The group was formed in 1988 by Dr. Alex Paterson (full name Duncan Robert Alex Paterson) and Jimmy Cauty (one half of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and later The KLF). The Orb's first release was the acid house anthem "Tripping on Sunshine".
In May 1989, The Orb released the "Kiss EP", which was heavily influenced by New York's KISS FM. Paterson began DJing around London, England at this time when he met Paul Oakenfold. At Oakenfold's behest, Paterson began DJing at Land of Oz, the chill-out room at Heaven.
Paterson mixed samples of BBC nature recordings, NASA space broadcasts and everything in between into the music of ambient pioneers such as Brian Eno. Around this time, Paterson met Steve Hillage and Hillage later contributed guitar to the Orb's "Blue Room" single. In return Paterson worked on Hillage's System 7 project.
In October 1989 The Orb released the 22-minute single "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld", which contains large chunks of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You". The single managed to reach the lower end of the UK chart. Although Paterson and Cauty had been working on a debut album, the two split in April 1990. Cauty removed Paterson's contributions to the album and released the remainder as "Space".
Killing Joke's Youth, who'd recently found dancefloor success with Blue Pearl assisted with the single "Little Fluffy Clouds", but existing commitments made it impossible for him to be anything more than a part-time member. In his place, Paterson recruited Kris Weston (aka Thrash), a young studio engineer who had worked on "Little Fluffy Clouds" and recently left Fortran 5.
In April, 1991, The Orb's debut album, "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" was released in the United Kingdom to critical acclaim. The double-album obtained a top 30 placing in the UK.
"U.F.Orb" was released in July, 1992. It featured the 39 minute 59 second "Blue Room" which was their third single to reach the UK charts, although the album version was only 17 minutes long. Early pressings of the album were available in three differently coloured sealed plastic packs (black (10,000) and blue (5,000) in the UK and green (1,000) in the US) containing an additional disc with the soundtrack from Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (Patterns & Textures edition), a mail order only long form video released by the Orb.
During 1993 and 1994 The Orb were dismayed by Big Life's intention to re-issue some of the Orb's earlier material. As a result, Paterson and Thrash opted out of their contract and Paterson signed an international deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records. The double-album "Live '93" soon followed. It was a mix of recordings made in Glastonbury, Copenhagen and Tokyo. The album's credits included, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton, Kris Weston, Fluff and of course Paterson.
In June, 1994, they released their first studio album for Island, "Pomme Fritz (The Orb's Little Album)". The album reached number six on the UK, but critics hated it, even comparing Paterson to Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett.
August, 1994 saw the release of a collaboration between Robert Fripp, Paterson, Weston, and Thomas Fehlmann, hence the name FFWD or Fripp, Fehlmann, Weston and Duncan. Weston's input was already diminishing by this time and following the release of FFWD, he finally parted company with Paterson. He was replaced by Thomas Fehlmann.
"Orbus Terrarum" was released in March, 1995. In February, 1997, following an ambitious world tour, they released "Orblivion".
The retrospective "U.F.Off" came in October, 1998 and was initially available in a Limited Edition double CD.
"Cydonia", although recorded in 1999, was delayed by Island until its release in February, 2001. Several different versions of the album were leaked on the Net some time before the official release.
The 2004 released album "Bicycles & Tricycles" strongly departed from their earlier ambient sound, and incorporated strong hip-hop influenced rhythms, including rap on one of the tracks.
In 2005 The Orb released a new studio album, "Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt", which focused heavily on the microhouse and pop ambient sounds that the Kompakt label is well known for.
2005 also saw the release of "Orbsessions Volume 1", which was an album of rarities from throughout The Orbs' career.
Sadly, Andy Hughes, long-time mixer and producer of many of The Orb's works, passed away on June 12 2009, following a 'short illness'.
Towers of Dub
The Orb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hello, is that reception, London Weekend Television?
This is security, reps from reception has gone off duty, sir
Oh I see, uh I am supposed to meet somebody in reception
And I wanted to know if they were there waiting
What is the name of the person you are supposed to meet?
Haile Selassie
Haile?
Is there a Haile Selassie here, no
Could you possibly, if he does, he will come in very shortly
Would you tell him that Marcus Garvey, ehm phoned?
Uh huh
And that I will meet him, well it's, meet him in Babylon and Ting?
Yes, when Marcus comes in, right?
Yeah
And you are supposed to be waiting for him to come in
Oh, is that Haile Selassie?
No, it wasn't him, it was a cab
He's a, he's a black gentleman
But he when he comes in, I asked you, you're gonna meet him at where was it?
I'll make a note of this
Yup, Babylon and Ting
Babylon and Ting
That's it
Right you are
Thank you, God bless you
The lyrics of The Orb's song "Towers of Dub" present a conversation between a man who is supposed to meet Haile Selassie and the security personnel at the reception. The man asks the security personnel to confirm if Haile Selassie is present, and the personnel responds by saying no. The man then asks the personnel to inform Haile Selassie that Marcus Garvey called and that he would meet him in Babylon and Ting. The security personnel assures the man that he would make a note of it and pass the message to Haile Selassie whenever he shows up.
The song's lyrics may appear to be nonsensical to someone who is not familiar with the context. However, it is a sample from a documentary about Haile Selassie, a former Ethiopian emperor and a central figure in the Rastafarian movement. Rastafarianism is a religious movement that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s and is rooted in Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism, and the belief that Haile Selassie is a messiah. Therefore, the mention of Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey, who was a Pan-Africanism activist, makes sense to people who are familiar with Rastafarianism and its history.
Line by Line Meaning
Security
A phone call is made to a television studio's security desk.
Hello, is that reception, London Weekend Television?
The caller asks to be put through to reception at London Weekend Television.
This is security, reps from reception has gone off duty, sir
The security personnel informs the caller that reception staff have left for the day.
Oh I see, uh I am supposed to meet somebody in reception
And I wanted to know if they were there waiting
The caller explains that they were expecting to meet someone at reception and wonders if they are still around.
What is the name of the person you are supposed to meet?
Haile Selassie
Haile?
Selassie
The security personnel asks for the name of the person the caller is supposed to meet, which is Haile Selassie.
Is there a Haile Selassie here, no
Could you possibly, if he does, he will come in very shortly
Would you tell him that Marcus Garvey, ehm phoned?
The security personnel informs the caller that Haile Selassie is not present, but they will let him know if he arrives. The caller asks the personnel to let Haile Selassie know that Marcus Garvey called.
Uh huh
And that I will meet him, well it's, meet him in Babylon and Ting?
Yes, when Marcus comes in, right?
Yeah
And you are supposed to be waiting for him to come in
The caller confirms that he and Haile Selassie will meet in Babylon and Ting once Marcus Garvey arrives. The security personnel is asked to wait for Marcus Garvey to arrive.
Oh, is that Haile Selassie?
No, it wasn't him, it was a cab
He's a, he's a black gentleman
The caller mistakes a passing cab for Haile Selassie. He then describes Haile Selassie as a black gentleman.
But he when he comes in, I asked you, you're gonna meet him at where was it?
I'll make a note of this
Yup, Babylon and Ting
Babylon and Ting
That's it
Right you are
Thank you, God bless you
The caller reiterates the plan to meet Haile Selassie in Babylon and Ting once he arrives. The security personnel confirms that he will make a note of this. The caller thanks the personnel and the conversation ends on a friendly note.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Duncan Paterson, Kristian Weston, Thomas Fehlmann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind