Condition: Plain / M
Label:
Upsetters
Catalogue No: UPS017
Released around 1976, this 7-inch single is a brilliant, slightly obscure Roots Reggae and Dub gem produced by the legendary Lee "Scratch" Perry at his famous Black Ark studio in Jamaica. This is a quintessential "sufferer’s tune" delivered by the little-known toaster/DJ Junior Dread. The lyrics paint a bleak, first-hand picture of financial desperation during the Christmas season—the rent man is knocking, the lights and phone are getting cut off, and friends are refusing to help. Dread’s raspy, stuttered delivery on the chorus—stretching out the phrase into "A wah da-a-a-a-a-at!?"—perfectly captures his exasperation. Backed by Perry's house band, The Upsetters, the track is dripping with the classic, swampy Black Ark sound of heavy bass, phase, and echo. As was standard for the era, the flip side offers a masterful, stripped-back dub version of the rhythm. Lee Perry works the mixing board to strip away most of the vocals, letting the heavy bassline and The Upsetters' instrumental groove swim through layers of atmospheric reverb and delay.
![]()
