Greetings,

Celebrating 25 Years of Reggae Radio with the Best of Smile Jamaica: CD Edition 

<Records come from vinyl; what are CDs made of? Aluminum? 5 sec.>

Jump straight to the Jah-vember 15, 2014 Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive. Read below for the Tracklist

I pulled 50 tracks from my early days of Reggae collecting (1986-1990). Then I put those 50 in chronilogical order and started juggling the Disks from 4-7 PM.

Essentially: I am trying to recreate  what my first show would have sounded like: Jah-tober 1989: Smile Jamaica.

<Best of Smile Jamaica 25 Years High-lights; 77 sec.>

Probably the first time in a decade no Black Wax on Smile Jamaica

<Vinyl Free edition; first time in a decade; 17 sec.>

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-vember 15, 2014: Best of 25 Years.

Annotated playlist (soundbytes, Reggae History Lessons, photos, captions.)

Set 1:

• Black Uhuru – Solidarity; Anthem (Mango) ‘84

<Anthem: The album that made me a Reggae fanatic; 29 sec.>

• Jah Shaka Meets Aswad – Addis Ababa; In Addis Ababa Studio (Jah Shaka) ’84: Dub Album of the Week; 15 sec.

• Prince Buster – Chubby; Original Golden Oldies vol. 2 (Blue Beat) ’67; nyabinghi drumming
• Bunny Wailer – This Train; Blackheart Man (Mango) ‘76

<Woody Guthrie’s – This Train; 25 sec.>

• Burning Spear – Red, Gold and Green; Marcus Garvey (Mango) ‘75

<Significance of Red, Green & Gold; 45 sec.>

• The Diamonds & the Upsetters – Talk About It; Open the Gate (Trojan) ‘75

Set 2: 

<Smile Jamaica used to air at 1pm when I started in ’89; 28 sec.>

• Jacob Miller – Keep on Knocking; Who Say Jah No Dread (Greensleeves) ‘75
• Judy Mowatt – Black Woman; Black Woman (Shanachie) ‘76
• Dillinger – Ragnampiza; Bionic Dread (Mango) ’76; 17 sec.

• Max Romeo – Smokey Room; War ina Babylon (Mango) ’76; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement; 17 sec.

• Peter Tosh – Till Your Well Runs Dry; Legalize It (Columbia) ’76; William Bell cover

<Blues Reggae hybrid; 10 sec.>

Set 3:

<Smile Jamaica Best of 25 Years; 15 sec.>

• Junior Murvin – Roots Train; Police and Thieves (Mango) ‘77
• Marcial Griffiths – Melody Life; Naturally (Shanachie) ‘78
• I Roy – Tiddle le Bop; Heart of a Lion (Virgin Front Line) ’78 nursery rhyme
• Wailing Souls – Jah Give Us Life; Very Best of (Greensleeves) ‘78

<First song back after being in the hospital; Nov. 2012; 35 sec.>

Set 4:

<Saturday Volunteer History on KRCL 90.9FM: 120+ years of Radio volunteering; 23 sec.>

• Earl Zero – Please Officer; Visions of Love (Epiphany) ’79 herbtune

<4 down, 46 to go!; 10 sec.>

• Errol Dunkley – A Little Way Different; Darling Ooh (Attack) ‘79
• Itals – Don’t Wake the Lion; Early Recordings (Nighthawk) ‘79

<Tiger loose in Eurodisney; Paris; 11 sec.>

Set 5:

<Smile Jamaica Best of 25: From 50 cuts to 33 gems: diamond ruff; 13 sec.>

• Bob Marley & the Wailers – Forever Loving Jah; Uprising (Tuff Gong) ‘80

<When Bob Marley CD’s were first released; 54 sec.>

• The Beat – Mirror in the Bathroom; I Just Can’t Stop It (Go Feet!/IRS) ’80 2 Tone ska
• Linton Kwesi Johnson – Fite Dem Back; Forces of Victory (Mango) ’80 UK dub poet

<Skinhead shoelaces: Red laces – anti-Racist skins; White laces – Racist skins; 37 sec.>

Set 6:

<Smile Jamaica: 25 years of Bass in ur Face! 18 sec.>

• Rita Marley – One Draw; Big Blunts vol. 1 (Tommy Boy)  ’81 herb tune

<Wailers Family Tree: Bob, Bunny, Peter, Rita, Marcia, Judy; 22 sec.>

• Dennis Brown – If I Had the World; Foul Play (A & M) ‘81

Set 7:

<25 Years!; 13 sec.>

• Toure’ Kunda; E’mma; E’mma Africa (Celluloid) ’81; Senegalese West African reggae

<Weaponized Ebola got loose in West Africa? 18 sec.>

• The Selecter – Celebrate the Bullet; Celebrate the Bullet (Chrysalis) ’81 2 Tone ska w/ Pauline Black on vox
• Culture – Lion Rock; Lion Rock (Heartbeat) ‘82

<Put HIM on the currency: Lion Rock; 13 sec.>

• Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse; Night Nurse (Mango) ‘82

Set 8:

<Smile Jamaica 25: From my hands to your ears!>

• Mutabaruka – Intro + Check It!; Check It! (Alligator) ‘83 dub poet
• Clint Eastwood & General Saint – Stop That Train; Stop That Train (Greensleeves) ’83; Melodians cover
• Prince Far I – Survival; Umkhonto we Sizwe – Spear of the Nation (Tamoki Wambesi) ’83 posthumous deejay release

Prince Far I: him don’t drink Schweppes, just the Heineken!

Set 9:

<Out of 50, who didn’t make the cut list for Best of Smile Jamaica; 25 sec.>

• UB40 – Tyler; More UB40 Music (DEP) ‘83
• Don Carlos – Jah Jah Hear My Plea; Prophecy (Blue Moon) ‘84
• Ini Kamoze – World a Music; Mini LP (Mango) ‘84

<Rutabaga Reese: My mentor on Smile Jamaica>

 

bless, robt