The Mighty Souls: Smith & Mighty

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Smith & Mighty

Rob Smith, Ray Mighty & Peter D. Rose, the legends of the Bristol Sound on Japanese TV. The Bristol Sound or Trip Hop was a name/genre given to bands from Bristol like The Wild Bunch, Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead, etc in the 90s. It is to describe the sound or music that is coming from that area and time, characteristically dark, moody and heavily influenced by reggae/dub/soul/acid jazz/hip hop.

Rob Smith met Ray Mighty some time around 1985 and formed 'Smith & Mighty' after discovering their similar taste in music and production techniques. The sound and beats they experimented with foreshadowed both Jungle and Trip Hop which emerged in the 90s. Their 2 underground hits from 1988 - 'Anyone (Who Had a Heart)' and 'Walk On By' exemplifies this. Both are covers/remix of songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David but they sound nothing like the original and even breathe new life into them.

Next, the pair produced Massive Attack's debut single 'Any Love,' a top 10 single 'Wishing on a Star' for The Fresh Four (members included the young DJs Krust and Suv) and the album 'The Call is Strong' for Carlton. They were signed by London Records but unfortunately things did not work out for them and the album they were working on did not see the light of day.

Forward to 1994, they left London Records and started up their More Rockers label and released the sick sick 'Bass is Maternal' album. The German label K7 signed Rob and Ray for a series of Smith & Mighty albums after working with them on their DJ Kicks series.

Rob Smith forms 'More Rockers', a drum 'n' bass act with Peter D. Rose. Check out their 'More Rockers Selections 1 and 2' if you get the chance. The songs on there are some of the sickest and most unique drum 'n' bass I have heard thus far. If any of you have copies of those albums on vinyl that you want to sell, please, please, please contact us. We are very interested! :)

Smith & Mighty Interview Part 1