Bass, Mids, Tops

An oral history of the UK's soundsystem culture, featuring interviews with Dubmaster Dennis Bovell, Neneh Cherry, Youth, Goldie, Adrian Sherwood, Bok Bok, and others.

Emerging from the post-Windrush streets of West London's Ladbroke Grove, the UK's soundsystem culture would become the most important influence on contemporary pop music since rock and roll. Pumped through towering, home-built speakers, often directly onto the thronged streets of the Notting Hill Carnival, the pulsating bass lines of reggae, dub, rave, dubstep, and grime have shaped the worlds of several generations of British youth culture but have often been overlooked by historians obsessed with Swinging London, Punk, and Britpop.

This oral history, based on new interviews conducted by respected dance music writer Joe Muggs, and accompanied by dramatic portraits by Brian David Stevens, presents the story of the bass line of Britain, in the words of those who lived and shaped it. Featuring interviews with Dubmaster Dennis Bovell, Neneh Cherry, Youth, Goldie, Adrian Sherwood, Bok Bok, and many others.