Roots Archives Forum

flashman wrote:I was not aware RAS had the rights to Clocktower's back catalog. Have they done anything with it?

Hi flash

I don't know how it all got sorted out, but RAS only ended up releasing three Clocktower LP titles ("Scratch Attack", which was a combination of two Perry produced LPs "Chapter 1" and "Blackboard Jungle" on one CD) and Prince Jazzbo's "Ital Corner". Meanwhile, Abraham has continued to release Brad's stuff, so I assume sort of settlement or agreement was realized. Or this being the reggae business, perhaps not!

The "Scratch Attack" CD is well-worth seeking if you are a Perry fan, even if you own the original Clocktower LPs: the mastering job truly does justice to the music, and is probably as close as you can get to hearing it as it sounded coming straight out of the studio monitors.

hmmm, good to know about Scratch Attack. I actually have pretty crappy sounding versions of both albums. I'd seen Scratch Attack but didn't realize it would be a better sounding version.

Yeah, the mastering on that Scratch Attack CD is amazing. Johnny Lover's DJ vocal on "Who You Go Runna To" is so closely-miked and intimate it's like he's chatting right into your ear!

davek wrote:He licensed the back catalogue of Clocktower records from Brad Osborne’s widow...

But Brad Osbourne was a well-known bootlegger! He released many tracks on Clocktower back in the day without the artists or producers knowing about them, and even gave himself production and/or artist credit on some tracks like "Little Flute Chant" by The Upsetters. So the idea that Brad's widow licensing the tracks to Abraham makes Abraham releases legit is dubious logic.

Who was ever truly legit? There are degrees of legitimacy but name one producer or label that didn't burn someone at some point. Not that that excuses it but it seems so pervasive it's hardly worth getting bothered over it anymore.
Perry himself wasn't above cheating his artists was he? Is it more acceptable for producers to cheat their artists than for label bosses to cheat producers?
I do prefer to know that if I buy a Perry lp it actually contains Perry productions. And I prefer legit releases but I think Brad Osbourne was just one of many operating in a similar way in the business at the time. The quality of his releases was high so I'll buy them and enjoy them.

Mick Sleeper wrote:He licensed the back catalogue of Clocktower records from Brad Osborne’s widow...

But Brad Osbourne was a well-known bootlegger! He released many tracks on Clocktower back in the day without the artists or producers knowing about them, and even gave himself production and/or artist credit on some tracks like "Little Flute Chant" by The Upsetters. So the idea that Brad's widow licensing the tracks to Abraham makes Abraham releases legit is dubious logic.

Mick, I am not defending anyone's business practices, I'm just pointing out that many years ago Abraham paid money to the owner of Clocktower Records to release Clocktower's titles, which means that he was not bootlegging these releases. My post was in response to him being called a "bootlegger", which by definition he is not. In the case of "Dub Gone Crazy", he licensed the tracks from Striker Lee. With the controversial Pablo title "Dubbing In Africa", he licensed the tapes from Enos McLeod.

Whether Brad, Perry, McLeod and Lee paid everyone properly along the way (studio owners, musicians, artists, pressing plants etc.) is a separate matter altogether.