Tack>>head

As Doug Wimbish started making his exodus in 1984 from The Sugar Hill Records label as bassist for the label’s house band, he began working at Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Record Label and Tom Silverman’s Tommy Boy Records. Concurrently, British producer Adrian Sherwood traveled to the US to work on a remix of Akabu’s Watch Yourself for Tommy Boy Records.

It was at Tom Silverman’s first New Music Seminar, held in New York, NY in 1984, where Doug, along with guitarist Skip McDonald and drummer Keith LeBlanc, were introduced to Adrian Sherwood by Tommy Boy Entertainment’s Founder Tom Silverman. The Pop Group’s Mark Stewart had also given a prior nod to Adrian, encouraging him to meet up with the former Sugar Hill House Band trio, who would also be attending the seminar.

Meetings held at the seminar went well between the rhythm section trio and Sherwood. About a week later, Keith traveled to London, followed soon after by Doug and Skip, the trio beginning work on a new project with Sherwood, which they entitled Fats Comet. Originally conceived to be a studio project, Fats Comet released several singles including Bop Bop, Don’t Forget That Beat, Stormy Weather and Rockchester.

The group eventually shifted their musical direction towards a more non-commercial, underground venture, naming the band Tackhead - which Doug coined the name for. Initially an instrumental band, Tackhead’s second studio album, Friendly As A Hand Grenade, marked the introduction of Rolling Stones vocalist Bernard Fowler as a group member.

Tackhead is also known as Mark Stewart’s “Maffia” and Gary Clail’s “Tackhead Sound System”.

Known for its industrial, funk, dub, hip hop genre, Tackhead has released the following studio albums: Tackhead Tape Time, Friendly As A Hand Grenade, Strange Things and For The Love Of Money; the compilation albums Power Inc. Vol 1, 2 & 3, Sharehead, Metal Box and The Lost Tapes Vol. One; and the remix album Tackhead Sound Crash: Slash & Mix - Adrian Sherwood. Tackhead En Concert is an unofficial live release.