“Rapper’s Delight “The Message “White Lines 1980 —The Original Sugar Hill Rhythm Section was called the “world’s finest” by the New York Times. ((( >>> )))
2008 — “In The Area” was a cry Doug Wimbish often called from the Tack>>Head stage. It is also serves as a chorus in this extended instrumental jam, that had become frequent in his live sets. This performance was at his 2008 WIMBASH in his hometown, Hartford Connecticut.
2002 — New York City painter, Linda Zacks, in her Brooklyn Studio (apartment), not long after 9-11. Behind her is Twin Tower painting. Actually two, tall, narrow sheets of plywood that she found on the street near her apartment, and then painted fast and haphazardly.
2009 — Linda’s 9-11 piece serves as the visual foundation of Doug Wimbish’s “DANGER” video made for his CinemaSonics album (2012).
“Mother Earth” Keith LeBlanc The Chess Project New Moves 2024 — Not long after Keith’s second project with old friend Marshall Chess, lung cancer killed him. ((( remixing the blues)))
2004 — The first song played, after a 14-year hiatus, by a re-united Original Sugar Hill Rhythm Section. After “King of The Beat,” often the opening song of Tack>>Head shows back in the day (87-91), Bernard Fowler came out for the rest of that first reunion show at Sully’s Pub & Tiki Bar, in Hartford, Connecticut.
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2024 —“Mother Earth” b/ Keith LeBlanc The Chess Project
1989 —Friendly As A Hand Grenade Tack>>Head’s first record with Bernard Fowler
1990 —Strange Things Tack>>Head’s second record, with Mick Jagger singing the part he requested on “Take A Stroll.”
1986 — “Ticking Time Bomb,” En Concert, Major Malfunction
2004 —“King Of The Beat” Tack>>Head reunion at Sully’s Pub in Hartford, Connecticut.
Funky President Tack>>Head (KLB) January 20, 2009 — Instant Inaugural* Two hours after Barack Obama delivered his first Inaugural, Tack>>Head drummer Keith LeBlanc had cut lines into this earliest demo of the band’s cover of James Brown’s “Funky President.” Keith, Skip McDonald (guitar) and Doug Wimbish (bass), as Sugar Hill’s Original Rhythm Section had played with Brown before (“Unity”), and Keith did the same with Malcolm X speeches in his groundbreaking “No Sell Out” in 1984. ((( Ode to Obama )))
One of the earliest “live” performances of “Funky President” (Obama) was in a rehearsal space in New York City. Later that night Tack>>Head, playing for Bernard’s “New York New York” video release at the Highline Ballroom, downtown.
In a Midtown Manhattan rehearsal space in 2009, Tack>>Head played its new song “Funky Obama” for the first time, all together, in the same room, as a band. The rehearsal was for a show they’d play downtown, at the Highline Ballroom. A show to support Bernard’s “New York Time” (single and video), a new song written to celebrate and honor his hometown, Queensbridge, New York City.
Bernard brings Rhythm & Blues to Tack>>Head, and makes it clear that the band was Always American.
The Statue of Liberty — Despite having been created in Mad Englishman Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound laboratory in London, England, Tack>>Head was always an American band, and from the beginning, used the Statue of Liberty to represent themselves visually. [GEE VAUCHER]
Reinforcing Tack>>Head’s allegiance, to honor the election of Barack Obama, the band covered James Brown’s “Funky President,” with Keith, in real time, recording and sampling Obama’s First Inaugural Address, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009.
For Kieth, “Funky President” closed his personal American circle he had begun to draw when he partnered with his friend Betty Shabazz (Malcolm X’ widow), and made his legendary “No Sell Out,” a sample of Malcolm X speeches played to a beat triggered by striking electronic pads he affixed to a snare drum of his invention.
Rock This House Tack>>Head In The Area Of Ohio 2021 — ((( blues revival)))
Sweet Water Studio (NYC)
Still Alive and Well 2024 — Still Alive and Well Taking time out from all their individual projects (Living Colour, Rolling Stones, The Chess Project), all the members of Tack>>Head, got together again, in London, with their original English mate, Adrian Sherwood. Adrian was throwing a party at The Jazz Cafe in London, what Adrian’s “home” planet to celebrate ON-U SOUND still turning 40 years later.
January 20, 2009 — Keith LeBlanc recorded Barack Obama’s First Inaugural speech, and used it in his mix of the James Brown cover Tack>>Head was working on at the time. Two hours after Obama finished speaking, Keith sent this first mix of “Funky President” (Ode To Obama), the finished song eventually released in 2011 on the band’s For the Love of Money record.
Recorded at The Town & Country Club London, England 09/03/89 Enjoy a wild and wonderful Tackhead live show with the dub master supreme Adrian Sherwood at the desk Guitar – Skip McDonald Bass – Doug Wimbish Drums – Keith LeBlanc Keys + Vox – Bernard Fowler Mix – Adrian Sherwood Set List Rochester Dangerous Sex Malcolm X – No Sell Out Ticking Time Bomb Crosstown Traffic Mind At The End Of The Tether Red Hot Mama Airborne Ranger Body To Burn Love Kills Pain On Contact The Game Class Rock Stormy Weather King Of The Beat “Why does it have to be so damn tough?” Bernard Fowler (Vocals) (tack>>head discography)
Rock This House” Tack>>Head In The Area Of Ohio 2021 — ((( blues revival)))
While gathering to play Adrian Sherwood’s ON-U SOUND 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Jazz Cafe in London, Tack>>Head (Bernard, Doug, Skip, and Keith) recorded this half hour set at the Sweet Water studios in New York City, where they were rehearsing. Also at that time, Keith and Bernard were working on Keith’s New Moves record, the third, and arguably the best of three “Chess Moves” albums of which Keith worked with his longtime friend Marshall Chess, digging through the Chess Records’ legendary Blues archives, and mixing and cutting whatever he wanted, in whatever Dub, Funk, or Electronic style he desired.
April 13, 2011 — Keith LeBlanc and Doug Wimbish open Tack>>Head’s set at ON-U SOUND RECORDS‘ 30th Anniversary show at CABARET VOLTAIRE in Edinburgh, England. Keith, Doug, and Skip are the ORIGINAL SUGAR HILL RHYTHM SECTION (called the “world’s best” in 1980, by the New York Times) in 1981), responsible for laying down the beats for many of the Hip-Hop anthems, including: “The Message,” “White Lines,” “That’s the Joint,” “Step Off,” “Scratching,” and “New York, New York.”
Before Tack>>Head, THE ORIGINAL SUGAR HILL RHYTHM SECTION (Keith LeBlanc, drums; Doug Wimbish, bass; and Skip McDonald, guitar) were laying the foundation for the phenomenon called Hip-Hop. Before that, they played in WOOD BRASS & STEEL, a Dance/Funk band from Hartford, Connecticut. In 1976, “Funkanova,” a tune written by bassist Doug Wimbish, was a favorite on playlists at New York City clubs, including Studio 54, The Paradise Garage, and The Roxy.
