Bass Culture is an album by dub poet

Dub poetry

Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music consisting of spoken word over reggae rhythms in Jamaica in the 1970s....

 Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...

, released in 1980 on the Island Records

Island Records

Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...

 label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell is a reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym 'Blackbeard'....

 (credited as Blackbeard).

The track "Reggae fi Peach" laments the death of Blair Peach

Blair Peach

Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England....

, an activist who was killed in London during a clash with police officers while protesting with the Anti-Nazi League

Anti-Nazi League

The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...

 against a British National Front

British National Front

The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....

 meeting in 1979.

Track listing

All tracks written by Linton Kwesi Johnson

1. "Bass Culture" – 6:04
2. "Street 66" – 3:43
3. "Reggae fi Peach" – 3:09
4. "Di Black Petty Booshwah" – 3:36
5. "Inglan Is a Bitch" – 5:26
6. "Loraine" – 4:08
7. "Reggae Sounds" – 3:09
8. "Two Sides of Silence" – 2:13

Personnel

• Bass - Floyd Lawson (tracks: A1, B2), Vivian Weathers (tracks: A2 to B1, B3, B4)
• Drums - Jah Bunny (tracks: A1, A3 to B4), Winston Curniffe (tracks: A2)
• Engineer - Dennis Bovell
  Dennis Bovell
  Dennis Bovell is a reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym 'Blackbeard'....
  
  , John Caffrey, Mark Lusardy
• Flugelhorn - Dick Cuthell
  Dick Cuthell
  Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The Specials and Rico Rodriguez. He also collaborated with bands such as...
  
  , Henry "Buttons" Tenyue
• Guitar - John Kpiaye
• Harmonica - Julio Finn
• Keyboards - Dennis Bovell, Webster Johnson
• Mixed By - Dennis Bovell
• Percussion - Clinton Bailey, Everald "Fari" Forrest, Jah Bunny
• Alto Saxophone - James Danton
• Tenor Saxophone - Henry "Buttons" Tenyue
• Trombone - Rico
  Rico Rodriguez
  Rico Rodriguez MBE , also known as Reco or El Reco, is a ska and reggae trombonist. He has recorded with many producers, including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd 'Matador' Daley...
  
  
• Trumpet - Dick Cuthell, Henry "Buttons" Tenyue
• Vocals - Linton Kwesi Johnson