TACKHEAD

Location:
US
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Hip Hop / Rock / Funk
Site(s):
Label:
NovaSound/On-U Sound/Real World
Type:
Major
cover art above by Linda Zacks



extra-oomph.com



[TACK>>HEAD]



Adrian Sherwood, Skip McDonald, Bernard Fowler,



Keith Leblanc, Doug Wimbish



photograph by —dave.hogerty



THE MAKING OF .



"BOUGHT FOR A DOLLAR, SOLD FOR A DIME"



Skip "Little Axe" McDonald talks about getting his friends together at Real World Studios, to record the foundation of his new record.



While on Peter Gabriel's countryside estate (outside London, England) to headline a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gabriel's Real World Records (2006), all the TackHead members, joined by a number of On-U Sound collaborators, took the opportunity to a three-day recording session, led by Skip (Little Axe Mcdonald). The result was 15 tunes and the foundation for "BOUGHT FOR A DOLLAR, SOLD FOR A DIME," Skip's new Little Axe record set for release this June (2010).



BACK IN THE U.S.A.



@ THE HIGHLINE BALLROOM, NYC (3.22.09)



video by —dave.hogerty



ON THE RECORD



When looking at a collection of records the members of Tack>>Head either made themselves, or played a significant role in producing, the band's impact on the last three decades of pop music is apparent.



From the mid-1970s until today, their virtuosity has kept them at the top of every jazz, rock, pop, and R&B chart.



IN THE PAST .



“Class Rock” performed at Brixton Academy



London, England (1990)



By the end of the 1980s, TACK>>HEAD had become a cult phenomenon in underground nightclubs in LONDON and other Urban Centers around EUROPE. Skip McDonald, Doug Wimbish, Keith Leblanc, and Adrian Sherwood all had reputations as "musicians' musicians," and their shows always attracted audiences filled with musical talent.



The band collaborated with artists as diverse as Lee Scratch Perry, Bim Sherman, Junior Delgado, African Head Charge, Prince Far I, Little Annie, Gary Clail, Mark Stewart +Maffia, The Slits, Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Annie Lennox, Carly Simon, Madonna, Seal, James Brown, George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, B.B. King, Yoko Ono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sly & Robbie, Herbie Hancock, Herb Alpert, Bruce Springsteen, David Sancious, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Jello Biafra, Living Colour, Little Axe, Nine Inch Nails, Tarja Turunen, Mos Def .



The band's shows were frequented by talented musicians . Moby, Radiohead, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vernon Reid, Mos Def, and . Mick Jagger went as far as to ask to sing on "Take a Stroll," a song on TackHead's "Strange Things" album (1991).



When the popular chant "TACK>>HEAD IN THE AREA" echoed through a hall, those in attendance were guaranteed A FIRST-CLASS ROCK 'N' ROLL PARTY.



LITTLE AXE



BLUES FOR THE 21st CENTURY .



Playing under Skip's "Little Axe" moniker, TACK>>HEAD embarks on yet another exciting musical journey. On "STONE COLD OHIO," the band honors Skip's midwestern roots, while at the same time riding a virtuosic spaceship into uncharted sonic waters. Take a ride into the FUTURE OF THE BLUES .



(photograph by York/Real World Records)



Interviews with Skip, Doug and Keith at Peter Gabriel's English country estate before a Little Axe performance headlining the 2006 Real World Records 20th Anniversary celebration. So successful a show, that Gabriel and friend Robert Plant joined the band for a three-tune encore to close the event.



Skip calls "STONE COLD OHIO" a reality check . a healthy blend of the blues and spirituality . traveling through time, both back to my roots, and into the future. Skip was born 57 years ago in Dayton, Ohio, one of the great funk breeding grounds — Wilson Pickett, the Ohio Players, The Falcons, etc. . It was there he learned blues guitar from his father, and by the age of 10 was playing jazz professionally. By 12, his focus had shifted to doo-wop on street corners, and gospel in church. In 1972 he moved to the east coast with his dance band the Ohio Hustlers, and two years later was in Hartford, Connecticut with Wood, Brass & Steel. There he met Doug and Keith, and developed the musical relationship that became the original SUGAR HILL RHYTHM SECTION, TACK>>HEAD, and since 1994, Little Axe (a tribute to Bob Marley's song "Small Axe," and to Wilbur "Little Ax" Broadnax of the Spirit of Memphis gospel quartet).



"Ohio" is the fifth Little Axe album . 15 tracks of futuristic blues – dubbed-out, dark, and smokey, including covers of songs by Skip James, Allen Toussaint, and Living Colour's Will Calhoun. Ride along, while the band traces an adventurous musical line, from African chants, Afro-American field songs, to blues, gospel, soul, funk and dub.



— video courtesy real world records



IN THE FUTURE



TackHead in a Vienna, Austria studio, working on the a remake of the thought provocative David Bowie tune to be included on the band's new record. After the session Bernard described his feelings in his typically curt way . "I AM VERY HAPPY" he said, getting straight to the point. The band's SHARE>>HEAD record, its first full-length release in nearly 20 years, is due out this October.



— video by eve (vienna, austria)
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