Scientist (musician)

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Hopeton Brown
Also known asScientist, Overton Brown
Born (1960-04-18) 18 April 1960 (age 64)
OriginJamaica
GenresDub
LabelsGreensleeves Records
Tuff Gong

Hopeton Brown (born 18 April 1960),[1] better known as Scientist and sometimes known as Overton Brown,[2] was a protégé of King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock), one of the originators of dub music.

Biography

Brown was introduced to electronics by his father, who worked as a television and radio repair technician.[2] He began building his own amplifiers and would buy transformers from Tubby's Dromilly Road studio, and while there would keep asking Tubby to give him a chance at mixing. He was taken on at Tubby's as an assistant, performing tasks such as winding transformer coils, and began working as a mixer in the mid-1970s, initially creating dubs of reworked Studio One riddims for Don Mais' Roots Tradition label, given his chance when Prince Jammy cut short a mixing session for Mais because he was too tired to continue.[2] His name originated from a joke between Tubby and Bunny Lee. Having noticed Brown's forward thinking ideas and technical aspirations, Tubby remarked "Damn, this little boy must be a scientist."[3]

He left King Tubby's studio at the end of the 1970s and became the principal engineer for Channel One Studio when hired by the Hoo Kim brothers, giving him the chance to work on a 16-track mixing desk rather than the four tracks at Tubby's.[2][4]

He came to prominence in the early 1980s and produced many albums, his mixes featuring on many releases in the first part of the decade. In particular, he was the favourite engineer of Henry "Junjo" Lawes, for whom he mixed several albums featuring the Roots Radics, many based on tracks by Barrington Levy.[2][4] He also did a lot of work for Linval Thompson and Jah Thomas.[2] In 1982 he left Channel One to work at Tuff Gong studio as second engineer to Errol Brown.[2] He then emigrated to the Washington, D.C. area in 1985, again to work in studios as a sound engineer.[2]

He made a series of albums in the early 1980s, released on Greensleeves Records with titles themed around Scientist's fictional achievements in fighting Space Invaders, Pac-Men, and Vampires, and winning the World Cup.[2] The music on these albums was played by Roots Radics, his most frequent collaborators. Scientist has alleged in court that Greensleeves sold these albums without his consent, according to his interview with United Reggae online magazine.[5]

Five of his songs from the album Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires were used as the playlist songs on the K-Jah radio station in the 2001 video game Grand Theft Auto III. Scientist has alleged in court that these songs were used without his consent.[5]

Partial discography

  • Ranking Dread In Dub King Tubby And Scientist (1981)
  • Introducing Scientist: The Best Dub Album in the World (1980)
  • Allied Dub Selection (1980) – with Papa Tad's
  • Heavyweight Dub Champion (1980)
  • Big Showdown at King Tubby's (1980) – with Prince Jammy
  • Scientist Meets the Space Invaders (1981)
  • Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (1981)
  • Scientist Meets the Roots Radics (1981)
  • Scientist in the Kingdom of Dub (1981)
  • Scientific Dub (1981) Tad's
  • Dub Landing Vol. 1 (1981)
  • Yabby You & Michael Prophet Meet Scientist at the Dub Station (1981)
  • First, Second and Third Generation (1981) – with King Tubby and Prince Jammy
  • Dub War (1981)
  • World at War (1981)
  • Dub Landing Vol. 2 (1982) – with Prince Jammy
  • High Priest of Dub (1982)
  • Dub Duel (1982) – with Crucial Bunny
  • Scientist Encounters Pac-Man (1982)
  • Seducer Dub Wise (1982)
  • Scientist Wins the World Cup (1983)
  • Dub Duel at King Tubby's (1983) – The Professor
  • Scientist & Jammy Strike Back (1983) – with Prince Jammy
  • The People's Choice (1983)
  • Crucial Cuts Vol. 1 (1984)
  • Crucial Cuts Vol. 2 (1984)
  • 1999 Dub (1984)
  • King of Dub (1987)
  • International Heroes Dub (1989)
  • Tribute to King Tubby (1990)
  • Freedom Fighters Dub (1995)
  • Dub in the Roots Tradition (1996)
  • Repatriation Dub (1996)
  • King Tubby Meets Scientist in a World of Dub (1996) – with King Tubby
  • King Tubby's Meets Scientist at Dub Station (1996) – with King Tubby
  • Dubbin With Horns (1995)
  • Dub Science (1997)
  • Dub Science, Dub For Daze, Volume 2 (1997)
  • Scientist Meets the Crazy Mad Professor at Channel One Studio (1997)
  • Respect Due (Joseph I Meets the Scientist in Tribute to Jackie Mittoo) (1999)
  • Mach 1 Beyond Sound Barrier (1999)
  • Scientist Dubs Culture Into a Parallel Universe (2000)
  • All Hail the Dub Head (2001)
  • Ras Portrait (2003)
  • Pockets of Resistance (2003)
  • Scientist Meets The Pocket (2003–2004)
  • Nightshade Meets Scientist (2005) - featuring Wadi Gad
  • Dub From the Ghetto (2006) (compilation)
  • Dub 911 (2006)
  • Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space (2010)
  • Repatriation Dub (2014)

References

  1. ^ [1] [dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae", Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4
  3. ^ "Interview of Hopeton Brown (Scientist) by Mike Pawka". Niceup.com. 1998. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9
  5. ^ a b Angus Taylor (24 September 2008). "Interview : Scientist". Unitedreggae.com. Retrieved 18 February 2014.

External links

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