Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, industrial music and electronica intersect. The core members were Doug Wimbish (bass), Keith LeBlanc (percussion) and Skip McDonald (guitar) and producer (sometimes credited as "mixologist") Adrian Sherwood. Despite being short-lived as a band proper, the legacy and output of these groups of musicians has been prodigious.

History

In the late 1970s, Wimbish, LeBlanc and McDonald were members of the house band for the Sugarhill Records record label One of their earlier collaborations was as "Mark Stewart and the Maffia", which featured Stewart, former member of Bristol’s The Pop Group, on vocals. and both were then mixed live by Sherwood to produce a wall of sound effect that was highly novel for the mid-1980s.

LeBlanc died in April 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Tackhead Tape Time (1987)
  • Friendly as a Hand Grenade (1989)
  • Strange Things (1990)
  • For the Love of Money (2014)
  • Powerstation 2.0 (2023, Emergency Hearts)
  • Powerstation 2.0 (scott crow Hard Left Remix) (2024, Emergency Hearts)

References

  • Official Tackhead website
  • Artist page at unofficial On-U Sound site
  • Discography at unofficial On-U Sound site