Ruff Cutt was created in 1980 to meet the needs of the large population of singers, musicians, and producers in the North West London area. The founding fathers were Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie, Kenton ‘Fish’ Brown and Tony ‘Crucial’ Phillips/ Dianne white, Anthony Thomas, and Desmond coke. They decided to start up their own operation – The Ruff Cutt rehearsal room and studio stemmed from a total lack of any music facility for the youth in the district.
Ruff Cutt`s humble beginnings were in an unused storeroom on the Stonebridge council estate. Despite this, Ruff Cutt soon became the place in the Harlesden and Willesden areas for young artists and musicians to rehearse and record, bands like Cimarron’s, The Greyhound, Mohawks. Creation Rebel, Freedom Fighters, Family band, and also The Administrators were based there, It was out of the musicians who used the facility that a nucleus was formed; it was from that core that The Undivided Roots Band was to emerge some four years later in 1984.
The luxury of having their own rehearsal space and studio enabled them to work on their musicianship without some of the usual hindrances faced by most young bands. The Undivided Roots Band developed into a superb outfit, capable of reproducing the same music whether ‘live’ or in the studio; this didn’t go by unnoticed. Their work soon came to the attention of CSA Records, who released their first single; the self-produced True Love, penned by Phillips and recorded at Ruff Cutt. Their next offering was Party Night, another Phillips composition, which entered the UK Top 40 in the summer of 1986. Their debut album Ultimate Experience, came close behind, its release by Island Records Mango division heralded a new phase for the band.
After the departure for a solo career by lead singer Don Campbell, the Undivided Roots Band metamorphosed into the Ruff Cutt Band. The equilibrium was finally balanced, with everything now coming under the Ruff
Cutt banner. As Ruff Cutt, they concentrated more on backing others, whether it was touring celebrities like Shabba Ranks, Freddie McGregor, or The Mighty Diamonds or newcomers like the artists they were cultivating at their studio.
The scene was set, the band now consisted of a quintet of musicians whose only aim was to play top quality music; Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie, Kenton ‘Fish’ Brown, Trevor Fagan, Antony ‘Bongo Dashie’ Thomas, and Tony ‘Ruff Cutt’ Phillips proved time and time again that they could – the name Ruff Cutt fast became synonymous with first-class reggae. Their reputation grew, making them the UK’s top backing band as they continued to accompany many Jamaican legends whose own contributions to the genre spanned three generations or more.
Alton Ellis, Big Youth, U Roy, John Holt, and many other contemporary artists, in fact, over 80% of the reggae acts that toured the UK, used Ruff Cutt as their backing band.
Ruff Cutt started to produce and record several of the artists they were working with on the road, in their newly upgraded and re-located studio. To date, they have released seventy-nine singles and five albums with some of the biggest names in the industry including several numbers 1`s in the UK`s national reggae charts with Beres Hammond {say thank you}, Mykal Roze,( Last chance), Jack Radics, Glen Washington (Give Jah praise), Don Ricardo (First to know), Don Campbell and Jazzwad, one of their original protégés, who himself is now a successful producer and musician in his own right. Ruff Cutt boasts an admirable catalog and is rated as one of the best Reggae labels in Europe. They also continued to make huge in-roads into the UK’s own reggae scene by nurturing and providing early platforms for home-grown talents like Richie Dan, Vivian Jones, Barbara Naps, Nereus Joseph, Peter Hunnigale, and Starkey Banton, Gappy Ranks, MXT, to name a few.
Through constant touring and record releases Ruff Cutt’s international status soared even further, gaining them a worldwide fan base, particularly strong in Europe.
