Here’s a nice little Wired News story celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jamaica’s Trojan Records. Scott Thill, the author, contends that remixing, mashups and other ground-breaking forms of musical expression were all created in Jamaica, flourishing in a perfect combination of liberal copyright rules, broad access to British and US source material, and a culture of music.
“There’s never really been any stigma associated with sharing or using the works of others,” says British musician, journalist and Trojan producer Laurence Cane-Honeysett. “If anything, to most it’s regarded as a compliment.”
This sharing-friendly approach was carried further by visionary Jamaican producers like King Tubby and Prince Jammy, who, in the early 1970s, started releasing versions of the day’s most popular songs with the vocals removed. Using primitive, sometimes handmade equipment, they would drench the instrumental backing track in reverb and echo, then add sound effects to build a throbbing, psychedelic stew.
It was here the remix was born — the Jamaicans simply call it “dub.”