Where to start with 70s Dub Reggae

70s Dub Reggae is a genre from Kingston, Jamaica, 1968–1980. Its principal artists include King Tubby, Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Augustus Pablo. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 12 dated events.

Start here

1
The Undertaker
Derrick Harriott · 1970
Original release: Trojan Records · TBL 114 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1970
One of the first instrumental reggae albums, it proved instrumentals could sell, clearing the path for dub itself.
2
Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle
Lee 'Scratch' Perry & King Tubby · 1973
This helped establish dub as its own genre, turning versions into full artistic statements rather than throwaways.
3
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
Augustus Pablo & King Tubby · 1976
Original release: Clocktower Records · CT:085 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1976
Still cited as dub's defining achievement, balancing Pablo's melodica spirit with Tubby's architectural technical force.

Go deeper

4
Pick a Dub
Keith Hudson · 1974
Original release: Mamba · MAM 003 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1974
Released in 1974, Pick a Dub is often credited as the first dub album deliberately conceived as a unified work rather than a compilation of leftover mixes.
5
At the Grass Roots of Dub
King Tubby · 1974
One of Tubby's debut albums, released in 1974, this record shows off his command of space, bass weight, and effects manipulation in full: the methodical, architectural mixing style built inside…
6
Dub from the Roots
Bunny Lee & King Tubby · 1974
This 1974 collaboration between the two men who helped kick off dub's commercial life pairs Lee's relentless rhythm production with Tubby's transformative mixing.
7
King Tubby Meets The Upsetter At The Grass Roots Of Dub
King Tubby & Lee 'Scratch' Perry · 1974
Original release: Total Sounds · FM LP 304 · 12″ Vinyl · Jamaica 1974
This 1974 pairing puts dub's two defining sensibilities side by side: Tubby's architectural sense of space and precision against Perry's chaotic, intuitive experimentation.
8
War Ina Babylon
Max Romeo · 1976
Original release: Black Ark Studios · Vinyl · UK 1976
This 1976 roots reggae record, produced by Perry at the Black Ark, pairs revolutionary mixing with unapologetically political themes.

For the obsessed

9
Super Ape
The Upsetters · 1976
Original release: Island · ILPS 9417 · 12″ Vinyl · 1976
Perry's 1976 Black Ark masterpiece pushed the studio-as-instrument idea to its limit: dense, hallucinatory production built on a four-track machine, where tape hiss became texture and unlikely sounds, desk-tapping, rattling…
10
Police and Thieves
Junior Murvin · 1977
Cut at the Black Ark in 1977, this record crossed into punk consciousness when The Clash covered its title track, carrying dub's aesthetic to an entirely new audience.

The stories behind every record are in 70s Dub Reggae.