with his band featuring

Mad Professor

and playing a reggae DJ set
Dr Alex Paterson (The Orb)

Beatz & Bobz DJs in the bar

Lemon Grove, Exeter University

8.30 - 1.00 Tickets £15.00+BF
From Guild Box Office 01392 263518,
Solo Exeter 01392 425309,
Reform Records 01392 435577
24/7 Tickets 0870 7080 003

Small in stature but larger than life. Born 1936 or 1939, Kendal or Hanover, Jamaica. Record producer. Songwriter.Engineer.Singer.Toaster.Legend.Comedian.Agitator.Mediator.Cartel-breaker.Reggae's prime innovator in the 70's.Grafitti artist.Accidental inventor of hip-hop.Also known as Rainford Hugh Perry,Pipecock Jaxxton/Jackson,The Defender,etc.

1: Left for Kingston as a teenager where he worked in Coxsonne Dodd's studio with The Maytals,The Wailers and Delroy Wilson.When Perry chose to go behind the mic himself it was clear that he possessed a fireball energy and singing talent.

2: After working with Prince Buster, Sonia Pottinger, JJ Johnson and Joe Gibbs, Perry delivered his first landmark vocal hit, 'People Funny Boy'. At the end of the 60's he set up Upsetter records. Hits included 'The Untouchables' 'Tighten Up' and 'Return of Django',credited to his band, The Upsetters, which made number 5 in the uk charts. He also developed a roster of artists, among them Bob Marley & The Wailers and Dave Barker.

3: In 1971 Perry made several records that were the precursors of hiphop: 'Kill Them All', 'Station Underground News' and the best of the lot, 'Cow Thief Skank'.
He was a specalist in sound effects-babies crying ('Justice To The People'), rain ('Cold Weather') and karate chops ('Fist of Fury'). Other records, like 'Bathroom Skank' with their deep, grinding basslines, were part of the origins of dub, and Perry was happy to encourage new engineer King Tubby in his experryments with sound.

4: Perry's legendary Black Ark studio was built around 1973. It became a home to many talented musicians as well as becoming a hang-out for dreads with attitude, wannabes and hustlers. With pressures coming from all directions, around 1979 Perry flipped out and smashed the place up. During this upheaval he lost his family and became a wanderer.

5: Perry turned up in Amsterdam, calling himself Pipecock Jaxxton; had a sojourn in New York, came to live in London, tried Jamaica again and recording albums in each place with various collaborators among them Adrian Sherwood, Mad Professor, and old boss and rival Coxsanne Dodd. Scrawling graffiti wherever he stopped, he became something of a bizzare sideshow to reggae's digital era.

6: Perry finally settled in Zurich, married his beautiful Swiss manager in a Buddist ceremony, and began to make his most satisfying records since the Black Ark closed. Having spent over a decade in the wilderness, he had found the peace he craved at last. It had been a long journey from the Jamaican countryside; at the very least, he knows he has left behind him a musical legacy that none of his rivals could match.

Conclusion: Some call him mad but Perry is without doubt a true living legend and with out question he is one of the finest live performers you are ever likely to see.
HE KNOWS, LIKE NO OTHER, HOW TO PLEASE AN AUDIENCE AND LEAVE THEM ITCHING FOR MORE. SO MISS THIS SHOW AT YOUR PERIL.

Perry appears backed by his full live band with Mad Professor and dj set support from Alex Patterson (The Orb). When Alex heard we were putting on Perry, he insisted on supporting with a reggae set….and who are we to argue.