Trumpet, percussion: Ian Wright
Alto & soprano sax: Paul Micah
Percussion/visuals: Russell Roberts
Drums: Dave Atkin
Sound man was Ricky Dear.
Video was made by Geoff Sarbutt, cameras by Lois Darlington, Varsha & Geoff S.
Video recording ©1997

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