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Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-ly 29, 2017 (Stream + Tracklist): You’ve got Jazz Vinyl inna mi Roots Reggae!

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Herbie Mann – what’s this guy doing on Smile Jamaica?

Greetings,

Doing Reggae Radio for three decades, you do what you can to mix it up and stay out of ruts.

About six weeks ago, a listener Stephen – hit me up on Twitter asking me if I had heard of an obscure Reggae album by a traditional jazz flute player, Herbie Mann.

Indeed I had. My sister lives in Albuquerque. So we meet there for Christmas now, instead of me having to make a 600  mile drive through the frozen North to get to Montana.

Whenever I go anywhere, I pick up the Yellow Pages (now have to do it from their app.) Where are the Record stores?

ABQ has a good boutique shop called Mecca. Past downtown as you get to Old Town. I chat up the owner on soul reissues and what I call Mutant Dub: Dubstep, lounge, experimental ambient.

The tiny shop crammed with disks and cds lends itself to a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. Along the lines of the movie High Fidelity

Last Christmas I walk in and he greets me. Reaches behind the counter and pulls out a record. “Now that you’re here, maybe you want this”

It was a copy of herbie Mann “Reggae’. Once I saw the vinyl sleeve and knew it was vintage and not recent, all I had to say was put in on my pile.

1974. Love that era of Reggae and Rock. Everything was real music. Not synthed overdubs.

Legit if Tommy McCook, Mick Taylor and Albert Lee are in the mix

I tend to buy in waves and so I have a queue of about 100 priorities. Vinyl gets played first.

It took me about 6 months for this to jump from the crate to the turntable. Damn good on the riddims and the flute. Nothing soft or cheesy. I don’t know a lot about jazz. But I know an encyclopedia’s worth of Reggae.

When Stephen inquired about this. I dropped the 18 minutes of Side 2 during this week’s Vinyl is Vital segment. Smokey Robinson’s My Girl.

After Tosh and before Marley, that instrumental gem fit hand in glove with the Roots.

3 decades of Smile Jamaica – It’s Reggae when I say it’s Reggae. Gonna play Ella Fitzgerald covering The Cream inna rub  a dub style this Saturday!

bless, robt

Mecca Records on West Central ABQ, New Mex. Shop there. These stores are dying out and it saddens me. My lifestyle is under threat: cratedigging

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-ly 29, 2017 Annotated Playlist: 1 min. 50 sec.

Set 1:

  • Bunny Wailer – Rockers; In I Father’s House (Solomonic) ’80 JA vinyl
  • Augustus Pablo feat. The Crystalites & Big Youth; Melodica Melodies (Trojan) ’81 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
  • Ken Boothe – In the Summertime; Freedom Street (Beverley’s/Jet Set) ’70 – Mungo Jerry cover
  • Wingless Angels – Rasta Army; Wingless Angels vol. II (Mindless) ‘96 – Keith Richards, Justin Hinds nyah group; 18 sec.
  • The Equators – Police on My Back; Hot (Stiff) ’81 UK ska update of Eddy Grant & the Equals
  • Prince Alla – Sensimilla; More Love (Jah Warror) 2002
  • Christine Miller & Roots Hi Tek – The Light; 10” (Roots Hi Tek) 2009
Keith Richards and his Rasta Army

Set 2:

  • Peter Tosh – Rastafari Is; Honorary Citizen (Columbia/Legacy)  Nov. 5, 1982 live the Roxy – Los Angeles
  • Jay Tees – Come to Me; 10″ (Music Lab) ’81 JA female duo

Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 27+ Years

  • Althea & Donna – Jah Rastafari; Uptown Top Ranking (Virgin Front Line) ’78 
  • Sylford Walker & Welton Irie – Give Thanks and Praise to Jah + Rolling Stone; Lambs Bread International (Blood & Fire) ‘79
  • Wailing Souls – Jah Is Watching You; On the Rocks (Greensleeves) ‘83
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Rasta; Rasta (Workers Playtime) ’83 UK dub poet
  • E.T & Randy’s All Stars – Ordinary Version 3; Rough Guide to Dub (Rough Guide) 2005 Dub compilation of the hour

Set 4:

  • Mike Brooks – Rum Drinker; Classical Anthology (M-10) herbtune
  • Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers – 666; Hey World! (EMI America) ‘86
  • Christine Adelsi – Babylon Shores; 10” (King Earthquake) 2012 UK militant steppers

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

Herbie Mann – My Girl; Reggae (Atlantic) ’74 – flute player covers Motown w/ the Tommy McCook Band; Request

<New Orleans Jazz flute + Motown Reggae; 90 sec.>

<Flautist Herbie Mann, Mick Taylor -gits; Albert Lee; Tommy McCook Band: 80 sec.>

Set 6:

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Natural Mystic; Exodus (Tuff Gong) ’77 original
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Natural Mystic (Ziggy rmx); Exodus 40 (Tuff Gong) 2017 remix

<Exodus – movement of Bob’s people; 2 min. 45 sec>

<Natural Mystic: Original & Ziggy’s rmx; 40 min.>

  • Mikey Ras Starr – Jah Man of Calvary; Fire & Rain (Makasound) 70’s
  • Judy Mowatt – I Am Not Mechanical; Only a Woman (Shanachie) ‘82
  • Willi Williams & Brentford Rockers– Armagideon Version; Version Dread (Studio One/Tuff Gong) ’82 Studio One Dub Album of the Hour
Bob ’77 & Ziggy 2017 – Version Galore!

Set 7:

  • Rita Marley – A Jah Jah; Who Feels It Knows It (Shanachie) ‘80
  • Dillinger – Crabs in My Pants; Cocaine (Charly) ’83 JA disco
  • Tena Stelin – Intelligent Design; 10” (Dub Corner) 2007 UK mutant dub

<Putting the “fun” in Rasta fundamentalism – Tena Stelin, conspiracy theorist/UFOlogist; 40 sec.>

Tena Stelin – Putting the “fun” in Rasta Fundamentalism, UFOlogy and conspiracy theories

Set 8:

  • Thievery Corporation feat. Lou Lou – Time and Space; Temple of I & I (ESL) 2017 DC dubbers w/ female vox: Mutant Dub Set
  • Creation Rebel/New Age Steppers – Chemical Specialist (Cherry Red/ON U Sound) ’81 dub to Jah Woosh
  •  “Woodpecker Sound”
  • Jeb Loy & the Oil Wells – Things that Made the U.S.; Wild Paarty Sounds vol. 1 (Cherry Red/ON U Sound) ’81 UK
  • David Holmes feat. Sarah Cracknell – Gone (Kruder & Dofrmeister Session TM); This Films Crap Let’s Slash the Seats (1500) ‘98

Words of Wisdom:

Smile Jamaica Digital Dubplate (Stream + Tracklist): Best of 29 Years of Reggae Radio!

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Greetings,

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
  • Bunny Wailer – Cool & Deadly; Marketplace (Shanachie) ‘85
  • Marcia Griffiths – Where Were You; Steppin’ (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Aswad – Bubblin; To the Top (Simba) ’86 UK
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Dis Policeman Keeps on Kickin’ Me to Death; Rasta (Workers Playtime) ’83 UK dub poet 
“Inna my house, there’s a picture on the wall. Rastafari sit upon his throne.”

30-60 min.

  • Bim Sherman – Lamb of Judah + Judah Dub; Bim Sherman Meets Horace Andy & U Black in a Rub a Dub Style (Original) ‘79
  • Cedella Marley Booker – He’s a Rastaman; Awake Zion (Rykodisc) ’84 Bob’s Mom tribute to Bob
  • Bingy Bunny & the Morwells – Bit by Bit; Kingston 12 Toughie (RAS) ‘74
  • Black Roots – Pin in the Ocean; All Day All Night (Nubian) ’87 UK
  • Black Slate – Reggae Music; Amigo (Ensign) ’80 UK
  • Jean Binta Breeze – Time Gawn + Arising; Tracks (LKJ) ’90 UK female dub poet
  • Black Uhuru – Eye Market; Chill Out (Mango)  ’82 

60 min – 90 min

  • Burning Spear – Fittest of the Fittest (Heartbeat) ’83
  • Capital Letters – Fire; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK youth group
  • Judy Mowatt – Rock Me; Love Is Overdue (Shanachie) ’86
  • Creation Rebel – Chatti Chatti Mouth; Psychotic Jonkanoo (Statik/ON U Sound) ’81  Mutant Dub
  • Cymande – Brothers on the Side; Cymane (Sequel) ’74 Cymande = dove of peace. UK crossover group
  • Jay Boys – African People; Babylon a Fall Down (Trojan)  ’72 Paul Revere and the Raiders cover – Indian Reservation  cover
  • Love Joys – One Draw; Lovers Rock (Wackies)  ’83 female duo on Rita Marley herbtune 
Cymande – Dove of Peace: UK diaspora of rock, soul, reggae, jazz

90 min. – 2 hr.

  • David Lindley – Quarter of a Man; El Rayo-X (Elektra)
  • Dennis Brown – So Jah Say; Words of Wisdom (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Max Romeo – Uptown Babies Don’t Cry; War ina Babylon (Mango) ‘76
  • Martha Velez & the Wailers – Bend Down Low (Sire) ’76 Bob Marley cover/production
  • Dillinger – Mickey Mouse Crab Louse; Cocaine (Charly) ’83 rude
  • Don Carlos – Jah Jah Hear My Plea; Prophecy (Blue Moon) ’84 
Saw David Lindley at the Zephyr (SLC) Summer ’87. Bought this album the next day

2 – 2 and 1/2 hr.

  • Garland Jeffreys feat. Linton Kwesi Johnson & Dennis Bovell – Miami Beach;  Escape Artist (Epic) ’81 single
  • Patti Smith – Redondo Beach; Horses (Arista) ‘75
  • Gideon Jah Rubbaal – Natty Dreadlocks a Superstar; Free Us Now (Jah Rubbaal) ‘77
  • Gregory Isaacs – Sad to Know (You’re Leaving); Night Nurse (Mango) ‘82
  • Hot Chocolate – Confetti Day; Every 1’s a Winner (Infinity) ’78 UK soul does reggae
  • Phyllis Dillon – Midnight Confession; Midnight Confession (Treasure Isle) ’68 Grass Roots cover
  • Ijahman Levi – Jah Heavy Load; Haile I Hymn (Mango) ’78
Got this album for Christmas 1978. Thanks Mom!

2 and 1/2 – 3 hr.

  • Ini Kamoze – Trouble You, Trouble Me; Mini LP (Island) ‘84
  • Jacob Miller – A Chapter a Day; Mixed Up Moods (Top Ranking) ‘80
  • Sister Carol – Wild Thing; Something Wild Soundtrack (MCA) ’86 Troggs re-work
  • Jah Wobble – Dreadlock Don’t Deal in Wedlock; The Legend Lives On (Virgin) ‘80
  • Johnny Clarke – Crazy Baldheads + Academy Award Version; Authorized Version (Virgin Front Line) ’76 Bob Marley cover
  • Keith Hudson – Musicology; Rasta Communication (Greensleeves) ‘79
  • UB40 feat. Sister V – V’s Version; Baggariddim (DEP) ’85 update of group’s Version Girl

 

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives (Stream + Tracklist) July 1, 2017: 29th Anniversary of Reggae Radio!

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Greetings,

Fall of 1986. Moved from Bozeman, Montana to SLC for University. Met a guy in the dorms from Baltimore with a kick ass stereo. CDs were new. I was looking for  a new music form (mid 80’s synthesizers weren’t cutting it for I ‘n’ I). Dabbled in blues and world looking for a sound.

Neal my music pal, played for me a tough looking Reggae group called Black Uhuru. Anthem was the name of the album. On his massive stereo in the cinder block dorm rooms it was like an epiphany.

That’s the sound I am looking for! Went out and bought the LP the next day. (Couldn’t find the CD locally.) That lit the fuse to 29 years of Reggae Radio. 66 sec.

Wasn’t Bob, Peter, Jimmy or UB40. It was Michael Rose, Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson

Wheel it forward to Spring of 1988. The local community radio station ran ads looking for late night volunteers. My roommate and I were in the Pie Pizzeria near the U of U campus. We had both been doing little shows running in the Student Union on something called K-UTE. My show was called Positive Vibration (after the Bob song.)

Roomie wanted to do 80’s indie. KRCL had plenty of that. But accepted me for late Sunday/early Monday – 3 o’Clock Roadblock (Also Bobness.) Six weeks of training before I debuted July 2, 1988. 84 sec.

Once I got the show, it gave me a reason to begin expanding the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. Jah forbid, I play the same album two weeks in a row. So I would take my student loan check, thanks Ronald Reagan, bank it in a savings account. And then once or twice a year, drive or fly to the Bay Area and scour the plentiful record stores.

The secret? CDs are half as wide as an LP. So you could fit twice as many, at nearly double the cost, in each rack.

As consumers started selling vinyl for seed cash for CDs, I swooped in and vacuumed up all the great Reggae for dirty cheap. I would get UK albums that sell for $100 on Ebay in 2017 for around $4. I rarely paid more than $10 for an album.

That’s how you get to this three decades later….

The permanent home of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 2017

<Smile Jamaica’s Cratedig itinerary: Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, El Cerrito, Mill Valley; 26 sec.>

Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to Mill Valley. Village Music was worth the trip. No longer in business

So on July 1, 2017 – I celebrate 29 years of juggling black wax!

bless, robt

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Annotated Playlist July 1, 2017 – 29th Anniversary All Vinyl Showcase; 85 sec.

Set 1:

  • Zap Pow – This Is Reggae Music; Reggae Rules! (Rhino) ’80 US
  • Alien Dread – Firstlight; Cosmic Dub Clash (Log On) 2009 UK Dub Album of the Hour
  • The Meditations – There Must Be a First Time; Message From the Meditations (United Artists) ’76 US – Lee Perry prod’n
  • ILive – Natty Dread on the Mountain Top; Jah Guide (Out of Many, One) ’90 San Fran female singer
  • Crutches  & D. Brown – Wackie Fence Skank; Java Java Dub (Impact!) ’72 UK studio labrish
  • Desi Roots – Weedfields; Weedfields (Hawkeye) ’80 UK 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement

<Burning the weed fields killed the Jamaican middle class; 25 sec.>

  • Kojak & Liza – Black Skin; Showcase (Nigger Kojak) ’80 JA
Ronald Wilson Reagan: Funded the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives – GOOD; Insisted Jamaica burn its weed fields – BAD

Set 2:

  • Soul Syndicate – King’s Highway; High Times All Star Explosion (Alligator) ’85 Chicago blues label
  • I Roy – Commandment II; Ten Commandments (Virgin) ’80 UK yellow, picture sleeve – to Bob Marley’s Heathen
  • Sister Carol – Spidla-Ding; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 Brooklyn singjay
  • Freddie McGregor – Strange Things; Freddie McGregor (High Times) ’82 John Holt cover
  • Azeem & Session – Sing a Song; Dreadfly (Joe Gibbs) ’82 Miami 
Smokey’s Records – Salt Lake City

Set 3:

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Redemption Song; Uprising; Island Vinyl Box Set (Island) 3484 of 10,000 = 9 albums

<Amoeba Records: Berkeley, CA; 90 sec.>

  • Sly Dunbar feat. Althia & Donna – Dance and Shake Your Tambourine; Simply Sly  Man (Virgin) ’78 UK
  • Chalice – Ital Love; Crossfire (CTS) ‘86 JA
  • The Melodians – Get Up and Dance; Irie Feeling (RAS) ’83 DC – reunion
  • In Crowd – Riding High; Roots, Rock, Reggae (Creole) ’78 Fr.
  • Bullwackie’s All Stars – Recording Connection; Black World Dub (Wackies) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
Took me 15 years to acquire this vinyl box set. Worth the wait!

Set 4:

  • Inner Circle – 80,000 Careless Ethiopians; Reggae Thing (Capitol) ’76

<Ethiopian Communists overthrow Haile Selassie; 29 sec.>

  • Dillinger – Three Piece Suit and Thing; King Pharaoh (Blue Moon) ’84 Fr.
  • Eek a Mouse – Do You Remember; Skidip (Greensleeves) ’81 UK
  • Elaine Taylor – Have a Good Time; Age of Reggae (Twinkle) ’84 UK

Set 5:

  • Black Uhuru – Solidarity; 12″ EP  (4th & Broadway) ’83 US – Little Steven cover

<Anthem remixes>

  • Horace Ferguson – Tranquilizer; Sensi Addict (Prince Jazzbo Music) ’87 JA
  • Purpleman  – The King on His Way; Laserbeam (World Enterprize)  ’83 Brooklyn
  • The Mellows + Gladstone Star Band; Pray to Jah + Give Thanks and Pray; Rite Sound Reggae Story (Jah Live) Fr.
Jamaican mix of the album that made I ‘n’ I a Reggae Fanatic

Set 6:

  • Lone Ranger – UFO; Barnabas in Collins Wood (GG) ’79 JA

<Roswell 70th Anniversary of the UFO crash>

  • Icarus – Talking Words; State of Mind (Russian Roulette) ’82 UK
  • Three Dimension – Undertaker; Roadblock (Nubian)  ’89 UK
  • Nicodemus – Boneman Connection; Sleeping Bag’s Reggae Dancehall Classics (Sleeping Bag) ’80
  • Delixx – Coming in from the Cold Dub; Uprising Dub (Micron) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour: trumpet for Bob’s vox
July 8: 4-7 PM 3 hours of UFOria on Smile Jamaica

Set 7:

  • Azanyah – Praise; “The One” (Path of Light) ’87 Atlanta jazz/nyah hybrid
  • Winston Reedy – Message to Father; Dim the Light (Inner Light) ’83 UK
  • Sandra Cross – Children of the Night; Lovers Delight (Ariwa) 52nd Street soul cover
Black Jazz

Set 8:

  • Dub Syndicate – Walking Jerusalem; Echomania (ON U Sound) ’93 UK
  • The Paragons – Man Next Door; Sly & Robbie: Raiders of the Lost Dub (Mango)  ’81 dub set
  • New Age Steppers feat. Bim Sherman – Misplaced Love; Foundation Steppers (ON U Sound) ’83 UK
  • Clint Eastwood – It Wasn’t Rasta; Love & Happiness (Burning Sounds) ’79 UK
  • Time Unlmited – African Woman; Devil’s Angel (Live Wire) ’84 JA
  • Exuma – Roller Reggae; Universal (Cat Island) ’82 Bahamian singer

Words of Wisdom:

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 24, 2017 (Stream + Tracklist): Livicated to Ronald Wilson Reagan!

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President Raygun regrets funding the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives through the Student Loan Program

<Livicated to Ronald Reagan; 10 sec.>

Greetings,

The Rastas called him:

  • Ronald
  • Wilson
  • Reagan – 666

I pay tribute to his legacy in funding the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives through the 80’s student loan program. 30 years ago it was more Pell Grants than 9% Loans.

So I would take the check, put in a savings account and once in the summer and usually once during the Holidays, I would travel to the Bay Area and descend upon the plentiful record stores from Reno to San Jose.

So it is hard not be nostalgic after I have been moving into my 400+ square foot Ark-Ive: 31 sec.

From the Garage:

To the Ark-Ive:

Spent 2k on CD towers to empty out the cardboard boxes and onto shelving. Every Saturday before Smile Jamaica since New Year’s I have prepared for this move.

Now that I am inside the house, I have to make sensi of the entropy. A journey of a thousand miles begins with unloading a single box.

A luta continua – The struggle continues

bless, robt

He did alright for I ‘n’ I

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 24, 2017: Annotated Playlist: 40 sec.

Set 1:

  • Jimmy Riley – Summertime; 12” (DEB) ’76 Porgy & Bess cover
  • Hi Tech Roots Dynamics – M.S.G.; New York Dub (Channel One UK) ’96 UK Vinyl Dub Album of the Hour
  • Aswad – African Children (Part 2); Not Satisfied (Columbia/Legacy) ’82 UK ballad
  • Dennis Brown – Should I; Money in My Pocket (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Gracy & the Herbman Band – Time is the Master; See Me Yah (Funfundvierzig) ’91 Germ. female
  • Capital Letters – Smoking My Ganja 12” Mix; Headline News (Greensleeves) ’79 UK youth group: 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
“Summertime and the living is easy”

Set 2:

  • Thievery Corporation feat. Notch – True Sons of Zion; Temple of I & I (ESL) 2017 DC dubbers
  • Bunny Wailer – Dance Ha Ti Gwan; Dance Massive (Shanachie) ‘92

<grumpy roots guy does dancehall; 25 sec.>

  • The Equators – Feelin’ High; Hot (Stiff) ’81 UK ska herbtune
  • Christine Adelsi – Life; 10” (King Earthquake) 2012 UK militant steppers
Feelin’ High!

Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 27+ Years

  • Black Uhuru – Journey; Red (Mango) ’81
  • Jean Binta Breeze – A Simple Thing + A Song to Heal; Tracks (LKJ) ’91 UK dub poet female
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Rasta; Rasta (Workers Playtime) ’83: UK dub poet male
  • Peter Tosh – Legalize It; Legalize It (Columbia) ‘76
  • Peter Tosh – Legalize It Version; Honorary Citizen (Columbia/Legacy) ’76 box set

<Jawara Tosh beaten into coma in jail; 64 sec.>

Like father, like son: Them Ha Fe Get a Beatin’

Set 4:

  • I Roy and Lee Perry  – Space Flight; Chapter Two of Words (Trojan) UFOria

<Roswell inna Rub a Dub Stylee; 57 sec.>

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Jammin’; 12” (Tuff Gong) ’77 alternate extended mix
  • Lee Perry – Noah Sugar Pan; Upsetter Shop v.2 (Heartbeat) Dub ’77 Album of the Hour

<Captain Lee “Scratch” Perry driving the Space Shuttle? WTF?; 18 sec.>

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

  • Sister Carol – Murdee & Stylee; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 Brooklyn
  • Prince Far I – Deck of Life; Jamaican Heroes (Trojan) ’80 UK deejay
  • Barrington Levy & Jah Thomas? – Collie Weed; Hunter Man (Burning Sounds) ’83 UK herbtune
  • Gregory Isaacs – Musical Revenge; Reggae It’s Fresh (Tad’s) ’88 NY
  • Junior Brown – Warriors; Hits From the House of Shaka (Jah Shaka) ’85 UK

Set 6:

  • 10cc – Dreadlock Holiday; Snatch Soundtrack (Maverick) ’76 rockers do reggae
  • Trevor Hartley – Smoke and Chill; Hartley (Jove) ’94 herb tune
  • Fabiane Miranda – Prophecy; 12 the Hard Way (Tribesman) ’77 female
  • Paul Blake & the Bloodifre Posse – Get Flat; Reggae Dance Party (RAS) ’87 dance number

<Jamaican dance = Get Flat; 40 sec.>

Set 7:

  • Jah Pecker & the Wailers – Jammin’; 21st Century Dub (ROIR) ’87 Jah-ponese cover of Bob Marley

<From Jah-pon: Jah Pecker & the Wailers>

  • Sister Beverley – Rasta Woman; 12” (RAMA) ’76 UK

Set 8: Mutant Dub

  • Ikonika – Sahara Michael; contact, love, want, have (Hyperdub) 2010 UK Sara Abdel Hamid
  • Herbaliser – Worldwide Connected; Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ninja Tune) 2002 UK
  • Massive Attack – Safe From Harm; Blue Lines (Virgin) ’91 UK feat. Shara Nelson
  • Audio Active – Psycho Buds (Game Mix/Asian Dub Foundation); CD Single (Birdman) ’99 Jah-pon
Dubstep Dawta – Ikonika

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives (Stream + Tracklist): June 3, 2017 – Black Wax Cratedigger’s Harvest!

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Lots of my Student Loan kasheesh was spent at this SLC record shop. Going strong 30 plus years later. Removed 90% of their CDs to make room for MOAR vinyl

A life in cratedigging. Kick started the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive’s in my friend Neil’s dorm room. Fall of 1986. That lit the fuse!…..

<Black Uluru in a dorm room? Instant Reggae fanatic; 20 sec.>

…I’m going through a home remodel. 40 years of record collecting crammed into my garage right now. When I ran out of shelves, I bought some big ass tupperware bins to try and make it all fit.

This has to fit into my new addition. A Library for a Librarian

Between my organic collecting (used record stores, Ebay/Amazon, stock from my distributor when I sold Reggae online) and my binge buying when Record Stores started dying out in the mid 2000’s, my 1200 square foot house had reached a state of entropy.

So to make room for the demolition of two bedrooms to accommodate an actual Library (A Librarian with his own Library!), I had to move everything into my garage in a short amount of time.

Now that the project is coming to completion, I have to move everything back in!

Can 40 years of books, records, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes fit into a space 41 feet by 10 feet? Stay tuned!

My method?

  • Get up early on Saturday. Have my spinach determining what I’m going to sort and separate  in the garage.
  • Go have breakfast at Left Fork Grill with my best bredrin Leonard and his buddy John
  • Drink about 8 cups of coffee
  • Head back to mi casa in Sugarhouse
  • Grab a stack of disks for my CD boombox to while away the time sifting wax
  • Fully caffeinated: Start to organize the entropy.
    • I would separate by format: LP, 12″ disco mix, 10″ disco mix, non-Reggae vinyl
    • Then: look by title and cull albums if they fit one of my preferred set-genres
      • 420
      • Roots Dawtas
      • UFOria
      • Wailers Family Tree
      • Halloween
      • Marley Tribute songs
      • Rockers doing Reggae

I don’t know how many physical vinyl pieces I have (not even including 7″ 45s). CDs a whole separate issue.

10,000 pieces? 15,000? Somewhere in between.

It has literally taken me from early January to June to sort it all and separate for the final move into the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive.

From when I moved to SLC from Bozeman, MT in Sept. of 1986, I have been on a vinyl crusade. And the nostalgia of where and how I acquired the lion’s share of black wax really kicks off memories of a subculture that has mostly died out: the local record store.

Many great ones are still slinging wax: Like Randy’s in Salt Lake. Ditched their CDs to make room for the vinyl resurgence: 20 sec.

But over 500 stores have gone out of business in the last decade. When the music industry killed vinyl, they didn’t anticipate that digital music sales like Itunes, Spotify etc. would make those $18.99 CDs economically irrelevant.

Columbus and Bay in North Beach. I would stay across the street at the Travelodge and crate dig til closing. Nearly cried when I heard the news Tower was going under

And even though vinyl is making an awesome comeback (full vindication for I ‘n’ I), it’s too late for many of my favorite haunts.

Last summer my local Montana chain went out of business: Hastings. I would drive through gorgeous wheat fields and flowing rivers and cratedig from Butte, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman and Billings.

700 hundred miles from SLC to Fort Benton, Montana. Hastings books/cds/DVDs broke up the monotony of the drive. Went out of business Summer 2016

As much as I love Montana and my parents, I’m not driving home this summer. Not much for me to do there now but watch wheat grow.

bless, robt

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: June 3, 2017 – All Vinyl Showcase; 34 sec.

Set 1:

  • Brigadier Jerry – Everyman a Mi Bredrin; Jamaica, Jamaica (RAS) ’85 DC:
  • Bullwackie’s All Stars – Nature’s Dub; Nature’s Dub (Wackies) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour
  • Time Unlimited – Live Upright; Devil’s Angel (Live Wire) ’84 JA
  • Mother Liza – Ten to Ten; Mother Liza Meets Pappa Tollo (Vista Sounds) ’83 UK
  • Devon Russell- Homebound Train; Homebound Train (Freedom Sounds) ’83 JA
  • Zap Pow – Be Cool; Irie Land (Rhino) ’80 LA
  • Al Campbell – Collie Herb; 12” (Jah Life) 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
The Record Room: Phoenix, AZ, 2016

Set 2:

  • Inner Circle – Forward Jah Jah Children; Reggae Thing (Capitol) ’76 US

<Inner Circle: Capitol’s answer to Bob Marley; 15 sec.>

  • Leroy Smart – What Will I Do; Rite Sound Reggae Story (Jah Live) ’77 Fr.
  • Barry Brown – Ital Rock; I’m Still Waiting (Rocktone International) ’83 Can.
  • Super Chick – Roach Killer; Reggae Dancehall Classics (Sleeping Bag) ’87 NY female dj

<Roach Killer shoes: favorites in the dancehall for killing roaches and rub a dubbing; 35 sec.>

Starboard Records, 1988 – West Valley City, UT. RIP

Set 3:

  • Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus – I Am an Ethiopian; Movements (Dynamic Sounds) ’78 JA

<I’m not Mr. Brown, Mr. Smith, Mr. White – I’m an Ethiopian; 12 sec.>

  • Dennis Brown – Wake Up; Wake Up (Natty Congo) ’85 UK
  • The Meditations – Running From Jamaica; Message From the Mediations (United Artists) ’76 US
  • Gregory Isaacs & Christine – Rock On; Rock On (Jah Live) ’75 Fr. Combination style
  • Prince Far I – Bendel Dub; Front Line Dub (Virgin Front Line) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour

<Virgin record label in Nigeria; 50 sec.>

Randy’s Records: SLC, 1986

Set 4:

  • Lone Ranger – The Clock; Hi-Yo Silver, Away! (Greensleeves) ’82 UK
  • The Shakers – Emergency Call; Yankee Reggae (Asylum) ’76 Boston; female vox on Judy Mowatt tune
  • Eek a Mouse – Sensee Party; Skidip! (Greensleeves) ’81 UK
  • Misty in Roots – Wandering Wanderer; 12” (People Unite) ’81 UK
Rough Trade Records: San Francisco, New Years Even 1988

Set 5: 420 Black Wax

  • Peter Culture – Coconut Chalwah; Behold 10” LP (Top Beat) 2000 UK 

<Coconut chalice; 14 sec.>

  • Clint Eastwood – Collie Weed Style; Love & Happiness (Burning Sounds) ’79 UK
  • Winston Reedy – Sensimilla; Dim the Lights (Inner Light) ’83 UK
  • Niney the Observer – My Spliff; Nuclear Jammin’ (Voiceprint) ’86 Chicago
  • John Holt – Police in Helicopter; 12” (Holt) ‘83

<Johnny Law in your rear view? 28 sec.>

Reckless Record, 1990 San Francisco/Haight Ashbury: RIP

Set 6:

  • The Wailers – Get Up, Stand Up; Wailers Vinyl Box Set (Island) #3484 of 10,000 vinyl box set

<Lessons in crate digging: Buy low ($70), sell high (working kidney)>

  • Bobby Culture, Brimstone & Fire, Nicodemus & Louie Culture – Going Home; Tidal Wave (Unicorn) ’83 Santa Monica: R.B. Greaves pop update
  • Junior Byles – I Don’t Know; Rasta No Pickpocket (Nighthawk) ’86 St. Louis
  • Don Carlos & Gold – Blackout in the Ghetto; Showdown vol. 3 (Hitbound) NY
  • Black Uhuru – What Is Life; 12” EP (4th & Broadway) ’83 US picture sleeve

<Not Marley, Tosh, Cliff or UB40: Black Uluru’s Anthem made I ‘n’ I a Reggae fanatic>

  • Ras Command – Education; In Dub (Red Arrow) ’95 Germ.: Mutant Dub album of the hour
9 disk vinyl box set: Amoeba Records, Berkeley 2001: $70. Versus $3500 on eBay

Set 7:

  • Blue Riddim Band – Restless Spirit; Restless Spirit (Flying Fish) ’81 St. Louis

<Livicated to our KRCL bredrin: Bad Brad Wheeler>

  • Fab 5 – Shaving Cream; Jamaican Woman (Stage) ’87 JA
  • Aisha – I Know a Place; 12” (Ariwa) ’90 UK
Smokey’s Records, SLC 1987: RIP

Set 8: Mutant Dub

  • Black Uhuru – Boof’n’Baff’n’Biff (Fila Brazillia rmx no. 2); Dancehall Queen Soundtrack (Island Jamaica) ’97 US
  • Dub Syndicate – Roots Commandment; Echomania
  • New Age Steppers feat. Ari Up – Stormy Weather; Foundation Steppers (ON U Sound) ’83 UK female vox on Lena Horne classic
ON U Sound mail order, London: 1990?

Words of Wisdom:

 

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Digital Dubplate – Roots Reggae vs. Mutant Dubbers!

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Something nice gonna happen to your ears!

Greetings,

Took a week off from Smile Jamaica for Memorial Day Weekend.  I am building a permanent home for the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. So I spent 7 hours in my garage re-arranging vinyl for preparation for my big move in a couple weeks. Check it out!

Nearly 40 years of record collecting gotta fit in a Library 80 feet long and 10 feet wide.

I hope it all fits!

In the meantime, enjoy a Digital Dubplate of one half Orthodox Jamaican roots mashed up with Space Age Mutant Dub. I cooked this up in my Secret Dubratory.

You’ve got Roots Reggae inna mi New Age dub!

bless, robt

0-30 min.:

  • Aswad – Warrior Charge; Roots Rocking (Island) ’80 best of
  • Ganja Man – Light Up Your Spliff; Pro Cannabis IV (EFA) ’95 female mutant dub herbtune
  • Lazyboy TV – The Manual (Chapter 4); LazyboyTV (Universal) 2004 NY mutant dub herbtune
  • Culture – Garvey; Production Something (Heartbeat) ‘78

30-60 min.:

  • Dry & Heavy – Kick the Bong Around + Dub the Bong Around; One Punch (Green Tea) Jah-ponese Mutant dub herbtune w/ female vox
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Punky Reggae Party; 12” (Tuff Gong) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry prod’n
  • Johnny Clarke – Crazy Baldhead; Authorized Rockers (Virgin Front Line) ’76 Bob Marley cover
  • Dub Gabriel feat. Karen Gibson Roc – Spirit Made Flesh; Anarchy & Alchemy (Destroy A/C) 2008 Brooklyn mutant w/ female dub poet
  • Jonah Dan & Bush Chemists – Guidance; Dubs From Zion Valley (JKPD) ’94 UK Mutant Dub
  • Coco Tea – Reggae Music; Settle Down (Cornerstone) ’8
  • Mungo’s Hi Fi feat. Soom T – Soundboy Police; Forward Ever (Scotch Bonnet) 2011 UK mutant dub w/ female vox
  • The Beat (aka the English Beat) – Doors to Your Heart 12” mix; CD Single (IRS) ’81 2 Tone ska 

60-90 min.

  • The Orb – Towers of Dub; U.F.Orb (Island) ’92 UK Mutant Dub
  • Rockers Hi Fi feat. Ella Fitzgerald – Sunshine of Your Love; Groove Corporation Presents Remixes from the Elephant House (Guidance) 2001 UK, cover of The Cream
  • Gregory Isaacs – Soon Forward 12” mix; Dancehall (Soul Jazz)  ’79
Ella Fitzgerald makes her debut on Smile Jamaica

90 min. – 2 hr.

  • Cosmic Rocker & Zeb feat. Harmony – Dub; Babylon Is Ours (Echo Beach) 2003 US Mutant Dub
  • Dubblestandart feat. Ari Up – Island Girl (JStar rmx); Immigration Dub (Collision) 2013 Jah-stria w/ female vox
  • Justin Hinds – War Time + Dub; Know Jah Better (Nighthawk)  ‘90
  • Rockers Galore – Western Roots; Babylon Central Soundtrack (ESL) 2010 Mutant Dub
  • Hepcat – Hooligans; Out of Nowhere (Moon Ska) ’95 LA Wailers ska cover
  • Zion Train – Good Day; Homegrown Fantasy (China) ’95 UK Trance Dub w/ female vox

2 – 2 and 1/2 hr

  • See-I – Global Gangsters; Dinner of Herb EP (Exlle Music) 2003 DC Mutant Dub
  • Matumbi & I Roy– Points of View 12” mix; Empire Road (EMI) UK Best of
  • Dub Pistols feat. Kitten & the Hip; Worshipping the Dollar (Sunday Best) 2012 UK Mutant Dub w/ female vox
  • Martin Campbell – Badmen Control; Historical Tracks (Channel One UK) ‘81
  • Peter Tosh – Mystic Man (Long Version); Mystic Man (EMI America)  ‘79

2 and 1/2 – 3 hr

  • Samia Farah – Cool (Original); Samia Farah (Sony) ’99 French-Tunisian female
  • Suns of Arqa – Brujo Magic ; Arqaology (Arka Sound) ’92 UK Hindi/Arab Mutant Dubbers best of
  • UB40 – Buzz Feeling; Baggariddim (DEP) ’85 UK herbtune
  • Marcia Griffiths – Give and You Get; Steppin’ (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Thievery Corporation – In Pursuit; .38.45 EP (ESL) ’98 DC Mutant Dubbers
  • Major Lazer feat. Jah Dan – Cash Flow; Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do (Downtown) 2009 Dubstep
  • Wailing Souls – Riddim of Life; On the Rocks (Greensleeves)  ‘83
Let’s end this Digital Dubplate with the Riddim of Life

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: May 20, 2017 (Stream + Tracklist): Good Luck Mr. Gorsky!

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Conspiracy Theory UFOria: Neil Armstrong’s first words on the Moon? “I’m so high right now!”

Greetings,

Reggae music is my number one leisure time pursuit. Aliens and Sumerian Cosmology is my next fave obsession.

Surfing around and came across this: the Legend of Neil Armstrong’s true first words on the Moon.

Fake News version: “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for Mankind”

Alt-Reality version:  “Good Luck Mr. Gorsky”

Who dat? It’s part of a dirty joke:

Here is my sound clip From this week’s Smile Jamaica. (I bungled the famous Armstrong quote); 55 sec.

Here is Snopes.com’s take

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.asp

When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors’ bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”

Who ya gonna believe?

bless, robt

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives May 20, 2017 Playlist:; 50 sec.

Set 1:

  • Sister Carol – Reggae Gone International; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 NY vinyl
  • Africjam – Woman I Love; Instrumental Dub Reggae Music (Africjam Productions) ’93 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
  • Mikey Dread – Behold Jah; World Tour (Dread at the Controls) 2000
  • Mike Brooks – Man to Man; Rum Drinker (Teams) ‘70’s
  • Josey Wales – Tax Me; Outlaw (Live & Learn) “83 dj to Wailing Souls
  • Chosen Brothers & ? DJ – Mother I Love You; 12” (City Line) ’77

Set 2:

  • Bunny Wailer – Veteran; Dance Massive (Shanachie) ‘92

<Bunny Wailer – Dancehall Veteran; 32 sec.>

  • Peter Tosh – Dracula; Honorary Citizen (Columbia/Legacy) ’76 version to Vampire 7”
  • Dubtonic Kru – Freedom Dub; Dub Tonic (Dubtonic) 2009 JA group
  • Sister Nancy – Ball a Roll; 10” (Hitbound) ‘80
The Veteran schools the whippersnappers

Set 3: Best of 27+ Years

  • Burning Spear – Don’t Mess With Jill; Presenting (Studio One) ’73 Marvellettes Motown cover
  • Marcia Griffiths – Peaceful Woman; Steppin’ (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Lacksley Castell – Leaving; Morning Glory (Negus Roots) ‘82
  • Aswad – Noh Bodda Wid It; To the Top (Simba) ‘86
  • Soul Syndicate – Hungry Dub;  Ghetto-ology Dub (Easy Star) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
Tower Records, Las Vegas – Spring 1987. Early addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives

Set 4: 7″ Jamaican Jukebox

  • Debra Keese  & the Black Five – Travelling; 7’ (Orchid) ’77
  • Keith Coley – Fill My Heart With Joy; 7” (Solid State) ‘78
  • Steve Baswell – I Am Getting Bad; 7” (Phase 1) ‘78
  • Fred Locks – When O When; 7” (Shaka) ‘77
  • Brigadier Jerry – Roots Girl; 7” (Jahlovemuzik) ‘84

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

  • Gregory Isaacs – Mother’s Day; Reggae It’s Fresh (Tad’s) ’88 US 
  • Azeem & Session – Big Head Spliff; Dreadfly (Joe Gibbs) ’82 Miami – herbtune
  • Aisha – Suffering; Daughters of Zion (Twinkle) ’95 UK
  • Crucial DBC – Mama, Mama; Dread Rock For a Long Time (Dread Beat Control) ’89 EP: Santa Monica
  • Akimbo – Kalimbo 2; So Long Trouble (Forward Sounds International) ’85 UK kalimba instrumental  

Set 6: Wailers Family Tree

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Three Little Birds; Exodus (Tuff Gong) riddim shower (1): vox
  • I Roy – Commandment VI (Three Little Birds); Ten Commandments (Virgin) ’80 UK vinyl: yellow picture sleeve; (2): deejay
  • Chalawa – Three Little Birds Dub; Exodus Dub (Micron) ’77 (3): dub
  • Senya – Children of the Ghetto; Cobra Style (Heartbeat) ’79 Familyman prod’n, female vox
  • Sly & the Revolutionaries – Cocaine; Bill Laswell: Dub Massive (Trojan) 2000 Dub Album of the Hour

Set 7:

  • Dennis Alcapone – I Want a Draw; Good Old Days of the 70’s (Teams) 70’s herbtune

<Draw of the chalice>

  • Hi Fi Killers – Evil Dub;  Jamaica (Loose Groove) ’98
  • Bad Brains – To the Heavens; God of Love (Maverick) ‘85
  • Cha Cha & Ranking Joe – One Day You’ll Know; 10” (Above Rock) 2010 Chinese female vocalist
Chinese ska singer

Set 8: Mutant Dub

  • Afro Omega – It’s On the People; CD Single (Afro Omega) SLC w/ female vox: Mutant Dub set
  • Word Sound I Powa – Theme From Dread Western (Magnificent 7 Mix); Live From Planet Crooklyn (ROIR) ‘96
  • Transglobal Underground – Good Luck Mr. Gorsky; Psychic Karaoke  (Nation) ’96 UK word dub
Neil Armonstrong’s first words on the Moon: Good Luck Mr. Gorsky