Andy Fairley

Andy Fairley collage (Photos: On-U Sound / Coneyl Jay)

The late, great Andy Fairley had probably the most distinctive vocal style of any artist to record for Adrian Sherwood. The Editor tells what he knows about this poet turned recording artist:

Andy Fairley was not so much a musician or a singer as a modern-day poet. A shrewd observer of the injustices and insanities of the modern world, his prose often tackled head-on issues of the moment such as the state of politics, privatisation and the plight of the underclasses. His raw style of vocal delivery perfectly and powerfully complimented the reality issues he often addressed.

A somewhat mysterious figure, Fairley came to the attention of Adrian Sherwood at On-U Sound via the Mark Stewart and Gary Clail Bristol, UK connection. During the 1989-1993 period his voice was a familiar feature of Sherwood productions for particularly Gary Clail, Dub Syndicate and Keith LeBlanc and numerous other one-off guest appearances. When not reciting his own verse in full, he was often sampled for use in-the-mix, often regaling the sonic qualities of the recording or giving a MC-like shout to the artist, On-U Sound or Sherwood personally.

"This sound system comes to you with fuel injection"
"Your head will become a crazy bulbous punch bag of sound"
"Targeting your brain with sonic thrust"
"This is the precinct of system. This is the precinct of sound"

The "Tunes From The Missing Channel" compilation

In particular the Japanese radio station J-Wave 81.3 at one time broadcast an exclusively On-U Sound show once a month that the label was obviously very supportive of. Sherwood and the On-U crew of the time consequently became very involved with providing fresh content and guest presenters for it, and during it's existence it was often the place of first airing for new material and exclusive tracks and mixes.

Fairley provided a whole series of samples exclusively for use on the show, and some of these went on to appear as linking sequences on the eternally hard-to-find 1993 spin-off "Tunes From The Missing Channel" compilation released only in Japan and named after the show, which in turn was the name of an early Dub Syndicate album.

The "System Vertigo" album

Andy's only credited 'solo' album was the underrated 1992 "System Vertigo" set (ON-U LP61) - essentially a collection of his writings set to solid rhythms built by Sherwood et al. at On-U Sound. Other offerings included the atmospheric "Segue" contribution to the "Pay It All Back Volume 4" (PIAB4) compilation (ON-U LP63) and the intensely twisted and distorted but perfectly executed "Jack The Biscuit" on the preceding PIAB3 (ON-U LP53).

Like so many On-U contributors before him, Fairley left the fold in the mid 1990s and vanished back into the Bristolian ether from which he had emerged. Sadly little else was heard from or about him until news of his death seeped out in 1999. An unmistakable, irreplaceable and much missed wordsmith had taken his last breath of the as yet unprivatised air.