The Revolutionaries

Jamaican studio work initially centered on the Skatalites and drew from a tight circle of the island's strongest players; from the mid-1970s onward, leading producers turned regularly to the Revolutionaries. The ensemble's impact reached well past supplying rhythms for numerous roots classics, since their backing tracks defined the local sound precisely when dub rose as a dominant reggae style and established the foundations of mix culture. On the Mighty Diamonds' Right Time in 1976 the band introduced the four-beat "rockers" rhythm, while more syncopated variations appeared on tracks such as Black Uhuru's "Sponji Reggae" in 1981. Their emergence simultaneously elevated Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar into Jamaican music's most essential bass-and-drums partnership.

The Revolutionaries' dub recordings appeared on full albums including Reaction in Dub in 1978 and Goldmine Dub in 1979, as well as on many anthologies. Beside Shakespeare and Dunbar the core lineup comprised Ossie Hibbert, Ansel Collins, and Errol "Tarzan" Nelson on keyboards, Radcliffe "Duggie" Bryan on guitar, Uziah "Sticky" Thompson on percussion, Skatalites veteran Tommy McCook on tenor sax, Herman Marquis on alto sax, and Vin Gordon on trombone. Because studio work remained highly fluid, additional leading veterans such as Earl "Chinna" Smith and Tony Chin on guitar, Bertram "Ranchie" McLean on bass, Robby Lyn on keyboards, and drummers Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace or Carlton "Santa" Davis frequently joined. In practice the Revolutionaries name applied only to the house band recording at Channel One studio for producers Jo Jo Hookim and Ernest Hookim.

Many of the same musicians also worked as the Professionals for Joe Gibbs, the Aggrovators for Bunny Lee, and the Black Disciples for Jack Ruby. Whatever the credit or personnel, these players helped shape how roots reggae reached listeners outside Jamaica. The Mighty Diamonds' Right Time album of 1976 launched the rockers rhythm, after which the Revolutionaries scored Jamaican hits of their own with singles such as "MPLA" and "Angola." Four LPs—Vital Dub Strictly Rockers, Revolutionary Sounds, Revival Dub Roots Now, and Satta Dub Strictly Roots—appeared locally on the Well Charge label.

By the early 1980s Sly & Robbie had toured with Peter Tosh before joining Black Uhuru, while other Revolutionaries members accompanied major Jamaican vocal groups on the road. Although the Roots Radics became the principal studio session band, the Revolutionaries' legacy was already fixed as the dub movement expanded and brought their material to international audiences. The superb Revolutionaries Sounds, Vol. 2 from 1979 offered direct roots reggae that recalled dub's origins as instrumental B-sides of Jamaican singles. Additional 1979 releases included Burning Dub, Outlaw Dub, and Goldmine Dub. The group also backed Serge Gainsbourg on his reggae albums Aux Armes et Cætera in 1979 and Mauvaises Nouvelles des Étoiles in 1981.

A handful of further albums surfaced in the early 1980s, among them I Came, I Saw, I Conquered and Revival. Since the start of the CD era numerous Revolutionaries collections and archival issues have followed, among them Channel One Revisited Dub in 1995, At Channel One: Dub Plate Specials in 2001, and Drum Sound: More Gems from the Channel One Dub Room in 2007.