My Dad has been laid up in Sun City West, AZ. He has something called NPH: Excess spinal fluid builds up on the part of the brain that controls walking, bowel/bladder control and short term dementia.
I, my brother and sister have been tag teaming with my Mom in his treatment. July was my turn.
Long story short, in the week I had been here, his recovery has improved enough for me to do a little cratedigging.
I am mainly on the hunt for collector Reggae vinyl. The temp in Phoenix is 115 degrees.
Here is how you cratedig in triple digits without your vinyl stash melting.
From the retirement community my parents live in, Sun City West, to Tempe is about 45 minutes. Run the AC at 60 degrees. By the time I got out of the car, I was frozen. I literally wished I had worn socks.
But, getting out of the car into that heat felt good. My joints thawed out from the drive. Enter the shop ad cratedig.
Going back to the car was like walking into a furnace blower.
My mom had set up one of those cooling bags and we added a zip loc bag full of ice. Even then I placed a thick blanket. Must avoid sunlight and high temps.
Placed the records in the bag and rinse and repeat.
The uniqueness of cratedigging. At Xmas time, I didn’t find any vinyl in Phoenix. Hellish summer I found good collectors vinyl if three shops. Getting them home is part of the story.
Enjoy this musical mash up podcast for when I was off air.
bless, Bobbylon
Vinyl only shop by the Phoenix Skyharbor Airport
Smile Jamaica Digital Dubplate July 2019 Playlist:
0-30 min.
UB40 – Many Rivers to Cross – Version Girl (Virgin) ’85 Jimmy Cliff cover
I was born in a small north central Montana town called Fort Benton. Along the Missouri river, it was the furthest the steamboats could go before you had to pack wagon trains of goods to Oregon and Canada.
Brutally cold in the winter. Gorgeous in the summer, although the mosquitos are the size of kittens. A town of 1500 didn’t have much in the way of shopping, so you had to drive 35 miles to Great Falls.
Movies, clothes shopping, better restaurants. When the drinking age in Montana was 19, we would buy beer where no one knew us. They had a good record store there called Hastings. It was across the street from the mall, so I would always try and swing by there before I left for home.
Usually, I would buy vinyl. But, it was about 45 minutes to drive home, at 55 max MPH speed limit. So I would tend to buy a cassette to listen to for the drive home.
I was getting ready to graduate May of 1983. I remember the album I bought: Ramones – Subterranean Jungle. The cassette was the big novelty hit of ’83. MTV crossover: Musical Youth – Pass the Dutchie.
Youth group from UK singing and toasting over a sanitized version of the Mighty Diamonds’ Pass the Kutchie.
Kutchie = cannabis utensil. Can’t have kiddies singing about the Seven Leaf, so they switched up the lyrics to the cooking pot, dutch pot = dutchie.
I bought it for the song, not because it was Reggae. That was #2 Reggae addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive. Over the years, I picked it up on LP and various 12″ promo singles. Then, cratedigging in Minneapolis a few years ago, I got their 2 albums on 1 CD for $5 in the discount rack. Nice price!
I was cleaning out my garage and came across a shoebox full of cassettes and found it there. (First Reggae album you are wondering? Peter Tosh – Wanted Dread & Alive; Xmas ’81. Thanks Mom!
bless, Bobbylon
<Musical Youth – second addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-ive>
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 1, 2019 annotated playlist
Set 1:
Michael Prophet – Jah Jah Is My Master; Yabby You & King Tubby’s All Stars (Yabby You) early 80’s JA vinyl
Augustus Pablo – The Big Rip-Off; Ital Dub (Trojan) ’74 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
Cymande – Zion I; Renegades of Funk (Newhouse) ’72 UK soul/rock/reggae
Sugar Minott – Devil Is At Large; Tempo Explosion (Black Victory) ’85
Natural Vibes – Life Hard a Yard; King Jammy a Man and His music Volume 1 (RAS) ’82
Tristan Palma – Sensimilla; Return of the Rub-a-Dub Style (Echodelic) 2011 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Lucy Clark – Just One Look; 12″ (Bullet) US Doris Troy cover
Set 2:
Sister Carol – Natty Live Up; Lyrically Potent (Heartbeat) ’96
Nerious Joseph – Guidance; Fashion in Fine Style vol. 1 (Fashion) ’92
The Royals – Pick Up the Pieces: Full Up: Best of Studio One vol. 2 (Heartbeat/Studio One)
Wingless Angels feat. Justin Hinds & Keith Richards – Come Down Wicked Man; Wingless Angels II (Mindless) ’96 nyahbinghi
Junior Delahaye – Working Hard For the Rent Man; 12″ (Wackies) ’83 Bronx
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 29+ Years
Dennis Brown – Westbound Train; Some Like It Hot (Heartbeat) ’75:
Aisha Morrison – Ethiopias; Stay Red (Esoldun) 77? Black Ark prod’n
Freddie McGregor – Rastaman Camp; Bobby Bobylon (Heartbeat/Studio One) ’79
Musical Youth – Rub ‘N Dub; Youth of Today (MCA) ’82 UK youth group
Aswad – Dub Fire; New Chapter of Dub (Mango) ’82 Dub Album of the Hour
Set 4:
Thievery Corporation feat. Puma – Babylon Falling; Temple of I & I (ESL) 2017
Took the Labor Day live cast off for some vacation. Enjoy this Digital Dubplate cooked up in the Secret Dubratory located within the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
bless, Bobbylon
0-30 min.
Aswad – African Children; (CBS); Not Satisfied (CBS) ’82 UK
Carlene Davis – Quicksand; 15 Hits (Sonic)
Black Uhuru – Right Stuff; Dub Factor (Mango) ’82 dub
Culture – This Train; Cumbolo (Shanachie) ’79
Doctor Alimantado – Marriage License; Born For a Purpose (Greensleeves) ’81
UB40 feat. Sister V – V’s Version; Baggariddim dj to Version Girl (Virgin) ’85
Fred Locks – Rastafari Rule; Missing Link (VP) ’79
Gregory Isaacs – Sweeter the Victory; Love Is Overdue (Heartbeat) ’74
Jamaicans love horse racing too. Every Kentucky Derby Saturday I try to spin a set devoted to Jamaican horse racing. Just as the bugle starts and gates fly, open I drop the bass and go for m own musical horse race.
In Jamaica, their main track is called Caymanas Park. And the jockeys tend to be Chinese-Jamaicans rather than Latin Americans, as in the US.
<Caymanas Park; 39 sec.>
And because this is Reggae, the best song is a track by Bojangles from when the Two Sevens Clashed (’77) on a grooving Culture riddim, he relays the race between these contenders in the Selassie I Cup: 24 sec.
Babylon 2-1
Soul Youth 3-1
Rome – Even
Pope Pius 3-5 (the guy in the Vatican in 1977)
Dreadlocks 8-1
Baldhead 15-1
Win! – Dreadlocks
Place! – Baldhead
Show! – Soul Youth
And here is what happened to Pope Pius….22 sec.
Pope Pius couldn’t finish out in the Selassie I Cup and the ambulance was called — Bojangles, ’77
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Annotated Playlist: May 5, 2018; 90 sec.
Set 1:
Jah Lloyd – Reggae Feeling; Black Moses (Virgin Front Line) ’79 UK vinyl to Mike Brooks
Armagideon – Spiral Galaxy; 12″ (Dubhead) ’96 UK mutant dub vinyl of the hour
Big Youth – Hit the Road Jack (Tribute to Bob, Peter, Bunny); Jamming in the House of Dread (Danceteria) 8/20/90 Live at Reggae Japansplash
Sandra Cross & the Wild Bunch – Free South Africa; Roots Daughters (Ariwa) ’88
Little John – Smoke Ganga (sic) Hard; 10″ (Well Charge) ’81 JA 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
July 2, 1988 was when I ‘n’ I debuted at 3AM on a hot summer night late Sunday/early Monday on radio station KRCL. The name of the show was 3 o’clock Roadblock named after the Bob Marley song.
That started a 3 decade journey of 29 years of Reggae Radio. After a year or so I moved from early morning graveyard shift to the big show: Smile Jamaica.
Saturdays 1-4 PM in 1989-1990 and then moved back to 4pm. Planted my flag and never left.
If I figure I average about 45 shows a year (with time away for cratedigging on the weekends). That amounts to 1305 + shows. Almost 4000 hours of Reggae.
I celebrated with all vinyl a couple weeks back. Took last Saturday off and cooked up a CD best of 29 years in my Secret Dubratory.
Thanks for the musical memories!
bless, robt
If I remember correctly: Black Uhuru’s What Is Life was the first song I played on Reggae Radio: 3AM July 2, 1088
0-30 min.
Naturalites – Picture on the Wall; Rub a Dubble vol. 2 (CSA) ’88 UK
Rita Marley – Beauty of God’s Plan; Who Feels It Knows It (Shanachie) ‘80
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Brainwashing; African Herbsman (Trojan) ’71 nursery rhyme
Peter Tosh – Recruiting Soldiers; Mystic Man (EMI America) ‘79
The Tamlins – Baltimore; Taxi Fare (Heartbeat) ’80; Nina Simone cover; 13 sec.
Capital Letters – Run Run Run; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK youth group
Peter Broggs – Just Because I’m a Rastaman; Rastafari Liveth! (RAS) ’82 DC
Akabu – Feeling Good; Warrior Queen (ON U Sound) ’89 UK female group
1978 comeback cover of Randy Newman. Baltimore in the news.
Baltimore by Randy Newman
Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin’ to find the ocean Lookin’ everywhere
Hard times in the city In a hard town by the sea Ain’t nowhere to run to There ain’t nothin’ here for free
Hooker on the corner Waitin’ for a train Drunk lyin’ on the sidewalk Sleepin’ in the rain
And they hide their faces And they hide their eyes ’cause the city’s dyin’ And they don’t know why
Oh, baltimore Man, it’s hard just to live Oh, baltimore Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live
Get my sister sandy And my little brother ray Buy a big old wagon Gonna haul us all away
Livin’ in the country Where the mountain’s high Never comin’ back here ’til the day I die
Oh, baltimore Man, it’s hard just to live Oh, baltimore Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live
Set 6: Jamaican Jukebox 45 RPM; 6 sec.
Rob Smarley (aka Albert Griffiths) – Holiday Ride; 7” (Portland) ’78 JA; 7” Jamaican Jukebox set
<Albert Griffiths as Rob Smarley? 14 sec.>
Anthony Johnson – Oh Jah; 7” (Corner Stone) JA
Lady Ann – Informer; 7” (Taxi) ’83 JA
Carlton Livingston – Chalice in Hand; 7” (Taxi) herbtune
Some sort of inside joke by The Gladiators lead singer? Albert Griffiths
Set 8: Mutant Dub*
*Programming Note: power surge from all the Mutant Dub bass knocked the station off air. Most of Jah Woosh and 2 Bad Card zapped by KRCL’s weak sauce transmitter. 2 minutes of dead air chopped from the stream. Mea culpa — the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. 21 sec.
Ari Up – Kill Em With Love (Collision) 2005 former lead singer of The Slits punk group; mutant dub set
<Reggae History Lesson: punk dubstress Ari Up: The Slits, New Age Steppers, solo 14 sec.>
The Archives feat. Ras Puma – Who’s Correct?; The Archives (ESL) 2012; Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation
Red I – Jahdgement Day; Jahdgement Day (Red I) Phillipines dub
Jah Woosh – Woodpecker Sound; Wild Paarty Sounds vol. 1 (ON U Sound) ‘81
2 Bad Card – Weed Specialist; CD single (ON U Sound) ‘95
Jah Rej – Yes I; 12” (Jah Works)
African Head Charge – Fruit Market; Drastic Season (ON U Sound) ‘83
Ari Up of The Slits and New Age Steppers. Johnny Rotten was her father in law
Parting Shot Words of Wisdom: Do yourself a favor educate your mind!
The Lion of Judah shall break every chain and give I the Victory again and again…Robert “Nesta” Marley
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.
Smile Jamaica 