Tackhead

Delivering a powerful mix of taut funk, hip-hop-style grooves, and dub-wise electro-industrial menace, Tackhead was an inspired collaboration between the rhythm section of <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">Keith LeBlanc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">Skip McDonald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Doug Wimbish</a>, and maverick producer <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Adrian Sherwood</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">McDonald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Wimbish</a> first gained a reputation as the studio musicians behind a handful of early rap classics. When <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a> hired them to work on one of his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22On-U+Sound%22">On-U Sound</a> production projects, it was the beginning of a series of collaborations that culminated in the first proper Tackhead album, 1989's Friendly as a Hand Grenade. The trio's original run ended in 1991, but various permutations of the band continued to work together, and they reunited for the 2014 album For the Love of Money.

Guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">Skip McDonald</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Doug Wimbish</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">Keith LeBlanc</a> began working together in the late '70s, serving as the backing band for many of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sugar+Hill+Records%22">Sugar Hill Records</a>' early rap releases, generating the grooves behind such classics as <a href="spotify:artist:7zliF6Q946WznVk3ZMYhZX">the Sugarhill Gang</a>'s "Rapper's Delight" and <a href="spotify:artist:1JfnADNz5yYEq3hrzlZHLk">Grandmaster Flash</a>'s "The Message" and "White Lines." In October 1983, <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a> scored a minor hit and international press attention with "No Sell Out," a single in which he layered samples from a speech by <a href="spotify:artist:2IsulP0BplLNJn8BGsvUQo">Malcolm X</a> over a powerful hip-hop backing track. <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Adrian Sherwood</a>, an innovative British producer and dub remixer who founded the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22On-U+Sound%22">On-U Sound</a> label, crossed paths with <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a> during a visit to New York, and the producer invited <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a> to work with him. <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">McDonald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Wimbish</a> relocated to England and soon became <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a>'s backing group of choice for his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22On-U%22">On-U</a> projects, including albums by <a href="spotify:artist:7ICtxa8q3pHVKADkZ1nzsv">Mark Stewart & Maffia</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1zxM2VN0Wa3jGR4eB4NPXV">Gary Clail</a>. In 1985, <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">McDonald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Wimbish</a> cut the first of a handful of singles under the rubric Fats Comet, and they began using the name Tackhead when they released the single "What's My Mission Now," with <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a> adding found voices and electronics to the rhythm section's hard-edged performances. The trio and <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a> worked together on <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a>'s 1986 solo album, Major Malfunction, and sessions backing <a href="spotify:artist:1zxM2VN0Wa3jGR4eB4NPXV">Gary Clail</a> emerged on the 1987 album Tackhead Tape Time, credited to Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System.

In 1989, the same year <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a> dropped his second solo set, Stranger Than Fiction, Tackhead finally released their first proper album, Friendly as a Hand Grenade, issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22TVT+Records%22">TVT Records</a>. The LP debuted a fifth member, <a href="spotify:artist:0T8ITMoIvE02AuBveBbLgX">Bernard Fowler</a>, who contributed vocals rather than relying on the vocal samples <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a> often added to the tracks. In 1990, Tackhead moved to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>-distributed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SBK%22">SBK</a> label and delivered Strange Things, a more rock-oriented effort that included guest appearances from rapper Melle Mel and <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick Jagger</a> on harmonica. The album didn't live up to commercial expectations, and while <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">McDonald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Wimbish</a> continued to play on various On-U Sound System projects, it represented the last new Tackhead material for many years. Between 1994 and 1997, Tackhead brought released rarities, outtakes, and live material under the moniker <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Power%2C+Inc%22">Power, Inc</a>. In 2004, they reunited for a tour of the United States and Europe, and in 2006, <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Sherwood</a> assembled a collection of highlights from the group's recording career, Tackhead Sound Crash: Slash & Mix Adrian Sherwood. Tackhead staged another reunion in 2013, releasing a collection of covers titled For the Love of Money for the German label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dude+Records%22">Dude Records</a>. 2016 brought The Message, a limited-edition collection of Tackhead and Fats Comet material remixed by <a href="spotify:artist:1iDj8ypNviMnAbsDyyCmUs">Robo Bass Hifi</a> (aka German producer Markus Kammann). Another collection of rare Tackhead material, The Lost Tapes 1 & Remixes, appeared on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echo+Beach%22">Echo Beach</a> label in 2018. The full band reunited for the final time in 2022 as part of an On-U Sound 40th anniversary celebration, playing three shows in the U.K.

Outside of Tackhead, <a href="spotify:artist:2nWwuMA3fFPzKiI0x4Xhrd">McDonald</a> has recorded under the name <a href="spotify:artist:0ZLV7I1vDpjO5IIDTYfeGJ">Little Axe</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19l1pnOM9X4cSf8QhuRGwT">Wimbish</a> remains a busy studio musician and performs with <a href="spotify:artist:6Uhp7WA6sjm5ZL6Xz561de">Living Colour</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0T8ITMoIvE02AuBveBbLgX">Fowler</a> has recorded two solo albums and regularly sings backup with <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> both on-stage and in the studio, and <a href="spotify:artist:49ySrJrkirH0D0I6sEVBpD">LeBlanc</a> continued to release solo material up to his death on April 4, 2024, at the age of 70. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi