Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ruts DC vs Mad Professor - Weak Heart 12"


Ruts DC vs Mad Professor - Weak Heart 12"
Label - Bohemian (UK)
Released - 1983
Style - Punk/Dub

Just picked this up a couple weeks ago at the local Orpheus record shop outside DC (go check them out!! on Wilson Blvd in Clarendon). If you don't know who Ruts DC are, do your homework. My first exposure to them was on ROIR's Rhythm Collision Dub album (also featuring Mad Professor). They are another one of those few special punk bands from the 70s/80s who found it natural to merge punk with dub and came out with a killer sound. This release is no exception. All 3 tracks are great, but I love 'Accusation' the best with all it's floaty backwards guitars. Can't beat Mad Professor on the mix!

The Ruts were one of a second wave of English punk bands which were inspired by the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned. Although in the earlier day reggae music was often played in punk clubs while there still were only few punk records available, Ruts were one of the first bands (along with the Clash) to take direct influences from it. Ruts were also known for their straightforward, political lyrics.

The line-up was: Malcolm Owen (vocals), Paul Fox (guitar), John "Segs" Jennings (bass), and Dave Ruffy (drums). Owen died of a drug overdose in July 14, 1980, after which the group changed its name to the Ruts D.C. (D.C. = Da Capo = new beginning). Their style also changed to more dub oriented music. However, without Owen, the group's original spirit was never quite the same.

*The sleeve and label are actually bright red, but I didn't have time to scan it so I grabbed the only one I could find online and inverted the colors. All the red made it impossible to look at.

Tracklist:
A1. Weak Heart
A2. Militant
B1. Accusation


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2 comments:

john y? said...

nice blog,i bought this years ago and could never get in to it,btw paul fox has terminal cancer.

P M X said...

oh thanks for the info. Yeah I bought it for a friend mainly but I can definitely get into Ruts bizness.