Greetings,

<Thanks for the positive feedback spinning Reggae Radio for 27 years! bless, robt; 17 sec.>

I have been fortunate enough to do Reggae Radio for 27 years now. July 1988-Aug. 1989 Graveyard stylee on 3 o’clock Roadblock (3 to 6am) Then by pure good luck of timing I moved over to Saturday Afternoons with Smile Jamaica (4 to 7 pm.) Oct. 1989-

<Much love to Juan Verde – John Greene. Who hired me to work for free on KRCL way back in 1988; 44 sec.>

I got accepted into grad school at UCLA but didn’t get a fellowship so I stayed put in Utah. Worked my way into the U of U’s academic library about the same time as I did Smile Jamaica.

Planted my flag and never left both institutions. Last week I decided to celebrate that legacy with a stroll down musical memory lane. Tried to recreate my first show. Being a Librarian I put all my faves into some semblance of chronological order. Pretty much from 1970-1979 for 3 hours.

Had lots of great listener feedback. Thanking me for 27 years of service and killer music selection. When you have something in the neighborhood of 10,000 pieces of Reggae. 30 songs out of that Ark-Ive are are hard as diamond.

But I didn’t get into Reggae until 1986. So my contemporary absorption of Reggae would have been the 80’s era.

This week’s Podcast Ark-Ive celebrates that era.

• Bob Marley died 1981
• Yellowman became King of Reggae: slackness began to ascend while Roots started to wobble when Edward CIA-ga, the right wing Ronald Reagan fan took over Jamaica. The Socialists fell away and the Rastas lost their power base.
• Cocaine took over for Ganja
• Like all genres in the 80’s synthesized music began to replace traditional drum and bass.
• Dancehall eclipsed Roots Reggae

***

I was alienated by modern dancehall. My contemporary fix was more into Mutant Dub. I paint a rather bleak picture!

But there was some great Roots Reggae even if the riddims started to blend traditional Reggae with digital drum and bass. This show fixates on the best of the 80’s Reggae that I collected alongside Reggae Revives and 70’s rarities.

I learned from the deejay on Smile Jamaica when I was a civilian listener, John “Rutabaga” Reese. He had the best Roots Reggae instincts of anyone around. I used to listen like the student I was, notebook in hand, jotting down names and titles of killer shots. One after another. Then I would take my list to the Bay Area and spend my student loan money building my Roots Collection; 22 sec.

bless, robt

Here’s what’s on tap for the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: July 18, 2015 – Best of 27 Years Version 2: Favorite 80’s: 1980-1988; 1 min. 52 sec.

Set 1:

• Black Uhuru – Party Next Door; Anthem (Island) ‘84

<During 3 O’Clock Roadblock I led off each show with a Black Uhuru jam; 29 sec.>

• Jah Shaka Meets Aswad – Addis Ababa; In Addis Ababa (Jah Shaka) ’84 Dub Album of the Week
• Peter Tosh – Reggaemyelitis; Wanted Dread & Alive (EMI America) ’81

<My first reggae LP; Xmas ‘81. Thanks Mom!; 15 sec.>

• The Beat (aka The English Beat) – Tears of a Clown; I Just Can’t Stop It (Go Feet) ’80; 2 Tone Ska; Smokey Robinson cover

<The Beat called English Beat in US to avoid confusion over SoCal new wave/power pop group; 27 sec.>

• John Holt – Police in Helicopter; Police in Helicopter (Greensleeves) ’82; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement

<John Holt – You burn down our weed fields, we’ll burn down your sugar cane and cassava fields; 31 sec.>

• Black Slate – Reggae Music; Amigo (bbr) ’80 UK
• Michael Prophet – Help Them Please; Gunman (Greensleeves) ‘80

<Reggaemyelitis – There is no cure!; 25 sec.>

Set 2:

• Bob Marley & the Wailers – Coming in From the Cold; Uprising (Tuff Gong) ‘80
• Ranking Roger & Blue Riddim – America and Russia/Selective Service System (Nancy Goes to Moscow); 12” (ORA) La Habra, CA
• Linton Kwesi Johnson – Street 66; Bass Culture (Mango) ’80 UK dub poet
• The Selecter – Three Minute Hero; Too Much Pressure (2 Tone) ’80 UK; 2 Tone ska

Set 3:

• Dennis Brown – If I Had the World; Foul Play (A & M) ‘81
• Aswad – Back to Africa; Showcase (Mango) ’81 UK
• Rastafarians – Hold on Jah Jah Children; Orthodox (Makasound) ’81 Santa Cruz, CA

Set 4:

• Steel Pulse – Ravers; True Democracy (Elektra) ’82 UK
• Peter Broggs – Rastafari Liveth!; Rastafari Liveth! (RAS) ‘82
• Fab 5 – Ooh! Ahh!; Countryman (Mango) ’82 sountrack
• Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse; Night Nurse (Mango) ‘82

<Jah’s Heavenly Choir: The Crown Prince of Reggae and his bredrin The Cool Ruler; 11 sec.>

Set 5:

• Twinkle Brothers – Since I Throw the Comb Away; Live at Reggae Sunsplash (Genes) Aug. 7, 1982 Montego Bay, JA

<Since I Throw the Comb Away – lost my job, my family and my girl; 27 sec.>

• Mutabaruka – Everytime A Ear de Soun; Check It! (Alligator) ’83 dub poet
• Prince Far I – Survival; Umkhonto we Sizwe – Spear of the Nation (Tamoki Wambesi) ’83

<Prince Far I: You know a rude bwoy by the way he wears his cap; 34 sec.>

Set 6:

• Bad Brains – Rally Round Jah Throne; Rock For Light (Caroline) ’83 DC Rasta punks do reggae

<Bad Brains produced by The Cars – Ric Ocasek; 19 sec.>

• Aisha – Prophecy; High Priestess (Ariwa) ’88; Faybiane Miranda cover
• Bunny Wailer – Ceasefire; Roots, Radics, Rockers, Reggae (Shanachie) ’83 herbtune

<United States vs. Iran – Ceasefire 2015. Light the chalice! 26 sec.>

• Don Carlos – Jah Jah Hear My Plea; Prophecy (Blue Moon) ‘84

Set 7:

• Ini Kamoze – General; Mini LP (Taxi) ‘84
• Sister Carol – Jah Is Mine; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 Michael Jackson/Carpenters mashup

<Sister Carol singjay: singing mixed with deejay, toasting; 16 sec.>

• Roots Radics – Everywhere Natty Go; Freelance (Kingdom) ‘85

<Freelance album: held hostage in UK til they recorded an album since Gregory Isaacs was a no show; 39 sec.>

• Yellowman – Strong Mi Strong; King Yellowman (Columbia) ’84 Bill Laswell

Set 8:

• UB40 – All I Want to Do; Rat in Mi Kitchen (A & M) ’86 UK

<Traded a cassette dub of this album for U of U football tickets when a linebacker from Collie-fornya heard this booming out of my dorm room 1986; 28 sec.>

• Sophia George – Girlie, Girlie; For Everyone (Pow Wow) ‘86
• Toots Hibbert – Love and Happiness; In Memphis (Mango) ’88 Al Green cover
• Alpha Blondy & the Wailers – Jerusalem; Jerusalem (Shanachie) ’86; Cote d’Ivoire artist

Words of Wisdom: