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Gifted with   “http://www.reggaetrain.com/” one of the most distinctive voices in reggae music, Horace Andy is perhaps best known to mainstream audiences for his work since the early ’90s as a guest vocalist with Bristol hitmakers, Massive Attack. He is also widely venerated as an all-time great by hardcore reggae aficionados and his eerie, haunting style has been imitated endlessly by scores of lesser talents over the years.

Born Horace Hinds in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951, Andy came on the reggae scene as part of the second generation of great singers who followed in the footsteps of seminal reggae vocalists such as Ken Boothe, John Holt, and Delroy Wilson. He recorded his first single in 1967 for producer  Phil Pratt. ‘This is a Black Man’s Country’ failed to make an impact, and it would be 1970 before he made his first significant breakthrough. After unsuccessfully auditioning at  Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One as a duo with Frank Melody, he successfully auditioned on his own a few days later. Dodd decided that Hinds should record as Horace Andy, partly to capitalize on the popularity of  Bob Andy, and partly to avoid comparisons with his cousin, Justin Hinds, with whom his singing style at the time showed a resemblance. ‘Got To Be Sure’, the song he had auditioned with, became his first release for Studio One. The following two years saw the release of further notable singles such as ‘See a Man’s Face’, ‘Night Owl’, ‘Fever’, and ‘Mr. Bassie’. One of Andy’s most enduring songs, ‘Skylarking’, first appeared on Dodd’s ‘Jamaica Today’ compilation album, but after proving a sound system success, it was released as a single, eventually topping the Jamaican chart.

The next few years saw Andy regularly hit the charts with further singles for Dodd such as ‘Something on My Mind’, ‘Love of a Woman’ and ‘Every Tongue Shall Tell’, as well as singles for other producers including ‘Lonely Woman’ for Derrick Harriott, ‘Girl I Love You’ for Ernest and Joseph Hoo Kim, ‘Love You To Want Me’ and ‘Delilah’ for Gussie Clarke and ‘Money Is The Root of All Evil’ for Phil Pratt. Although he landed a second Jamaican number one single for Pratt in 1973 with ‘Children of Israel’, Andy’s most successful association with a producer took shape with Bunny Lee during the mid-‘70s. This era produced a series of singles now regarded as classics such as a re-recorded ‘Skylarking’, ‘Just Say Who’, ‘You Are My Angel’  and a new version of ‘Something on My Mind’.

In 1977, Andy moved to Hartford, Connecticut, with his first wife, Claudette, where he recorded for Everton DaSilva. DaSilva gave Andy the latitude needed to craft his own records, leading to the recording of Andy’s signature work, the revered ‘In The Light’ album and its associated dub version. Andy set up his own Rhythm label, which became an outlet for his work with DaSilva, before DaSilva was tragically murdered in 1979.

Andy’s 1978 album ‘Pure Ranking’ had anticipated the rise of dancehall reggae, and he is recognised as a key figure in the early development of the genre, confirmed by 1982′s ‘Dance Hall Style’ album. Andy continued to record with a variety of producers in the first half of the 1980s. In 1985, with his second wife Caroline, he relocated to Ladbroke Grove, and he recorded in the United Kingdom as well as regularly visiting Jamaica for further recording work.

1990 saw Andy’s profile further raised when he began collaborating with Bristol trip hop pioneers Massive Attack, going on to contribute to four of their albums, most notably with ‘Angel’ (a new version of ‘You are My Angel’). In the mid-1990s he also worked with Mad Professor, releasing the albums ‘Life Is For Living’ and ‘Roots And Branches’. He released his own ‘Living in the Flood’ album in 1999 on Massive Attack’s Melankolic record label, featured on the world music project, 1 Giant Leap’ for Palm Pictures, and on the successful Easy Star All-Stars 2006 album, ‘Radiodread’.

Andy continues to tour and record with Massive Attack and in his own right as a solo artist. In the Summer of 2007 he released an album on the Taxi Gang label with Sly & Robbie and a live album, ‘On Tour’ for Trojan Records which featured Horace at his best. He has just completed an edition of the Strut Records Inspiration Information series with producer Ashley Beedle, releasing in January 2009.

Ashley Beedle has been involved in more projects than a US building marshal. His style is as diverse as his hometown’s cultural crucible (London) and his productions have been championed by A-list DJs ranging from Danny Tenaglia to Fabio and Grooverider and from Gilles Peterson to John Digweed.
Born in Hemel Hempstead, England, in 1962, Beedle began DJing through his own Shock sound system during the mid-‘80s and is credited as among the first to bring house music to Notting Hill Carnival. As a DJ, his profile grew during the acid house explosion of the late ’80s and Ashley became hooked on disco after hearing Norman Jay spinning obscure tracks during the early days of pirate station KISS FM.

A production career soon followed. He joined long-time friend Rob Mello and John Howard as Black Science Orchestra and the trio reworked the Trammps’ ‘Where Were You (When the Lights Went Out)?’ into their debut single ‘Where Were You,’ released on Junior Boy’s Own. House godfather Frankie Knuckles began spinning the record, as well as the second BSO offering, ‘Strong’ (recorded with Linsey Edwards replacing Mello). Beedle recruited engineer Marc Woolford and keyboard player Uschi Classen for a third single, ‘New Jersey Deep,’ and watched the record become a classic, selected by Knuckles and the Masters at Work team for use in their DJ sets.

Beedle teamed up with David Hill and Rocky & Diesel to form the Ballistic Brothers and release one of 1994′s hottest LPs, ‘London Hooligan Soul’ and was back with Black Science Orchestra that same year, now comprising just Beedle and Woolford. Though troubles with sample clearance delayed their album for almost two years (the duo eventually drafted session musicians and vocalists instead), Beedle kept busy with the formation of the disco-rave project X-Press 2, this time alongside Rocky & Diesel. The trio released singles for Radikal-Q and Junior Boy’s Own, but hit the jackpot with a track called ‘The Sound.’ It spent weeks at the top of the American dance charts. Later that year, the debut Black Science Orchestra LP, ‘Walter’s Room,’ was released on Junior Boy’s Own.

Ashley reunited with Hill and Rocky & Diesel for a second Ballistic Brothers LP, ‘Rude System,’ and also released two proper solo EPs during 1997, both recorded as Black Jazz Chronicles. The following year brought a BJC album, ‘Future Ju-Ju,’ perhaps the most well-integrated fusion of disco, jazz, and techno of his varied career.

Beedle hit the studio with Rocky & Diesel again during April 2000 to embark on another chapter of the X-Press 2 story. Building again with singles ‘AC/DC’ and ‘Muzikizum’, the album that followed featured Dieter Meier from Yello and Talking Heads’ David Byrne. The Byrne collaboration, ‘Lazy’ became one of the hits of 2002, reaching no. 2 in the national UK chart and landing X-Press 2 a coveted Ivor Novello Award.

Aside from his artist productions, Ashley Beedle has been a prolific and versatile remixer for over 15 years. His remixes have ranged from pop and rock bands to bedroom house acts; hip hop mixes, house mixes; as a solo remixer, and as part of X-Press 2. Highlights include Elton John’s number one hit, ‘Are You Ready for Love?’, Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up Stand Up’, Femi Kuti’s ‘Ben Beng Beng’ and, most recently, Mojave’s ‘Township Funk’.

Other projects worthy of mention include: Delta House Of Funk, Disco Evangelists with his protégé David Holmes (Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 Hollywood score master), Roots Revolution on Roger Sanchez’ label and the demon dub-house of Jamayka Boys (championed by many as the first Dubstep production). As a compiler, his Grass Roots compilation for Strut has earned its place in history as well as most DJs’ boxes.

Ashley’s ability to always stay ahead of the pack continues with his futuristic reggae inspired Warbox project (which has included chart smashing remixes for the likes of Lilly Allen), a rock techno-inspired project with the Filthy Dukes’ Mark Ralph, called Ralph und Beedle, a blue eyed soul project called Mavis (which has already featured Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner amongst others) and of course, more disco output from his moniker as London Heavy Disco Review and his label, Out Hear Audio. His collaboration with Horace Andy as part of Strut’s Inspiration Information series is released in January 2009.

Inspiration Information will tour Ireland with live band in June…more dates to be added this week

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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01-track-01

Gifted with   “http://www.reggaetrain.com/” one of the most distinctive voices in reggae music, Horace Andy is perhaps best known to mainstream audiences for his work since the early ’90s as a guest vocalist with Bristol hitmakers, Massive Attack. He is also widely venerated as an all-time great by hardcore reggae aficionados and his eerie, haunting style has been imitated endlessly by scores of lesser talents over the years.

Born Horace Hinds in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951, Andy came on the reggae scene as part of the second generation of great singers who followed in the footsteps of seminal reggae vocalists such as Ken Boothe, John Holt, and Delroy Wilson. He recorded his first single in 1967 for producer  Phil Pratt. ‘This is a Black Man’s Country’ failed to make an impact, and it would be 1970 before he made his first significant breakthrough. After unsuccessfully auditioning at  Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One as a duo with Frank Melody, he successfully auditioned on his own a few days later. Dodd decided that Hinds should record as Horace Andy, partly to capitalize on the popularity of  Bob Andy, and partly to avoid comparisons with his cousin, Justin Hinds, with whom his singing style at the time showed a resemblance. ‘Got To Be Sure’, the song he had auditioned with, became his first release for Studio One. The following two years saw the release of further notable singles such as ‘See a Man’s Face’, ‘Night Owl’, ‘Fever’, and ‘Mr. Bassie’. One of Andy’s most enduring songs, ‘Skylarking’, first appeared on Dodd’s ‘Jamaica Today’ compilation album, but after proving a sound system success, it was released as a single, eventually topping the Jamaican chart.

The next few years saw Andy regularly hit the charts with further singles for Dodd such as ‘Something on My Mind’, ‘Love of a Woman’ and ‘Every Tongue Shall Tell’, as well as singles for other producers including ‘Lonely Woman’ for Derrick Harriott, ‘Girl I Love You’ for Ernest and Joseph Hoo Kim, ‘Love You To Want Me’ and ‘Delilah’ for Gussie Clarke and ‘Money Is The Root of All Evil’ for Phil Pratt. Although he landed a second Jamaican number one single for Pratt in 1973 with ‘Children of Israel’, Andy’s most successful association with a producer took shape with Bunny Lee during the mid-‘70s. This era produced a series of singles now regarded as classics such as a re-recorded ‘Skylarking’, ‘Just Say Who’, ‘You Are My Angel’  and a new version of ‘Something on My Mind’.

In 1977, Andy moved to Hartford, Connecticut, with his first wife, Claudette, where he recorded for Everton DaSilva. DaSilva gave Andy the latitude needed to craft his own records, leading to the recording of Andy’s signature work, the revered ‘In The Light’ album and its associated dub version. Andy set up his own Rhythm label, which became an outlet for his work with DaSilva, before DaSilva was tragically murdered in 1979.

Andy’s 1978 album ‘Pure Ranking’ had anticipated the rise of dancehall reggae, and he is recognised as a key figure in the early development of the genre, confirmed by 1982′s ‘Dance Hall Style’ album. Andy continued to record with a variety of producers in the first half of the 1980s. In 1985, with his second wife Caroline, he relocated to Ladbroke Grove, and he recorded in the United Kingdom as well as regularly visiting Jamaica for further recording work.

1990 saw Andy’s profile further raised when he began collaborating with Bristol trip hop pioneers Massive Attack, going on to contribute to four of their albums, most notably with ‘Angel’ (a new version of ‘You are My Angel’). In the mid-1990s he also worked with Mad Professor, releasing the albums ‘Life Is For Living’ and ‘Roots And Branches’. He released his own ‘Living in the Flood’ album in 1999 on Massive Attack’s Melankolic record label, featured on the world music project, 1 Giant Leap’ for Palm Pictures, and on the successful Easy Star All-Stars 2006 album, ‘Radiodread’.

Andy continues to tour and record with Massive Attack and in his own right as a solo artist. In the Summer of 2007 he released an album on the Taxi Gang label with Sly & Robbie and a live album, ‘On Tour’ for Trojan Records which featured Horace at his best. He has just completed an edition of the Strut Records Inspiration Information series with producer Ashley Beedle, releasing in January 2009.

Ashley Beedle has been involved in more projects than a US building marshal. His style is as diverse as his hometown’s cultural crucible (London) and his productions have been championed by A-list DJs ranging from Danny Tenaglia to Fabio and Grooverider and from Gilles Peterson to John Digweed.
Born in Hemel Hempstead, England, in 1962, Beedle began DJing through his own Shock sound system during the mid-‘80s and is credited as among the first to bring house music to Notting Hill Carnival. As a DJ, his profile grew during the acid house explosion of the late ’80s and Ashley became hooked on disco after hearing Norman Jay spinning obscure tracks during the early days of pirate station KISS FM.

A production career soon followed. He joined long-time friend Rob Mello and John Howard as Black Science Orchestra and the trio reworked the Trammps’ ‘Where Were You (When the Lights Went Out)?’ into their debut single ‘Where Were You,’ released on Junior Boy’s Own. House godfather Frankie Knuckles began spinning the record, as well as the second BSO offering, ‘Strong’ (recorded with Linsey Edwards replacing Mello). Beedle recruited engineer Marc Woolford and keyboard player Uschi Classen for a third single, ‘New Jersey Deep,’ and watched the record become a classic, selected by Knuckles and the Masters at Work team for use in their DJ sets.

Beedle teamed up with David Hill and Rocky & Diesel to form the Ballistic Brothers and release one of 1994′s hottest LPs, ‘London Hooligan Soul’ and was back with Black Science Orchestra that same year, now comprising just Beedle and Woolford. Though troubles with sample clearance delayed their album for almost two years (the duo eventually drafted session musicians and vocalists instead), Beedle kept busy with the formation of the disco-rave project X-Press 2, this time alongside Rocky & Diesel. The trio released singles for Radikal-Q and Junior Boy’s Own, but hit the jackpot with a track called ‘The Sound.’ It spent weeks at the top of the American dance charts. Later that year, the debut Black Science Orchestra LP, ‘Walter’s Room,’ was released on Junior Boy’s Own.

Ashley reunited with Hill and Rocky & Diesel for a second Ballistic Brothers LP, ‘Rude System,’ and also released two proper solo EPs during 1997, both recorded as Black Jazz Chronicles. The following year brought a BJC album, ‘Future Ju-Ju,’ perhaps the most well-integrated fusion of disco, jazz, and techno of his varied career.

Beedle hit the studio with Rocky & Diesel again during April 2000 to embark on another chapter of the X-Press 2 story. Building again with singles ‘AC/DC’ and ‘Muzikizum’, the album that followed featured Dieter Meier from Yello and Talking Heads’ David Byrne. The Byrne collaboration, ‘Lazy’ became one of the hits of 2002, reaching no. 2 in the national UK chart and landing X-Press 2 a coveted Ivor Novello Award.

Aside from his artist productions, Ashley Beedle has been a prolific and versatile remixer for over 15 years. His remixes have ranged from pop and rock bands to bedroom house acts; hip hop mixes, house mixes; as a solo remixer, and as part of X-Press 2. Highlights include Elton John’s number one hit, ‘Are You Ready for Love?’, Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up Stand Up’, Femi Kuti’s ‘Ben Beng Beng’ and, most recently, Mojave’s ‘Township Funk’.

Other projects worthy of mention include: Delta House Of Funk, Disco Evangelists with his protégé David Holmes (Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 Hollywood score master), Roots Revolution on Roger Sanchez’ label and the demon dub-house of Jamayka Boys (championed by many as the first Dubstep production). As a compiler, his Grass Roots compilation for Strut has earned its place in history as well as most DJs’ boxes.

Ashley’s ability to always stay ahead of the pack continues with his futuristic reggae inspired Warbox project (which has included chart smashing remixes for the likes of Lilly Allen), a rock techno-inspired project with the Filthy Dukes’ Mark Ralph, called Ralph und Beedle, a blue eyed soul project called Mavis (which has already featured Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner amongst others) and of course, more disco output from his moniker as London Heavy Disco Review and his label, Out Hear Audio. His collaboration with Horace Andy as part of Strut’s Inspiration Information series is released in January 2009.

Inspiration Information will tour Ireland with live band in June…more dates to be added this week

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.