8. Big YouthDread Locks Dread

The pre-dub stuff, which basically was called ska, was a bit faster: you’ve got Desmond Dekker, Dave & Ansell Collins, Jimmy Cliff. So skinheads loved that in the early 70s and rock fans looked up their nose at it. There were lots of silly lyrics. Rock fans who were into Clapton and Hendrix thought, "What is this shit?" That’s probably part of the reason I loved it so much.

Dread Locks Dread is an awesome, awesome record. I used to hate the way white rock bands would occasionally throw in a reggae number. But the whole reggae thing, the whole thing of instruments dropping out with dub reggae: suddenly the guitar will disappear and it’s just the drums and bass, or the drums and bass will drop out and it’s just the guitar. That kind of stuff. That awesome spaciousness. That’s definitely something that very strongly influenced Gang Of Four.