January 28, 1941 – February 6, 1989
King Tubby, real name Osbourne Ruddock, also known as the ‘dub originator’, started the Tubby’s Home Town Hi-Fi sound system in the late 1960s.
He ‘invented’ Dub, by networking Duke Reid’s rocksteady classics. In 1968 Ruddock built his own sound system, Tubby’s Home Town Hi Fi, and many of Kingston’s most sought-after selectors and MCs—known as DJs in dancehall lingo—performed using his creation. Because he had a good ear for perfect sound, Ruddock was eventually offered a job at producer Duke Reid’s record cutting plant, Treasure Isle. There he had access to numerous musicians’ studio tapes, and could remix the records any way he wanted. Ruddock and studio engineer Ruddy Redwood became two of the world’s first remix artists, stripping out vocals, restructuring instruments, dropping in new effects and applying phases and shifts on B-side “versions” of the discs. King Tubby’s remixes had a sound like no other.
Throughout the 70s he was the top dub mixer in Jamaica, cutting crucial dubs for almost every producer in Jamaica. He later took up producing and laid down some great digital tracks. On February 6, 1989 he was shot and killed outside his home in Waterhouse.
Hits include:
- “King Tubby’s meet Rocker’s Uptown” Trojan 1977
- “Conquering Lion in Dub” Prophet 1972
- “Blackboard Jungle Dub” Coxson’s Music 1973
- “Sly & Robbie meet King Tubby” Blood & Fire 1985