DESCRIPTION:
A clutch of 7” dub plates celebrating the Tottenham / Stoke Newington based Unity Hi-Fi sound system from DJs and singers, King Everal, SANCHEZ, Penny Ranks, Michael Spinner and Robert Metro.

Hard roughneck riddims, with a fair amount of ‘killing sound boy’ lyrics. Those type of lyrics that are based around chosen sound systems the DJs and singers involved with are symbolic rather than literal. Putting other rival DJs on rival Sound Systems down. Not to say there was no trouble at sound systems, but as far as I am aware most trouble revolves around drug supply, territorial disputes and boys approaching girls or girls approaching boys. I do not know of many instances where a sound system owner or affiliated vocalists have taken out another.

I cannot remember who gave me these 7” dub plates in the mid-1990’s. It might have been Fatman or Junior from Renk records. Fatman had a reggae record store up from Body Music, along West Green Road in Tottenham that I entered regularly. I knew Fatman as Southern Record Distribution was distributing selected records from Fatmans back catalogue. Also I had met him at his sound systems in the late 1980’s early 1990’s albeit briefly.

Junior from Renk records, who I had also met at Southern Record Distribution due to Southern Record Distribution handling Renk records imprint and managing to get ‘Incredible’ by General Levy high up the old fashioned charts. Junior went onto take over Fatman’s reggae shop once Fatman had vacated it, leaning towards hard jungle record supply.

Adding some more meat to the Southern Record Distribution skeleton I also employed David (Demon Rockers) twice in the 1990’s. His brother Flinty Badman would also visit Southern Record Distribution collecting export orders up in his van and having a natter whilst waiting!

Both Demon Rockers and Flinty Badman gave me CDRs of various Unity Hi-Fi live sessions, but they did not supply these records to me. They did mention that the scariest session that Unity Hi-Fi were active in was when (well-known to Unity and the two brothers) Ranking Dread turned up with his entourage and grabbed the microphone off Demon Rockers. Demon let him. And left it there, not many would take Ranking Dread on. I think that was a Four Aces performance if I remember this snippet out of the mouth of the Ragga Twins correctly.

I went to a Unity Hi-Fi session in 1989. I think it was held at Foulden Road in Stoke Newington or it might have been the next road, Farleigh Road. It was some kind of flat roofed community centre I seem to remember, with the petrol station at the end of the road, on the High Street. I went along with Kevin ex- Conflict. I remember we were not there that long as the atmosphere was very heavy. I also remember running along the road with Kevin to that petrol station to get a bus sharpish.

A few other people had run out as well, as police run inside. I think the police raid was from a tip off rather than any violence as I do not recall seeing any large fights, and I would hope that I would have remembered that. Police running in gave myself and Kevin a little excuse to duck out the community centre without losing too much face after around an hour or so of attending the dance.

I know nothing of most of the artists showcased on these seven dub plates and am not sure if the artists had records released on Unity. All the dub plates have versions except for one artist that I do know. The massive SANCHEZ who had a massive record out in the early 1990’s entitled ‘Praise Him’. Whether this is the same SANCHEZ to the one appearing on one side of one of these dub plates I am not sure, but if it is, then I might have one copy of the handful (a guess) pressed up in the world!