A top tune on Top Deck from a top sound!

This is a very rare 45, and a very good one too: Skaravan by Roland Alphonson (Top Deck Records). It was offered for sale on eBay the other day, and it went for a good amount of money. Original Jamaican 45s can be very expensive as more and more collectors are becoming aware of their value - be it historical, artistic of financial. And it is, overall, a good thing.

But this copy has something very special. It bears the signature of its former owner. And guess who we're talking about? King Tubby himself!

Thanks to Dave Home for the close-up and the info.

We know, from looking at what remains of his stuff, that he used to write his name over everything he possesed. No wonder he did the same with his records. And the handwriting is Tubby's, no doubt about it. So this is a genuine one. This 45 was once in Tubby's box, and it was played at the Hi Fi (by Skeewee, maybe, who was Tubby's friend and first deejay?). We know that Home Town Hi Fi was the name he used before Tubby turned it into a high-powered sound in 1968 (when U Roy came in). So that this records was probably played for the first time on the first version of Tubby's sound that we can see in the book and below :

So this is a piece of music, of art, and of history.

Find more about Tubby and his sound in KING TUBBY-THE DUB MASTER (DREAD Editions)