Roots Archives Forum

I believe he lives in Switzerland for many years now. Married with a local girl Have 2 children together..
Someone told me a long time ago, not sure if it was really true.That Lee lost his mind after a fight with Coxson Dodd...

i agree with zion gates.

i would pay money to see him behind the booth live,
than him on stage doing songs...

Zion Gates wrote:I saw lee 'scratch' perry this summer. It was awful, one of the worst shows I've been to. He didn't have anything planned, he just sang about whatever came to mind, and his singing was awful. He should have stayed behind the booth producing.

That's called a 'unique, avant-garde, jazz-infused vocal styling', isn't it?

Guest wrote:Perry has sold out! Sad times

ok didnt you already think that after he done those Guiness adverts you seein all over youtube?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENnFjxHzdIw

..but raaaa, heres anutha shout to seein him behind the desk live. Boss!

those mad professor albums reeked with the possible exception of one or two tracks.

face it, lee perry was a brilliant producer but an awful "artist" especially for the past 20 years. he has had flashes of, not brilliance, but at least not complete trash, but only flashes. to say he sold out is ridiculous; that is the whole point of the music "business" but aside from that rather obvious point, what else is he gonna do? his stage shows are a joke 95% of the time and most who have been around a bit know that already. the only possible redeeming releases he has put out have been in conjunction with adrian sherwood and imo it was *despite* scratch rather than because of him.

and its not new, its just one more step on the path he has been on ever since island records dumped him. now obviously he is available for whatever crap the highest bidder will put in front of him.

one love
jah bill

The album Scratch did with Andrew WK (Repentance) is certainly a low point in Scratch's career, IMO. And the cheesy/sleazy video for "Pum Pum" is quite embarassing.

However, I find it amusing that people are accusing Scratch of "selling out" - as JB points out, what else is he supposed to do? Scratch is following his muse and doing different things instead of singing "Dreadlocks In Moonlight" at the Holiday Inn. I'm certainly not defending what he's doing lately, but the "purist" reaction of some people towards his music is ridiculous. He's a crazy old man who's having fun, and what's wrong with that?

These days, Scratch is only as good as who is sitting behind the mixing desk with him. If it's a goof like Andrew WK, you're going to get lame results. If it's a genius like Adrian Sherwood, you're going to get something special (check out 2008's The Mighty Upsetter, an album that unfortunately got overlooked due to being released at the same time as Repentance, something that I have done by best to correct by hyping The Mighty Upsetter on my Scratch website).

Kemist: that story you heard isn't true. Read on:

http://www.upsetter.net/scratch/biography01.htm

as far as imk concerned, perry can do whatever the hell he wants..hes created the most beautiful music ever made.. and certainly anyone offended by that hasnt heard "big cockey wally" or "69"...

The flipside of the 'selling out' debate, as far as I'm concerned, is that to pretend that 197x never ended and put out album after album comprised of exactly what your long-time, hardcore fans want to hear is also compromising one's artistic integrity in a huge way.

If he had done that (and we were on 'Super Ape vol.15', or something now), modern reggae fans and music reviewers would be dissing Scratch for being a lazy, tired, old hack, resting on his laurels and still doing 'the same old mooing cow/crying baby with added reverb and the bass cranked up shtick' because that's all he knows how to do. I guarantee it.

As for 'Pum Pum' - unless Scratch is completely out of his tree and barking at the moon these days, I can't honestly imagine him going into it thinking that a song like that was ever going to appeal to the core demographic, get airplay, top the charts, make him famous again and earn him lots of money (which is how I define 'selling out' - not doing a song that sucks or something that sounds different to his usual fare). I mean, it's a septuagenarian with a purple beard singing about being horny and rambling about Jesus. Not even the hip-hop or pillhead crowd are going to find that cool and decide to rush out and immediately buy the single...

Yep, the song sucks donkey - but I reckon that he and Andrew WK probably did it for a laugh more than anything else.

hey mick thanks for the reply...one thing, i dont think ernie b has ever stocked "the mighty upsetter" or at least ive never seen it there or i would have bought it.

is it really out? do you know of some reason ernie doesnt stock it? do you have any idea where i can get a copy (preferably in vinyl but cd will do) especially without paying excessive shipping charges and at a decent price?

one love
jah bill

jb welda wrote:hey mick thanks for the reply...one thing, i dont think ernie b has ever stocked "the mighty upsetter" or at least ive never seen it there or i would have bought it.

is it really out? do you know of some reason ernie doesnt stock it? do you have any idea where i can get a copy (preferably in vinyl but cd will do) especially without paying excessive shipping charges and at a decent price?

one love
jah bill

Is it not on your local Amazon site? I've just seen it on Amazon UK for a tenner...