<All Treats! No Tricks! – Smile Jamaica Loves Halloween>
Greeetings,
It’s Fall and winter is coming. So that means October is Jah-loween Season on Smile Jamaica. The ghouls , witches and vampires doing rub a dub in the boneyard.
Half the set is devoted to instead of the usual’s King’s Music. Now it’s the Devil’s turn. Scratch. As in Lee “Scratch” Perry. Half the show devoted to the Witching Season: Best of 27 Years (the early discoveries in ’89-90), vinyl, 7″ Jamaican Jukebox and the undead and of course MUTANT dub
Don’t get stoned on my tombstone!
bless, I mean curse, robt
Set 1:
Lord Creator – Such Is Life; Heart of the Ark vol. 2 (Seven Leaf) ’78 UK vinyl: Lee Perry/Black Ark prod’n
Chalawa – Exodus Dub; (Micron) ’77 Can. Dub Album of the Hour to Marley’s Exodus
Peter Broggs – Pick Up the Reggae; Rastafari Liveth! (RAS) ‘82
Lee Perry – Jungle Lion; 300% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) ’73 instrumental
Dennis Bovell – Living in Babylon; Babylon Soundtrack (EMI) ‘80
Bushman – Backweh Vampire; 10” EP (Stingray) 2012 UK EP Jah-loween tune
Lovejoys – One Draw; Lovers Rock Showcase (Wackies) ’83 female duo on Rita Marley’s herbtune: 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
An A+ grade doesn’t do justice. Lee “Scratch” Perrry and his mythic Black Ark. Such is Life indeed
Set 2:
Peter Tosh – Black Dignity; Honorary Citizens: Jamaican Singles (Columbia) ’69 rarity
Trinity – Vampire; Dancehall 2 (Soul Jazz) ‘79
Jennifer Gad – Babylon Must Fall; Solid Foundation (Flag) ‘92
Dennis Brown & the Observers – Live After You; 10” (Observer Gold) ’75 Niney prod’n
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 27 Years – Jah-loween Set; 11 sec.
<Neocon Margaret Thatcher – Middle finger from UB40; 37 sec>.
The Iron Lady: Britain’s Margaret Thatcher. Showed that women could be Neoliberal/Neoconservative too
Set 5: Jah-loween Vinyl is Vital set
Inner Circle – Duppy or Gunman; Rock the Boat (Trojan) ’74 UK: duppy = J’can ghost
Clint Eastwood and General Saint – Talk About Run; Two Bad D.J. (Greensleeves) ’81 UK: update of calypso tune about making out w/ your girl in the boneyard
Cultural Roots – Devil-ites; Drift Away from Evil (Revolutionary Sounds) ’82 UK
Prince Alla – Evil Forces; Evil Forces (Calabash) ’84 Opa-Locka, FL
Chalice – Back Way Evil Forces; Stand Up! (CSA) ’85 UK
Set 6:
Bob Andy & Marcia Griffiths – United We Stand; Just My Imagination (Trojan) ’70 update of soul cover by Brotherhood of Man
Chris Blackwell is a Vampire. Lee “Scratch” Perry: I am a stud, I do NOT drink blood!
Jump straight to the Jah-loween Ark-Ive…if you dare!
Here is the musical torture of Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Spooktacular: Jah-tober 25, 2014
<Ranking Dreads vs. the Living Dead!>
Unlike Fox running the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror in November when it loses its impact after All Hallow’s Eve, the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives celebrates the last Saturday before Oct. 31st!
<Dubhouse of Horror; 43 sec.>
Word Series in October, means Treehouse of Horror in November. WTF?
Me being a librarian by trade, I had to be extra organized. I separated my 666 Jah-loween tunes by demography. Then I had my cheat sheet of 75+ horror soundbytes and movie trailers that I chopped up inna vivisection stylee during the month of Jah-tober in my Secret Dubratory buried in the crypt of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
A rare glimpse of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives located in the bowels of the Sugarhood, downtown Salt Lake City, Utah
Here is my Jah-loween Demonology:
Witchdoctors practicing Black Magic, Voodoo and Jamaican Obeah
Blood Suckers: Barnabas Collins, Dracula and assorted vampires
Devils: Lucifer, Satan with the Mark of the Beast pon their ugly faces
Dungeons, Coffins, Graveyards and Boneyards
Frankenstein
Ghosts and Jamaican duppies
The Mummy
Skeletons
Werewolves
Injustice League of Super Demons skanking for 3 hours on Smile Jamaica
< 3 hours of Reggae Spooktacular: Pick up your Cross and follow me!>
Smile Jamaica 20+ Jah-loween Jah-mboree: Sat. Oct. 25; 4-7 PM. 90.9FM krcl.org. The Undead are most certainly not Ital!
<Wolfman Jack; 13 sec.>
High-lights of this week:
Jah-loween Cauldron of Wickness: preview to next Saturday’s Jah-loween Jah-mboree; 3 hours of the Ranking Dreads vs. the Living Dead!
Dub Album of the Week: Augustus Pablo – East of the River Nile. Classic far east melodica sound ’78
Livicated to Peter Tosh: Oct. 19, 1944: story of his revenge against A-sad-ica. Because there is nothing “merry” about America for the poor man. 24 sec.
Roots Dawtas: Mutant dubstresses: Hollie Cook, Ranking Ann, Sevendub, Grace Jones
Seven Leaf: GT Moore mutant dub, Sugar Minott
Wailers Family Tree: dubble dose of Tosh, Marley last live show, Bunny Rule Dance Hall. Pato Banton pays tribute to Tosh
3 hours of Jah-loween and spooky soundbites “Chopped” up in my Secret Dubratory
<Peter Tosh crashes the market from beyond the grave! 34 sec.>
Peter Tosh – Day the Dollar Died; Mystic Man (EMI America) ’79: Happy Birthday, Stepping Razor: Oct. 19, 1944; 9 sec.
Ranking Ann – Love on a Mountain Top; Slice of English Toast (Ariwa) ’82 Mad Prof singjay
Englishman – Vampiar; Turning Point (Mighty Roots) ’95 DC bassie*
<Vampiar’s sucking the blood of the Ragamuffins; 8 sec.>
Tosh Unholy Trinity of Jah-loween Tunes: Dracula, Vampire, Mark of the Beast
Set 3:
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Is This Love; Live Forever (Tuff Gong) 9/23/80; Pittsburgh, Jah-sylvania
Sugar Minott – International Herb; 12” (Hamma) ’83 herbtune
Sevendub – Untitled Tribute (Peace Dove Mix); Dub Club Edition: Rock With Me Sessions (Collision); 2006 mutant dub female vox
Keith Hudson – Darkest Night; Flesh of My Skin, Blood of My Blood (Atra) ‘75*
<Blacula; 59 sec.>
“Hold di candle, take off your bangle, turn your neck pon di right angle. (Blackula) is the best in all di business. He’ll chew your neck like Wrigley’s”… Lone Ranger
Set 4:
Bunny Wailer – Reggae in the U.S.A.; Rule Dance Hall (Shanachie) ‘86
Zema – Joy in the Morning; Black Sheep (Melchizedek); female artist out of Los Jah-ngeles
Noah House of Dread – Don’t Let The Devil Hold You Back; Heart 2 (ON U Sound) ’88*
<The Thing With Two Heads; 55 sec.>
“I’ll give you some head…and shoulders to cry on”…Debbie Harry, Blondie
Set 5: Jah-loween Vinyl is V-Ital Set:
<Vinyl Evyl; 95 sec.>
The Gladiators – Duppy Conqueror; The Gladiators (Virgin) ’80 UK; Vinyl is Vital Jah-loween set. Marley cover. Duppy = Jamaican Ghost*
<Greetings: This week on Smile Jamaica: 55 sec. intro>
Jump straight to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive Jah-tober 11, 2014: Stream. Below is the Annotated Playlist with photos and captions and soundbites
Reggae History Lessons: Robert Palmer Meets Scratch; When Doves Cry; Hooters Reggae, Jamaican minorities in the music business
Tributes: Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Primal Scream
Fire and Brimstone: France’s war on the Seven Leaf
Back from two weeks of Radiothon: raising cash to keep Smile Jamaica commercial free. No Walmart for I ‘n’ I. Selah!
Getting into the Halloween, I mean Jah-loween, uh…spirit! The Island of Jamaica. Out of many one is the national motto.
Much like I have in excess of 800 4/20 Seven Leaf Reggae and Dub jams, I probably have 666 or so Reggae Jah-loween gems.
Superstition plus the evil metaphor of the living dead sucking the blood of the righteous, makes Reggae well attuned to the undead or Un-Dread.
Michael Rose of Black Uhuru: “I n I are the Living Dread Inna dis ya Dawn of the Living Dead!”
Black African folk tradition plus British concepts of spooks and spirits. Immigrant communities from Syria, India, China add their traditions of the Evil Eye into the stew.
Plenty of Reggae tunes devoted to witches, vampires, ghouls/duppies, zombies, mummies, werewolves and other assorted witchcraft and soul theft.
The French law on drug use is severe: every use, no matter the circumstances, is liable to penalty. The maximum penalties for cannabis use are a sentence from two months up to a year and/or a fine from 500 Euros to 25,000 Euros. ($636 – $31,815)
In what would be one of the more aberrant recent decisions of the French justice system, two pro-pot activists risk spending a year in jail for wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of a cannabis leaf.
A zealous public prosecutor this week demanded 12-month prison terms for Jean-Pierre Galland, president of the Cannabis Information and Research Collective, and Laurence Duffy, head of the campaign group’s Lyon branch, for contravening article 630 of the French public health regulations.
The law bans French citizens from “portraying in a favourable light and promoting or inciting the consumption of any product classed as a banned substance”. The pair are also accused of selling CDs bearing the deeply suspect title of “A little piece of hemp music”.
This shirt could get you a year in jail in France. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite….Bullshit all the way!
Set 2:
Aisha – Evil Spirits; High Priestess (Ariwa) ’88 female; Mad Prof. prod’n*
Culture – We Deh Yah Still; Lion Rock (Heartbeat) ‘88
4th Street Orchestra – One Life to Live; (Scientific) Higher Ranking Dubb (Rama) ’77 UK, Dennis Bovell
Junior X – Legalize It; 7” (Dollar Production); Tosh cover; Request
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: One of the earliest and still most beloved female Roots Reggae offering in the Ark-Ives
Set 3: Rockers do Reggae
Robert Palmer – Love Can Run Faster; From the Heart of the Congo (RUNNetherlands) ’78; Lee Perry prod’n
<Love Can Run Faster; 29 sec.>
Lee “Scratch” Perry Black Ark gem
Primal Scream – Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts); Screamadelica (Sire) ’91 UK
Prince wrote and composed “When Doves Cry” after all the other tracks on Purple Rain were complete. In addition to vocals, he played all instruments on the track. The song’s texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line, which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided, after a conversation with singer Jill Jones, that the song was too conventional with it intact.[4] During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Prince’s then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line.
Out of Denver, Collie-rado. Prince’s original was bass free. WTF?
The Hooters – All You Zombies; Nervous Night (CBS) ‘85*
The Hooters were formed in 1980 and played their first show on July 4 of that year. They took their name from a nickname for the melodica,[1] a type of keyboard harmonica which is German in origin and created by Hohner after a friend of Eric Bazilian lent Rob Hyman a Hohner model Piano-36 which was used on their recordings and never returned to the friend.[That same year, Bazilian and Hyman were asked to write, arrange and perform on the debut album of a relatively unknown singer named Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual, which was being produced by their former producer and friend, Rick Chertoff. Hyman co-wrote the song “Time After Time” (and also performed the distinctive harmony vocals during the chorus), which would go on to hit Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Extravaganza: Sat. Oct. 25, 2014 (4-7 PM). All treats, no tricks!
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.