As we take a pause to raise money for the support that community radio provides for prime time, Saturday afternoon, Reggae programming, enjoy this Digital Dubplate.
Recent additions from the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives to the ITunes Library. Converting analog to digital for the social media/podcasting massive.
And it starts with a perfect theme song for I ‘n’ I: Music is My Desire!
bless, Bobbylon
Pablo Moses – Music Is My Desire; A Song (Mango) ’76
Derrick Morgan – Black Superman (Muhammad Ali); Sucker Punch (Trojan) ’75 Johnny Wareika cover
The Selecter – My Collie Not a Dog; Too Much Pressure (2 Tone) ’80 UK ska w/ female vox
African Head Charge – Wicked Kingdom; Sankofa (Bonjo I) ’97 Mutant Dub recorded in Ghana
Bad Brains – Jah Love; Into the Future (ROIR) 2012 DC punk/reggae
<Vinyl vindication: vinyl to outsell cds; 1 min. 55 sec.>
I’ve always been a record guy. Back in Montana as a youth, I would drive 35 miles each way to record shop at the local Hastings outlet in Great Falls. Usually buy a couple pieces of vinyl and a cassette for the drive back home.
Bankrupt 2016.
When I moved to Utah for University in 1986, I was already dabbling in CDs. In 1985, Cactus Records in Bozeman, MT had a small rack of CDs in a corner of the shop. I remember buying Fleetwood Mac and the Police Outlandos d’Amour. $16.99 (in those days a fortune). I didn’t even have a CD player yet.
For Christmas, I got a Fisher deck, (probably from Montgomery Wards), – 1 drawer, no frills: just the song number in red LED. I was blown away! Space age technology in rural Montana!
Bought this CD before I even owned a CD player. Fall 1985. Bozeman – Cactus Records
What’s not to love? Smaller. Harder to scratch. Easier to store. Portable players to play them on.
Yet, the smaller size and lack of information on many of the disks didn’t make collecting CDs as enjoyable as buying vinyl. Especially, when I switched to collecting Reggae. Early on in CD’s history there was not a whole lot of Reggae available. And a total lack of the 12″, 10″ and 7″ vinyl I especially was looking for. The rarest of the rare.
Jimmy Cliff’s Reggae Greats. Probably the 1st CD in the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
I was in a Record Shop in San Francisco. Summer of ’87. Up to my elbows in vinyl racks. The shop owner was trying to up-sell me into CDs. He was like, “Why are you so hot for vinyl? Everybody is moving into CDs”. I shrugged, “I’ll always be a record guy.”
Here is how it worked back then. CDs were new. And expensive. So, many people sold their vinyl for pennies on the dollar to add up cash for CDs.
Vinyl was cheap and plentiful. CDs were exotic, limited in selection and expensive. So the stores were in transition from black wax to shiny metal disks. I built the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives this way: buying other people’s vinyl discards.
All the great things you hear me play today came about through hoovering up as much black wax as I could in the voluminous Bay Area Record stores. I was flush with student loan cash (Thanks Ronnie Raygun!) and I went from store to store digging through the crates.
I would stay at the Travelodge across the street from Tower Records in North Beach: Columbus and Bay. Some days, I would be tired after a day of cratedigging. It was awesome.
*****
Wheel it forward 30 plus years. Most of the record stores are long gone, (Hastings went under in 2016), via over committing to CDs in a digital age of iTunes, Pandora and Spotify. People wised up and started piecing out vinyl for the Ebay collector’s market.
I saw a VG- record with a water damaged cover go for $400 on ebay. My cost? $4: Streetlight Records San Francisco
But for 20 years, I maxed out the opportunities even if around 2005 I started to notice stores were no longer there when I would visit.
When Tower Records and later Virgin and Circuit City went under, that was the nadir of my CD era collecting.
Record and DVD stores were crushed out of business during the 2008-2010 Great Recession
That is why when I heard on the news that 2019 will be the first year since 1986 that Vinyl is expected to surpass CDs in aggregate sales, I felt a sense of vindication.
To “rinse out” is a deejay term commonly used to showcase a fresh stash of vinyl on your sound system or deejay gig.
I ‘n’ I use it on this edition of Smile Jamaica as a way to juggle the Reggae vinyl I recently purchased while on vacation in Denver.
Bobbylon’s Guide to Cratedigging
Plan your record (and book and dispensary) shopping before you leave the house. I tend to go neighborhood by neighborhood to minimize transit time. Yelp, Yellowpages online, Google.
Upload my discographies to Google Drive or Dropbox so I know what I have and don’t buy duplicates
Print out my wishlist of items I’m looking for
Load up on coffee and green smoke for the excursion. Cratedigging on the Seven Leaf is one of life’s great pleasures
Comb through the racks: I start with Rock and Blues. Spend time on Soul and Jazz. Mutant Dub gets the second most time “digging”: Techno, electronic, lounge. Then Reggae CDs (many of them I already have.)
Spend the bulk of time in the Reggae Vinyl section.
Mention I’m a Radio Deejay and try and score 10% off
Take my trusty Burning Spear record bag to keep everything together
Never leave vinyl in the car during warm months.
Always put your stash in the trunk to deter break ins
At the end of the day sift and sort my haul
And that is how you Cratedig!
*****
So I bought about $200 work of Reggae vinyl and let it simmer for the week. So I could hear it fresh from the needle to the monitor speakers on Smile Jamaica.
First time audio experience for I ‘n’ I as well as the masses. Tune in and hear the fruits of my labor!
bless, Bobbylon
Wax Trax records. Parking is a bitch but worth the wait
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives Jah-gust 31, 2019: All Vinyl
Set 1:
Black Uhuru – What Is Life; Anthem (Island) ’83 JA vinyl (no overdub mix): 3 Hour Vinyl Show
Blackbeard – Electrocharge; I Wah Dub (More Cut) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour
The In Crowd – Born in Ethiopia; His Majesty Is Coming (Creole) ’78 Fr.
Judy Mowatt – Mr. Big Man; Mellow Mood (Ashandan) ’75 JA
Johnny Organ – Bewitched; Come Back Darling (Techniques) ’70 JA
Sugar Minott – Ease Up Mr. Customs Man; Time Longer Than Rope (Greensleeves) ’85 UK
Idren Natural & Seventh Sense – Sip a Cup; 12″ (Jah Works) 2007 UK 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Jamaican mix of the album that made me a stone cold Reggae fanatic
Set 2:
Paul Davidson – Midnight Rider; Reggae Chartbusters 76 (Cactus) ’76 UK
Yellowman – Honour Your Mother; Jack Sprat (Hit) ’82 JA
Barbara Paige – Babylon Must Fall; Hear Me Now (Epiphany) ’82 Santa Cruz, CA
The Upsetters feat. The Heptones – Zion Blood; Super Ape (Mango) ’76 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark prod’n
Mark Jah Jah Bryan – Revelation Song (Rohit International) ’83 Barbados Reggae
Cratedig Denver: 2019 addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
Set 3:
Dennis Brown – Slave Driver; Joseph’s Coat of Many Colours (Laser) ’79 UK
Bomb Shelter – Stampede; Human Rights (Total Sounds) ’89 US
Doreen Shaffer – This Love; Pirates Choice (Studio One) ’80 JA
Jonathan Arthur – Burnin; 12″ (Emerald Isle) ’89 Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Bullwackies All Stars – Recording Connection; Black World (Wackies) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
Rootsy for 1989. Cratedig: Denver 2019 score!
Set 4:
Dillinger – Tallowah; Tribal War (New Cross) ’86 UK
Kojak & Liza – Two Bad Duppy; Showcase L.P. (Kojak) ’80 JA
Michael Palmer – Mr. Officer; Ghetto Living (Bebo’s Music) ’85 Wheaton, MD
Carlton Livingston & U Brown – Mr. Deejay; 12″ (A1) ’81
Cratedig from Ganjarado
Set 5:
Kofi – Reggae Starship; Black…With Sugar (Ariwa) ’89 UK female
Owen Gray – Turning Point (Version); Dreams of Owen Gray (Trojan) ’79 dub to Tyrone Davis soul cover
U Roy – Babylon Burning; Natty Rebel (Virgin Front Line) ‘ UK dj to Turning Point
Sylford Walker – Books of the Old Testament; 12″ (Art & Craft) ’79 UK
Ganjarado cratedig
Set 6: Wailers Family Tree
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Let Him Go; Marley, Tosh, Livingston & Associates (Studio One) ’66 JA – Wailers Family Tree; Bunny/Peter on vox
<Let Him Go; 90 sec.>
Peter Tosh – No Sympathy (1972 mix); This Is Reggae Music vol. 3 (Mango) ’76 US diff. mix than on Legalize It
I mentioned on this blog that 2019 was the year my Dad’s health went sideways. Other than a bad back, he’s like the Montana version of Clint Eastwood. A rare brain condition damn near sent him to Jah’s Heavenly Choir.
Long story short: Jan.-June was a distracting nightmare of back and forth with my Mom reporting grim news and discouraging progress. Calls and texts to my brother and sister who all feel helpless hundreds of miles away.
Here is what Papa Bob had to recover from in 2019:
NPH – Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus – spinal fluid build up on the brain which leads to dementia, incontinence and “gait deviations” — inability to walk
My Pops has spent more nights in either a hospital bed or “rehabilitation clinic” (aka nursing home) than he spent at his Snowbird spot in Sun City West, AZ. Retire and then get seriously ill. Life is not fair.
Long story short: The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix “fixes” NPH by installing a shunt in your skull. It’s like the condensation hose on your AC unit. Excess fluid drains away and is absorbed, harmlessly, into the abdomen.
A medical equivalent of this installed in my Dad’s skull to treat NPH
I was there in Arizona when he turned a corner and now is walking with a cane, where he was formerly wheelchair bound.
Mayo Clinic. Wow, awesome. Thank you! Dr. Bendok; Dr. Krishna. All killer, no filler!
****
So I have been basically “clenched” for seven months. It affects everything and I was keeping all days free in case I had to make an emergency trip to Phoenix. So once Dr. Krishna told my Dad “the pendulum is swinging in the right direction”, it was like Pops had permission to return to the way things were.
One day he said, “Hey go get my book.” He reads these detective novels one after another. Went back to reading the local paper. We watched the Chernobyl Mini Series on HBO together and he was totally engaged. Phew!
I was encouraged enough to think I could engage in a little self indulgence. No more Family With Medical Leave Act for I ‘n’ I.
Now, I want to go on vacation: cratedig, road trip, herbal excursion, concert. While everyone else was dealing with the chaos of the first week of school I was on my way to Denver for a comedy concert.
Jimmy Dore – best political comedian since George Carlin
My Version Excursion Itinerary:
I 70 to Green River for lunch at the Tamarisk Cafe’ my bredrin Aqua Boy recommended.
Stop in Palisade, CO at a dispensary. My weed concierge seemed a little grumpy. Hey fella, you could be slopping Slurpees at the Sev. Answering all my questions on my Seven Leaf purchases should be like a wine vendor sampling his wares. Come on man, you see Utah on the Driver’s License. It’s like having to talk to a toddler. But I don’t care — I’m on vacation. Just gimme my stash and choke on my cash!
Drove through the most beautiful stretch of country I have ever been on: Grand Junction to I 25 approach to Denver. Had it all: fruit stands, wineries, rivers, dams, mountain passes, tunnels, ski resorts, Amtrak. Treacherous driving even in the Summer at nearly 11,000 feet. Wow!
Idaho Springs, Colorado
Check into my hotel in Denver. Hit the liquor store. Stealth vape in my room while I plot my book and record store mapping, neighborhood by neighborhood. Successful cratedig: picked up around $200 of fresh Reggae vinyl
Twist & Shout Record Store: spent about 4 hours hearing combing the racks. Vinyl is Vital
Had Dinner a couple nights with my friends who flew in to see comedian Jimmy Dore and because I hate flying, I had my car.
Listened to KGNU Boulder’s “Reggae Bloodlines” show on Sat. 1-4pm. Having a session and a cocktail just like millions of you all do every Saturday during Smile Jamaica. Reggae Bloodlines sounded like Smile Jamaica with more Rebelution type reggae than Mutant Dub I ‘n’ I play, but straight up killer roots!
Sat. 4:20 vape like a viper before the show
Call Uber
Standing online with about 75 fellow Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders fanatics wearing my brand new Ilhan Omar T shirt which got many thumbs up from the Progressive audience in attendance
A round of cocktails with my friends to combat cotton mouth and settle in for nearly 2 hours of gallows humor with comedian Jimmy Dore surrounded by fellow travellers on the Far Left political spectrum. Single payer or death!
Sunday morning sunrise return trip via I 80. Thermos full of bad coffee grinding out flat and bland prairie. Cruise control at 73 MPH churning up the mile markers as my Pops loves to say, “feeling like a whore in church”, watching for Johnny Law on the 525 mile stretch back to SLC.
Gassed up in Rock Springs and called my Mom and that is how I found out my Dad doesn’t need a cane around the house. Praise Anu!
So yeah, good week after a brutal year. Selah!
bless, Bobbylon
One Love to the Green Solution for their great service and love of my Giorgio Aliens Tee
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-gust 17, 2019 Annotated Playlist; 43 sec.
Set 1:
Earl Zero – Only Jah; Only Jah Can Ease the Pressure (Freedom Sounds) ’79 JA vinyl
The Supersonics – Treasure Isle Dub vol. 2 (Treasure Isle) JA vinyl dub set of the hour
Dress: Reggae T shirt for Smile Jamaica broadcast, shorts and sandals. Plus tin foil hat
Hit the morning news cycle of my favorite news sources via Ipad: RT, Truthdig, Moon of Alabama, Zerohedge
No CNN (CIA News Nutwork); No FUX news; No MS-NBC (Mainstream nothing but crap); No Presstitute Bullshit Syndicate (PBS) for I ‘n’ I.
Since 2003 and the corporate media’s providing of legitimate cover for an illegal war, I am strictly alt news. I do not trust the 6 companies who own 90+ percent of our news media. Mostly Alt-Left but I’m a fan of a libertarian Bulgarian market site called Zerohedge for leavening. (They predicted the 2008 economic collapse before anyone else.)
I’m so “alt” I am driving 500 plus miles to Denver in a week to watch this political comedian: Jimmy Dore.
Jeffery Epstein allegedly committed “suicide.” My first reaction? How neat and tidy. Dead men tell no tales, eh? Especially considering the document dump the day before outed several high profile politicians, academics and hedge fund billionaires as accused of having sex with underage girls procured by the odious creep.
<Jeffery Epstein’s murder? suicide? escape? 2 min. 29 sec.>
I try to live the moral and upright life that I absorb through 30+ plus years of listening to Reggae music. I’m more of a paradox of virtue than any sort of saint, but I do believe government corruption and the abuse of children are part of that lens. Government interference led to Epstein’s slap on the wrist sentence a decade ago.
As compelling a story as the lurid conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s death: Was it suicide? murder? alien abduction? It still comes down to the outrageous sexual exploitation of children. Which is getting completely lost in the #EpsteinMurder and #ClintonBodyCount back and forth.
Mea culpa. I am susceptible to conspiracy theories. Probably due to my belief in Ancient Astronaut Theory, via the Anunnaki skygods traveling back to Earth from Nibiru. I do not believe 9/11 happened the way they said it did anymore than I would believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.
When this went down, my brother in law said to my sister: “Can’t wait to see how your wacko brother responds to all this.”
I went for breakfast with my best friend Nardo-jan (fellow Anunnaki/UFOria enthusiast, Ph.D. in Medieval History, librarian) and our mutual friend John (former journalist at the Salt Lake Tribune).
Of course Epstein’s “suicide” was the coffee topic of conversation. I queried both of them: (I knew Nardo-jan’s answer) but wanted to see what a professional newsman thought.
None of us believed the suicide story. Neither does my Mom, Dad and Sister.
What do I believe?
Now you understand where my brother in law is coming from!Don’t even get me started on Building 7.
Inconvenient conspiracy fact. Trust your eyes! Do not scoff!
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-gust 10, 2019 Annotated Playlist; 70 sec.
Set 1:
Pancho Alphanso – Watch This Sound; Watch This Sound (Shanachie) ’82 Ho Ho Kus NJ vinyl
Supersonics – Construction Dub Style; Treasure Isle Dub vol. 1 (Treasure Isle) JA vinyl dub album of the hour
Third World – 96 Degrees in the Shade; Live at Reggae Sunsplash ’81: Tribute to Bob Marley (Elektra) ’81 Aug. in Montego Bay, JA
<“Entertainment for you, martyrdom for me”; 30 sec.>
Carlene Davis – My Mistake; 15 Classics (Sonic)
Horace Ferguson – Sensi Addict; Dancehall – The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (Soul Jazz) ’87 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Dan I – Like a Seed; 10″ (Moa Anbessa) 2008 Jah-taly
Set 2:
Culture – This Train; Cumbolo (Shanachie) ’79 gospel/Woody Guthrie cover
The Rolands – Johnny Dollar; Crucial Reggae (Mango) ’84
Afro Omega – Watcha Need; Pick Up the Pieces EP (Afro Omega) 2006 SLC w/ female vox
Lee “Scratch” Perry – City Too Hot; 12″ (Upsetter) ’77 UK Black Ark
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 29+ Years
Prince Buster – Shake a Leg; Original Golden Oldies vol. 2 (Melodisc) ’61: Burning Spear – Oh What a Happy Day; Creation Rebel (Heartbeat/Studio One) ’74
Akabu – People Get Ready; Warrior Queen (ON U Sound) ’89 UK roots dawtas; Curtis Mayfield tune
Jah Iney & Augustus Pablo – Classic Rockers Chapter 1 & Chapter 3; Rockers International (Greensleeves) ’80
Scientist – 11 Guava Road Dub; King of Dub (Kingdom) ’81 Dub album of the hour
Set 4:
General Public – Never You Done That; All the Rage (I.R.S.) ’84 post 2 Tone ska/pop
Rhoda Dakar – The Wreck; Cleaning in a Another Woman’s Kitchen (Moon Ska World) 2007
Pablo Gad – What Makes a Natty Dread Cry; Blood Suckers (Melodie) ’78
Earl Sixteen – Gates of Hell; 10″ (Sip a Cup) 2004 UK
Set 5: Vinyl is Vital Set
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Rolling Stone; Marley, Tosh, Livingston & Associates (Studio One) ’82 JA vinyl; Bunny Wailer lead vox
<Bob Dylan cover; 2 min.>
The Jaytees – A Prayer to Jah; Pirates Choice (Studio One) ’81 JA female duo
Inner Circle – Mary, Mary; Everything Is Great (Island) ’79 UK herbtune
Ken Boothe – I Shot the Sheriff; Blood Brothers (Trojans) ’78 UK Wailers cover
<Why the Sheriff hated Bob; 27 sec.>
Arthur Louis – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door; This Is Reggae Music (Island) ’75 US – Bob Dylan cover
Set 6: Jamaican Jukebox 7″ 45’s
King Stitt – Herbsman Shuffle; 7″ (Trojan) ’80 UK picture sleeve: 7″ Jamaican Jukebox
Carl Dawkins – Witchcraft; 7″ (Sir J.J.) ’72 JA
Sharon Black – Struggling; 7″ (Clintones) ’77 US
Dennis Brown – Armagideon; 7″ (Emmanuel) ’80 Bunny Wailer cover
Sly & Robbie – Plastic Dub; Overdrive in Overdub (Sonic) Dub Album of the Hour
Set 7:
Black Uhuru – Somebody’s Watching Me; Anthem UK Rmx (Island) ’83 cover of Rockwell soul
Bunny Wailer – Revolution; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95 50 Bob songs for 50th birthday
Peter Tosh – Pick Myself Up; Wanted (bootleg) Sept. 29, 1981 NYC @ the Ritz
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Bob Marley/Bill Laswell – Is This Love; Dreams of Freedom (Axiom) ’97 ambient translation: Mutant Dub Set
Likkle Mai – Your Love; Roots Candy (Beat) 2006 Jah-ponese dawta from Dry & Heavy
Alpha & Omega – Fire; Watch and Pray (A & O) ’92 UK trance dub
Bush Chemists – Haste Make Waste; Light Up Your Chalice (Dubhead) ’99 on Bunny Wailer Armagideon riddim
The year was 1988. Early Spring. My college roommate and I were having a slice at The Pie Pizzeria near our apartment close to the University of Utah campus.
The pizza place had KRCL 90.9FM on the hi fi. Community radio. Programmed by volunteers who pick their own music. We heard they were doing a new volunteer training. My roommate wanted to do 80’s indie. I had recently discovered KRCL’s Smile Jamaica.
Another college friend had turned me on to Reggae via the album at the top of this blog post: Sly & Robbie 80’s hardcore digital mix of Black Uhuru. Militant Reggae in a drum and bass style.
<Black Uhuru – Anthem and what it means to Smile Jamaica; 38 sec.>
Thanks to Pres. Ronald Raygun’s student loan program, I started collecting Reggae and had enough to be trained for an late Sunday night/early Monday morning show called 3 o’clock Roadblock
<How I started at KRCL; 39 sec.>
It was just before 4th of July 1988 when I debuted. I found that I couldn’t sleep if I needed to be loading my car for the 20 minute drive to the station. So I would stay up all night, lay down riddims, go home and crash and then get up to go class mid Monday morning.
I did the show for a little more than a year. It was a great way to learn radio without a lot of pressure. My listeners? Night owls, insomniacs, graveyard shift workers and cab drivers.
A month prior, I tried to recreate the first radio show of 3 o’clock Roadblock with what was a new medium at the time: the compact disk. This week I went through my Ark-Ive and harvest vinyl LPs.
And to mix it up, I organize from A-Z and Z-O for the black wax nostalgia mixdown.
<Early vinyl gems laid out A-Z; 36 sec.>
And 31 years later, except for 1 LP (Eek a Mouse), the black wax is sounding crisp. Or criss as the dreads would say.
Enjoy and thanks for listening!
bless, Bobbylon
“Vinyl is what we listened to before CDs.”
Smile Jamaica Ark-ives July 27, 2019: 31 Years of Vinyl A-Z
Set 1: A-E
Jimmy Riley – Summer Time; 12″ (DEB) ’76 UK Porgy & Bess cover
Soul Syndicate – Only Jah Dub; Visions of Love (Epiphany) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour (Earl Zero bonus dubs)
Horace Andy – Oh Lord, Why Lord; Best of Horace Andy (Coxsone) ’72 JA
Black Uhuru – Anthem; Anthem (Island) ’83 UK Groucho Smykle rmx
Culture – Behold the Land; Africa Stand Alone (April) ’79 US
Carlene Davis; Angel in Your Arms; At the Right Track (Carib Gems) ’80 UK Hot soul cover
Eek a Mouse – Sensee Party; Skidip! (Greensleeves) ’82 US 4:20 Cannabis Service
Just about the only LP that had surface noise from today’s all vinyl show
Set 2: F-J
Phillip Frazer – 2000 Years; Come Ethiopians (Freedom Sounds) ’79 JA
Sophie George – Girlie Girlie; Fresh (Winner) ’86 UK
Heptones – Cool Rasta; Cool Rasta (Trojan) ’76 UK
I Roy – Union Call; Whap’n Bap’n (Virgin) ’80 UK
Wayne Jarrett – Love in a Mi Heart; Chip In (Greensleeves) ’82 UK
Set 3: K-N
Ini Kamoze – Rough; Pirate (Mango) ’86 US
Ijahman Levi – Are We a Warrior; Are We a Warrior (Mango) ’79
Judy Mowatt – Mr. Big Man; Mellow Mood (Ashandan) ’75 JA
Natural Ites – What About the Africans; Marvellous (CSA) ’87 UK
Scientist – Miss Know It All; Trojan Dub Box Set (Trojan) ’98 Dub Album of the Hour
Set 4: O-R
Johnny Osbourne – Rude Boy; In Ah Disco Style (Cha Cha) ’81 UK
Michael Prophet – Give Me the Right; Blood Stain (Ashantites) ’83 DC
Quasar – Stir It Up; Fresh (LASN) US Bob Marley cover
Ras Midas – Too Long in the Wind; Rastaman in Exile (Disc’ AZ International) ’80 Fr.
Set 5: S-W
Sister Nancy – Gwan a School; One Two (Techniques) ’82 JA
Tamlins – Big Girl Now; I’ll Be Waiting (Live & Learn) ’87 DC Stylistics cover
U-Roy – Babylon Burning; Natty Rebel (Virgin) ’76 UK
<New broom sweeps clean, old broom knows the corners!>
Early spring 1988, my roommate and I were in the Pie Pizzeria near the Univ. of Utah campus. They were listening to the local community radio station, KRCL. I had discovered its Saturday afternoon Reggae program called Smile Jamaica about a year previous. KRCL were looking for new volunteers to train for graveyard shift shows.
My roommate, also a music fanatic, wanted to do a mid 80s college show. I was interested in Reggae. They had enough rock programmers but wanted someone to do a late night program that could mix up Reggae with Ska and World.
I started training late spring and was granted a show that debuted just before the 4th of July 1988: 3 o’clock Roadblock – named for the Bob Marley song because the show aired from 3am-6am late Sunday night/early Monday morning.
includes 3 o’clock Roadblock
I learned how to juggle tunes for a radio audience for probably a couple hundred graveyard shift workers, night owls and insomniacs.
Black Uhuru was the group that got me into Reggae music. I loved them: Michael Rose, Puma Jones (dawta) and Ducky Simpson (dread.) Their album, Anthem (the first Reggae Grammy award) was a booming 80’s synth from Sly & Robbie meshed with heartical roots and dread anthems.
I had met a guy in the U of U dorms, Neil Copperman. Jewish kid from Baltimore who had all these new compact disks on a massive hi fi with Bose speakers. I had been an early adopter of the round aluminum disks, (and I also favored Bose 301’s), when I moved to SLC from Bozeman, Montana; Fall Semester 1986. So we would trade disks and listen to each other’s selections.
The dorms were concrete bunkers and the drum and bass from Sly & Robbie ricocheted around the room. I was hooked on Reggae from that moment forward. I had a few Marley’s, Tosh’s, Toot’s & Cliff’s. None of them made the instant impact Black Uhuru did.
From late June 1988-Aug. 1989 when I quit the late night, I would always start each edition of 3 o’clock Roadblock with a Black Uhuru tune.
<Anthem lit the fuse; 66 sec.>
I was only off air for about 2 months. In Oct. 1989, my mentor Rutabaga Reese offered to have me split Smile Jamaica with him. And that lead to my Saturday adventure of almost 30 years.
In between I have been a part of the digital media transition and this podcast was created before there was even a word for it. I knew that radio was gonna go internationally online.
<Smile Jamaica pre-podcasting “podcast”; 23 sec.>
But that’s a story I will continue Oct. 2019 – when, Jah wiling, I get my 30 year badge.
So enjoy this possible recreation of the very first 3 hours of Reggae Radio from I ‘n’ I. CDs on this podcast. In a month, I will do the same for vinyl.
Thanks for listening from day 1 or 31 years fresh.
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 29, 2019 Annotated Playlist; 1 min. 56 sec.
Set 1: 1972-1976
Black Uhuru – Party Next Door; Anthem (Mango) ’83 Best of 31 Years of Reggae Radio
Augustus Pablo – Unity Dub; Africa Must Be Free by 1983 Dub (Rockers) ’83 YS US vinyl dub album of the hour
Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come; The Harder They Come Soundtrack (Mango) ’72
<The Harder They Come and Reggae in US/UK; 74 sec.>
The Wailers – Stir It Up; Catch a Fire (Tuff Gong) ’73 US w/ guitar and piano overdubs
<Catch a Fire and Reggae in the US/UK; 65 sec.>
Burning Spear – Down By the Riverside; Presenting (Studio One) ’73
Peter Tosh – Legalize It; Legalize It (Columbia) ’76
Set 2: 1976
The Mighty Diamonds – Back Weh Mafia; Ice on Fire (Virgin Front Line) ’76 soul producer, Allen Toussaint prod’n
Judy Mowatt – Put It On; Black Woman (Shanachie) ’76 Wailer cover
Max Romeo – One Step Forward; War ina Babylon (Mango) ’76 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark riddim shower (1) – vox
Prince Jazzbo – Ital Corner; Ital Corner (Clocktower) ’76 Black Ark riddim shower (2): deejay
<Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark studio>
Set 3: 1976-1977
Martha Velez – Bend Down Low; Escape From Babylon (Sire) ’76 Bob prod’n/Perry mix/Wailers on the riddims/Wailers cover
<Martha Velez; 38 sec.>
Bunny Wailer – This Train; Blackheart Man (Mango) ’76 Woody Guthrie cover
The Congos – Children Crying; Heart of the Congos (Black Art) ’77 Black Ark prod’n
The Revolutionaries – Dawn Creation; Phase One Dub Wise volume 2 (Phase One) ’80 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
Set 4: 1977
Culture – Two Sevens Clash; Two Sevens Clash (Shanachie) ’77
<When the 2 7’s clashed; 72 sec.>
Jolly Brothers – Conscious Man; Conscious Man (Seven Leaf) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry Black Ark prod’n
Yabby You – Judgment Time; One Love, One Heart (Shanachie) ’77
Set 5: 1978-1979
I Roy – Tiddle Le Bop; Heart of a Lion (Virgin Front Line) ’78 nursery rhyme
Ijahman Levi – Jah Heavy Load; Haile I Hymn (Jahmani) ’78 feat. Steve Winwood on organ
Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking; Uptown Top Ranking (Object Enterprise) ’78 female dj duo
Dennis Brown – Love Jah; Words of Wisdom (Shanachie) ’79
Set 6: 1979
The Morwells feat. Bingy Bunny – Bit By Bit; Kingston 12 Toughie (RAS) ’79
Capital Letters – Run Run Run; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK youth group w/ female harmonies
Marcia Griffiths – Steppin’ Out of Babylon; Steppin’ (Shanachie)
Sugar Minott & Soul Syndicate – Walking Through the Ghetto; Ghetto-ology + Dub (Easy Star) ’79
Roots Radics – Rockers Almighty Dub; Rockers Almighty Dub (Clocktower) Bronx, NY vinyl dub album of the hour
Set 7: 1979-1980
Keith Hudson – Musicology; Rasta Communication (Greensleeves) ’79
Johnny Osbourne – Jah Promise; Truths and Rights (Studio One) ’79
Earl Zero – I No Lie; Visions of Love (Epiphany) ’79
Pablo Moses – Dubbing is a Must; A Song (Mango) ’80
Wailing Souls – Old Broom; Very Best of (Greensleeves) ’80 comp.
New broom sweeps clean. Old broom knows the corners!
Set 8: 1980-1981
Ken Booth (sic) & the Iranian Students – Peace Time/Khomeni Skank; Jack Ruby Hi-Fi (Auralux/Clappers) ’80
Sister Jam – People of the World; Rockers International (Greensleeves) ’80 Augustus Pablo prod’n
Flo & Eddie – Rock With Me; Rock Steady With Flo & Eddie (Epiphany) ’81 of the Turtles; Melodians cover
Garland Jeffreys feat. Linton Kwesi Johnson – Miami Beach; Escape Artist (Epic) ’81 NY rock artist w/ dub poet
Mikey Dread – World War III; Beyond World War III (Dread at the Controls) ’81
This summer I started watching a new program on History Channel called Unidentified
The show features a guy named Lew Elizondo who quit our intelligence service to alert the world about UFO encounters. Our naval pilots are being harassed and traumatized by their encounters with flying “Tic Tacs”. Craft that can neutralize weapons defense systems on our most sophisticated planes.
This popped up on the corporate news cycle and during an interview with George Stephanapolous, The Cheetolini said he didn’t believe in UFO’s. I would have thought he would have believed in UFO’s bigly.
So here is why I am perturbed: Pres. 45 created the Space Force. General Giorgio of Ancient Aliens is heading the effort.
General Giorgio tapped I ‘n’ I to be in charge of Lunar agriculture. I am leading the effort to plant the space dust. The moon is gonna be lonely for a while. That’s why NASA invented vaping. You can’t spark a doobie in space. No oxygen, am I right?
I ‘n’ I am not growing moon weed and deejaying for the harvesters’ entertainment up there, just so Raytheon and Boeing can add to their Military Industrial Complex profits.
Hey 45: It ain’t swamp gas, ball lightning or mother effing weather balloons. It is Extra Terrestrials wary of our nuclear war insanity.
Between Trump’s betrayal and the Walrus of War (John Bolton’s) game of chicken in the Strait Hormuz, I am fed up!
So I told the Mad Tweeter: I QUIT; 60 sec.
The Aliens do not want to see a World War III in the Middle East that could go nuclear. Alien sightings became common after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They don’t care about us humans, but they need our gold and water. A Bitter Wind destroyed Sumer – and what was that bitter wind? Nuclear weapons inna Mesopotamia
<No war with Iran; 52 sec.>
<Specials – anti-war ska; 27 sec.>
Watching Unidentified and hearing military people talk about a “rain of UFO’s” mankind should heed the warning. If you weaponize space, the Aliens will intercede and it won’t turn out well.
Watch the movie from 1951, the Day the Earth Stood Still and how the Aliens (or my ancestors – The Anunnaki if you are like me, an Ancient Astronaut Theorist), will put mankind under heavy manners, as the Rastas used to say
<Klaatu Barada Nikto; 54 sec.>
Look to the skies! Do not scoff!
Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives June 22, 2019 – Annotated Playlist; 76 sec.
Set 1:
Black Uhuru – Solidarity; 12″ EP (4th & Broadway) ’83 US picture sleeve
Lee “Scratch” Perry & the Upsetters – Cloak & Dagger; Cloak & Dagger (Black Art) ’72 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
IBA – Zion Trail; Many Lives (Mt. Nebo) 2006 Chattenham
Sister V – V’s Version; Baggariddim (DEP) ’85 female dj over UB40 Version Girl
Tippa Lee & Lone Ranger – Me No Call No Police + Keep on Dubbing in the Dance; Return of the Rub-a-Dub Style (Echodelic) 2011
Barrington Levy – Collie Weed; 12″ (Jah Life) ’79 JA 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Set 2:
Mikey Dread – I Love My Mother; World Tour (Dread at the Controls) ’99
Alton & Hortense Ellis – I’m Just a Guy; Cry Tough (Treasure Isle/Heartbeat) ’68
Junior Delgado – Tell Me How You Feel; Tichen (Rhino UK) ’90
Leonard Dillon – Done ‘I Done; One Step Forward (House of Reggae) ’91
Early B – Send in the Patient; 12″ (Vibes and Vibes) ’85 JA
Set 3:
Fred Locks – Moving With the Power; Culturally (Tan-Yah) ’95
Bush Chemists feat. Talawa – Stand Up Dub; Light Up Your Chalice (Conscious Sounds) ’99 mutant dub w/ female vox
Ken Boothe – Tears in My Eyes; 10″ EP (Trojan) ’71 BB Seaton cover
Pablo Gad – Bloodsuckers + dub; Bloodsuckers (Melodie) ’78
Set 4:
Thievery Corporation – It Takes a Thief/DJ Kicsk; DJ-Kicks (!K7) ’99
Chris Wayne – Don’t Worry Yourself; Tempo Explosion (Black Victory) ’85
Rasta Rafiki – Congregation; Stream of Consciousness (Blue Duck) ’95 Morgantown, WV
Lots of stories on this edition of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. During our vinyl segment I played a song by Yellowman chronicling the fallen heroes of Reggae music, Many of them murdered: Peter Tosh, General Echo….and Bob Marley? (Lee “Scratch” Perry blamed Island records own Chris Blackwell of killing Bob for his royalties.)
Alex Jones also believes the CIA killed Bob Marley to stop his revolutionary music from influencing liberation movements in South Africa, Palestine and Central America. My cryptic comment. How does a black man die of melanoma (skin cancer.)
<Did the CIA kill Bob Marley? 27 sec.>
On a more positive note, the state of Illinois is so broke they had no choice but to legalize the seven leaf — through their legislature. Signed by the governor! Now it’s 11 down, 39 to go!; 41 sec.
Illinois also legalized casinos throughout the state. State Casino Board chairman, Al Capone III, said blackjack and cannabis are a winning combination that rules the nation!
<weed and casinos in Illinois; 71 sec.>
Al Capone spins in his grave: legal weed and gambling
And lastly, a guy who likes weed, Reggae and probably conspiracy theories, one Keith Richard, guitarist of the Rolling Stones shows his love of the rub-a-dub by covering Half Pint off the Dirty Work CD.
bless, Bobbylon
<Winsome = Too Rude; 49 sec.>
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives June 8, 2019 Annotated Playlist; 77sec
Set 1:
Jah Woosh – Psalms; D.J. Legend (Original) ’82 UK vinyl
Derrick Harriott & the Crystalites – Rasta Is Love; Scrub-a-Dub (Crystal) ’74 JA dub album of the hour
Rita Marley – One Draw; 12″ (Shanachie) ’81 4:20 for Illinois legalize
Jay McGee – One Draw; 12″ (Scorpio) ’81 Canada
Loi – One Draw; 12″ (Abraham) Willowdale, Ontario Canada; female
Blackstones – Soul Shakedown; Insight (Burning Sounds) ’79 UK red vinyl; Bob Marley cover – Vinyl is Vital Set
Yellowman – In Memory; Rides Again (RAS) ’88 tributes to fallen heroes
Boom Shaka – Wicked Man; Creation (Moving Target) ’86 Los Angeles
Pancho Alphanso – Babylonian; Watch This Sound (Shanachie) ’82 Ho Ho Kus, NJ
Hortense Ellis – Sweetheart; Dance Hall Session (Studio One) JA vinyl
Set 6: Wailers Family Tree
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Straight and Narrow Way; Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers (Studio One) ’64 feat. Junior Braithwaite
<Junior Braithwaite on lead Wailers vox; 2 min.>
Bunny Wailer – Zimbabwe; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95 50 Bob songs for 50 years
Peter Tosh – Don’t Look Back; While Relaxing (bootleg) Mar. 14, 1979 in Wash’n DC
Roots Radics – Love and Understanding (Version); Understanding (Deluxe Edition) (Tamoki Wambesi) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
Set 7:
Half Pint – Winsome; In Fine Style (Sun Set) ’84 JA vinyl: (1) – original
Rolling Stones – Too Rude; Dirty Work (Columbia) ’85 (2) – Keith’s cover
Love Clinic – Love Rapture; Love Clinic (Ariwa) 2005 female dj & singer over Blondie’s Rapture
UB40 feat. Admiral Jerry – Up and Coming M.C.; I Got You Babe EP (Virgin) ’85 UK toaster
Junior Murvin – Cross Over; 12″ (Upsetter) ’77 UK
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Bob Marley/Bill Laswell – Exodus; Dreams of Freedom (Axiom) ’97
Morcheeba – Who Can You Trust; Who Can You Trust (Indochina) ’96 UK
Alpha & Omega – Back Against the Walls of Babylon; Mystical Things (BSI) 200 UK trance dub
Sugar Dee – High Grade; 12″ EP (Know Thyself) 2012 UK herbtune
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.
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