Ah, yes. The endorphin rush of finding that record. I ‘n’ I been a vinyl collector since clothes shopping with my Mom at Woolworth’s the beginning of 7th grade: ‘Sept. 77. The year the two sevens clashed.
My first “dig”: Best of the Doobie Brothers. (For a Seven Leaf guy, who knew the significance of that purchase 40 years on!)
With an extra Saturday, during the shortest month of the year, why note celebrate that legacy of vinyl collection with a trip down black wax memory lane on Smile Jamaica .
I was getting crosseyed with my bredrins Mike and Aquaboy. Friday 4:20. I ‘n’ I brought over a 60 minute mix for Mixcloud of my favorite UK Reggae faves. Segue into the first Black Sabbath album.
WTF?
So I’n’ I said: Would you believe I have a 7″ record that mashes up Black Sabbath with Black Uhuru?
That’s the delight in record obsession. You’ve got Satanic Heavy Metal inna mi Rasta Roots Reggae!
<Guess Who’s Coming For Sweet Leaf>
bless, Bobbylon
Set 1:
Judah Eskender Tafari – Jah Light; Pirates Choice (Studio One) ’80 JA – 3 Hour Vinyl is Vital Show
Bullwackie’s All-Stars – Black Heart Dub; Dub Unlimited (Senrab) ’76 Dub album of the hour
Phillip Frazer – Watch This Sound; Big Showdown (Black Solidarity) ’85 JA Buffalo Springfield cover
The Specials – Friday Night Saturday Morning; 12″ (2 Tone) ’81 UK EP Ghost Train picture sleeve; 2 Tone ska
Quasar – Get Up Stand Up; Fresh (LASN) US Wailers cover
Chris Wayne – All the Plant Mi Plant; Progress (Heartbeat) ’89 US 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Black Harmony – Our Feelings; 12″ (Cool Rockers) ’81 UK female lovers rock
Sometimes I get asked: “What’s with all the UFO tunes on Smile Jamaica. It’s even been mentioned in KRCL staff meetings: “Does he really belief that stuff?”
I do. My code of life is – Your perception is not my reality.
From my Sumerian Fundamentalist heritage through Ancient Aliens, Reggae is right in the middle.
Spaceship Egyptian glyph
Those who don’t like it, can scoff on over to another radio station. Because I ‘n’ I am vindicated in my belief.
Radio SOS signals from the next galaxy. Radio. Just like Carl Sagan reached out in 1977, the Aliens heard his message and are calling back.
A literal gold record
The Voyager mission when the 2 7’s clashed (1977) was meant to reach out to any sentient beings in the vastness of space. The gold record, which included Sumerian greetings: “May all be well” along side Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode.
Well, it appears they got our gift. And here they come…..
“Mysterious radio signals from space have been known to repeat, but for the first time, researchers have noticed a pattern in a series of bursts coming from a single source half a billion light-years from Earth”
Not random. But on a cycle. Like we would do: Are You There?…(repeat). Now they are doing the same to us: We got your message (repeat). If you have ever seen the Jodie Foster movie, Contact, that is the plot.
The Bulgarian libertarians at Zerohedge muse:
So could it be aliens seeking to establish contact via hidden messages meant to be deciphered from rational patterns?
Naw. This is what I think happened. They got our package from the Voyager. But those fools at NASA didn’t include a record player. Plus zero gravity in space makes it impossible to “drop the needle pon the record.”
I ‘n ‘I think it is fascinating that the contact is by a “dead medium” of radio. In 10 years, on Earth, 70% of all media will be streamed. Not broadcast (radio, satellite radio, television).
Aliens, embrace my philosophy: No digital for I ‘n’ I.
So just like Pres. 45 listens to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Iveswhile watching CNN with the sound muted, maybe someway, somehow, some miracle, the Aliens found a fellow traveller, via I ‘n’ I Mixcloud archive, and appreciate the outer space inna terrestrial rub a dub.
Black wax. Shiny aluminum disks. No 1’s and 0’s. Why not?
Remember: Your perception is not my reality.
Smile Jamaica’s Three reasons why Aliens made radio contact; 1 min. 44
They need our gravity to play records
2. Qanon told I ‘n’ I that the radio signal on repeat isn’t an SOS but was deciphered as “Play more Bob Marley”
3. No oxygen in space to spark a doobie
bless, Bobbylon
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-bruary 15, 2020 Annotated Playlist; 61 sec.
Set1:
Dillinger – Rockers; Tribal War (New Cross) ’86 UK vinyl
Roots Radics – Roy Cousins Presents Kings and Queens of Dub (Tamoki Wambesi) 80’s UK vinyl dub album of the hour
Lorna Asher – It Comes From Afar; Straight to Your Heart (Twinkle) ’99
Bunny Lye Lye – Keep on Dancing; Protect Me Lord (Twin Bros) 80’s
Dubblestandart feat. Devon D – We All Have to Get High; Immigration Dub (Collision) 2007 Jah-stria: 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Junior Dan – Give Thanks No Skanks + Yanks & Ises; 10″ (Hi Try) ’76 JA
Set 2:
Hollie Cook – Vessel of Love; Vessel of Love (Merge) 2018 UK dawta of Sex Pistol Paul Cook
Sly Dunbar – Mr. Music; Sly, Wicked & Slick (Virgin) ’79 dub to Brothers Johnson “Strawberry Letter No. 23”
Asherman Meets Dub Street Rockers – Jah Seed + Seed Grow; Zion Ready (Jump Up) 2002 vox + dj
Max Romeo & Dennis Brown – African + I Am the Conqueror; 10″ (Observer Gold) ’75
Livicated, never dedicated to the life and legacy of Bob Marley. Born Feb. 6, 1945; 2020 would have been 75 years
<Livicated nah “dead” icated”; 61 sec.>
Let’s hear some Bob stories from Smile Jamaica’s 20+ years of Marley celebrations.
<Smile Jamaica’s Bob Marley 75 Tribute Show; 62 sec.>
First, watch this amazing clip of Redemption Song put together by the Marley Family
Bob and crew had really crossed over with Uprising. College kids and whites in America always loved Reggae, but blacks in America were rather cool to the music. It’s militancy and Old Testament songbook was out of step with 70’s secular disco and soul stylings.
But a disco mix of Comin’ in From the Cold was starting to be played at the end of the 70’s disco supremacy and even black radio was playing the album in limited rotation.
The year 1980 was gonna be the year the Wailers punched through. Blacks and whites at their North American concerts bringing the masses together in love and unity which would have probably lead to Ronald Reagan’s defeat in November that year and who knows what life would have been like had that scenario come to pass
He would have been on the pantheon of 80’s music titans like Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince. Of that, I am certain.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. Bob collapsed jogging in Central Park….livicated nah dead-icate and come May, 1981 dozens of Bob’s contemporaries crashed the studios to pay homage.
<Bob Marley tribute songs; 27 sec.>
After Bob Marley was nearly assassinated by the CIA (According to Alex Jones and yours truly) at the….wait for it…..Smile Jamaica Concert, Dec. ’76. Bob made his “Exodus” to England.
While recording that landmark album, he was exposed to the punk rock movement happening. Rastas were outcasts in Jamaica. So were the punks in England.
<Bob loved punk rock; 36 sec.>
New wave, new rave New wave, new wave, new rave Let me tell you, we’re going to a party And I hope you are hardy So please don’t be naughty For it’s a punky reggae party New wave, new rave New wave, new rave
Tell you what, take a joyful sound To make the world go ’round Come with your heart and soul Come-a, come-a and rock your boat ‘Cause it’s a punky reggae party And it’s tonight It’s a punky reggae party And it’s alright
Oh-oh-oh?
Rejected by society (do re mi fa) Treated with impunity (so la te do) Protected by their dignity (do re mi fa) I face reality (so la te do)
New wave, new rave New wave, new wave, new rave
Wailers be there The Dammed, The Jam, The Clash Maytals will be there Doctor Feelgood too, ooh No boring old farts, no boring old farts,…
Yet, Judy Mowatt, one of the songbirds in the I-Three, Bob’s female backing trio, thought Bob was more like the Biblical Prophet, Joseph. Leading his people out of bondage, not in Egypt, but Babylon. Heading to Zion in Africa.
<Bob Marley = Joseph; 34 sec.>
Last story was about the prodigious father Bob was. Eleven kids (two adopted from Rita) by seven different women. I give the scorecard:
<Bob’s brood; 46 sec.>
And let’s end with this couplet from Punky Reggae Party. Pure brilliance!
Rejected by society Treated with impunity Protected by their dignity I face reality
If mankind gets 500 more years, they will still mention the 3 B’s. Not Beethoven, Bach and Brahms. It will be Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Bob Marley!
Selah!
bless, Bobbylon
Set 1:
Cedella Marley Booker – He’s a Rastaman; Awake Zion (Rykodisc) ’84: Bob’s Mom: 3 hours of Bob Marley 75th Birthday Celebration
Chalawa – Natural Mystic Dub; Exodus Dub (Weston’s) ’78 Canadian dub of Bob Marley
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Smile Jamaica; Kaya (Deluxe) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry show theme!
Macka B – Bob; Hold Onto Your Culture (Ariwa) ’96
Culture – Double Tribute to the O.M.; Lion Rock (Heartbeat) ’82 – Order of Merit (Jamaica’s highest civilian honor)
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Easy Skanking; Boston ’78 (Tuff Gong) 6/8/78 live at the Boston Music Hall: 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Jah Thomas – Tribute to the Reggae King; 12″ (Midnight Rock) ’81 JA
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 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 2:
Set 6:
Smile Jamaica 