Ruf Dug's Compass Point Classics

We like Ruf Dug here on THUMP. Like, really like him. From his cosmic meanderings on Unknown to the Unknown — beamed straight from the Dane Bank Observatory — to his somnambulant experiments on NTS, we're hooked on the Manchester based producers skewed take on all things Balearic. He's recently wowed us with a stunningly obscure mix of Guadalopen oddities for Test Pressing, and his just-released LP Island is already one of our favourite records of the year — a swirling, pan-global stew of beach ready rollers and swampy forest-dwelling deeper cuts, it's insanely replayable and you should all go out and buy it now.

Ruf's clearly a bloke with an expansive record collection and impeccable taste so we wanted to get him to give us the lowdown on something he loved: Compass Point studios. For those of you in the dark, Compass Point Studios were founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Records, in Nassau, the Bahamas. Now sadly closed, during the 70s and 80s, Compass Point was regarded as one of the finest recording studios in the world, used by artists as diverse as Talking Heads, Status Quo, Carly Simon, The Cure, and Serge Gainsbourg.

When we think about the Compass Point sound, we tend to think of rubbery, reggae-infused experimentally leaning pop that pushed boundaries and sounded massive on dancefloors. This was largely down to the prowess of a group of musicians and producers and engineers who went on to be known as the Compass Point All Stars. They included the likes of Sly & Robbie and Wally Badarou and they were responsible for manufacturing some of the best records ever. Seriously, look at that discography. It is insane. Anyone looking for a brief, but extremely pleasurable overview of the studios and their seminal output can't go far wrong with this compilation, or Ruf Dug's list below. Hopefully, for many of you, this is just the start of something wonderful.

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Straight in at the deep end. What a fucking seminal tune, I still play it all the time and it never fails to smash up the place. Techno raves, disco dances, birthday parties, weddings, you name it…Tina and Chris from Talking Heads bought an apartment above Compass Point and ended up becoming part of the furniture. It's here that the All-Stars began to form, as due to some politics a 19 year old (!) Steven Stanley ended up recording the session and forming the punchy sound. Later on David Byrne would credit the max heat of this tune to Stanley, who went on to produce and engineer most of the great CP output and is maybe more than anyone the lynchpin of the Compass Point sound.

Wally Badarou - Mambo

Seriously when you asked for my favourite Compass Point tunes it would probably realistically be all of Echoes and then a few other Wally tunes to make up the numbers. I can't get enough of the guy. His music speaks to me. Echoes is maybe my favourite album and when I was making Island it was basically the entire blueprint for the whole LP. I've chosen "Mambo" for the summery vibe and for the fact that it's probably known to most people as the heart, soul and nervous system of Massive Attack's "Daydream".

Robert Palmer - Riptide

Palmer was another loose fucker who tipped up at Compass Point and never left. He had a house over the road from the place and would take bits of gear from the studio to his pad and record things down there before bringing them in for a mix. This period of his career is really full of pretty much nothing but blazed sunny tunes. I chose this one 'cos it's got loads of Wally on it.

Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood

An absolute 100% Compass Point product - Tom Tom Club was half of Talking Heads and Steven Stanley was credited as a band member as well, recognising the producer's massive creative input. "Genius Of Love" is one of the most sampled songs ever but I've chosen this playful beast as my fave.

Gwen Guthrie - Getting Hot (Larry Levan mix)

Larry and Francois K were the NYC arm of the All-Stars — imagine compass point as this little island in outer space, floating around in paradise making all this crazy music and then beaming it down some cosmic link to NYC for Larry and FK to get their hands on and drag it from the beach to the dancefloor. The Gwen Guthrie "Padlock" release has to be the greatest example of this NYC / Nassau connection… Sly & Robbie, Gwen Guthrie, Larry, Boogie Handclaps, 1983, fuckin' hell.

Will Powers - Adventures in Success

Compass Point was such an incredible hit factory that at one point a fucking photographer was able to make a killer album based around a fictional self help guru.

Grace Jones - Pull Up to the Bumper.

It would have been pretty cool to be around for the Grace Jones sessions. This track existed as a rhythm track only first called 'peanut butter' and then grace appeared on the scene…

Black Uhuru - Boof N' Baff N' Biff

OK whenever you read about the Compass Point sound you always read 'reggae-influenced' or 'dub-heavy' or something like that. There are no allusions here though, this is the Caribbean part of the gang let loose — no fusion here, just straight up heavy dub vibes, except instead of going through the dusty desks of Kingston it's all getting channeled through million dollar state of the art consoles driven by that man Steve Stanley again.

Mick Jagger - She's the Boss

Mick Jagger sits down and does exactly what he's told to do because you might be a Glimmer Twin but we're the fucking Compass Point All Stars so you just sing when we say and leave the hit making to us OK. The visitors always knew that they were NOT number 1 in this joint. There's a legendary James Brown vs Sly & Robbie story out there if you wanna read more.

Wally Badarou - Chief Inspector (Precinct 13 remix)

Because fuck you I love Wally and yet again this is a timeless beauty that never fails to bring smiles to people's faces. I chose this mix to highlight another 'unknown' Compass Point All-Star, Paul 'Groucho' Smykle, who can usually be found engineering / remixing the tracks with the greatest dancefloor power.

Islands by Ruf Dug is out now on Music for Dreams.

Follow Ruf Dug on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter