President Raygun regrets funding the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives through the Student Loan Program
<Livicated to Ronald Reagan; 10 sec.>
Greetings,
The Rastas called him:
Ronald
Wilson
Reagan – 666
I pay tribute to his legacy in funding the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives through the 80’s student loan program. 30 years ago it was more Pell Grants than 9% Loans.
So I would take the check, put in a savings account and once in the summer and usually once during the Holidays, I would travel to the Bay Area and descend upon the plentiful record stores from Reno to San Jose.
So it is hard not be nostalgic after I have been moving into my 400+ square foot Ark-Ive: 31 sec.
From the Garage:
To the Ark-Ive:
Spent 2k on CD towers to empty out the cardboard boxes and onto shelving. Every Saturday before Smile Jamaica since New Year’s I have prepared for this move.
Now that I am inside the house, I have to make sensi of the entropy. A journey of a thousand miles begins with unloading a single box.
A luta continua – The struggle continues
bless, robt
He did alright for I ‘n’ I
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 24, 2017: Annotated Playlist: 40 sec.
Before there was a Dubstep, I was calling it Mutant Dub!
Greetings,
Needed a long weekend to begin the giant move into the newly renovated Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
The Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives – Day 1
Last Saturday: From 7:30 AM to 6 PM. Moved all my LPs, 10″ and 12″ black wax from my detached garage to the Ark-Ive.
Loaded massive Tupperware tubs full of records. Loaded them on a Dolly and pushed them the 50 feet from garage to the back door. Lifted them over the door stop and finessed them into the new room.
Since I had spent all winter and spring sorting 15,000? pieces of black vinyl goodness into proper categories, moving from the tubs to the shelf was easy.
Now if I want to find Mutant Dub, herbtune, Halloween songs by female artists. I know right where to go. Before it was a game of needle in a haystack trying to remember which pile to dig through.
Other than a quick lunch, it was 9 hours of physical, exhausting labor. I was drenched in sweat and sore all over..
But it was worth it. Looks very nice and neat. Unlike the hoarder/collector vibe of massive cardboard boxes filled with stock bought out from long dead record store chains.
CDs are next. So because i don’t like to go a week without new content at Mixcloud’s Smile Jamaica Podcast link: enjoy 3 hours of Mutant Dub not interruptions, just bass in ur face!
I’ll be checking it while I spend 10AM to 3PM Saturday huffing CDs into the Ark-Ive
Vinyl last Saturday. Non-Reggae CDs and DVDs this Saturday – From the garage into the Ark-ives
bless, robt
0-30 min.
Avatars of Dub – Uptown Jungle; Babylon Is Ours (Echo Beach) 2003 Germ.
Morcheeba – Small Town; Who Can You Trust? (Indochina) ’96 UK w/ female vox
Digital Dubs feat. Jeru Banto – Liga Legalise; #1 (ROIR) 2011 Brazilian herbtune
Djins feat. Venudas – Indi’ka; Verbalistic (Hammerbass) 2003 Fr./Arabic
Afro Omega – Whatcha Need + Dub; Pick Up the Pieces (Afro Omega) 2006 SLC w/ female vox
Dr. Israel – Counting Out Stones; Patterns of War (ROIR) 2005 Brooklyn dubber
30-60 min.
Dub Syndicate – Dubbing Is a Must; Fear of a Green Planet (Shanachie) ’98 UK
Thievery Croproation feat. Pamela Bricker – Lebanese Blonde (French version) + Dub; CD Single (ESL) ’98 herbtune
OSC – Originate; Bay Area Dub Step (Full Melt) 2011
Pama International – I Found Sunshine; Float Like a Butterfly (Asian Man) 2005 UK
Ther Herbaliser feat. What What– Herbal Blend; CD Single (Ninja Tunes) ’97 UK female vox
Lots of my Student Loan kasheesh was spent at this SLC record shop. Going strong 30 plus years later. Removed 90% of their CDs to make room for MOAR vinyl
A life in cratedigging. Kick started the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive’s in my friend Neil’s dorm room. Fall of 1986. That lit the fuse!…..
<Black Uluru in a dorm room? Instant Reggae fanatic; 20 sec.>
…I’m going through a home remodel. 40 years of record collecting crammed into my garage right now. When I ran out of shelves, I bought some big ass tupperware bins to try and make it all fit.
This has to fit into my new addition. A Library for a Librarian
Between my organic collecting (used record stores, Ebay/Amazon, stock from my distributor when I sold Reggae online) and my binge buying when Record Stores started dying out in the mid 2000’s, my 1200 square foot house had reached a state of entropy.
So to make room for the demolition of two bedrooms to accommodate an actual Library (A Librarian with his own Library!), I had to move everything into my garage in a short amount of time.
Now that the project is coming to completion, I have to move everything back in!
Can 40 years of books, records, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes fit into a space 41 feet by 10 feet? Stay tuned!
My method?
Get up early on Saturday. Have my spinach determining what I’m going to sort and separate in the garage.
Go have breakfast at Left Fork Grill with my best bredrin Leonard and his buddy John
Drink about 8 cups of coffee
Head back to mi casa in Sugarhouse
Grab a stack of disks for my CD boombox to while away the time sifting wax
Fully caffeinated: Start to organize the entropy.
I would separate by format: LP, 12″ disco mix, 10″ disco mix, non-Reggae vinyl
Then: look by title and cull albums if they fit one of my preferred set-genres
420
Roots Dawtas
UFOria
Wailers Family Tree
Halloween
Marley Tribute songs
Rockers doing Reggae
I don’t know how many physical vinyl pieces I have (not even including 7″ 45s). CDs a whole separate issue.
10,000 pieces? 15,000? Somewhere in between.
It has literally taken me from early January to June to sort it all and separate for the final move into the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive.
From when I moved to SLC from Bozeman, MT in Sept. of 1986, I have been on a vinyl crusade. And the nostalgia of where and how I acquired the lion’s share of black wax really kicks off memories of a subculture that has mostly died out: the local record store.
Many great ones are still slinging wax: Like Randy’s in Salt Lake. Ditched their CDs to make room for the vinyl resurgence: 20 sec.
But over 500 stores have gone out of business in the last decade. When the music industry killed vinyl, they didn’t anticipate that digital music sales like Itunes, Spotify etc. would make those $18.99 CDs economically irrelevant.
Columbus and Bay in North Beach. I would stay across the street at the Travelodge and crate dig til closing. Nearly cried when I heard the news Tower was going under
And even though vinyl is making an awesome comeback (full vindication for I ‘n’ I), it’s too late for many of my favorite haunts.
Last summer my local Montana chain went out of business: Hastings. I would drive through gorgeous wheat fields and flowing rivers and cratedig from Butte, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman and Billings.
700 hundred miles from SLC to Fort Benton, Montana. Hastings books/cds/DVDs broke up the monotony of the drive. Went out of business Summer 2016
As much as I love Montana and my parents, I’m not driving home this summer. Not much for me to do there now but watch wheat grow.
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 3, 2017 – All Vinyl Showcase; 34 sec.
Set 1:
Brigadier Jerry – Everyman a Mi Bredrin; Jamaica, Jamaica (RAS) ’85 DC:
Bullwackie’s All Stars – Nature’s Dub; Nature’s Dub (Wackies) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour
Time Unlimited – Live Upright; Devil’s Angel (Live Wire) ’84 JA
Mother Liza – Ten to Ten; Mother Liza Meets Pappa Tollo (Vista Sounds) ’83 UK
Devon Russell- Homebound Train; Homebound Train (Freedom Sounds) ’83 JA
Zap Pow – Be Cool; Irie Land (Rhino) ’80 LA
Al Campbell – Collie Herb; 12” (Jah Life) 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
The Record Room: Phoenix, AZ, 2016
Set 2:
Inner Circle – Forward Jah Jah Children; Reggae Thing (Capitol) ’76 US
<Inner Circle: Capitol’s answer to Bob Marley; 15 sec.>
Leroy Smart – What Will I Do; Rite Sound Reggae Story (Jah Live) ’77 Fr.
Barry Brown – Ital Rock; I’m Still Waiting (Rocktone International) ’83 Can.
Super Chick – Roach Killer; Reggae Dancehall Classics (Sleeping Bag) ’87 NY female dj
<Roach Killer shoes: favorites in the dancehall for killing roaches and rub a dubbing; 35 sec.>
Starboard Records, 1988 – West Valley City, UT. RIP
Set 3:
Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus – I Am an Ethiopian; Movements (Dynamic Sounds) ’78 JA
<I’m not Mr. Brown, Mr. Smith, Mr. White – I’m an Ethiopian; 12 sec.>
Dennis Brown – Wake Up; Wake Up (Natty Congo) ’85 UK
The Meditations – Running From Jamaica; Message From the Mediations (United Artists) ’76 US
Gregory Isaacs & Christine – Rock On; Rock On (Jah Live) ’75 Fr. Combination style
Prince Far I – Bendel Dub; Front Line Dub (Virgin Front Line) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
<Virgin record label in Nigeria; 50 sec.>
Randy’s Records: SLC, 1986
Set 4:
Lone Ranger – The Clock; Hi-Yo Silver, Away! (Greensleeves) ’82 UK
The Shakers – Emergency Call; Yankee Reggae (Asylum) ’76 Boston; female vox on Judy Mowatt tune
Eek a Mouse – Sensee Party; Skidip! (Greensleeves) ’81 UK
Misty in Roots – Wandering Wanderer; 12” (People Unite) ’81 UK
Rough Trade Records: San Francisco, New Years Even 1988
Set 5: 420 Black Wax
Peter Culture – Coconut Chalwah; Behold 10” LP (Top Beat) 2000 UK
<Coconut chalice; 14 sec.>
Clint Eastwood – Collie Weed Style; Love & Happiness (Burning Sounds) ’79 UK
Winston Reedy – Sensimilla; Dim the Lights (Inner Light) ’83 UK
Niney the Observer – My Spliff; Nuclear Jammin’ (Voiceprint) ’86 Chicago
John Holt – Police in Helicopter; 12” (Holt) ‘83
<Johnny Law in your rear view? 28 sec.>
Reckless Record, 1990 San Francisco/Haight Ashbury: RIP
Set 6:
The Wailers – Get Up, Stand Up; Wailers Vinyl Box Set (Island) #3484 of 10,000 vinyl box set
<Lessons in crate digging: Buy low ($70), sell high (working kidney)>
Bobby Culture, Brimstone & Fire, Nicodemus & Louie Culture – Going Home; Tidal Wave (Unicorn) ’83 Santa Monica: R.B. Greaves pop update
Junior Byles – I Don’t Know; Rasta No Pickpocket (Nighthawk) ’86 St. Louis
Don Carlos & Gold – Blackout in the Ghetto; Showdown vol. 3 (Hitbound) NY
Black Uhuru – What Is Life; 12” EP (4th & Broadway) ’83 US picture sleeve
<Not Marley, Tosh, Cliff or UB40: Black Uluru’s Anthem made I ‘n’ I a Reggae fanatic>
Ras Command – Education; In Dub (Red Arrow) ’95 Germ.: Mutant Dub album of the hour
9 disk vinyl box set: Amoeba Records, Berkeley 2001: $70. Versus $3500 on eBay
Set 7:
Blue Riddim Band – Restless Spirit; Restless Spirit (Flying Fish) ’81 St. Louis
<Livicated to our KRCL bredrin: Bad Brad Wheeler>
Fab 5 – Shaving Cream; Jamaican Woman (Stage) ’87 JA
Aisha – I Know a Place; 12” (Ariwa) ’90 UK
Smokey’s Records, SLC 1987: RIP
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Black Uhuru – Boof’n’Baff’n’Biff (Fila Brazillia rmx no. 2); Dancehall Queen Soundtrack (Island Jamaica) ’97 US
Dub Syndicate – Roots Commandment; Echomania
New Age Steppers feat. Ari Up – Stormy Weather; Foundation Steppers (ON U Sound) ’83 UK female vox on Lena Horne classic
Took a week off from Smile Jamaica for Memorial Day Weekend. I am building a permanent home for the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. So I spent 7 hours in my garage re-arranging vinyl for preparation for my big move in a couple weeks. Check it out!
Nearly 40 years of record collecting gotta fit in a Library 80 feet long and 10 feet wide.
I hope it all fits!
In the meantime, enjoy a Digital Dubplate of one half Orthodox Jamaican roots mashed up with Space Age Mutant Dub. I cooked this up in my Secret Dubratory.
You’ve got Roots Reggae inna mi New Age dub!
bless, robt
0-30 min.:
Aswad – Warrior Charge; Roots Rocking (Island) ’80 best of
Ganja Man – Light Up Your Spliff; Pro Cannabis IV (EFA) ’95 female mutant dub herbtune
Lazyboy TV – The Manual (Chapter 4); LazyboyTV (Universal) 2004 NY mutant dub herbtune
Culture – Garvey; Production Something (Heartbeat) ‘78
30-60 min.:
Dry & Heavy – Kick the Bong Around + Dub the Bong Around; One Punch (Green Tea) Jah-ponese Mutant dub herbtune w/ female vox
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Punky Reggae Party; 12” (Tuff Gong) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry prod’n
Johnny Clarke – Crazy Baldhead; Authorized Rockers (Virgin Front Line) ’76 Bob Marley cover
Jonah Dan & Bush Chemists – Guidance; Dubs From Zion Valley (JKPD) ’94 UK Mutant Dub
Coco Tea – Reggae Music; Settle Down (Cornerstone) ’8
Mungo’s Hi Fi feat. Soom T – Soundboy Police; Forward Ever (Scotch Bonnet) 2011 UK mutant dub w/ female vox
The Beat (aka the English Beat) – Doors to Your Heart 12” mix; CD Single (IRS) ’81 2 Tone ska
60-90 min.
The Orb – Towers of Dub; U.F.Orb (Island) ’92 UK Mutant Dub
Rockers Hi Fi feat. Ella Fitzgerald – Sunshine of Your Love; Groove Corporation Presents Remixes from the Elephant House (Guidance) 2001 UK, cover of The Cream
Suns of Arqa – Brujo Magic ; Arqaology (Arka Sound) ’92 UK Hindi/Arab Mutant Dubbers best of
UB40 – Buzz Feeling; Baggariddim (DEP) ’85 UK herbtune
Marcia Griffiths – Give and You Get; Steppin’ (Shanachie) ‘79
Thievery Corporation – In Pursuit; .38.45 EP (ESL) ’98 DC Mutant Dubbers
Major Lazer feat. Jah Dan – Cash Flow; Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do (Downtown) 2009 Dubstep
Wailing Souls – Riddim of Life; On the Rocks (Greensleeves) ‘83
Let’s end this Digital Dubplate with the Riddim of Life
Smile Jamaica is hosted by Robert Nelson on 90.9 FM KRCL in Salt Lake City, Utah (Saturdays, 4-7 p.m. MT). Ark-ives available weekly here at the Smile Jamaica blog.
2 and 1/2 – 3 hr
Smile Jamaica 
