I ‘n’ I was in Vegas when the Niners thumped the Packers during Thanksgiving. That heinous loss was a wake up call to the team and I ‘n’ I hoped for a better result after the Packers rolled up everyone else and beat the quality Seahawks, at home, in the playoffs.
Many Smile Jamaica listeners rung me up on the show last week to wish me well. Feeling good Saturday night….
Last Sunday, the Niners literally ran over the Pack. Aaron Rodgers looked old and now I ‘n’ I get to count down the days until baseball season in April.
Grumble, grumble, grumble. First world problems.
(BTW – the song Green Bay Killing refers to a police massacre of Rastas in Jamaica. So my apologies for making light of a sports beat down)
bless, Bobbylon
Praise Jah I won’t have to watch anymore of those stupid State Farm ads on the teevee
Set 1:
Clint Eastwood – Greetings to All; Death in the Arena (Channel One) ’78 JA vinyl
Wackie’s Rhythm Force – Act V (Wackies) ’85 Bronx vinyl dub album of the hour
Zion Initiation – Jah Light; Take Us Home (Cultures of Soul) ’79-88 Boston roots reggae
The Tennors – Ride Your Donkey; Broken Flowers soundtrack (Decca) ’68 rock steady
Niney the Observer – Freaks; Freaks (Heartbeat) ’92
Don Carlos & Gold – Harvest Time; Raving Tonight (RAS) ’83 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Jah Thomas – Please Mr. Officer; In Disco Style (Munich) ’80 bonus herbs
Cha Cha & Ranking Joe – One Day You’ll Know; 10″ (Above Rock) 2010 UK female Chinese singer
Set 2:
Zara McFarlane – Fussin’ & Fightin’ – Arise (Brownswood) 2017 UK dawta
Bunny Wailer – Lively Up Yourself; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95 50 Bob Marley songs for his 50th birthday
The Melodians – Jah Reggae; Irie Feeling (RAS) ’83
The Heptones & Joe White – Give Me the Right + President Rock; 10″ (Success) ’73 UK
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 30+ Years
Aswad – Concrete Slaveship; Aswad (Mango) ’76
Althea & Donna – Sorry; Uptown Top Ranking (Virgin Front Line) ’78 female dj duo
The last time I ‘n’ I felt the need to lay down a Reggae set about World War III was Summer 2014.
Civil War in Ukraine. Russians in the East, Ukrainians in the West went at it and in the middle of the conflict a Dutch airliner was shot down.
Sabres were rattled. Much hostile rhetoric. NATO vs. Putin. WTF?
Bunny Wailer: Ceasefire and light the chalice
So I do what I’n’ I always do. Go into the Smile Jamaica Ark-ives and hunt down the appropriate peace treaty tunes mixed with cautionary anti-war roots.
I ‘n’ I political philosophy can summed up in three planks
Everything turned to shit when people quit praising the original Holy Trinity: Anu, Enki and Ishtar
Extra terrestrials are here to try and stop us from destroying the planet they need for their gold stocks
“Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right….here I ‘n’ I am stuck in the middle with you.”
My vote for 2020
The World War III set 2014 was offered, Putin heard it on my Mixcloud stream and he backed off.
And while things aren’t perfect in Ukraine, the galaxy, not just Earth, was spared Chernobyl 2,000,000.0.
Putin’s a dubber. Goes by the name DJ Lemonhead
Bad Vlad always favorites Smile Jamaica streams on Mixcloud
***
Wheel it forward to 2020. Pres. 45. The Orange Messiah. Swamp is draining like my dad’s cerebral spinal fluid shunt. Barely, but supposedly dripping.
Just came off the road from seeing my Pop’s and family in Albuquerque then Phoenix. Intense week of caregiving (my Pop’s has NPH which makes him: wacky, wobbly and wet).
Got in one day of cratedigging in Phoenix. Love their vinyl shops much better in 60 degree weather than 110.
Among the Reggae gems you hear I ‘n’ I rinse out on this podcast, I found some grooving word LPs.
Fly back to SLC Jan. 1
Put together weekly Mixcloud podcast Jan. 2
Rise and Shine 7am to post podcast Jan. 3
See on Twitter that the Iranian General had been assassinated by the “Swamp Drainer.” Fuck it. I ‘n’ I am going back to bed
I fought the swamp and the swamp won
<Bobbylon’s World War 3.0 Set; 1 min. 47 sec.>
***
No one wants to see their ancestral home destroyed. As you may or may not know: My Mom’s family emigrated/escaped from Iran around World War I.
I ‘n’ I identify as an Assyrian American/Sumerian Fundamentalist.
Bobbylon’s Sky God – Anu. I ‘n’ I put the “old” in old school
My graduation gift for 1983 was promised a trip to Iran. Alas, the Islamic Revolution in ’79 scuttled that. Lebanon, Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraq 2.0, ISIS/ISIL, Libya, Somalia, Syria. Looks like Iran got next, alas!
So back into the Ark-Ives. Pull another set of World War 3.0 Reggae/Punk/Ska
The Clash – Rock the Casbah – topical in that the Ayatollahs had banned popular music in Iran
Ruffy & Tuffy – If the Third World War Is a Must. Roots twins prophecy: there are no winners when Russia ‘n’ America “come fi buss.”
The Special AKA – War Crimes. 2 Tone ska regarding massacres in Beirut Lebanon compared to the death camp of Belsen. “The numbers are different but the crime is still the same.”
Mikey Dread – World War 3.0 is only minutes away!
Rumor has it Pres. 45 likes to listen to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive Podcasts while watching CNN with the TV muted.
Big Macs, cheeseburgers and Smile Jamaica. Let us hope he hears I ‘n I Prophecy and heeds the call…NO WAR IN IRAN
My wish is that if you are reading this, you listen to the anti-War set and pray to the sky god(s) of your choosing that there be NO WAR IN IRAN
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Annotated Playlist: Jah-nuary 11, 2020; 90 sec.
Set 1:
Pancho Alphanso – Watch This Sound; Watch This Sound (Shanachie) ’82 Ho Ho Kus, NJ vinyl
Tad’s Logic Dub Band – Science; Chapter 1 Dub Mix (Tad’s) ’84 UK vinyl dub album of the hour; Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science”
The Gladiators – Bless Our Soul; Send I a Lion (Nighthawk) ’84 comp
Ayo – Who; Ticket to the World (Motown) 2013 Nigerian dawta
Daweh Congo – Herb Tree; Human Rights & Justice (Roots & Culture) 2000 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Spliffy Dan – Dreadlocks Preaching Love; 10″ (Rockers) ’80 UK A. Pablo prod’n
Set 2:
The Upsetters – Dyon-Anaswa; Return of the Super Ape (Trojan) ’78 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark era
Bunny Wailer – One Love; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95: 50 Bob Marley songs for 50th birthday
Susan Cadogan – Say a Little Prayer; Songs of Aretha (Ariwa) 2019 Aretha Franklin cover
Dizzy & Soul Syndicate + Philip Frazer – Lonely Reggae + Only Jah Knows; 10″ (Impact!) UK cover of Herb Alpert trumpet “Lonely Bull
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 30+ Years
The Abyssinians – Poor Jason Whyte; Satta Massa Gana (Heartbeat) ’76
Rita Marley – My Kind of War; Harambe (Shanachie) ’82
Niney the Observer – Blood & Fire; Freaks (Heartbeat) ’92 update of his classic herbtune
Capital Letters – Smoking My Ganja 12″; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK herbtune
Set 4:
Jimmy Cliff – Roots Radical; Rhythm Come Forward vol. 3 (Columbia) ’82 comp.
Alton & Hortense Ellis – Why Did You Leave Me to Cry; Cry Tough (Heartbeat/Treasure Isle) rocksteady brother and sister
Thievery Corporation feat. David Byrne – The Heart’s a Lonely Hunter (ESL) 2005 UFOria
Singers & Players feat. Congo Ashanti Roy – Breaking Down the Pressure; 10″ (ON U Sound) ’83 UK picture sleeve
Maya Dread; Yard Man Style – Kaya Dub (Kaya) ’75 Dub Album of the Hour
Set 5: Vinyl is Vital
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Soul Captives; Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers (Beverley’s) ’70 JA
<Soul Captives; 90 sec.>
The Heavenly Twins – Hide Me, Rock of Ages; I Am On the Battlefield of the Lord (Social Music) ’67 UK Jamaican gospel w/ male and female vox
Messenjah – Rock You High; Rock You High (WEA) ’82 US
Joe Higgs – So It Goes; High Times All-Star Exposion (Alligator) ’85 Chicago
Zara McFarlane & Dennis Bovell – East of the River Nile; 12″ (Brownswood) 2019 UK dawta
Set 6:
Peter Touch & the Wailers – Maga Dog; The Toughest (Heartbeat/Studio One) ’64
<Peter Touch’s Maga Dog; 1 min.>
The Ethiopians – Let It Be; Slave Call (Heartbeat) ’75 Beatles cover
Sister Carol – Natty Dread Congo; Lyrically Potent (Heartbeat) ’96 Bob Marley cover
Undivided Roots – England Cold; 10″ (Well Crucial) ’82 UK picture sleeve
Set 7: World War III
The Clash – Rock the Casbah; 12″ (Epic) ’82 US picture sleeve: World War III Set
Ruffy & Tuffy – If the Third World War Is a Must; Climax (Black Star) ’88 Finland vinyl
The Special AKA – War Crimes; 10″ (2 Tone) ’82 2 Tone ska picture sleeve
Mikey Dread – World War III; Beyond World War III (Dread at the Controls) ’81
Recorded after massacres in Beirut, Lebanon 1982
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Claude Fontaine – Hot Tears; Claude Fontaine (Innovative Leisure) 2019 Fr. dubstress
Mad Professor feat. Love Clinic – Studio 54 Dub; Afrocentric 5: Black Liberation Dub Chapter 5 (Ariwa) ’98 Blondie’s Rapture feat. female vox
Andrea – Come Back; CD Single (vx) 2005 Canadian
Sevendub feat. Angelique – Fire (Soul Fire mix); Dub Club Edition (Collision) 2006 Germ. w/ female vox
Lee “Scratch”Perry – Heaven & Hell; 10” (ON U Sound) 2019 UK picture sleeve
A Mutant Dub New Year. For over a decade now, I have been starting the year with the outer fringes of Reggae music that you hear I ‘n’ I play for centuries at the last half hour of Smile Jamaica.
<What is Mutant Dub?; 34 sec.>
Mutant Dub definition: Take Reggae drum and bass, attach it to modern electro/dance/post pop textures. Apply copious echo and special effects.
Epitomized by the Holy Trinity of producers: Adrian Sherwood/ON U Sound; Jah Shaka and the Mad Professor
Adrian Sherwood – the Bob Marley of Mutant Dub
My bredrin/mentor, Rutabaga Reese – previous Smile Jamaica host, turned me onto this style of dub as I ‘n’ I was absorbing my Roots Reggae knowledge.
Moody, atmospheric, modernesque. Some orthodox Reggae heads hate it*. But I ‘n’ I love it. If you do a Google search on Mutant Dub. Smile Jamaica is what pops up first!
The highest rated show in the podcast history of Smile Jamaica, circa 2013, is my Mutant Dub 420 showcase.
Mutant Dub 420 on Smile Jamaica
*I used to get angry calls “quit playing that techno crap.” Not anymore!
Even KRCL station manager, Tristin Tabish, is a Mutant…
<KRCL management loves Mutant Dub; 3 sec.>
Since nothing is static after doing radio for 30 plus years, after I was retired from political interviews on KRCL’s Radioactive, I ‘n’ I switched to Ancient Aliens on History Channel.
Giorgio and von Daniken’s Sumerian Skygods/Ancient Astronauts combined my Mesopotamian ancestry to outer space.
Giorgio Tsoukalos – The Bob Marley of Ancient Aliens
***
So I ‘n’ I do what I ‘n’ I always does. Start combing the Smile JamaicaArk-Ives for Alien Reggae and Dub songs. I ‘n’ I don’t have a single Mutant Dub Christmas tune, but found nearly 200 UFOria (UFO’s + euphoria = UFOria).
Tenastelin – The Bob Marley of Sumerian/Biblical astronaut songs
So, for Mutant Dub New Year, I switch up the traditional last half hour to UFO tunes.
Two stories. One ancient. One modern
The Epic of Gilgamesh – The story of a man seeking immortality. Comes across the original “Noah” plagiarized from the Bible. Utnapishtim was tasked by Enki, a major Skygod of the Anunnaki (Sumerian sky gods, “those who came from the sky”).
Enki’s brother Enlil was disgusted that the humans they created to mine gold on behalf of the Anunna (singular of Anunnaki) were instead having sex with Earth women.
Anu, the Bob Marley of the Anunnaki, agreed to wipe out the human experiment with a flood. But Enki took pity. He worked with a dread named Utnapishtim. Enki told him to gather up his family along with a DNA seedbank of animals and plants.
Sumerian Tree of Life is the double helix DNA
The Skygod loaned him a spaceship called a tesseract. A cube shaped ship that orbited Earth for 500 years. When the flood waters receded, Utnapishtim returned to the planet to start anew.
Tesserect space cube. Similar to the Borg on Star Trek
Gilgamesh sought out Utnapishtim who gave him the root of immortality. Gil, going through the trials and tribulations of his Epic, was exhausted and satisfied that he had been successful in his quest. Everlasting life.
So, the now God in his own right, lay by the side of the road for a well deserved nap. Alas, a snake slithered out of the reeds and stole his root of immortality. Gilgamesh died a mortal man.
<Epic of Gilgamesh; 76 sec.>
Gilgamesh loses his root of immortality to a serpent
Neil Armstrong story.
Neil Armstrong. First man on the moon. We have all heard the famous sound clip as he touches down on the lunar surface.
“This is one small step for man. And one giant leap for mankind.”
Fake news. That was the SECOND thing he said on the “comm” to NASA
Neil Armstrong – the Bob Marley of lunar astronauts
When Armstrong was a youth, he was playing catch with his brother in the yard. As happens, the ball went across the fence into the neighbor’s yard. Neil went to fetch it back.
Hot summer afternoon. The neighbors, a family named Gorsky, were having a little “afternoon delight”. Neil, curious, listened in on the pillow talk.
He heard Mr. Gorsky ask his wife for oral sex. She guffawed, “I’ll give you oral sex when the Armstrong kid next door walks on the moon.”
So wheel it forward to July 20, 1969. As Neil touched down on the moon’s surface his actual first words were. “Good luck Mr. Gorsky!”
<Good luck Mr. Gorsky! 42 sec.>
And I ‘n’ I don’t have time for the story of how Neil Armstrong became a Muslim. Or how the Apollo 11 moonlanding was a Stanley Kubrick production.
As I ‘n’ I always say: “Look to the skies! Do not scoff!
bless, Bobbylon
Mutant Dub New Year Annotated Playlist: Jah-nuary 4, 2020
Set 1:
African Princess – Jah Chilren Cry; Hits From the House of Shaka (Jah Shaka)
The Vision – Dub Start; Dub Vision (Funfundvierzig) ’88 Germ. green vinyl: dub album of the hour
Dr. Israel – Jacob’s Ladder; Inna City Pressure (ROIR) 2005
KRCL celebrated 40 years on air with a party in downtown SLC. My tenure of that for Smile Jamaicais 30 years. (31 and 1/2 total).
I attended the birthday bash and it was great to see a lot of volunteers I hadn’t talked to since KRCL’s format change in 2008.
Plus there was a great love of what I ‘n’ I do with Roots Reggae and Dub with many listeners who were happy to meet me and pass on their thanks. Great to collect stories from people and how they discovered and continue to enjoy my sets on Smile Jamaica.
People love my commitment to vinyl!
The common thread is what Smile Jamaica means to their Saturday afternoon routines. For decades. Fathers and sons. Mom’s and dawtas. If I ‘n’ I had accepted every drink offer, I would have been a drunken mess! (However, it would have been downright rude to decline surreptitious hits of green vapor. Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies…)
It really was a validation of my joy of community radio that is still driven by independent music selection. Where you might hear a Scorpions Reggae jam followed by some UFO dubwize.
You ain’t gwan hear that on your Spotify playlist.
Spotify Reggae vs. Smile Jamaica. Computers or a human?
When my great friend and now KRCL station manager, Tristin Tabish asked me to spin a 15 minute set between bands, I ‘n’ I agreed.
This is essentially I ‘n’ I speech from the stage.
“KRCL celebrates 40 years of all killer no filler radio. It has been my pleasure to be a part of that ride for 30 plus years.
“And KRCL has always championed Reggae music from day 1. Dreadlock Holiday to Smile Jamaica. My bredrin Rutabaga Reese taught me about quality Roots Reggae. Much love to Papa Pilgrm on Nite Roots.”
“For my set, I ‘n’ I was asked to put together 15 minutes of Smile Jamaica. How do you distill 10,000 albums. 10,000 cds and 10,000 singles into 3 songs?”
“A little bit of Marley. A little bit of 420. A little bit of dubwise.”
And Selah! Did the crowd roar when that opening lick of Bob Marley’s Smile Jamaica blast forth on the club’s hi-fi!
Thank you KRCL. And thank you KRCL listeners for the kind words for this deejay on your station that rules the nation! Forward ever, backwards never.
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica: KRCL 40th Anniversary Set live and on-air; Dec. 4, 2019 at the Union; Salt Lake City, Utah (60 sec.)
Bob Marley – Smile Jamaica (Marley)
Rita Marley – One Draw (420)
Yellowman – Strong Mi Strong (Dub – Bill Laswell mix)
I ‘n’ I birthday is Dec. 20th. It gets mashed into Christmas and that means traveling on the road. For most of my adult life that meant driving to Fort Benton Montana. Now it’s flying into Albuquerque, then driving to Sun City West, AZ.
So, by tradition, I ‘n’ I have spent the Thanksgiving week driving to Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday a month early.
Here is my week
Friday before Thanksgiving Week: annual physical and flu shot. Been on a strict regimen since Labor Day to try and hit my target weight and clear out any of the high fructose poisoning from last year. Fire off BP of 115 over 75 in the electric chair, I mean doctor’s office. (Pulse rate of 92! Yeah I hate going to the doctor.)
Test results and notes from Doc: Your tests results are normal/unremarkable. Just what you want to hear!
Saturday before Thanksgiving Week: Celebrate fooling the Grim Reaper for another year with a massive breakfast and about 6 cups of coffee with my bredrin Nardo-Jan and our friend John, emeritus of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Left Fork Grill, best breakfast inna Salt Lake City
Road trip on I-15: I usually have a theme music experience for the drive. One time it was Bob Marley chronological; Bob Dylan box sets, UFOria.
The year I ‘n’ I got deathly ill in Vegas it was Pink Floyd (Still can’t hear the song Fearless without thinking of how I ‘n’ I nearly died of a blood infection, driving back to Utah with BP of 65 over 45.)
This year’s theme: MUTANT DUB! What better way to grind out a journey than pumping bass and extra-terrestrial echo, screaming down I-15 at 80 MPH.
Stop for gas in Cedar City and hit my first record shop: Groovacious
First stop in Vegas: Lee’s Discount Liquors. It is exactly 420miles from my Sugarhouse neighborhood of SLC to the Cheyenne exit in North Vegas. Bought a bottle of holiday Jim Beam bourbon for my room “cocktails to taste.”
Second stop: Reef Dispensary: Since I ‘n’ I was staying in a non-smoking hotel, I needed a cartridge or two, (or nine), for my vape pen.
I don’t believe any of the Vapor Madness “fake news” about the dangers of vaping. That’s just a conspiracy theory by the nanny state working with the tobacco companies to keep people addicted to nicotine and not able to have any fun in life.
Give my ID at the counter: They pair me with a weed barista, or budtender, named Sienna. Hmmm. pair the grizzled middle aged man with a doe eyed, tattooed lovely millennial. of mixed race extraction.
What do I care? I’m on vacation. She can do a little up-selling. She complimented me on my Bob Marley cap. I left her a nice tip for the kindness and seven leaf advice.
I’m a Sativa, fruity flavored, vape pen guy. Usually get an Indica to knock back my insomnia. And some gummies for the movies I was gonna go see. Yes, I am an adult not a criminal!
Check in to the Stratosphere on the Strip: I ‘n’ I have been doing this Vegas Excursion for 20 plus years now. My advice is stay at the grungier end of the Strip. It’s easier to get in and out of the hotel parking and Sahara is a main East/West corridor. Rooms at places like Circus Circus, the Strat (now called), and Palace Station are cheap.
Mainly in the room to sleep and shower. Ever since Vegas legalized the hippie lettuce, that city has become anti-Smoking.
At the Strat, the fee was $150. Thank you for letting me know. Did I ‘n’ I obey the rules? In Reggae there is a saying: If a fish could keep its mouth shut, it would never get caught!
Sunday Night: Green Bay 8-2 vs. San Fran 9-1
Since no one is from Las Vegas, there is a bar for nearly every football team. The Green Bay bar is called the Draft House in North Las Vegas. Put on my throwback jersey and grab some micro brew and dinner with all the trimmings.
Worst. Part. Of my trip. Niners 32; Packers a pathetic 8.
Monday: The Irishman
I’m an Assyrian-American, half (the good half I say!)*. I never cared to be anything else until I saw Martin Scorcese’s Goodfellas. Then I wanted to be Sicilian for a while. My favorite movie, still to this day.
*quote from Ray Liotta in Goodfellas.
So I couldn’t wait to see Scorcese’s gathering of the greats for The Irishman. The story of the murder of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino. The Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer of mob actors.
Tuesday. The Apothecarium
I do like to gamble in Vegas. I’m a low stakes, video poker guy. I will usually play, two or three times during the week, up to $50 a session.
Sitting at the quarter machine, smoking/vaping is legal on the casino floor. And this is why the nanny state and authoritarians want to ban vaping. There is no way to tell if that vapor, not smoke, is tobacco or THC.
In Reggae there is a saying: Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies!
So there I am, vaping Strawberry Cough, and sipping on a free OJ and vodka, when I hit 4 aces on the Video Poker.
Walked away with about 60 bucks net! Found money must be spent.
So I ‘n’ I got on Weedmaps, and thought the Apothecarium would be a good place to re-stock
Weedmaps – directions and menus for the Seven Leaf set
I ‘n’ I roll in, the place is packed. Peruse the menu…. “Robert, Kaya will see you now.” Are you kidding me? My budtender‘s name is Kaya? After the Bob Marley herbtune?
Kaya, another fetching mid 20’s Latina matched up with the greybeard stoner from out of state.
As she was putting together my order (Grapefruit disposable pen(s), THC chocolate cookies), I ‘n’ I asked her, “Are your parents Bob Marley fans?” She giggled.
I ‘n’ I asked her, “I bet you had half a dozen named Kaya in your class.” She admitted two other classmates. I ‘n’ I was my wearing my Smile Jamaica T shirt and mentioned I was a Reggae deejay., she was nice about that.
You don’t get that kind of friendly banter between client and vendor when you are buying Natty Lite at the Sev.
Another healthy tip goes in the jar.
Thursday – Thanksgiving, 9AM
Everyone knows about Black Friday, but I ‘n’ I was celebrating Green Thursday with a stop at Planet 13 dispensary. I ‘n’ I am a big fan of the buy 2 get 1 type of sales.
Hilarious to watch cabs and Uber drop offs, one after another, at 9 AM ON A HOLIDAY MORNING!
I ‘n’ I am a connoisseur of T-shirts. Usually Reggae or UFO, Anunnaki. This was my T’giving attire:
Right at the door, two people complimented my Alien Claus apparel. “Robert? Rachel will see you now.” What, another female budtender catering to my THC needs? No way!
#3 who loved my Alien Astronaut apparel. I ‘n’ I told her I was gonna be cratedigging from about 10am to 8pm on Black Friday and needed some “spinach” for the stamina.
Banana Kush. I’m sure there is some potassium in there for I ‘n’ I. Thanks, Rachel. Another fiver in the tip jar. (I’m not nearly that generous at the coffee shop.) Chocolate drops for the movie I was about to see…
Doctor Sleep – The sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining. Bought my ticket, the dread at the counter hailed up my Alien Elf shirt (#4). The girl selling me popcorn and soda liked it as well (#5). Disturbing scene in that movie that haunted me on my way back.
Thanksgiving Dinner: Online at the buffet (#6) woman asked me where I bought my T Shirt. #7 Lady at the sales kiosk commented as well
Black Friday. Start with the breakfast of champions, and begin my cratedig. The two main major stores in Vegas are called Zia Records. There are two other small stores called Record City and 3-4 other boutique vinyl shops. Found nothing at 2 but some unique 12″ mix vinyl at the Henderson shop.
Chatted up the owner at Moondog Records, and apologized for not buying more. He had an excellent Reggae vinyl selection, but I had everything he was selling of value except one piece of vinyl. (Last year I dropped nearly $200 there.)
I ‘n’ I gonna rinse out what I purchased on Smile Jamaica 12/7
Saturday: All good things must come to an end. Packed up and headed into what I was afraid could be nasty roads. Smooth sailing until a butane truck jack-knifed outside of Lehi. Stuck for an hour before I took the exit into town. Smart decision. Traffic didn’t move again until 7PM. 5 hours later.
So, being away from Smile Jamaica, here is a three hour Digital Dubplate for the weekly roots fix.
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica – Roots Reggae A-Z
0 – 30 min.
African Head Charge – Enjoy Yourself; Sankofa (Bonjo I) ’97
Burning Spear – Ethiopians Live It Out; Presenting (Studio One) ’73
Culture – See Them a Come 12″; Two Sevens Clash (Deluxe Edition) (Shanachie) ’77
Dub Pistols – Bad Card; Worshipping the Dollar (Sunday Best) 2012
Easy Star All-Stars – Great Gig in the Sky; Dub Side of the Moon (Easy Star) 2003 Pink Floyd cover
Fred Locks – Culturally (Tan Yah) ’95
General Echo – Bathroom Sex; 12″ of Pleasure (Greensleeves) ’80
Heavy Manners – Taking the Queen to Tea; Heavier Than Now (NoVo) ’95 Chicago group: herbtune w/ female vox
Ini Kamoze – General; Mini LP (Taxi) ’84
John Brown’s Body – Rainbow Chariot; Among them (Shanachie) ’99
King Tubby – Mine Field; Roots of Dub (Clocktower) ’76
Led Zeppelin – Dy’er Mak’er; Houses of the Holy (Atlantic) ’73
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Lively Up Yourself; Live! (Tuff Gong) ’75
Noiseshaper – Bushmaster; Rough Out There (Collision) 2005 Jah-strian dubbers
Johnny Osbourne – Curly Locks Girl; Never Stop Fighting (Greensleeves) ’82
Prince Buster feat. Bunny & Skitter – Chubby; Prince Buster Original Golden Oldies vol. 2 (Prince Buster) ’61 nyahbinghi
Cratedigging in the land of 11 down, 39 to go. While I ‘n’ I load up on some Black Friday Reggae and Dub for 2020 soon come, enjoy this Digital Dubplate of giving thanks.
45 gems of Thanks and Praise. Enjoy this merryment while waiting online and forced to listen to Christmas music.
First stop for my Black Friday: Or as I ‘n’ I called it: Green Thursday!
I ‘n’ I give thanks to all the Smile Jamaicalisteners for more than 30 years!
bless, Bobbylon
Thanksgiving Digital Dubplate
0-30 min.
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Thank You Lord; In the Beginning (Trojan) ‘67
I ‘n’ I was fighting glaucoma with my bredrins Mike and Aqua Boy. I was laying out my Presidential strategy for taking down The Cheetolini in 2020:
Tulsi-Bernie
America’s only hope in 2020
With the JFK coup anniversary looming: Was it Bin Laden on the Grassy Knoll? Discuss!
But then the discussion took a turn. When baseball season is over, I ‘n’ I turn to a new time suck: Ancient Aliens on the History Channel.
I was talking about the documentary’s 2 hour tribute to Erich von Daniken, the Father of Ancient Astronaut Theory. His book, Chariots of the Gods, lit the fuse for a whole generation seeking a connection between ancient astronauts mis-labelled as Sky Gods by mankind.
I took to the alternative cosmology of Ancient Astronaut Theory late in life. But I should have been into it for 40 years….
I grew up in a small farming community in North Central Montana called Fort Benton. Beautiful little river city. We had a theater and a drive in. It was a short bike ride from my house to go see a movie to get out of the sun.
Fort Benton, Montana – the Birthplace of Montana and cattle multilations
It was sometime, summer 1975. I was ten years old. The movie was Young Frankenstein: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman and Teri Garr. But, in the lobby was something that really intrigued me: a whole display of cut outs, movie stills and placards describing Chariots of the Gods. The movie.
One of the stills described a picture in Ancient Assyria; my mother’s homeland in the Fertile Crescent. I was totally enthralled and could not wait to see it in two weeks!
Coming soon to a farm implement dealership
The following week, the movie theater went out of business and became a farm implement manufacturing business. Cursed!
****
Wheel it forward to last weekend. I was regaling my mates, between bongrips and bourbon, of the story von Daniken described from the Bible: Ezekiel and the crystal ship. A wheel within a wheel.
Ezekiel 1:14-28. Ancient Astronaut Theory
14And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
That, my friends, is the description of nothing other than a space ship which travels by gyration, the wheel within a wheel!
What the Prophet Ezekiel saw in the Old Testament
<Ezekiel’s crystal ship>
My bredrin Aquaboy, who reads dinosaur media like the New York Times and The Nation magazine, was not having it. He was giving me the red eyed hairy eyeball.
The hairy eyeball
So I’n’ I zone in on the kill shot: The Ancient Aliens episode devoted to Chariots of the Gods’ legacy talked about one of the original NASA scientists who thought von Daniken was a crank and set out to use physics to debunk the wheel within a wheel.
His name was Sidney Blumrich…
I ‘n’ I, who does not read the New York Times nor the Nation, never got to finish…Aquaboy was full on scoffing. I ‘n’ I held up my hand and calmly said,
“Your perception is not my reality.”
They’re here. They’ve always been here. And they’re coming! Scoffing won’t save you!
bless, Bobbylon
Bobbylon’s Top Ten Biblical Alien Encounters
Moses and the burning bush – spaceship
Ezekeiel and the Crystal Ship: the wheel within a wheel aka a gyroscopic spaceship
Stairway to Heaven – walkway to a spaceship
Enoch – Noah’s grandfather who walked with God and then was not
Lot’s wife – turned into a pillar of smoke, not salt after Armageddon was destroyed in a nuclear attack
The New Jerusalem – Borg cube massive space ship
The Nephilim – Biblical giants describing the Anunnaki who created mankind and mated with their women
Noah’s Flood (1) – Utnapishtim in a tessaract spaceship to wait for the flood waters to recede (Sumerian origin story)
Noah’s Flood (2) – Ziusudra in a submarine to wait for the flood waters to recede (Sumerian origin story)
Jacob’s Ladder – spaceship walkway (see #3)
How about some examples from Islam and Hinduism:
Magic/flying carpets
The Prophet Muhammad’s midnight journey to Heaven on the back of a winged horse Al-Buraq. Buraq means “lightning” in Arabic (one man space capsule)
Descriptions of flaming minarets in the sky (missiles)
Hindu Vimana’s: space chariots fighting battles
Shiva’s Trident – missile
Al-Buraq “lightning”. Took the Prophet Muhammad to heaven from earth….spaceship!
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-vember 16, 2019 Annotated Playlist: 73 sec.
Set 1:
Mikey Dread – Voice of Jah; Dread at the Controls (Trojan) ’79 UK vinyl
Aggrovators – Dread Locks in Jamaica (Attack) ’76 JA vinyl dub album of the hour
Chachi feat. Sister Carol – Natty Dread; (Kariang) ’99 Ethiopian dawta cover Bob Marley
Sister Carol – Natty Live Up; Lyrically Potent (Heartbeat) ’96 Bob Marley’s Natty Dread
Jah Thomas – Tribute to the Reggae King; In Disco Style – Entertainment (Midnight Rock) ’81 Bob Marley tribute
Sublime – Legalize It; Hempilation (Capricorn) ’96 Peter Tosh cover; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Junior Murvin – Bad Weed; 12” (Upsetters) ’78 UK – Lee “Scratch” Perry prod’n; herbtune over Police & Thieves
Set 2:
Zema – Joy in the Morning; Black Sleep (Melchizedek) 2003 Culver City, CA dawta
Linton Kwesi Johnson – Sonny’s Lettah; a capella live (LKJ)
<UK sus laws against “vagrancy”; 28 sec.>
The Eagles – Country Living; Reggae Classics (DCC) ‘73
Tapper Zukie – Black Man 12”; I Can Hear the Children Singing (Blood & Fire) ’78 dj to Prince Alla
Barry Brown – Release the Chains; 10” (Rockers) ’80 UK; Augustus Pablo prod’n
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 30 Years
Martha Velez – Get Up Stand Up; Escape From Babylon (Sire) ’76; Wailers cover
Mighty Diamonds – Gnashing of Teeth; I Need a Roof (Hitbound) ‘76
From Ras Tafari Makonnen to Haile Selassie I – Power of the Trinity; Nov. 2, 1930
Greetings,
In 1920, Jamaican pan-African Nationalist Marcus Garvey issued a prophecy:
“Look to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand”. That was the signal to take the Black Star Liner* out of Babylon (the West, Jamaica) to return to Africa.
*(The White Starliner was the passenger ship company of Titanic notoriety.)
To dispossessed black Jamaicans living in the slums of Kingston, the alienation from a white God/Jesus and a longing to return to the glory of the Mother Continent was a catalyst moment in the development of what became Roots Reggae.
Slavery, poverty and the stigma of human bondage weighed heavy on the frustrated masses left behind after 19th century emancipation.
Four hundred years, and it’s the same, the same philosophy I’ve said it’s four hundred years – look, how long And, the people, they still can’t see – Peter Tosh
Nov. 2, 1930 Garvey’s prophesy came to pass.
Ras Tafari Makonnen was a reforming governor serving the first African Empress, Zewditu. The East African nation of Ethiopia was trying to break free of the crushing poverty of a feudal society where dirt poor tenant farmers served a small, exploitative rentier class.
How to usher the nation, free from European colonial rule, into the modern era of science, medicine, education, trade.
Ethiopian Empress Zewditu: ruled 1916-1930
Empress Zewditu had no surviving children. Ras Tafari* had a strong pedigree as a potential successor:
*Ras is the equivalent of Prince or Duke; Tafari is an honorific – “one who is respected”. To Rastas, those who worship Selassie as the living God, Ras Tafari means “Head Creator.”
Descended from the Solomonic lineage of Makeda – the Queen of Sheba who married the Israelite King Solomon
His maternal grandfather was the grandson of a previous Ethiopian King
Ras Tafari‘s father was a general in the Ethiopian army who helped defeat the Italian invaders in 1896
The Battle of Adowa – stopped the Italians from adding Ethiopia as a colony, 1896
Royal reactionaries tried to stop Ras Tafari from competing with Zewditu. She had proclaimed him King (Negus) but Ras Tafari declined the offer to leave the capital of Addis Ababa for one of the outer provinces, which was tradition for the heir apparent.
Near the end of the Empress’s life, she tried to have him deposed as regent – successor. These coup attempts to stop him failed.
Zewditu’s husband raised an army against Ras Tafari but he was killed fighting provincial troops loyal to the Negus/Ras . In early 1930 the Empress died from the “shock” of her husband’s defeat. (But many think she was poisoned.)
Ras Tafari proved the victor and consolidated his power. He went from King (Negus) to Emperor (Negusa Negast – King of Kings.)
Ras Tafari Makonnen became forever known as Haile Selassie I, first of his name – in Game of Thrones parlance. Power of the Trinity
The Imperial standard of Haile Selassie I
Nov. 2, 1930 a royal coronation ceremony was held in Addis Ababa. It was a grand affair with many European, Middle Eastern and Asian dignitaries in attendance. I ‘n’ I have included the news reel footage below the text.
Jamaicans saw this five minute film clip played before the feature at the local Kingston movie theaters. Garvey’s prophecy writ large.
That event eventually sparked the rise of Rastafari worship in Jamaica expressed through the “gospel” music of the Wailers, Burning Spear, Culture and hundreds of others.
<Selassie’s coronation that rules the nation! 1 min. 22 sec.>
I ‘n’ I consider myself a Rastafari empathizer. Platonic love songs to a man who started out with noble ideas and eventually came to an ignoble demise: deposed by Communist revolutionaries in 1974.
Shortly thereafter, the captive Negusa Negast, was strangled in his bed and buried beneath the latrines in the Royal Palace.
In an ironic and tragic twist of events, the reforming governor Ras Tafari Makonnen was let down by his corrupt provincial governors as Emperor Selassie I.
The governors in the provinces reported that there were record harvests when in fact there was a horrible famine killing tens of thousands.
The definitive biography of Selassie’s downfall
But in the immortal words of Bob Marley – Jah Live:
Fools say in their hearts Rasta, your god is dead But I and I know, Jah Jah Dread it shall be dreaded and dread
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-vember 2, 2019 Annotated Playlist: 50 sec.
Set 1:
African Princess – Jah Children Cry; Hits From the House of Shaka (Jah Shaka) ’85 UK vinyl
Bushman – Back Weh Vampire; 10” EP (Stingray) 2010 UK
Inner Circle – Duppy or Gunman; Rock the Boat (Trojan) ’74 UK
Icarus – Land of the Tarot; State of Mind (Russian Roulette) ’83 UK
Nigger Kojak & Liza – Two Bad Duppy; Showcase (Nigger Kojak) ’80 UK
Set 6: Wailers Family Tree
Bob Marley & the Wailers – I Want Somewhere; Marley, Tosh, Livingston & Associates (Studio One) ’66 JA vinyl
<I Want Somewhere song biography; 1 min. 15 sec.>
Peter Tosh – Rastafari Is; Wanted (bootleg) Sept. 29, 1981 Live at the Ritz, NYC
Bunny Wailer – Guiltiness; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95 50 Bob covers for 50th Birthday
Jonah Dan Meets Bush Chemists – Dangerous Dub; Dubs From Zion Valley (Conscious Sounds) ’94 Dub Album of the Hour
Set 7: Rockers do Reggae
The Hooters – All You Zombies; Nervous Night (Columbia) ’85 Rockers do Reggae
Garland Jeffreys feat. Big Youth – Graveyard Rock; Escape Artist (Epic) ‘81
The Scorpions – Is There Anybody There; Lovedrive (Mercury) ‘79
The Scorpions on Smile Jamaica? WTF?
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Noiseshaper – Daemons; Rough Out There (Collision) 2005 Jah-stria
The Gorillaz – Dracula; The Gorillaz (Virgin) 2000
Dubblestandart feat. Gudrun & Lee “Scratch” Perry – Chase the Devil; Return From Planet Dub (Collision) 2009 Max Romeo cover w/ female vox
Omar Perry – The Ghostmakers; Can’t Stop Us (Makasound) 2009
Funky Porcini – Flesh Eater Boulevard; Zombie (Crippled Dick Hot Wax!) 2000 Germany
Kode9 & the Spaceape – Ghost Town; 5 Years of Hyperdub (Hyperdub) 2009 dubstep Specials cover
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.
Set 4:
Smile Jamaica 