Before the crappy Digital Millennium Copyright ACT (DMCA) I used to spin one half of an album midway on Smile Jamaica. Usually something rare that hadn’t been issued on CD (much less digital).
Before Orrin Hatch’s DMCA this is the sort of out of print album. I would spin one half of the vinyl. Rarity for surety!
Orrin Hatch put a stop to that.
DMCA verboten: Can’t play more than 4 songs by the same artist
DMCA verboten: Can’t play more than three songs in a row of any one album.
So I switched up a new tradition: Rockers do Reggae
I ‘n’ I am a music obsessive who listens to a lot more than Reggae. So I have 2 CD Suitcases and then some of Rock, Soul, Jazz, Punk artists doing (usually) one shot Reggae riffs.
Every once in a while someone pitches a bitch. Got a nasty email when playing UK angry rocker Graham Parker’s soul riff down rub a dub “More Questions than Answers”.
Another time I had a caller asking me when Smile Jamaica would be over because I played a Camper Van Beethoven ska tune!
But you gotta trust me. Reggae is universal. Not all of it is great, but some of it is right on.
With that in mind enjoy this week’s Ark-Ive and listen for: Last week it was jazbo Herbie Mann. Get set this week – Ella Fitzgerald, Eric Clapton, Bad Brains, Judy (Mowatt) does Jerry (Garcia). From Bad Brains to Bob Dylan.
Check it!
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-gust 5, 2017 Annotated Playlist; 90 sec.
Liberated from British colonial rule: Aug. 6, 1962
Set 1:
Brigadier Jerry – Jah Jah Move; Jamaica Jamaica (RAS) ’85 DC vinyl
Desmond & Joe – Bristol Rock; Dubbing in the U.K. (Starlight) UK vinyl dub album of the hour
Peter Tosh – Coming in Hot; Honorary Citizen (Columbia/Legacy) ’82 Boulder, Collie-radio live
Bad Brains – Leaving Babylon; Babylon Central Soundtrack (ESL) ’83 DC punk-dubbers
Capital Letters – Rumours; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK youth group
<Headline News? Roots Reggae vs. The CIA News Network; 13 sec.>
Gracy & the Herbman Band – Forward Up; See Mi Yah (Funfundvierzig) ’91 Germ. Female herbtune
John Holt – Police In Helicopter; 12” (Holt) ’81 siren mix: 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
<Police Siren in your rearview? Johnny Law or Smile Jamaica? 32 sec.>
Set 2:
Bob Marley & the Wailers – So Much Things to Say; Exodus 40 (Tuff Gong) ’77 original + 2017 Ziggy rmx
It was Spring of 1984 in Bozeman, Montana. After a brutal winter, students at Montana State University thaw out thanks to warm air from Chinook wins.
The local record store, Cactus, was two blocks from my apartment. I walked in and right on the front display was the gatefold vinyl of Bob Marley’s Legend.
I picked it up sight unseen.
I took it to the counter and paid for it immediately. I wish I could say that was the catalyst moment that led to being a Reggae Deejay — I love all kinds of music in the mid 80s: The Clash, Neil Young and 60’s Rolling Stones especially.
It took 2 years for me to have the Hallelu-JAH moment with Black Uhuru’s Anthem….
So we celebrate Bob Marley’s Birthday with Tributes. I wanted to do Bob Marley A (Ambush) to Z (Zion Train. But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act won’t let me…
<How the Digital Millennium Copy-WRONG Act screws over Bob Marley; 22 sec.>
Bobstock on Smile Jamaica!
Enjoy the Marley family and Bob’s bredrins and sistrens in celebrating his legacy as the King of Reggae!
bless, robt
Giorgio loves Bob Marley
Smile Jamaica’s Tribute to Robert Nesta Marley: Jah-bruary 4, 2017; 39 sec.
Set 1:
Jah Thomas – Happy Birthday to You; 12” (Midnight Rock) ’81 – 3 Hour Bob Marley Birthday Tribute
Bunny Wailer – Stay With the Reggae; Marketplace (Shanachie) ‘85
Culture – Double Tribute to the O.M.; Lion Rock (Heartbeat) ’82 – Order of Merit – Jamaican civilian honor; 14 sec.
Bob Marley & the Wailers – African Herbsman; African Herbsman (Trojan) ’73 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Very nice that Bob Marley’s Birthday fell on a Saturday. So 3 hours of Bob Tribute songs for Smile Jamaica
When Bob died of cancer, May 11, 1981 – dozens of Reggae artists rushed to the studio to record tributes:
<Smile Jamaica Bob Marley Tribute songs; 11 sec.>
Last year I played all my Bob Marley 12” but that was too much Bob for the Digital Millennium Copy-wrong Act. So this year I had to “ration” my Bob to 4 tracks:
<DMCA. No more than 4 songs by an artist; 26 sec.>
High-lights of Jah-bruary 6: Bob Marley Birthday Tribute; 49 sec.
Tuff Gong pon di spliff tail
Annotated Playlist: Jah-bruary 6, 2016: Bob Marley Tribute Show
Chalawa – Natural Mystic Dub; Exodus Dub (Micron) ’77 Marley’s Exodus in dub: Dub Album of the Hour
Robert Marley – Judge Not; Scandal Sountrack (Island) ’62 – Bob’s first song!
Sister Carol – Dedicated to Bob Marley; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ‘84
Mikey Dread – In Memory (Jacob, Marcus, Marley); S.W.A.L.K – Sealed With a Little Kiss (Heartbeat) ’82 US vinyl – Jacob Miller, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley
<Mikey Dread’s Tributes; 13 sec.>
Abyssinians – Jah Marley; Last Days (Tabou1) ‘99
Psalm of Bob Marley – Culture; Good Things (RAS) ‘89
Another tradition bites the dust on Smile Jamaica via the heinous Digital Millennium Copywrong Act.
Let us count the ways the DMCA has screwed me on Smile Jamaica
No bootlegs (I have dozens of killer Reggae bootlegs and rarities)
No more 3 hour artist shows (No Bob Marley A to Z like I have done). Can’t play more than four songs by an artist in a 3 hour bloc
No Album Side. Back in the day I used to play a whole side of a rare, non-CD disk to go beyond the one shot. Can’t play more than 2 songs in a row off an album
No more Dub Album of the Week. The latest outrage. For 27 years I have always talked over a singular dub release to keep a consistent flow bubbling so the music never stops. But Mixcloud keeps flagging the shows for DMCA violations. Their algo’s pick up the signature of the CD even tho I have “wrecked the mix” by talking over it. Nope.
<DMCA follies (1): No more Dub Album of the Week; 15 sec.>
<DMCA follies (2): No more than 4 songs per album; 30 sec.>
Fiya bun the asinine DMCA!
So I decided to just punt away from CD’s …
<…No aluminum for I ‘n’ I>
and drop down some Black Wax. All 12″ singles. Long dubble length, combination style all the while.
3 Hours of Disco Mix; 19 sec.
Plus bass-delic echo
The role that the 12″ played in Jamaica was strictly for the dance. Dreads and pretty girls would head for the club. The clubs wanted the deejays to stretch out the songs so that a guy could rub a dub with his best gal and work up a thirst.
From there the 12″ spread into the New York and Miami discos catering to the gay, Latin and urban black markets. Reggae always ahead of its time!
DISCO – Never a four letter word on Smile Jamaica
<Reggae History Lesson: The 12″ Single started in Jamaica; 37 sec.>
So enjoy these two dozen A+ riddim explosions!
<A+ for sure!; 9 sec.>
bless, robt
Fred Flintstone loves the drum and the bass to make Wilma wind up her waist!
For 27 years I have always chatted over a particular dub album on every 3 hour edition of Smile Jamaica:
So the music never has to stop: I want people to think Smile Jamaica is one three hour long song
So I can avoid “dead air” if I am monkey-buterling at the Radio Station: I am the only guy there during Smile Jamaica. No engineer, no receptionist. There is a ton of shi…stuff I have to do to keep the signal firing out over the air, so rolling out some dub gives me time to juggle all the duties of being a Radio DJ
Consistency of “the flow”
Since 2013 I have been hosting Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives at Mixcloud.Their algo’s must be extra sensitive: Even though I am talking over instrumental music, that counts as violating the idiotic Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Even though my voice makes the dub useless for piracy, doesn’t matter.
My shows are being flagged and blanked-out in America
Licensing restrictions
Mixcloud is a licensed Internet radio service with agreements with various Collecting Societies around the world (who in turn pay royalties to labels and artists based on their individual recording and publishing deals).
These agreements stipulate certain rules around what type of radio shows and DJ mixes can be listened to on Mixcloud:
US Rules: – Maximum 4 tracks by an artist (and max 3 consecutively) - Maximum 3 tracks from an album (and max 2 consecutively)
As music lovers ourselves, we understand that this may be frustrating, and we are working on new frameworks with rights-holders to build a better service for everyone.
—–
Now I will have to swap out my dub CDs every hour and see if that is under the threshold.
Fiya-bun the DMCA!
bless, robt
Son of a Diddley! Those M…elon F….armers at the DMCA, quit picking on Smile Jamaica!
Mixcloud flagged my upload for July 18, 2015 for violating the Digital Millennium Copy-wrong Act. Sorry!
<Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: July 18, 2015: Best of 27 Years II – The 80’s; 2 hrs. 50 min.>
Greetings,
Loyal Mixcloud Smile Jamaica listeners. Feel free to listen to the Audio player above or at the end of this blog post. Not sure what happened. All I can think of is I must have replayed one of my Dub tracks that I chat over so the music never has to stop. Can’t do that according to the bullshit piece of legislation called the Digital Millennial Copy-wrong Act
Mixcloud’s naughty naughty:
Why can’t I listen? Licensing rules by country
Mixcloud is a licensed Internet radio service with agreements with various Collecting Societies around the world (who in turn pay royalties to labels and artists based on their individual recording and publishing deals).These agreements stipulate certain rules around what type of radio shows and DJ mixes can be listened to on Mixcloud:US Rules:
– Maximum 4 tracks by an artist (and max 3 consecutively)
- Maximum 3 tracks from an album (and max 2 consecutively)As music lovers ourselves, we understand that this may be frustrating, and we are working on new frameworks with rights-holders to build a better service for everyone.
***’
What bites is how can anything think I am trying to scam a copyright holder when I purposefully talk over the music so it is worthless to steal. Riding dub riddims while I announce the set list has been a part of Smile Jamaica since the very first show in 1989!
Grrr.
When this scam of a bill, another sellout to the music cartel, was being debated. I wasted my time by writing to Orrin Hatch explaining how I always give: artist, song, album, label. I don’t want people to steal the music I play. I want them to buy the music I play.
He sent me back some bullshit about how he was a music artist of note (yeah, right) and he was concerned about piracy.
We the Sheeple take in the neck yet again from our “leaders”.
<Orrin Hatch gives the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives the finger>
Hey Orrin! No one on earth is interested in thiefing your shitty music. Smile Jamaica gives you the hairy eyeball!
As they say in the dancehall, “Hey Mi Selecta, rewind and come again!”
bless, robt
Ronnie Raygun is to blame
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.>
John Greene, or as I call him Juan Verde, headman of KUER radio. Used to manage KRCL. The Lion of Community Radio in Utah
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.
Why I have never moved from Salt Lake City. Too much hassle to move all this!
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
Edward Seaga. Called by the Rastas CIA-ga. Right wing Neoliberal PM of Jamaica. Eradicated the weed while cocaine and dancehall took over culturally
***
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
Former Smile Jamaica host Rutabaga Reese turned me on to this. Best of the 80’s today
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
#1 of thousands. Play on word: Not Wanted Dead or Alive. Wanted Dread and Alive
<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
Let ’em eat jelly beans
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
Dennis Brown – The Crown Prince of Reggae. Died in 1999 of pneumonia. 42 years young. Member of Jah’s Heavenly Choir
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.>
Gregory Isaacs – The Cool Ruler. Passed away of lung cancer, 2010. 59 years young
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.>
<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
One of the first 10 Lps added to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives, 1986. All killer, no filler!
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
Livicated to dreads listening in Mali, West Africa
Words of Wisdom:
<Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: July 18, 2015: Best of 27 Years II – The 80’s; 2 hrs. 50 min.>
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 