Rest in Peace, Lee "Scratch" Perry

Mad Professor/Lee "Scratch" Perry

I heard the news through the No Wave facebook group I subscribe to. The page, the group, they are actually responsible for about half of the non-ethnographic recordings in this year's list. I was surprised to find Lee Perry on No Wave as most materials posted relate to the No Wave movement one way or another. But I clicked on the YouTube link and enjoyed listening to the clip a whole bunch. Then a few hours later a second post appeared and I knew something was up: Lee "Scratch" Perry had just died. Lee Perry died on August 29 in Jamaica, he was 85. Last week I listened to a number of his records, including ones I have myself on vinyl, and watched several live videos on YouTube. The song that made it into the Top 100 was the first video posted by the No Wave group: Heads of Government, a live recording made during the Tibetan Freedom Festival in 1997 in New York City. He is assisted by Mad Professor & the Robotiks Band. Mad Professor (b. Neil Fraser, 1955, Guyana) was also Perry's collaborator when Heads of Government was recorded on Black Ark ExPerryment in 1995. Originally it appeared on History, Mystery & Prophesy from 1984.
 

Lee Perry

Lee "Scratch" Perry
11" x 8.5", 2013
pen, ink, pencil, watercolor

Lee Perry is back in it too! It's been a long time since he'd be there. Yet he's my favorite Jamaican musician. He's been through it all, from the ska, the dancehall, and the dub. He was instrumental in the development and popularization on reggae music. Disco Devil is the track, he recorded it back in the late 70s in his famous Black Ark Studios in Kingston. It wasn't released on CD until 2012 as part of the Disco Devil compilation. Lee Perry lives in Switzerland these days. Disco Devil is a remix of the song Chase the Devil that he wrote with Max Romeo, who had a hit with it in 1976. The music is provided by Perry's house band The Upsetters.