Died On This Date (February 6, 1989) King Tubby / Jamaican Dub Pioneer
themusicsover King Tubby (Born Osbourne Ruddick)
January 28, 1941 – February 6, 1989
King Tubby’s path to music success was a bit unconventional in that he was not originally a musician, singer, songwriter, or producer, but a skilled Jamaican radio repairman. As sound systems and recording equipment began to grow in popularity throughout Jamaica during the ’50s, and ’60s, so did the demand for Tubby’s skill to fix equipment was continually exposed to bad elements of the island. He soon opened his own repair shop where he put together some of the island’s best sound systems. He soon became skilled at creating sound effects like reverb and echo and was eventually working at the island’s top studios working on some of ska and reggae’s earliest records as a mixer or engineer. It was in this capacity that Tubby began experimenting in what would later be called “remixes,” a practice that he has been credited for inventing. By the ’70s, Tubby was arguably the most popular mixers in Jamaica. Though not a musician in the traditional sense, Tubby was able to manipulate the knobs and dials of a mixing board in a way that made him just as vital to the final product as any of the guitarists or drummers. By removing vocals and certain instruments from the mixes, he created a new form of music called “dub.” Over the course of his career, he mixed or remixed albums by the greatest producers in Jamaica. Tragedy struck on February 6, 1989 when King Tubby, who had just turned 48, was shot and killed in what was believed to be a random robbery. His murder was never solved.
What You Should Own
Falco was an Austrian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who scored four massive international hits during the ’80s. His biggest in the U.S. were 1981’s “Der Kommissar” and 1986’s “Rock Me Amadeus.” “Der Kommissar” makes Falco the first to have a German language song go to #1 in the United States. Falco was a gifted musician growing up, so he dropped out of high school at 17 to pursue his calling. In those early days, he sang in a jazz-rock band and later played bass in an Austrian punk band. Following that, Falco released a string of hits that stretched through the early ’90s. On February 6, 1998, Falco was killed when he got into an accident with a bus in the Dominican Republic. He was 40 years old.
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Hugo Montenegro was a popular film score composer and orchestra leader whose most popular work came out during the ’60s and ’70s. His use of synthesizers became a major influence upon contemporary electronic musicians. He was also embraced by fans of space pop and lounge music during the ’90s. Montenegro had several hits with his interpretations of film scores of the time. His cover of the theme song of Clint Eastwood’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly made it to #2 on the Billboard pop chart. Montenegro also created the theme songs for I Dream Of Jeannie and Here Come the Brides for television. He died of emphysema on February 6, 1981.
Sir John Dankworth was a highly regarded English jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. Dankworth gravitated toward music while still a child, so he took piano, violin, and finally, clarinet lessons. As a teen, attended the Royal Academy of Music, and by the late ’40s, he was an up-and-coming star of the British jazz scene. During his early years, he played with the likes of