This is the first of the Patreon Exclusive Freebies. They are only available to Patreon subscribers of the $6 and $10/month level that were subscribed before 6/14/24. But I plan to keep on crankin' out the hits on a quarterly/biannual basis to future subscribers, so if you don't want to miss out, go to https://www.patreon.com/PIAPTK and sign up!

Handwritten labels on round black vinyl, dub plate style with yellow dusty!

Dr Dog: Here Comes the Hotstepper / Great Work Everyone
Welcome to the first installment of the PIAPTK Patreon exclusive series, available only to PIAPTK’s Patrons (plus some copies for the band to distribute as they wish).

It is an homage to the predessor of the modern lathe cut record, the dub plate. Dub plates were used heavily in Jamaican reggae and Disco / House dance music in the 70s and 80s. They were one-off copies of a song cut in real time on a lacquer acetate blank record. In reggae, dubs were used to provide sound system DJs with a one-off copy of a song, sometimes with “toasting” where a DJ would sing or talk over an intrumental, identifying the sound system and proclaiming their superiority over other sound systems. This recording would be exclusive to that sound system and would be a way of setting them apart. In Jamaica, King Tubby and Arrows Studio were instrumental in providing dubs to sound systems. I used to own the Presto 8DGV cutting lathe from Arrows, but it now resides in the Living Computer Museum in Seattle. However, the Grampian cutter head from Arrows is still the daily runner in my cutting studio. In House music of the late 70s and 80s, dubs were used to extend 3 minute pop songs and to add musical elements such as drum machines and effects to really heighten then dance floor experience in clubs like Studio 54 and Paradise Garage. DJs would get dub plates made at dub factories like Sunshine Sound, Angel Sound, or Melting Pot sound. Rich Flores, who ran Melting Pot sound actually still makes my cutting styli to this day. DJs would also use dub plates to “field test” their remixes to see how the dance floor responded to the mix before they pressed the record in a larger quantity. Much like the Jamaicans, the house DJs wanted to bring songs and remixes to their club nights that no other DJs had.
The packaging of this record pays homage to both of these scenes. The yellow dust jacket and generic “studio label” is similar to the labels used by King Tubby and Arrows, and the poorly written chicken scratch shorthand (each hand written by me) is an homage to some of the NYC dub plates that were labeled this way to prevent other DJs from finding the track for themselves.

We hope you enjoy!