Fats Comet

Origin| London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Genres| Funk, industrial
Years active| 1984–1987
Labels| On-U Sound, Rough Trade, World
Past members| Keith LeBlanc
Skip McDonald
Adrian Sherwood
Doug Wimbish

Fats Comet was a British/American industrial hip hop group formed by Adrian Sherwood, Keith LeBlanc, Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish. The band was known for producing dance tracks that were densely layered in samples and ahead of their time. In a 1987 article in Spin, Scott Burlingham commented that "songs like "Bop Bop" and "Stormy Weather" are three years old and they still don't fit in."[1] The members eventually shifted their focus to another project Tackhead, under which they continue to produce music.

## History[edit]

British music producer Adrian Sherwood first met American percussionist Keith LeBlanc in 1984 while working on a remix for the reggae group Akabu. They were joined by guitarist Skip McDonald and bassist Doug Wimbish in London. Fats Comet was originally conceived to be a studio-only project.[2] A change in musical direction led the members to focus their attention on another project called Tackhead, which aimed at having a less commercial sound compared to Fats Comet. Sherwood explains, "the masterplan [...] was for Tackhead to take dub/funk on a journey through leftfield and into the unknown to God knows where, and then for Fats Comet to pilot the mothership smoothly back from this alternative dimension to a safe earthly landing with sounds that you would recognize instantly without ever having heard before."[3][4] Although they never released a full-length album, the group's final single, "Rockchester", was a modest success in the UK.[5]

## Discography[edit]

Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.[5]

### Singles[edit]

* "Bop Bop" (World, 1985)
* "Dee Jay's Dream" (World, 1985)
* "Don't Forget That Beat" (World, 1985)
* "Stormy Weather" (Rough Trade, 1985)
* "King of the Beat" (On-U Sound, 1986)
* "Rockchester" (World, 1987) (#6)

## References[edit]

1. ^ Burlingham, Scott (September 1987). "Adrian Sherwood Eats Dub for Breakfast". Spin. 3 (6). SPIN Media LLC: 12. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
2. ^ Parker, David (2001). "Tackhead / Fats Comet". skysaw.org. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
3. ^ Leland, John (June 1986). "Tack Head: "Mind at the End of the Tether"". Spin. 2 (3). SPIN Media LLC: 41. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
4. ^ "Discography: Fats Comet". tackhead.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
5. ^ a b Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2014.

## External links[edit]

* Fats Comet discography at Discogs
* Fats Comet discography at MusicBrainz

* v
* t
* e

Tackhead

* Keith LeBlanc
* Skip McDonald
* Adrian Sherwood
* Doug Wimbish

* Gary Clail
* Bernard Fowler

Studio albums|

* Tackhead Tape Time (1987)
* Friendly as a Hand Grenade (1989)
* Strange Things (1990)
* For the Love of Money (2014)

Remix albums|

* Tackhead Sound Crash (2006)

Compilations|

* Power Inc. Vol. 1 (1994)
* Power Inc. Vol. 2 (1994)
* Power Inc. Vol. 3 (1997)

Singles|

* "What's My Mission Now?"
* "Mind at the End of the Tether"
* "The Game (You'll Never Walk Alone)"
* "Reality"
* "Ticking Time Bomb"

as The Maffia|

* As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade (1985)
* Mark Stewart (1987)
* Metatron (1990)
* Control Data (1996)
* Edit (2008)

as Fats Comet|

* "Stormy Weather"
* "Rockchester"

as Strange Parcels|

* Disconnection (1994)

Related|

* Discography
* Dub Syndicate
* Jungle Funk
* Living Colour

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

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