Without doubt the best known and most charismatic of all Jamaican record producers, Rainford Hugh Perry (nicknamed Lee by his mother) aka Scratch/The Upsetter is one of reggae’s longest serving veterans and his story is inseparable from that of the development of Jamaican music.
By 1968 he had formed his own label Upsetter Records and was enjoying hits with sounds like The Untouchables’ Tighten Up. But he became best known for his quirky instrumental numbers whose titles often took inspiration from the “spaghetti westerns” that were so popular in Kingston’s downtown cinemas at the time.
These Upsetter instrumentals found great favour in the UK with the “skinhead” cult of the late 60s, and Scratch scored his first British chart hit in October 1969 with Return Of Django.
We won a Grammy award for his last album Jamaican E.T. and is now about to start recording the follow-up album.
His place in the history of popular music is assured and the influence of the sounds he created can be heard reverberating around the world. He is Jamaica’s answer to Joe Meek, Phil Spector and Brian Wilson all rolled into one.
Tickets: £22 adv. available from The Junction.