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Artist Hall of Fame

ScientistText by Harry Hawks

As the eighties began Scientist, born Hopeton Overton Browne, breathed new life into a genre that many commentators had written off as being past its best…
Date Added: Jul 16, 2011, Date Updated: Jul 20, 2011 Copyright (C) 2024 Dub Store Sound Inc.
Real Name: Hopeton Overton Browne
Place of Birth: Kingston
Jamaica
Related Artist(s):
King Tubby
King Jammy
Hopeton Overton 'Scientist' Browne was born in Kingston in 1960. His father was an electronics engineer and TV and radio repair technician and Scientist, who had been drawn to music through an interest in electronics, began building amplifiers for sound systems. He tested his amplifiers by playing King Tubby's mixes "to ensure that the amplifiers would not break down under extreme conditions". He used to buy transformers from King Tubby and was soon doing "odds and ends jobs" repairing television sets and amplifiers. Initially employed to help wind transformers at Dromilly Avenue Scientist's first break was with Henry 'Junjo' Lawes when he recorded and mixed Barrington Levy's 'Collie Weed'. By this time Jammy was busy with his own studio and had been unable to make it to the session. "When I formed my own studio now... I couldn't be at Tubby's twenty four hours go and come from mine to Tubby's". Tubby now had two new apprentice engineers, Winston 'Professor' Brown and Hopeton Overton 'Scientist' Browne, and the musical emphasis gradually shifted away from roots based records towards what was to become known as the dance hall style. Among the producers whose work defined this brave new music were Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, deejay, now producer, Nkrumah Jah Thomas(Nkruma Thomas) and singer, now producer, Linval Thompson.

"Scientist came to Tubby's in 1977. He was to learn technician work, electronics but he got interested in the engineering. He came to me and started to ask me questions, if I can teach him. I took him under my wing... Professor was here. He came on a little later after Scientist and I started teaching him. Professor becomes almost the resident engineer and then he migrated abroad" King Jammy

Tubby's studio was only ever used for voicing and mixing and in 1979 Scientist worked briefly at Studio One in order to learn live recording. His early mixes on Brentford Road coincided with Mr Dodd's first forays into the dance hall style and Sugar Minott's translation of The Tennors' 'Pressure & Slide' into 'Oh Mr. DC' is usually cited as one of the first ever Scientist mixes. But, after disagreements about how to record, Scientist returned to the Dromilly Avenue studio where his unorthodox dub mixing techniques began to carve out a reputation for this unassuming young man. The Roots Radics were the session band of the period bridging the gap between the roots dominated seventies and the digital rhythms that followed. Scientist's novel approach to their sparse, spare, pared down rhythms ushered in a new period of popularity for dub music.

"Most of the time I used the Roots Radics. I'd pay them before a session so they'd work better with money in their pockets! In one session we made ten different rhythms and seven of them were hits... " Nkrumah Jah Thomas(Nkruma Thomas)

In 1981 Greensleeves Records in London began what would become long and close working relationships with producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes and singer and producer Linval Thompson. Greensleeve's 'Scientist vs. Prince Jammy' album pitted the mixing skills of Scientist against his mentor Prince Jammy. The set was sequenced like a sound system battle with each mixer taking a turn at the controls and came in a superb eye catching sleeve by Tony McDermott. The two opponents were pictured in an arena that was a cross between a boxing ring and a dance hall and the album proved to be very popular. The record buying public rapidly decided who the winner of this contest was and Greensleeves' next Roots Radics dub album, which followed later that year, was entitled 'Heavyweight Dub Champion' and credited simply to Scientist.

The release of 'Scientist Meets The Space Invaders' in 1981 signalled the beginning of Scientist's international fame. Over the next two years a series of imaginatively titled albums, all with excellent artwork by Tony McDermott, were released in the UK where after Meeting The Space Invaders Scientist Encountered Pac Man and then Rid The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires before Winning The World Cup. These albums were among the last Jamaican dub long players to achieve classic status among the cognoscenti. And just as they had done with King Tubby in the previous decade it seemed as if every other producer in the reggae business was busy releasing dub sets with Scientist's name emblazoned across the cover.

After leaving King Tubby's in 1982 Scientist went on to work with the sixteen track facilities at Channel One where he continued to hone his skills and began to record live musicians again. He recalled that his first session on Maxfield Avenue was "like working a live concert". He then moved on to Rita Marley's Tuff Gong studio where, working alongside Errol Brown, he remarked "I wish Bob Marley was around to enjoy what he started." After emigrating to America in 1985 he worked in Washington DC as a sound engineer.

In 2001 five of the tracks from 'Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires' album produced by Henry 'Junjo' Lawes featured on the K-Jah radio station in the 'Grand Theft Auto 3' video/computer game which led to protracted legal battles over the authorship and ownership of the music.

Scientist's work behind the mixing desk backed dub music out of its late seventies cul de sac and will be forever regarded as playing an integral role in the development of reggae music. He introduced his brash new sound to a worldwide youth audience and the standing of his mixes, cavernous and uncompromising, has continued to grow in stature over the years. His name is now probably better known to the younger audience than many of his illustrious dubwise predecessors.
Jul 16, 2011 (Jul 20, 2011 Update) Text by Harry Hawks
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Hit titles
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