Tag Archives: Michael Manley

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-gust 25, 2018 (Podcast & Playlist) – The Wailers of Mutant Dub!

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Not counting box sets, the most I have ever paid for a CD. $80

Greetings,

Advice after forty years of cratedigging: Buy low, sell high. I ‘n’ I built the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives when people were shedding vinyl for these over priced gadgets called the compact disk.

Titles I bought for 4 bucks on Haight Ashbury fetches hundreds now on ebay and discogs.

It’s not that I’m cheap. I spend the GDP of small third world nations on music. But I believe a record that is worth hundreds that I paid less than a Lincoln for, makes the sound oh so sweet.

Vinyl to the left, CDs and books on the right: The Smile Jamaica Ark-ives

Yet I have wish lists. Things I can’t find cratedigging and must scope online. One of my “white whales” was the 8 track version of Thievery Corporations silky herb tune, Lebanese Blonde.

<$80 dollars for Lebanese Blonde; 55 sec.>

I was coming back from a cratedig in Missoula, Montana. I saw a disk on the new record rack that had a cool cover, name and song titles.

Thievery Corporation – Richest Man in Babylon

Heading back to Salt Lake from my parents’ house in Fort Benton, Montana, I detour through Missoula to cratedig in their cool indie stores: Rockin’ Rudy’s and Ear Candy.

I pushed it too far and hit the dreaded Monida Pass at sundown. Anyone travelling on I-15 heading North knows that pass right at the Idaho Montana border. Not a good place to be in a snow storm.

Twice in 25 years of driving that stretch I had to go 100 miles back to Butte, on icy roads, because the pass was closed to traffic.

Monida Pass

I left Missoula too late and hit this pass at the worst time: dusk. As the sun went down at 7,000 feet I watched the road ice up ahead of me.

What every Montana kid is prepared for yet still dreads. Driving over an iced free way with only the guard rails to keep you out of the ditch.

Shit, this is how people die. Slide off the road on Monida. You have about 15 minutes before your car is totally iced over and NO CELL SERVICE. 

He died doing what he loved: record shopping. 

All right. Here we go. My All Wheel Drive Subaru. This is what I bought you for. Slow way down to about 25 MPH and just pick your way through the sheer ice. Even with AWD, do not hit the brakes.

I soldiered through. What usually takes 15 minutes, took me over an hour. Foot off the gas, when a truck would go by kicking up crystals to make visibility almost zero.

Once you hit Spencer, Idaho on the other side of the Pass, the road thaws a little. All through this, I am listening to Richest Man in Babylon and focused on their supple riddims, heavy bass and international vocalists. Kept me from freaking out through the worst of the road hazards.

As soon as I got home, I ordered their entire catalog. So, yeah $80 for one of their rare singles. Priceless.

bless, Bobbylon

 Thievery Corporation led to my last half hour Mutant Dub Sets: 21 sec.

[audiomp3=”https://smilejamaicakrcl.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/dubstep082518.mp3″%5D%5B/audio%5D

Wailers of Mutant Dub

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives Annotated Playlist: Jah-gust 25, 2018; 89 sec.

Set 1:

  • Tinga Stewart – Fire; Key to Your Heart (Calabash) ’83 FL. vinyl
  • Augustus Pablo – El Rockers Chapter Three; Rockers International (Greensleeves) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour
  • Third World – 96 Degrees in the Shade (1865); 96 Degrees in the Shade (Mango) ’77

<Morant Bay Rebellion; 77 sec.> 

  • Aswad and Shabba Ranks – Fire; Lunatic Soundtrack (Mango) ’91
  • Zema – Check It Out; Strangers at the Gates (Melchizedek) ’97 So Cal female
  • Barry Brown – Sensemilla; Far East (Hitbound) ’81 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
  • Papa Face & the Fashionaires – Girls; 10″ (Top Notch) ’82 UK

Set 2:

  • Bunny Wailer – Work; Hall of Fame (RAS) ’95: 50 Bob Marley songs for his 50th birthday
  • Hollie Cook – Desdemona; Twice (Mr. Bongo) 2014 UK dubstress
  • Linton Kwesi Johnson – Sonny’s Lettah; Mi Revalueshenary Fren (LKJ) live poem in Nymegen, Netherlands

<Sus law in UK against black youths; 40 sec.>

  • GT Moore – Ganja Flower; 10″ (Jah Works) 2002 UK militant steppers herbtune

Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 28+ Years1

  • The Clash – Police on My Back; Sandinista! (Epic) ’80 Eddy Grant/Equals cover
  • Black Slate – Legalise Collie Herb; Amigo (Ensign) ’80 UK herbtune
  • Dhaima – Ina Jah Children; Uptown Top Ranking (Object Enterprises) ’77 female
  • Lenox Miller & Jah Coller – Better Must Come + Jah Coller Speakers His Mind; Jack Ruby Hi-Fi (Auralux) ’80 Jack Ruby prod’n; Junior Byles cover
  • Aisha & the Mad Professor – Children of Dub; There Is More to Life (Ariwa) 2005 Dub Album of the Hour

Set 4:

  • Peter Tosh – Pick Myself Up; Kentucky Fried Rockers (bootleg) opening for the Rolling Stones in Lexington, KY, 1978
  • Food-a-Rama- Angellina; 10″ (Hitbound) ’80 update of Ken Boothe’s Artibella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

  • Wailing Wailers – Ska Jerk; Wailing Wailers (Studio One) ’65 JA: based on Junior Walker’s Shotgun

<Ska Jerk = Shotgun; 71 sec.>

  • John Holt – Police in Helicopter; Police in Helicopter (Greensleeves) ’83 UK herbtune
  • Mother Liza – Joy to Your Soul; Chant Down Babylon (Sonic) JA
  • Icarus – Sinking Deep; State of Mind (Russian Roulette) ’82 UK
  • Bim Sherman & the Voluntary – Drifint Away; Century (Century) ’84 UK

Set 6:

  • The Wailers – Stop That Train; Live 1973-1975 (Starbucks) May 24, 1973 live at the Paris Theatre London/Live on the BBC

<Wailers on the BBC; 69 sec.>

  • Sinead O’Connor – Prophet Has Arise; Throw Down Your Arms (That’s Why There’s Chocolate & Vanilla) 2005 Abyssinians cover
  • Equators – Feelin’ High; Hot (Stiff) ’81 UK ska herbtune
  • King Tubby – Bag a Wire; 10″ (Select Cuts) ’75
  • Herbman Band – Dub O Much; See Mi Yah (Funfundvierzig) ’91 Germ. Dub Album of the Hour

Set 7: Jamaican Jukebox of 45s

  • The Ability – Rasta Never Give Up; 7″ (Sky High) 7″ Jamaican Jukebox Set
  • Charley Ace – Ten Commandments of Joshua; 7″ (Scorpion) ’72 about Michael Manley; Prince Buster update

<Michael Manley as Joshua>

  • Cynthia Richards – Sentimental Reasons; 7″ (Duke Reid)
  • Bobby Hunt – Mother’s Love; 7″ (Flash) ’76
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Uganda; Dub Ranting (Radical Wallpaper) ’81 UK dub poet, picture sleeve; 9 poems EP
  • Neville Martini – The Cliques; 7″ (Clandisc) ’76

Set 8: Mutant Dub

  • Thievery Corporation feat. Pamela Bricker – Around the World ; 8 Trk CD Single (4ad) ’98
  • Khato (Smith & Mighty rmx) – No Compromise; King Size Dub Chapter 4 (Echo Beach) ’98 female vox
  • Alpha & Omega – Africa; Watch & Pray (A & O) ’92 UK trance dub
  • Pama International – Float Like a Butterfly; Float Like a Butterfly (Asian Man) 2005 UK tribute to Muhammad Ali
  • Aldubb feat. Alcapone JJ – Free Sensimilla Now; 10″ (One Drop) 2009 Germ. herb dub
  • Dubcheck feat. Everton Sylvester – Reparation; Down Memory Gap Lane (Unitone World) 2001 w/ dub poet

Words of  Wisdom:

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: July 18, 2015 (Stream + Tracklist): 27 Years of Reggae Radio II – The 80’s

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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.>

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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.

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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
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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

Don-Carlos-Prophecy
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
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#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
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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
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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.>

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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.>

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Gravel voiced deejay. Murdered in mysterious circumstances 1983. “Don’t drink Schweppes, drink Heineken”

Set 6:

  • Bad Brains – Rally Round Jah Throne; Rock For Light (Caroline) ’83 DC Rasta punks do reggae

<Bad Brains produced by The Cars – Ric Ocasek; 19 sec.>

  • Aisha – Prophecy; High Priestess (Ariwa) ’88; Faybiane Miranda cover
  • Bunny Wailer – Ceasefire; Roots, Radics, Rockers, Reggae (Shanachie) ’83 herbtune

<United States vs. Iran – Ceasefire 2015. Light the chalice! 26 sec.>

  • Don Carlos – Jah Jah Hear My Plea; Prophecy (Blue Moon) ‘84
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Urmia, Iran. My grandfather Jibrael from the Assyrian village of Borashan near the Lake

Set 7:

  • Ini Kamoze – General; Mini LP (Taxi) ‘84
  • Sister Carol – Jah Is Mine; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 Michael Jackson/Carpenters mashup

<Sister Carol singjay: singing mixed with deejay, toasting; 16 sec.>

  • Roots Radics – Everywhere Natty Go; Freelance (Kingdom) ‘85

<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
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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
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Livicated to dreads listening in Mali, West Africa

Words of Wisdom: