Rockers Hi-Fi

In 1991 DJ Dick, born Richard Whittingham and previously active as a punk, rare groove, and acid house DJ, teamed with rock-oriented musician Glyn Bush to launch Rockers Hi-Fi. The pair revived the seventies dub aesthetic within the emerging frameworks of nineties trip-hop and electronica. Initially operating as Original Rockers in tribute to an Augustus Pablo album, they borrowed a mixer and cut their first single, “Breathless,” for the Cake label they had started. After Pablo requested the change, they retitled the imprint Different Drummer and themselves Rockers Hi-Fi, added rapper MC Farda P., and issued “Push Push.” Their debut album, Rockers to Rockers, functioned chiefly as a singles compilation rather than a conventional long-player, by which point the group had shifted decisively toward ambient dub and the sound that would later be labeled trip-hop. An Island licensing arrangement and approving notices from reviewers brought wider exposure, while well-received concerts in both the U.K. and the U.S. confirmed that the studio-focused duo could also ignite live crowds. Following the dub remix set Music Is Immortal, Rockers Hi-Fi returned with the full-length Mish Mash.