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Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-bruary 20, 2021 – NASA vs. The God of Covid

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NASA rover Perserverance lands on Mars to do battle with Nergal, the Sumerian God of Covid

Greetings,

Congratulations to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab. They landed their Perserverance rover on Mars and have been road  tripping across the red planet sending back data.

NASA rover successfully lands on Mars

From previous fly overs and images captured there are a lot of strange anthropomorphic sites on the surface of the planet.

Martian Stonehenge?
Martian bullfrog?
Martian fertility goddess?

The most famous image is at Cydonia: The Face on Mars.  In 1976, NASA’s Viking orbiter (couldn’t land a vehicle on the planet then) captured an image of a mesa with an obvious human face.

Cydonia – Rock face mesa (or temple?) on Mars. Not a trick of the light. Two eyes, bejeweled helmet, nose, two lips. Humanoid!

The unimaginative scoffers at NASA tried to write it off as a trick of the light and shadows. But another photo captured it with even more clarity.  Even after more pictures surfaced the agency still adheres to the notion Cydonia is an optical illusion.

Now is the time to put up or shut up. Send Perserverance to the base of the mesa shaped rock formation and let’s get a close up.

But that strategy is not without risk. Many of the Russian rovers who tried to map the surface were mysteriously fried and knocked out just to be a Martian junk yard.

Could it be the Martians don’t want to be found? Ancient Astronaut Theory says yes!

Marvin the Martian gives the hairy eyeball to NASA planetary exploration

<NASA on Mars! For how long? 45 sec.>

What do I think? Thanks for asking! Mars has always been associated as a war planet of hostile intent.

Mars gets its name from the Roman God of War. The reddish hue of the planet gives off a malevolent vibe down below on Earth. Hindus called the red planet Angakara after their God of War and the occult. Wikipedia mentions that In ancient China, the advent of Mars was taken as a portent for “bane, grief, war and murder”.

Angakara – Hindu God/ancient astronaut. Mars and the God of war

My hypothesis is this. Cydonia is a temple to the Sumerian God Nergal. Consulting multiple episodes of Ancient Aliens, reading the text  of my many Sumerian religion books (don’t call what came first mythology!), this is my analysis:

In the main 7 Ancient Astronaut pantheon of so-called Sumerian Gods, Nergal is the most malevolent. His planet is Mars.

Who is Nergal? The Greeks plagiarized him as Hades. God of the Underworld. Associated with fire, war, destruction, devastation, plagues, death. Pestilence. Consider him the God of Covid!

Nergal – Sumerian God of Death

<Nergal (Mars) – The God of Covid; 2 min 55 sec>

The Martians who worship him, do not want their temple at Cydonia defiled. They can see what happens when mankind discovers/invades. Ask the Mayans and Aztecs the tender kindness shown to them by Conquistadors four hundred years ago. They are  gonna protect what’s theirs. I don’t expect that cute little rover, Perserverance, to have a very long life.

Nergal on high alert since Trump created the Space Force

<Your Ace From Outer Space; 77 sec.>

China and Elon Musk are trying to get to Mars as well. I ‘n’ I play the song by Alpha Blondy “Interplanetary Revolution” on this Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive podcast. The Martians know we never come in peace and they will not allow Starbucks, McDonald’s or Amazon on the Red Planet. No strip mining for minerals for Iphones.

Heed my prophecy, this will lead to weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And why does any of this matter? I ‘n’ I found a fresh stack of UFO tunes by Burning Spear, Alpha Blondy, Cornell Campbell and I ‘n’ I wanted to rinse them out on my typical UFOria sets on Smile Jamaica!

As I ‘n’ I always say: Look to the skies! Do not scoff!

Fly Me to the Moon? Mr. Spear needs to re-record as Fly Me to Mars

Reggae lost a giant this week. U Roy, age 78, joined Jah’s Heavenly Choir after a lifetime of diabetes. He wasn’t the first Jamaican to chant over Rock Steady riddims in the mid 60’s, but he was the most popular through his inventive lyrical style. He was the forefather to what came after: toasting (think Ranking Roger of the (English),  Beat), 70’s Reggae deejay chanters, dancehall ragga and especially hip hop and rap.

Many of the NYC hip hop originators like Kool Herc came from Jamaican emigrants who brought their record collections north from the Island. His records helped develop the most successful new music format since rock or soul. No U Roy, no Public Enemy, Jay Z or Snoop Dogg.

The last song on this Ark-ive podcast continues his origination: Your Ace From Space which led indirectly to Neil Armstrong skanking on the Moon a year later.

Now Bob Marley and Peter Tosh have someone to chant over their riddims in Jah’s abode.

bless, Bobbylon

<RIP U Roy – inventor of toasting, deejay, hip hop and rap; 56 sec.>

U Roy – “I originate while others imitate”. Indeed

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Feb. 20, 2021

Set 1:

  • Sister Frica – One in the Spirit; Rockers All-Star Explosion (Alligator) ’78 Chicago vinyl; ’85 comp.
  • The Revolutionaries? – Ital Step; Vital Dub Strictly Rockers (Hitbound) ’76 Brooklyn vinyl dub album of the hour
  • U Roy – The Originator; Rock With I (RAS) ’78; RIP inventor of deejaying
  • Zema &  the Gladiators –  Trouble Never Set; Jubilee (Melchizedek) 2009 SoCal female artist
  • Jackie Opel & the Skatalites – Valley of Green (Take 2); 4 Track EP (Top Deck) ’65 UK green vinyl
  • Culture – International Herb; Livity (RAS) ’98 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement

Set 2:

  • Rico Rodriguez – Rico’s Special (Reloaded); 10” (Above Rock) ’76 NY picture sleeve; trombone
  • Horace Andy – Better Collie; Prime of Horace Andy (Music Club) ’75 herbtune
  • Barry Brown – Stand Firm; Far East (Hitbound) ‘81
  • L.S. Diesel Meets Digidub – Skunk Funk (The Mix); King Size Dub Volume 1 (Echo Beach) ‘95
14 down, 36 to go. Lost South Dakota legal/medical weed

Set 3:

  • Rockers Hi Fi – Transmission Central; Thievery Corporation: DJ Kicks (!K7) ’99 dub comp
  • Big Youth – Get Up Stand Up; Trojan Tribute to Bob Marley Box Set (Trojan) ’76 Marley/Tosh cover
  • Roots Uprising – Master Blaster Jammin’; 12” (Top Ranking) ’81 Miami – Stevie Wonder cover/Marley Tribute
  • Sly Dunbar – Sesame Street Theme; Front Line Dub (Virgin Front Line) ’79 comp; Dub Album of the Hour
Stevie Wonder cover/Bob Marley tribute

Set 4: Jamaican Jukebox 7″

  • Susan Cadogan – Piece of My Heart; 7” (OB International) Janis Joplin/Erma Franklin cover ’80: 7” Jamaican Jukebox Set
  • Lui Lepkie – Tribute to Bob Marley; 7” (Joe Gibbs Ultra Sound) ‘81
  • Carlton Livingston – Cold Cold Winter; 7” (Grade One)
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – 13 Dead; Dub Ranting; 7” EP (Radical Wallpaper) ‘82 UK 8 track picture sleeve
8 track, 7″ 33 and 1/3 UK dub poetry

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

  • Ken Boothe – This Love of Ours; Reggae For Lovers  (Generation) ’79 Missisauga, Ont. Canada
  • Prince Far I – The More We Are Together; Musical History (Trojan) ’83 UK herbtune
  • Gedeon Jerrubaal – Jedna Milosc, Jedna Nie Nawisc; Reggae From Around the world (RAS) ’88 DC; Polish Reggae mixed by Adrian Sherwood
  • Amjam – Every Little Thing; Live Off the Board (Celluloid) ’87 live at CBGB punk club
  • Baby Rose – Barb Wire; Can Jam  Reggae Rockers Disco Style (Rocktone) ’81 Toronto, CA; Nora Dean cover
Polish Reggae on Smile Jamaica!

Set 6: Wailers Family Tree

  • Bob Marley & the Wailing Wailers – Stir It Up; Wail ‘N Soul ‘M Singles (JAD) ’67
  • Peter Touch – Selassie Serenade; Arise Blackman (Trojan) ’69 B-side organ instrumental
  • Marcia Griffiths – Steppin’ Out of Babylon; Women in Reggae (Shanachie) ’79 comp.
  • Bunny Wailer – Rise & Shine ; Solomonic Singles vol. 2 (Solomonic) ‘81
Short lived Wailers boutique label: Wail ‘N Soul ‘M (1966-1968)

Set 7: Best of Smile Jamaica 31+ Years

  • U Roy – Music Addict; Music Addict (RAS) ’87 RIP:
  • Aisha – Tribulation; High Priestess (Ariwa) ‘88
  • Black Uhuru – Sinsemilla; Tear It Up! Live (Mango) ’82 live in London
  • Dr. Alimantado – Sons of Thunder; Born For a Purpose (Greensleeves) ‘73
  • 4th Street Orchestra – Ah Who Seh? Ah Who She? Go Deh! (Rama) ’76 Dennis Bovell dub album of the hour
RIP at age 78. Inventor of toasting, deejay talkover, hip hop, rap

Set 8: UFO-ria. NASA on Mars

  • Burning Spear – Fly Me to the Moon; Mistress Music (Slash) ’88
  • Alpha Blondy – Interplanetary Revolution; Cocody Rock!!! (Shanachie) ‘84
  • Cornell Campbell – Stars; The Minstrel (Westside) ‘75
  • Laurel Aitken – Apollo 12; The Pama Years (Grover) ‘69
  • Bam Bam – Star Wars + Dub; Power of  a Woman (Bam Bam International) ’87 LA Vinyl/Roots Dawta
  • U Roy – Your Ace From Space; Version Galore (Treasure Isle) ‘68
U Roy – Your Ace from Space joins Jah’s Heavenly Choir

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-bruary 13, 2021 – Lovers rock Reggae

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Greetings,

<Smile Jamaica Lovers Rock Showcase; 80 sec.>

For three plus decades if you have listened to Smile Jamaica, you know that with the Ark-ives I ‘n’ I have given regular showcases for 420, Jah-loween, Mutant Dub, UFOria, Bobfest, Roots Dawtas, etc.

But not a full show of the Reggae genre called Lovers Rock. This format is very popular in places like the United Kingdom and the Pacific Islands. For me, it’s a little too smooth when I’m going more for grit. Many a Reggae love song won’t make the playlist if I ‘n’ I hear strings overdubbed on the track.

The day before Valentine’s Day was all Lovers Rock Smile Jamaica.

I ‘n’ I subscribe mostly to Big Youth’s “No more songs about girls”. But there are many people in JA UK and worldwide who favor more of the John Holt’s, Beres Hammond’s and Eddie Lovette’s than the Spear’s, Tosh’s and Prince Fari’s.

Me being a Reggae curmudgeon, I  ‘n’ I can and will chant down Babylon all the live long day. But in places like mid 70’s UK, in the dancehalls and shebeens around London, if you wanted the dawtas to come down and rub a dub, you better juggle-in some sweet ladies and smooth operators to the mix.

The gals dress up nice, want to go out and have a dread buy her a drink, take her on the dancefloor for a little rub a dub session and see ya later! And they weren’t gonna leave their seat for heavy militant Rasta protest.

Doing the Rub a Dub

Women artists and groups like Brown Sugar, 15 16 17 (2 sisters and a cousin), all the great Mad Professor dawtas like Aisha, Kofi and Sandra Cross ruled the airwaves with smoother Reggae focusing mostly on themes of love and love lost.

Aisha – Smile Jamaica’s favorite Roots Dawta

So maybe there is a way, I ‘n’ I can split the difference. Can I keep to the rootsy Reggae riddim accompaniment while blending in a focus of all romance and not have it sound wimpy or soggy?

Started with Gregory Isaac singing about the Night Nurse “only you alone can quench this here dry unproductive cough, cough, cough”. Dubbled up the Roots Dawta quotient,  hit the Lovers Rock stalwarts like Barrington Levy, Cornell Campbell and George Faith. End it with a half hour of Mutant Lovers.

Mutant Dub

Listen for yourself. Would this Ark-ive edition get the lovelies on the dancefloor or is it still the Roots head fraternity in the corner burning spliff and plotting revolution?

bless, Bobbylon

Smile Jamaica Lovers Rock Special Playlist: Feb. 13, 2021 

Set 1:

  • Ronnie Davis – All I Have Is Love; Crucial (Big Mac Soul Power) Can. Vinyl; Gregory Isaacs cover
  • Jah Shaka – Deliverance – Commandments of Dub Chapter 6 (Jah Shaka) ’87 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
  • Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse; Night Nurse (Mango) ‘82
  • 15 16 17 – Someone Special; Magic Touch (DEB) ‘79
  • Toots & the Maytals – My Name Is So Strong; Pass the Pipe (Mango) ‘79
  • Cornell Campbell – Girl of My Dreams; Natty Dread in a Greenwich Farm (Striker Lee) ‘75
  • The Silvertones – Take a Little Love; Rare Reggae Grooves From Studio One (Heartbeat/Studio One) ‘79
“Night Nurse, only you alone can quench this dry, unproductive cough, cough cough…..”

Set 2:

  • June Lodge – Kiss and Say Goodbye; Someone Loves You Honey (Joe Gibbs) ’80 Manhattans cover
  • Culture – Roots Girl; Roots & Culture (Jah Life) ‘82
  • Junior Delgado – Love Tickles Like Magic; Treasure Found (Incredible Music) ‘75
  • Brown Sugar – I’m in Love With a Dreadlocks; I’m in Love With a Dreadlocks (Soul Jazz) ’79 UK female lovers rock trio
  • George Faith w/ Dillinger – To Be a Lover; To Be a Lover (Mango) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark prod’n

Set 3:

  • Pat Rhoden – Boogie On Reggae Woman: Just My Imagination vol. 3 (Trojan) ’75 Stevie Wonder cover
  • Akabu – My Love; Warrior Queen (ON U Sound) ’95 UK female group
  • Aswad – Hooked on You; To the Top (Simba) ‘86
  • Leroy Smart – This Love; King Tubbys at the Controls vol. 2 (Original) late 70’s
  • Blackbeard – Electrocharge;  I Wah Dub (EMI) Dub ’80 Album of the Hour

Set 4:

  • Afro Omega – All My Love; Pick Up the Pieces EP (Afro Omega) 2006 SLC w/ female vox
  • Joe Higgs – My Baby Still Loves Me; Life of Contradiction (Esoldun) ‘75
  • Empress Rasheda – True Love; Hail H.I.M. (Roots) ‘95
  • Barrington Levy – Loving You; Time Capsule (RAS) ‘82***End of Set 4

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital Lovers Set

  • The Heptones – Soul Sister; Legends From Studio One (Trenchtown) ’72 Allen Toussaint cover: 
  • Barry Brown – True Love Is the Answer; Step It Up Youthman (Jackpot) ’79 UK
  • Jah Woosh – Falling in Love; Dreadlocks Affair (Trojan) ’75 UK dj to Midnight Train to Georgia
  • Honey Boy – Will You Be My Girl; In Dreamland (Taretone) ’81 UK
  • Sheila Hylton – Breakfast in Bed; 12” (Ballistic) ’79 UK Dusty Springfield cover

Set 6: Wailers Family Tree Lovers Rock

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Turn Your Lights Down Low; Exodus (Tuff Gong) ’78 Peter Tosh feat. Gwen Guthrie – Nothing But Love; Wanted Dread & Alive (EMI America) ’81 US vinyl
  • Marcia Griffiths – The Way I Feel About You; Steppin’ (Shanachie) ‘79
  • Bunny Wailer – Love Fire; Solomonic Singles vol. 2 (Solomonic) ‘78

Set 7:

  • Linton Kwesi Johnson – Lorraine; Bass Culture (Mango) ‘80
  • Aisha – Love Is So Simple; High Priestess (Ariwa) ‘88
  • Susan Cadogan – Say a Little Prayer; Songs of Aretha (Ariwa) 2019 Aretha Franklin covers

Set 8: Lovers Rock Mutant Dub Set

  • Singers & Players – Thing Called Love; Revenge of the Underdog (ON U Sound) ’82 
  • New Age Steppers – My Love; 7” (Statik) ’81 UK picture sleeve
  • Bim Sherman – You Are the One; ON U Sound Reggae Archives vol. 2 (ON U Sound) BB Seaton cover
  • Claude Fontaine – Love Street; Claude Fontaine (Innovative Leisure) 2019 Fr. dawta
  • Dry & Heaven – Love Explosion; Full Contact (BSI) 2000 Jah-pon w/ female vox
  • UB40 – Love Is All Is Alright; UB44 (Virgin)
Roots Dawta: Claude Fontaine – French Mutant Lovers Rock

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-bruary 6, 2021 – Happy 76th Bob Marley!

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Greetings,

<28 days of Bob Marley T Shirts; 1 min. 44 sec.>

  • Bob baseball cap? Check!
  • Bob hoodie? Check!
  • Bob necklace? Check!
  • Bob ID card? Check!
  • Bob mask/face diaper? Check!
  • Bob lighters, stash tin and grinder? Check, check, check!

Wore a Bob watch for 20 years til the face faded out. Johnny Law got my Bob pipe and I ‘n’ I have never come across a Bob bong.

“Hello Bong Hut. Do you ship to zip code 84112?” CLICK. “Hello? Hello?”

Now let’s celebrate Bob Marley’s 76th birthday on Smile Jamaica on his actual birth date: Feb. 6, 2021 – Feb. 1945….carry the one, by I ‘n’ I liberal arts math: 76 years!

Last year when Rona was raging the most, since I ‘n I couldn’t go into work, I cleaned out my closets and pulled together a closet full of Bob Marley T-shirts. Feb. 1 to Feb. 28th.

It’s not Bob Marley birth day it’s Bob Marley birth month! Gwan see if I ‘n’ I have 28 T shirts. I’ll probably go up until Apr. 20th flying Bob’s visage on  my person. (Never go on the Zoom camera at work. Hate Zoom. Hate. Hate. Hate it.)

Choice for Feb. 6, 2021 – livicated to the African Herbsman easy skanking his way through a crocus bag of Kaya

<Happy 76th Birthday Tribute to Bob Marley; 2 min. 29 sec.>

The Digital Millennium Copywrong Act makes this showcase mostly cover tunes. But I ‘n’ I do get to play 4 Bob tunes and stay legal. Back in the good old days I might have done Bob from Catch a Fire to Uprising or Bob A-Z (Ambush to Zimbabwe), but the love is  there from Bob’s family and contemporaries and I ‘n’ I (the Royal Rasta we)

A couple stories from three decades of Bob’s life and works. I ‘n’ I been tracking the Wailers from before their main Island albums (Catch a Fire ’73 to Uprising ’80)

The group was tired of being ripped off. Selling 80,000 copies of a hit ska single and collecting all of $25 dollars. Latest Smile Jamaica chronological album is a collection of when the group started their own label in true independent spirit: Wail ‘N Soul ‘M. It lasted a couple years yet the vicious Jamaican record industry wouldn’t let them into the record shops, radio payola and pressing plant. It lasted two years, but had some great post ska pre-rocksteady gems and a brilliant logo. And I ‘n’ I will hear more in the months to come. Rare and fresh roots!

<Wail ‘N Soul ‘M label; 84 sec.>

Wailing Wailers: Wail ‘N Soul ‘M logo

<Bob Marley the perfectionist aka The Skipper; 49 sec.>

Another quick story: When Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer went solo, Bob became the captain. And much like James Brown, he would fine band members if they missed a note or were late for sound check. Even the I Three (Rita, Marcia, Judy) would pay up if they missed a dance step. They all called him The Skipper.

The Skipper runs a tight ship

<Marley musical tributes; 32 sec.>

Most people didn’t know Bob was terminally ill. He was on a highly (ha ha)  successful tour backing Uprising. Disco mixes of “Could You Be Loved” and “Comin’ in From the Cold” were finally being played in the black dance clubs. His show was a rock experience like any stadium white act. He had crossed over.

Then he collapsed while running in New York Central Park. But May 11,. he went up to Jah’s Heavenly Choir. A whole heap of Reggae stalwarts wrote up lyrics, went into the studio and record fitting tributes which are showcased on this podcast of Smile Jamaica.

<Bob as Prophet Joseph; 18 sec.>

What greater tribute to Bob’s life could there be when Judy Mowatt composed Joseph comparing Bob to the Biblical Prophet Joseph. Leading the people out of Babylon back to Zion. Tremendous ballad.

Judy Mowatt

<Redemption Song the fitting end; 1 min. 34 sec.>

The fitting end was the last song on the last album Bob recorded while alive: “RedemptionSong” from Uprising. Two of my 4 Bob selections are the 12″ band mix, uptempo but the ballad version is sublime.

Bob and his acoustic guitar singing about:

Old pirates yes them rob I, take I to the merchant ship, minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit. But my hand was made strong, by the hand of the Almighty.

We forward in this generation triumphantly.

*****

As poignant an ending as John Lennon’s “Starting Over”. Had he lived and grew his audience through 80’s and MTV, touring, success in the black market, his world wide following for revolutionaries everywhere he would have been right up there with the Michael Jackson’s, Prince’s, Madonna’s and Springsteen’s.

Selah!

bless, Bobbylon

The Skipper leads the band of Jah’s Heavenly Choir

Smile Jamaica Ark-ives: Feb. 6, 2021 – Bob Marley Birthday Tribute

Set 1:

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Smile Jamaica; Pressure Drop (Island) ’77 UK Lee “Scratch” Perry mix 
  • Chalawa – Natural Mystic; Exodus Dub (Weston) Canadian dub album of the hour
  • Cedella Marley Booker – He’s a Rastaman; Awake Zion (Rykodisc) ’84 Bob’s Mom
  • Ijahman Levi – Bob & Friends Over There; Inside Out (Jahmani) ‘87
  • Ranking Joe – Tribute to Bob Marley; Rebel DJ (Jam Rock) ’81 Miami vinyl
  • Winston Reedy & Tim Hain – Reggae Man; 12” (Priority) ’85 UK
Bob’s Mom

Set 2:

  • Ky-Mani Marley – Dear Dad; CD Single (Gee Street) ’99 child 10 of 11
  • Session feat. Azeem – Tribute to Bob Marley; Tribute to Marley (M. Al’s) ’81 Oakland, CA vinyl.
  • The Abyssinians – Jah Marley; Last Days (Tabou1) ‘97
  • Sue Chaloner – Missin’ Mr. Marley; 12” (CNR) ’81 Can.
Child 10 of 11

Set 3: 7” Jamaican Jukebox Set

  • Faith D’Aguilar – Reggae Pioneers; 7” (Gorgon) 
  • Lone Ranger – Tribute to Marley; 7” (Studio One)
  • Prince Ital Joe – I Miss Bob Marley; 7” (Royal Safari Music) Hollywood CA
  • Errol Scorcher – Sounds of Hon. Marley; 7” (Dance Hall)

Set 4:

  • Bobby & Carol Kalphat – Memories of Bob; 7″ (Hit Vibes)
  • Alpha Blondy – Mystic Night Move; Masada (World Enterprise) ’92 Ivory Coast
  • Macka B – Bob; Everybody Loves Bob Marley (Neos) 2006 comp.
  • Shaka Man – If It Wasn’t For the Rastaman (Tribute to Bob); 2030 A.D. (Majicaa) 80’s LA vinyl
  • Jah Thomas – Tribute to the Reggae King; 12″ (Midnight Rock) ’81 JA
  • Moods Unlimited Orchestra – Could You Be Loved; Get Up Stand Up (Image) ’95 mellow instrumentals

Set 5: Vinyl is Vital

  • Culture – Psalms of Bob Marley; Good Things (RAS) ’89 DC
  • Papa Finnigan & Junior Ranking – Tribute to Bob Marley; Two the Hard Way (Heartbeat) ’82 DC Cambridge, MA
  • Sister Carol – Dedicated to Bob Marley; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ’84 Brooklyn
  • Horace Andy – Bob Lives On; Exclusively (Solid Groove) ’81 UK
  • Jah Batta – Great Superstar; 12″ (Top Ranking) ’81 Miami; dj to Horace Andy

Set 6:

  • Bob Marley & the Wailing Wailers – Freedom Time; Wail ‘N Soul ‘M Singles (JAD) ’66
  • Mikey Dread – In Memory (Jacob, Marcus, Marley); S.W.A.L.K. (Heartbeat) ’82
  • Bankie Banx- Remember Bob; Soothe Your Soul (Redemption)
  • Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster (Jammin’) – Hotter Than July (Motwn) ’80
  • Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster (Dub); 7″ (Tamla) ’80 US

Set 7:

  • Judy Mowatt – Joseph; Black Woman (Shanachie) ’76 Bob as Biblical prophet
  • Toots & the Maytals – Marley’s Gone (HIs Songs Live On); Live at Reggae Sunsplash (Genes) ’82 Montego Bay JA
  • Winston Groovy – Night Shift; 12″ (Sound City) ’84 UK

Set 8:

  • Randeesh – Bob Marley Is a  River of Love; Courage
  • I-Three – He’s a Legend; Beginning (EMI America) ’86
  • Everton Blender – Bob; Piece of the Blender (Heartbeat)  ’96
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Redemption Song; 12″ (Tuff Gong) ’80 JA band version
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Redemption Song; Uprising (Tuff Gong) ’80

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-Tober 31, 2020: Jah-loween Monster Bash!

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Greetings ghouls ‘n’ gals!

<All trix, no treats!>

Smile Jamaica loves Jah-loween. Here is the Monster Menagerie from the Ark-ives:

  • Anti-christ/Mark of the Beast/666 – 7
  • Bats – 2
  • Bermuda Triangle – 1
  • Black magic – 9
  • Cemeteries & graveyards – 7
  • Demons – 6
  • Devil, Lucifer, Satan – 59
  • Dungeons – 6
  • Duppies & Jumbies (Jamaican ghosts) – 14
  • Exorcist – 1
  • Frankenstein – 5
  • Ghosts – 19
  • Halloween holiday – 5
  • Haunted houses – 2
  • Hell hounds -1 
  • Loch Ness Monster – 1
  • Monsters – 4
  • Mr. Brown who rides around Trenchtown in a motorized coffin – 2
  • Mummies – 2
  • Obeah (Jamaican Black Magic) – 13
  • Skeletons – 2
  • Undertakers – 3
  • Vampires, Dracula and soap opera vampire Barnabas Collins – 63
  • Voodoo – 5
  • Werewolves – 4
  • Witches – 4
  • Zombies – 14

By my Liberal Arts math, that tallies up to over 260 Jah-loween gems. Plus all my horror soundbytes and movie trailers. (New additions in between the horrorfest such as The Exorcist, Planet of the Vampires,nNight of the Living Dead,  Phantasm).

All mixed into one bubbling cauldron of grimness. Perfect for this era of The Covid. I don’t listen to a lot of new Reggae releases but next year I’m sure to add some ghouly Covid delights.

There was once upon a time when I ‘n’ I never said a word and only played station ID’s during the 3 hours. It was truly 180 minutes of drum, bass and Afternoon of the Living Dead.

But since this is Smile Jamaica, I ‘n’ I tell you some stories to embellish the tunes:

  • Annie Palmer – the evil Jamaican wife of a slave plantation owner who used to whip her slaves mercilessly and continued to haunt them after she died

<Annie Palmer; 26 sec.>

In Jamaica police informers were referred to as Vampires:

<Vampire = informer; 27 sec.>

Peter Tosh always felt there were hell hounds on his trail. One night he was paralyzed from the forces of a demon. He prayed to Jah to save. Jah told him, “son, use the word and you will be as free as a bird.

That word? Bumba klaat. In Jamaica, that is as rude as saying Mother F’er in the US. Bum for vagina. Klaat = cloth. Rastas want nothing to do with their queen’s “monthly visitor”. So the epithet shocked the duppy (Jamaican ghost) out of Peter’s soul.

<Oh Bumba Klaat; 1 min. 22 sec.>

And how about the corpse who put a transmission, engine and four wheels on his coffin to terrorize the denizens of Trenchtown ghetto. His names was Mr. Brown.

<Mr. Brown rides around in a coffin; 21 sec.>

curse, Bobbylon

Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Monster Bash, 10/31/2020 Annotated Playlist: 85 sec.

Set 1:

  • Ini Kamoze – Hole in the Pumpkin; Shocking Out (RAS) ’87 3 Hours of Jah-loween
  • Scientist – The Voodoo Curse; Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (Greensleeves) ‘81
  • Black Uhuru – Anthem; Anthem (Island) ‘83
  • Ijahman Levi – Devil Disciple; Forward Rastaman (Jahmani) ‘87
  • The Toyes – Monster Hash; The Toyes (CD Tunes) ‘96
  • GG All-Stars – Haunted House; 12” (GG’s Hit!)   ‘78

Set 2:

  • Crucial Bee – Mark of the Beast; Just a Sting (All-Starr) US Virgin Islands vinyl
  • Sinead O’Connor – Vampire; Throw Down Your Arms (That’s Why There’s Chocolate & Vanilla) 2005 Devon Irons cover
  • The Ethiopians – Obeah Book; Slave Call (Rohit) ’74 Obeah – Jamaican black magic
  • Ghetto Priest – Dungeon; Vulture Culture (ON U Sound) 2003 Singers & Players cover
  • Clint Eastwood & General Saint – Talk About Run; 12” (Greensleeves) ’81 UK duppies in the cemetery

Set 3:

  • Lone Ranger – Annie Palmer; Barnabas in Collins Wood (Wave) ’79 JA vinyl: Jamaican witch/ghost
  • Pablo Gad – Blood Suckers; Blood Suckers (Celluloid) ‘78
  • Chalice – Back Weh Evil Forces; Stand Up! (CSA) ’85 UK vinyl
  • Sky High & the Mau Mau – Cemetery Robbery; Origination (Sky High) 70’s
  • Moses – When the Vampire Comes to Your Neighborhood; 12” (Wackies) ’82 Bronx
  • Leo Graham – Voodooism; Magnetic Mirror Master Mix (Anachron) 70’s Dutch vinyl; Lee “Scratch” Perry prod’n

Set 4:

  • Capleton & Big Youth – Mark of the Beast; I-Testament (Def Jam) ‘97
  • Jimmy Cliff – Satan’s Kingdom; I am the Living (MCA) ’80 US vinyl
  • Easy Star All-Stars feat. Mikey General & Spragga Benz – Thrillah (Easy Star) 2012 Michael Jackson/Vincent Prince
  • Carl McDonald – Satan Soldiers on the Run; 12” (Makdon) ’87 Brooklyn 

Set 5:

  • Peter Tosh – Oh Bumba Klaat; 12” EP (Rolling Stone) ’81 UK fight off demonic possession
  • David Lindley – Werewolves of London; Very Greasy (Elektra) ’88 Warren Zevon cover
  • Pluto & Trinity – Vampire Year; Ire Mas Rockers Carnival (Top Ranking) ’81 FL vinyl
  • Laurel Aitken – Witchdoctor from Amsterdam; Eskapade en France (Blue Moon) ’90 Fr. Vinyl

Set 6:

  • Future Pigeon – The Mummy; Echodelic Sounds (Record Collect) 2005 SoCal
  • Dennis Brown – Black Magic Woman; Black Magic Reggae (Trojan) ’72 Fleetwood Mac/Santana cover
  • Don Carlos – Night Rider (In Danger); Deeply Concerned (RAS) ’87 DC vinyl
  • The Wailing Souls – Face the Devil; Face the Devil (Jah Guidance) ’81 JA vinyl
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Mr. Brown; Black Magic Reggae (Trojan) ’70 rides around in a coffin

 

Smile Jamaica Digital Dubplate Oct. 2020 – Royal Flush!

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Greetings,

<Leaving on a jet plane> 2 min. 48 sec.

I ‘n’ I father has been fighting a brain condition called NPH. Makes him wet, wobbly, and wacky. So as the eldest, I have been driving my parents from Sun City West, AZ retirement home to Fort Benton, Montana and back again. Montana summers and Phoenix winters. This is my excursion:

 

Day 1: Covid Airlines: SLC to Great Falls, MT.

Get up and get out of the house at 5:30 in the AM. Suitcase, Burning Spear tote bag I carry everywhere, like a man purse, cash and ID. Don’t forget your mask!

No worries, time to dial up Uber on my IPhone.

Credit card 1 rejected, credit card 2 rejected, credit card 3 rejected. Credit card 4? REJECTED. Paypal rejected. WTF? In my haste to call a cab I dropped my new IPhone on the pavement and the screen shattered. F-bomb! 

As Neil Young would say, “Piece of crap.” Luckily the phone feature still worked and I ‘n’ I hailed Ute cab like back in the day. When I got settled I wrote Uber a 1 star, EFF YOU review on the App Store,  deleted those fools and settled in for the dreaded wait.

Uber is unreliable: I entered four legitimate credit cards and Uber rejected them all. They also wouldn’t take my PayPal account. They don’t care. I deleted the app, told all my friends & family. Now I either use Lyft or will call a cab. FIYA BU’N UBER!!! Worse than Covid!

This trip is already starting out with a bad omen…

Flying. When I ‘n’ I told friends I was getting on planes their look of horror and incredulity was obvious. Like I need any reminders. I ‘n’ I have no choice. Maybe the plane will be mostly empty like when I flew out in May.

Nope. Tin can Skywest plane was completely full. Two seats, aisle, two seats. Luckily no Utah county maskholes. Flight to Great Falls was 2/3 full. Had to pull the mask down at TSA. WTF? Great, Covid to the left of me, Covid to the right of me….

Day 2:  Fort Benton, Montana to Ogden, Utah (578 miles)

Could not wait to get on the road. Watching TV in a state with competitive electoral races is a nightmare. Every commercial was Dem attacking R. R slandering Dem. Every. Single. Break. Doesn’t anyone just sell Coca-Cola and toothpaste anymore?

1300 miles from North Central Montana to Phoenix retirement community. Drove the first stretch as far as Ogden, Utah.

  1. Pops, who was still wheelchair bound when I ‘n’ I made the reverse trip in May. Now walking with a cane and doing well mentally.
  2. Yimma (my mom). Sat in the back with her Ipad
  3. Bella our lap dog/rabbit killer
  4. I ‘n I. Did all the driving
Bella 27, Rabbits and lizards 0

That stretch in the Fall is beautiful if the weather is good. Freshly harvested wheat fields, cross the Missouri River a bunch of times, Go up and over the Continental Divide.

I ‘n’ I told Yimma we had to get on the road early. Because I wanted to be in our Motel Room in time for the first debate between the Orange Guy and the Pale White Guy.

Forced to listen to The Bridge on Sirius/XM. Soft rock of the 70’s. By the time we hit Butte, MT, I ‘n’ I wanted to throw myself off a bridge. After about the third Christopher Cross “classic” I was itching to switch to the Metallica channel! 1300 miles of wimp rock. Mainline the caffeine straight into my veins.

Sirius XM – The Bridge Channel: 1300 miles of musical Ambien

Checked into a grungy Motel 6 just off I-15. Ordered up some dinner delivery. I got out my vape pen and for the first time ever(?) watched FOX News. Shit meet show!

I ‘n’ I was vaping Trainwreck while watching a train wreck. Remember the two old dudes from the Muppets? This is America?

Paint the taller one orange, and that was what watching the Presidential Debate was like

Day 3: Ogden, Utah to Mesquite, Nevada (376 miles); 45 sec.

Grinding through Utah in a Buick Enclave crammed so full of cra….stuff I had to rely on the side mirrors. Fighting off narcolepsy from the endless rotation of Seals & Croft, James Taylor and Carly Simon. I ‘n’ don’t think I’m gonna listen to any Steely Dan for at least a year.

Central Utah would be prettier if it were 100 miles shorter from SLC to Nevada.

Nevada has a Karen governor so we weren’t able to stay at the casinos in May. This time we checked in to Virgin River Casino. Yimma got the rooms while I ‘n’ I drove to Deep Roots Harvest.

Hit Yimma up for 2 Benjamins. My Uber fee, strike that Lyft fee for doing all the driving. That debate debacle depleted my vape stock, and so picked up a couple cartridges: Strawberry Cough and Grape Ape. I ‘n’ I have a sweet tooth.

Reward for 954 miles driven in two days

Drove back and we all had a pandemically correct dinner. I ‘n’ I hate ketchup and pepper packets. First world problems!

Pops squeezes the nickel til the buffalo shits, so he stayed in his room and watched baseball in empty stadiums. Yimma and I hit the casino floor. She is a slots player. I’m a video poker guy.

New rules on the casino floor. My Pops said he wished he had the plexiglass business. No doubt. Gambling now is like playing cards in a phone booth. I’m claustrophobic so I looked for a machine on the end.

Gambling Covid style in a plexiglass coffin. (Click image for better view)

Low stakes, 25 cents x 5 coins per play. That first Andrew Jackson lasted long enough to wash down my “strawberries” with a Jack and coke. The bosomy cocktail waitress doesn’t come around much to the quarter machines.

Put a second $20 in. Played it almost to the end. $60 is about all I’m willing to blow in one sitting. Then it happened…..

CALL ATTENDANT! CALL ATTENDANT!

Huh? I looked down and saw 4000 coins on the machine tally. I had just hit a Royal Flush. Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of Spades.

When it dawned on me what 4000 quarters added up to, even by my Liberal Arts math “skills”, that was $1000. Then, of course, there was no attendant to be found! Covid casinos are still pretty empty. Lot of staff have been furloughed.

I ‘n’ I was afraid to venture from my machine b/c I figured the moment I step away, someone would sit down and claim my winnings. Finally I yelled at a Security Guy: HEY YOU! I WON THE JACKPOT!

He offered to get a person to pay out. That was a five minute wait that seemed like hours. I ‘n’ I was half paranoid that there would be a power outage or earthquake and the machine would black out. Once you win something like that you now have a reason to care about the outcome. Usually I play to fill time, sipping whiskey, surreptitiously toking up, (it’s flavored CBD!)  and listening to every 80’s hit by Madonna on the PA system.

Nice lady comes over with her notepad and a money bag. Counted out 9 $100 bills and 5 20’s. You know they want you to kick that last $100 back to them. My mind was wrecked, no way I ‘n’ I could concentrate. I took my cash and headed to find Yimma who had run out of a $100 pretty quickly. I was shaking. Never won a jackpot like that in my history of low stakes gambling in Vegas.

Ka-ching!

No 1099 either. Pure profit. We headed back to the rooms. Pops was looking at the two of us wearing shit eating grins. I laid down in front of him, 100, 200, 300….up to $1000. He just shook his head.

When I Tweeted out my winnings, a lot of well wishers said that I ‘n’ I deserved to win for risking The Covid (Bobbylon 17, Covid 0) to be the good son to drive my elderly parents all the way home.

<Tom Petty – Even the losers get lucky sometimes>; 75 sec.

As Tom Petty sang, “Even the losers get lucky sometimes.” Day 4: Mesquite to Sun City West, 350 miles. Sailed home that last stretch. Even the Air Supply tunes on Sirius XM sounded grittier than normal.

 

So when I ‘n’ I returned from 2 weeks on the road, cratedigging in 108 degree weather, this was my first song back on Smile Jamaica

Bless, Bobbylon

Set 1:

  • Sonya Spence – Jet Plane; In the Dark (Skynote) ’78 John Denver cover
  • Hi-Tech Roots Dynamics – Jammin’ Dub; 90 Degrees Dub (Top Beat) UK vinyl dub album of the hour
  • Aisha – Evil Spirits; High Priestess (Ariwa) ‘88
  • Aswad – Not Satisfied; Not Satisfied (Columbia) ‘82
  • The Reddies – Voodoo Woman; Cultivation (The Reddies) 2009 Jah-stin TX
  • The Toyes – Monster Hash; The Toyes (CD Tunes) ’96 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement; Boris Pickett cover
  • Mike Brooks & Matic Horns – The Devil’s Conspiracy; 10” (Sip a Cup) 2005 UK

Set 2:

  • Future Pigeon – The Mummy; Echodelic Sounds of Future Pigeon (Record Collect) 2006 herbtune
  • Ras Midas – Good Old Days; 12 the Hard Way (Tribesman) ‘78
  • Hollie – Desdemona; Twice (Mr. Bongo) 2014 female singer
  • Barrington Levy – Murderer; 12” (MCA) ’84 US
Roll a lickle spliff with di papyrus. Smoking sensimeena inna Mesopotamia

Set 3: RIP producer Bunny Lee

  • Horace Andy – Skylarking; Prime of (Music Club) ’75: 4 favorite Bunny Lee (RIP) productions
  • Ronnie Davis – Kaya; Tribute to Bob Marley (Esoldun) ’78 Bob Marley herb cover
  • Hortense Ellis – Unexpected Places; Queen of Reggae (JA) ‘76
  • Johnny Clarke – Every Knee Shall Bow; Dreader Dread (Blood & Fire) ‘78
Producer Bunny Lee, 1941-2020

Set 4:

  • Pablo Gad – Sad Mistake; Hard Times (Soul Village) ’80
  • Wendy Shaw – Ease Off Satan; Passing Through the Flames (Issachar) ’92 So Cal
  • Qualia – Plasma (Freshwater Mix); Earthjuice (Waveform) ’98 US mutant dub
  • Bunny Lee & the Aggrovators – Dub Gospel; Dub Will Change Your Mind (King Spina) 70’s Dub album of the hour

Set 5: Halloween Vinyl

  • Peter Metro – Obeah in Jamaica; Music Works for the Future (Jah Life Time) ’87 JA
  • Kwame – Hellhounds; Follow I (Polydor) ’80 US
  • Massive Dread – Vamps on the Corner; Strictly Bubbling (UFO) ’82 JA
  • Prince Alla – Evil Forces; Evil Forces (Calabash) ’84 Opa-Locka, FL
  • Wailing Souls – Penny I Love You; Wailing (Jah Guidance)  

Set 6: 7″ Jamaican Jukebox Halloween

  • Dennis Alcapone – Mr. Brown; 7′ (Observer) …rides around in a coffin 
  • Freddie McGregor – Mark of the Beast; 7” (Soul Syndicate)
  • Larry Marshall – Duppyman Skank; 7” (Moodisc) ’96 duppy = Jamaican ghost
  • Bionic Steve – Bermuda Triangle; 7” ’80
  • Prince Buster – Ghost Dance; 7” (Prince Buster) ’72

Set 7: Wailers Family Tree Halloween

  • Peter Tosh – Jumbie Jamboree; The Toughest (Heartbeat/Studio One) ’64
  • Bob Marley and the Wailers – Duppy Conqueror; 7” (Upsetter) ‘70
  • Bob Marley and the Wailers – Mr. Brown; Songs of Freedom (Tuff Gong) ‘70
  • Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man; Blackheart Man (Mango) ’76

Set 8: Mutant Dub Halloween

  • Singers & Pl ayers – Dungeon + Jah Merchant Ship; Revenge of the Underdog (ON U Sound) ’82 UK
  • Gorillaz – Dracula; Gorillaz (Virgin) 2000
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Blood Suckers; Belly of the Beast (Ariwa) ’96 UK dub poet
  • Finley Quaye – Mashing Up Lucifer/Stone the Devil; CD Single (Epic) ‘97
  • Earl Sixteen – Gates of Hell; 10” (Sip a Cup) 2004 UK
  • Natacha Atlas – I Put a Spell on You; Best of (Mantra) 2005 Algerian dawta, Screaming Jay Hawkins cover

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-tober 19, 2019 – Hole in the Pumpkin!

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High Fructose, the true horror of Halloween

Greetings,

I ‘n’ I have been hosting Smile Jamaica for 30 years now. October 1989. Don’t remember the first Halloween Reggae show I did, but it would have been early 90’s.

So a quarter century of the exploration of Jamaican, mostly, superstitions about witches, vampires, ghosts/duppies, Obeah Black Magic, The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein and the rest!

About 10 years ago I was transitioned into head of the Audio Studio at the Marriott Library: Fall 2009. The early days of digital content. So I had started to notice many soundbytes in a horror vein from my Reggae CD collection.

I started ripping those clips from CDs, pull them into ProTools digital editor. “Snip, snip”. Export as .mp3. Same with a multitude of Halloween sound effects disks.

And there you go! Just like Dr. Frankenstein cutting up sound for your ghoulish pleasure!

Oct. 26th Smile Jamaica will be 3 hours of Boneyard Skanking. But play this podcast to keep the kids off your porch while you hand out your high fructose delights.

curse, Bobbylon

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-tober 19, 2019 Annotated Playlist; 91 sec.

Set 1:

  • Don Carlos & Gold – Harvest Time; Raving Tonight (RAS) ’83 DC vinyl
  • The Aggrovators – Strictly Rockers in the Dreadland (Justice) ’76 JA dub album of the week
  • Victor Essiet & the Mandators – Mi Friends (Duppy Conqueror); One Love One World (Mystic) 2006 Nigerian singers cover Bob Marley Halloween tune
  • Hortence Ellis – Words; Queen of Reggae (JA) ’82 soul cover?
  • Delroy Wilson – Better Must Come; Norman Jay MBE Presents Ska and Boogie (Sunday Best) ’71
  • The Itals – Herbs Pirate; Calling Rastafari (Nighthawk) ’82 comp: 4:20 Service Announcement
  • Mike Brooks – Devil’s Conspiracyj 10″ (Sip a Cup) Mid 2000’s UK militant steppers

Set 2:

  • George Faith – All the Love I’ve Got; To Be a Lover (Mango) ’77 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark prod’n
  • Milton Henry – Them a Devil; Who Do You Think I Am? (Wackies) ’85
  • Zema – Somebody Wrong; Look at the Heart (Melchizedek) ’99 Culver City, CA female
  • Dennis Bovell – Pow Wow; All Over the World (EMI) 2006 UK dubber on 70’s I Roy riddim
  • Moses – When the Vampire Comes to Your Neighbourhood; 12″ (Wackies) ’82 Bronx, NY

Set 3:

  • Dillinger – I Thirst; Cocaine (Charly) ’79 Barnabas Collins vampire: Best of Smile Jamaica 30 Years – Halloween
  • Don Carlos – Night Rider (In Danger); Deeply Concerned (RAS) ’87 ghostbuster
  • Willi Williams – Dungeon; Messenger Man (Blood & Fire) ’80
  • Wailing Souls – Face the Devil + Dub; Wailing (Jah Guidance) ’81

Set 4:

  • Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sharon and Cedella Marley – (I’m) Hurting Inside; Mighty Quinn soundtrack (A & M) ’89 Bob Marley cover
  • Thievery Corporation feat. Ras Pidow – The Outernationalist; Babylon Rewound (ESL) 2004 DC dubers rmx Rasta elder
  • Scientist – Blood on His Lips; Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampire (Greensleeves) ’81 Halloween dub
  • General Saint & Clint Eastwood – Talk About Run; 12′ (Greensleeves) ’81 UK
  • Sly & Robbie – Stepping Out a Space; Dub Revolutionaries (Ariwa) 2003 Dub Album of the Week

Set 5: Jah-loween Vinyl

  • Lone Ranger – Annie Palmer; Barnabas in Collins Wood (Wave) ’79 JA – Jamaican witch

<Annie Palmer; 39 sec.>

  • Crucial Bee – Mark of the Beast; Just a Sting (All-Star) US Virgin Island
  • Dennis Brown – Spellbound; Spellbound (Joe Gibbs) ’80 Miami, FL
  • Chalice – Back Weh Evil Forces; Stand Up (CSA) ’85 UK
  • Amp-Ech – Living Dead + Dub; Against Injustice (Amp-Ech) ’87 JA

Set 6: Wailers Family Tree

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Maga Dog; Marley, Tosh, Livingston & Associates (Studio One) ’66 Tosh vox

<Maga dog = mangy dog; 66 sec.>

  • Peter Tosh – Mystic Man; Live at the Ritz (bootleg) 9/29/81 in NYC
  • Bunny Wailer – Running Away; Hall of Fame (RAS) 50 Bob Marley songs for his 50th birthday
  • Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers – 666; Hey World! (EMI America) ’86
  • Jah Shaka Meets Aswad – Addis Ababa; In Addis Ababa Studio (Jah Shaka) ’84 UK dub album of the hour

Set 7: 7″ Jamaican Jukebox Halloween

  • Twinkle Brothers – Devil Worshippers; 7″ (Twinkle) ’99 – 7″ Jamaican Jukebox Jah-loween Set
  • Chezidek – Vampire; 7″ (Massive B) ’96
  • Levi Williams – Duppy Jamboree + Dub; 7″ (Mighty Cloud + Student) ’74

Set 8: Mutant Dub Halloween

  • Balkan Beat Box – What a Night; Give (National Geographic) 2012 Israeli about a ghost:

<Who is Jimmy Savile?>

  • Ghetto Priest – Dungeon; Vulture Culture (ON U Sound) 2003 UK: Singers & Players cover
  • Hollie Cook – Desdemona; Twice (Mr. Bongo) 2014 UK dawta about a ghost encounter in the park
  • Lee “Scratch” Perry – Grim Reaper; On the Wire (Trojan) 200 UK
  • Finley Quaye – Mash Up Lucifer/Stone the Devil; CD EP (Epic) ’97
  • Dubchek – Duppy Train;  Down Memory Gap Lane (Unitone World) 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-gust 31, 2019: Ganjarado Cratedig Rinse Out!

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Twist & Shout. Terrific Denver record shop

<Cratedigging in Denver; 79 sec.>

Greetings,

To “rinse out” is a deejay term commonly used to showcase a fresh stash of vinyl on your sound system or deejay gig.

I ‘n’ I use it on this edition of Smile Jamaica as a way to juggle the Reggae vinyl I recently purchased while on vacation in Denver.

Bobbylon’s Guide to Cratedigging

  1. Plan your record (and book and dispensary) shopping before you leave the house. I tend to go neighborhood by neighborhood to minimize transit time. Yelp, Yellowpages online, Google.
  2. Upload my discographies to Google Drive or Dropbox so I know what I have and don’t buy duplicates
  3. Print out my wishlist of items I’m looking for
  4. Load up on coffee and green smoke for the excursion. Cratedigging on the Seven Leaf is one of life’s great pleasures
  5. Comb through the racks: I start with Rock and Blues. Spend time on Soul and Jazz. Mutant Dub gets the second most time “digging”: Techno, electronic, lounge. Then Reggae CDs (many of them I already have.)
  6. Spend the bulk of time in the Reggae Vinyl section.
  7. Mention I’m a Radio Deejay and try and score 10% off
  8. Take my trusty Burning Spear record bag to keep everything together
  9. Never leave vinyl in the car during warm months.
  10. Always put your stash in the trunk to deter break ins
  11. At the end of the day sift and sort my haul

And that is how you Cratedig!

*****

So I bought about $200 work of Reggae vinyl and let it simmer for the week. So I could hear it fresh from the needle to the monitor speakers on Smile Jamaica. 

First time audio experience for I ‘n’ I as well as the masses. Tune in and hear the fruits of my labor!

bless, Bobbylon

Wax Trax records. Parking is a bitch but worth the wait

Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives Jah-gust 31, 2019: All Vinyl

Set 1:

  • Black Uhuru – What Is Life; Anthem (Island) ’83 JA vinyl (no overdub mix): 3 Hour Vinyl Show
  • Blackbeard – Electrocharge; I Wah Dub (More Cut) ’80 Dub Album of the Hour
  • The In Crowd – Born in Ethiopia; His Majesty Is Coming (Creole) ’78 Fr.
  • Judy Mowatt – Mr. Big Man; Mellow Mood (Ashandan) ’75 JA
  • Johnny Organ – Bewitched; Come Back Darling (Techniques) ’70 JA
  • Sugar Minott – Ease Up Mr. Customs Man; Time Longer Than Rope (Greensleeves) ’85 UK
  • Idren Natural & Seventh Sense – Sip a Cup; 12″ (Jah Works) 2007 UK 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Jamaican mix of the album that made me a stone cold Reggae fanatic

Set 2:

  • Paul Davidson – Midnight Rider; Reggae Chartbusters 76 (Cactus) ’76 UK
  • Yellowman – Honour Your Mother; Jack Sprat (Hit) ’82 JA
  • Barbara Paige – Babylon Must Fall; Hear Me Now (Epiphany) ’82 Santa Cruz, CA
  • The Upsetters feat. The Heptones – Zion Blood; Super Ape (Mango) ’76 Lee “Scratch” Perry/Black Ark prod’n
  • Mark Jah Jah  Bryan – Revelation Song (Rohit International) ’83 Barbados Reggae
Cratedig Denver: 2019 addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives

Set 3:

  • Dennis Brown – Slave Driver; Joseph’s Coat of Many Colours (Laser) ’79 UK
  • Bomb Shelter – Stampede; Human Rights (Total Sounds) ’89 US
  • Doreen Shaffer – This Love; Pirates Choice (Studio One) ’80 JA
  • Jonathan Arthur – Burnin; 12″ (Emerald Isle) ’89 Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Bullwackies All Stars – Recording Connection; Black World (Wackies) ’79 Dub Album of the Hour
Rootsy for 1989. Cratedig: Denver 2019 score!

Set 4:

  • Dillinger – Tallowah; Tribal War (New Cross) ’86 UK
  • Kojak & Liza – Two Bad Duppy; Showcase L.P. (Kojak) ’80 JA
  • Michael Palmer – Mr. Officer; Ghetto Living (Bebo’s Music) ’85 Wheaton, MD
  • Carlton Livingston & U Brown – Mr. Deejay; 12″ (A1) ’81
Cratedig from Ganjarado

Set 5:

  • Kofi – Reggae Starship; Black…With Sugar (Ariwa) ’89 UK female
  • Owen Gray – Turning Point (Version); Dreams of Owen Gray (Trojan) ’79 dub to Tyrone Davis soul cover
  • U Roy – Babylon Burning; Natty Rebel (Virgin Front Line) ‘ UK dj to Turning Point
  • Sylford Walker – Books of the Old Testament; 12″ (Art & Craft) ’79 UK
Ganjarado cratedig

Set 6: Wailers Family Tree

  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Let Him Go; Marley, Tosh, Livingston & Associates (Studio One) ’66 JA – Wailers Family Tree; Bunny/Peter on vox

<Let Him Go; 90 sec.>

  • Peter Tosh – No Sympathy (1972 mix); This Is Reggae Music vol. 3 (Mango) ’76 US diff. mix than on Legalize It
  • Bunny Wailer – Crazy Baldhead; Tribute (Solomonic) ’80 Bob Marley covers
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers – Rainbow Country; 12″ (Daddy Kool) ’77 UK picture sleeve
  • Creation Rebel & New Age Stppers – Chemical Specialist – Threat to Creation (Cherry Red) ’81 Dub Album of the Hour

Set 7:

  • Wild Bunch – Mr. President Man; Wild Bunch (Ariwa) ’84 UK w/ female vox
  • The Pioneers – Smokin’; Freedom Feeling (Trojan) ’73 UK
  • Matumbi – Man in Me; Best of (Trojan) ’76 UK Bob Dylan cover

Set 8: Mutant Dub

  • Alien Dread feat. Martin Campbell & Hi Tech Roots Dynamics – Valley of Decision; Overcharge 10″ (ACL 2000) 2010 UK picture sleeve: Mutant Dub Set
  • The Clash – Armagideon Time/Justice Tonight & Kick It Over; Black Market Clash 10″ (Nu Disk) 2010 UK picture sleeve; Willi Williams cover
  • Mungo’s Hi Fi feat Soom T – Boom Shiva (Scotch Bonnet) 2012 herbtune w/ female vox
  • Dub Syndicate – Green Stick; Echomania (ON U Sound) ’93 UK
  • Dubfront Outernational w/ Vice Grip – Run Come Children + Dub and Run; 10″ (Dubfront) 2000 Germ.
Ganjarado cratedig 2019