Dubbed Out

Sadly these revelatory triumphs would become rare throughout the rest of his life. Pablo's gift for melody gave way to dull, desultory efforts such as Rockers All-Star Explosion (a far-from-combustible set from 1985 issued around the time of his first U.S. club appearance at the Kitchen in NYC) and 1990's mostly wretched Rockers Come East, on which he succumbed to the temptation of drum machines and synthesizers. Ironically Pablo's influence began to expand beyond the realm of reggae just as he lost the muse that produced his greatest work: Electronic acts like the Orb began incorporating his work into their own music, and the Glasgow popsters in Primal Scream featured Pablo in a cameo appearance on their Vanishing Point album from 1997. Despite his artistic plummet, the loss of Augustus Pablo -- much like the influence of the man's greatest music -- is immeasurable.