Myself (KRCL vet since 1988); Brian Kelm blues savant since 1980 and Renee and Dawn, Drivetime Imposters, 2002-2008 talk about how we got involved at KRCL.Your station that rules the nation!
Radioactive was KRCL’s listener call in show that ran from 2003 Labor Day until summer 2012.
I did the very first hour long interview on Labor Day 2003. The show was born from the 3 hour call in we did on Smile Jamaica when the 2003 March Iraq Invasion went hot. No music. Just listeners calling in with their thoughts on the war and me talking about Middle East politics which I have two college degrees in.
I probably did 400 interviews. Nick Burns, who was there the nearly nine years the show aired, interviewed us on our history at KRCL. Nice.
Radioactive Progressive Interviews. Sept. 2003 – July 2012. I did 400 of them: Howard Zinn, Amy Goodman, Ralph Nader
That Black Uhuru album above pretty much lit the fuse on nearly three decades of collecting, listening and promoting Roots Reggae and Mutant Dubwize.
25 years of Reggae Radio on Smile Jamaica.
Since Jah-tober 1989: krcl.org 90.9FM SLC
So to celebrate that legacy I am going to try and recreate what my first Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive show might have sounded like: Jah-tober 1989.
Now I am going to do the same with those antique aluminum by-products things which can serve dubble duty as a drink coaster:
Best of 25 Years of Smile Jamaica: All CDs.
Rare that I don’t bust out any Black Wax, but today I’m going through what I was deep into, Roots and Dubwise, back in the mid 80s (Oct. 1986 is when I first touched down on Black Uhuru – Anthem) up until 1988 when I started early mornings on KRCL (3 o’Clock Roadblock) and then primetime Saturdays on Smile Jamaica: Jah-tober ’89.
Dub Album of the Week: Early addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
So I spent the week jotting down tunes and artists that I would have really played in the first two years of being on air. Year 1: 3 o’Clock Roadblock, learning how to do radio. Then a little more than a year later doing Saturday Afternoons to a bigger and loyal Salt Lake Reggae audience on Smile Jamaica.
Wailers Family Tree: Bob (Uprising); Peter (Legalize It); Bunny (Blackheartman); Marcia – Naturally; Judy – Black Woman; Rita – One Draw
Heavy Roots: Spear, Culture, Israel Vibration
Seven Leaf: Rita, Max Romeo
2 Tone Ska: The Selecter and The Beat
Deejays and Dub Poets: LKJ, Mutabaruka, I Roy, Dillinger
Early addition to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
So I get 3 hours and that means about 33-35 songs. I pulled 50 and then put them in chronological order. (As a Librarian I have a database of my music.) “Year” is one of my data entry cells.
From the earliest (1967) Prince Buster to 1990 (African Head Charge). Tune in to see how it all sounds.
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica live every Saturday 4-7 PM Mtn. Time:
Ark-Ive. Here on Smile Jamaica blog; without commercial interruptions
Twitter: SmileJ_KRCL for live alert and stream upload/blog posts
When Island released the entire Marley LP catalog on CD, I bought every one on the first day of release. Graywhale CD – SLC. Thanks to Ronnie Raygun’s student loan program.
Mutant Dub World Tour: France, Los Jah-ngeles, Jah-pon, UK
<Praise Jah for Daylight Savings: UFO watching soundtrack>
Roots Dawtas: Pacific Islander duo, Soom T from Scotland; Aisha UK; Canadian dub poetess; Los Jah-ngeles, Collie-fornya, French dubstress
Vinyl is Vital …. rhymes with Ital: Canadiandub poetry, herbage, JA harmony trio, JA deejay; Marley tribute
Wailers Family Tree: Bob last live ’80; Peter at the One Love Peace Concert ’78; Bunny Wailer digital ’86; Johnny Clarke covers Bob inna herbal stylee.
Slaying the Drug War with riddim!
Below is the Annotated Playlist: photos, captions, Reggae History Lessons, soundbytes: Jah-vember 1, 2014 Smile Jamaica
Set 1: Vinyl Seven Leaf Election Celebration Set
<4 down, 46 to go!: Smile Jamaica’s Pot Prediction 75% success rate; 85 sec.>
Aisha – His Imperial Majesty; Daughters of Zion (Twinkle) ’93 UK vinyl
Bush Chemists – Raw Raw Dub (ROIR) 2005, Dub Album of the Week; UK mutant dubbers
Azeem & Session – Big Head Spliff; Dreadfly (Joe Gibbs) ’82 FL vinyl: 4:20 Vinyl Set. 4 down, 46 to go!
Insomniacs hate Daylights Savings Extra Hour bull flop like I hate April 15, Tax Day!
<Daylight Savings Time and Insomnia; 9 sec.>
Jump straight to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive: Jah-vember 1, 2014
Greetings,
Jah-loween Recap 2014
Everyone have a good time getting innocent children hooked on High Fructose Corn Syrup? Tsk, tsk. Definitely NOT Ital or Vital
Did any of you folks stream the 12 hours of Jah-loween tunes I gave you? Mutant Dub and Roots Reggae Mixcloud Only shows without me talking. Spooky tunes, horror bytes and movie trailers. Plus 2013 and 2014 KRCL Live Smile Jamaica Monster Hash. Good any time of year!
So check it! I had zero trick or treaters Friday. I must be that house on the block. Too many voodoo sounds and smells emanating from the bowels of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives.
<That House on the Block: The Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives; 14 sec.>
Trick or Treaters never approach the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives on Jah-tober 31st.
When I was a youth in Montana, Halloween was definitely not as ideal as it is in Utah. Usually you had to walk on snow or have your winter jacket on over your costume.
And you better not give me and my hoodlum friends candy corn or raisins. If you gave out crap candy, you could expect an egg splat on your picture window! Fiya bun candy corn! Fiya bun raisins or nickels! Gimme the fructose corn poison. Droooollllll…..
<Fiya bun Candy Corn and Raisins in my Treat Bag; 18 sec.>
I would rather get a razor blade apple in my Trick or Treat Schwag than ras klaaat candy corn! Fiya bun di candy corn! Reeses, Hershey and Snickers. The Holy Trinity of Early Onset Diabetes!
Vote Tuesday Nov. 4: Tweedle Dum Versus Tweedle Dee.
The saying applies from Jamaica: Same thing for breakfast
<Smile Jamaica’s Pot Vote Election Prediction; 46 sec.>
1. Jah-laska: Ballot Measure 2. Legalization a la Collie-rado and Washington State. Smile Jamaica says: Most likely not going to win
I have seen too many negative polls and only one outlier pro pot result that seemed too good to be true, so it seems suspect. 52% No to 48% Yes, but if millennials don’t show up for the midterm vote it will fall short. Should have waited until 2016 with more robust youth and libertarian turn out. Hope I’m wrong!
2. Jah-regon: Measure 91. Legalization a la Collie-rado and Washington State. Smile Jamaica says: Most likely going to win. Latest polls are encouraging because of the gap between Yes (52%) and No (41%). Could be hurt if disaffected millennials don’t turn up for the midterm vote. Looks promising but not a lock per DC.
3. Washington DC: Not full legalization as in #1 and #2 but you can possess up to 2 ounces of cured bud and be able to grow six plants. Huge YES. Will probably cross over 60% yes. But it’s gonna be a nightmare.
So much of surrounding DC is federal jurisdiction. You don’t want to get busted with a stalk of sensi on Fedland. You’re gonna be under Heavy Manners. Plus in a likely ascendant Republican Congress, DC is going to probably face Congressional roadblocks to any semi-legal implementation.
4. Guam: Joaquin (KC) Concepcion II Compassionate Cannabis Use Act of 2013. Medical Marijuana and the creation of legal dispensaries. Vote would ratify the legislation. Smile Jamaica says: I can’t find any reliable polls but its dependency to Federal jurisdiction makes any implementation difficult.
5. Florida. Amendment 2. Medical Marijuana. Smile Jamaica says: No Chance. Needs 60% to pass. Peaked at 57% and has been trending further down.
Non-statewide, local/county jurisdiction votes Tuesday: Michigan (12 cities), Maine (2 cites), New Mexico (2 counties). Plus something a gwaan in Jah-suchusetts district which I was too foggy to understand.
<Pot Election II; 21 sec.>
Jah-regon Yes on LegalizationJah-laska. Better luck in 2016
<Halloween Holdovers, Never Leftovers: 3 hoursl 62 sec.>
Here is how I wanted to program/select the annual Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Ark-Ives. Reggae and Dubwize celebrating Vampires, Witches, Frankenstein and the rest of the Undead Menagerie. Without me talking. Without any station Ids or advertising.
(Reggae very superstitious, very concerned with good vanquishing evil.) Evil is real and takes a non-human form.
In between the boomshots will be Horror movie clips and other Jah-loween Special effects. Definitely minor key mood music. On these Mixcloud only shows, I want to let the music do the talking.
I cooked this up in my Secret Dubratory and imported tunes from my CD Suitcase of Jah-loween Disks using ProTools. Multi tracked recording with the sound bytes and movie trailers “stitched” into the segues. Then I ran it through a sound app called Smart Gain which was suggested to me to normalize sound across the tunes and bytes for the 3 hours. Just like Dr. Frankenstein put together his creature from hunks of flesh!
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Since Apr. 2013 I have started to Archive Smile Jamaica shows on Mixcloud. Smile Jamaica Webpage/blog Apr. 2014
My favorite theme shows are the 4:20 Cannabis Service Show and the Jah-loween Show. Probably a thousand Seven Leaf odes and 666Reggae Dubwize Halloween or Jah-loween.
<Wolfman Jack’s garlic advice for your Jah-loween Reggae Jah-mboree; 11 sec.
Radio Deejay Wolfman Jack: Hang some green onions to keep the Vampires away!
I figure you can have some seasonal Roots Reggae and/or Mutant Dub Halloween jams while you have your house party or passing out High Fructose Corn Bombs to the tykes.
Run a speaker from your Hi Fi to your porch. Keep the kids from flaming dogshit or toilet papering your house for giving out stale candy corn and raisins
To keep hooligans from lighting dogshit on your porch, run a speaker feed of the Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Ark-Ives to scare them off
3. Smile Jamaica Mutant Dub Jah-loween; Mixcloud only show. Chopped up in the tomb of my Secret Dubratory: Living Dead Dubwize with horror bytes and movie trailers.
That Online only Dub-loween Horror collage was so much fun I have dug my grave to skin up 3 hours of what I wasn’t able to play last week on Smile Jamaica: Monster Hash.
I will post that Mixcloud Spooktacular: Oct. 30th at the Witching Hour of All Hallow’s Eve at Midnight so you have 24 hours to spin 12 hours of Smile Jamaica Jah-loween; Oct. 31st! Bootiful 15 sec.
curse, robt
Don’t show your eyeteeth, your plastic smile nah work…Michael Rose, Black Uhuru
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!>
Ark-Ive. Here on Smile Jamaica blog; without commercial interruptions
Twitter: SmileJ_KRCL for live alert and stream upload/blog posts
Gonna roll a lickle spliff wif di papyrus for 3 hours on Smile Jamaica. Boo-tiful!
Greetings,
<Smile Jamaica’s 20+ Annual Jah-loween Dubhouse of Horror>
Been bunkered down in my Secret Dubratory pulling the Undead Rankings out of their crypts, tombs, sarcophagi, coffins and other otherworldly abodes for 3 hours of the best in Reggae and DubwizeJah-loween.
My task is to juggle 666 Jah-loween tunes into about 30. Including as many of the 75 sound bytes and horror movie clips that I have chopped up and stitched up. 7sec.
curse, robt
Here is the mangled menagerie of the Undead who you can expect to hear this afternoon:
Dub Album of the Week: Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (Greensleeves)
<Scientist: I Wah Blood!>
Black Magic and Jamaican Obeah/Voodoo
<Egyptian Spell; 58 sec.>
Frankenstein
Ghosts and their West Indian cousins the Duppies
The Mummy
Satan, Lucifer and the Devil
Vampires: Dracula and his soul brother cousin Blackula, Dark Shadows soap opera stalwart Barnabas Collins
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*
Winston Hubert McIntosh; Oct. 19, 1944-Sept. 11, 1987 on guitar and baritone vox in Jah’s Heavenly Choir
Greetings,
Smile Jamaica pays tribute to the man who put the militant wrath to Roots Reggae. Peter Tosh born Oct. 19, 1944.
Let us honor him by spinning his music today pon your Hi Fi. Vinyl Preferred
<Smile Jamaica Peter Tosh Listening Day; Oct. 19; 23 sec.>
Huge huge influence on me. Not just for Reggae Music but my personal politics. Tosh did not do “Lesser of Two Evils”.
He defined support for the Seven Leaf with Legalize It. No pussy footin’
<Peter live in the studio: Don’t Wanna Get Busted; 2 min 26 sec.>
Here are my personal Tributes in the form of Reggae History Lesson vox files from the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive Podcasts.
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die…Peter Tosh
bless, robt
No. 1: Tosh History Lesson: Oct.. 18, 2014
Peter was murdered in terrible circumstances on the eerie foreshadowed date of Sept. 11, 1987.
From Wikipedia:
On 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house demanding money.[13] Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours and tortured him in an attempt to extort money from Tosh. During this time, Tosh’s associates came to his house to greet him because of his return to Jamaica. As people arrived, the gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the chief thug, Dennis “Leppo” Lobban, a man whom Tosh had previously befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence.[13] Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban put a gun to Tosh’s head and shot once, killing him. The other gunmen began shooting, wounding several other people and also killing disc jockeys Doc Brown and Jeff “Free I” Dixon. Leppo surrendered to the authorities. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted in 1995 and he remains in jail. The other two gunmen were never identified by name.[14]
Many rumors about why and who killed The Bush Doctor….
I remember how I found out about this tragedy. My sister was in SLC and I went to pick her up at the airport. I pick up a newspaper and at the top of Page 2: “Reggae star murdered in Jamaica”
F-Bomb! I had just bought his album, No Nuclear War, and expected I would get to see him on tour to promote it. Nope.
Was looking forward to a 1988 American Tour to support this album that came out Sept. 1987, within days of his murder
Ah, but the story doesn’t end there. 38 days later, on Peter’s birthday, Oct. 19th, 1987 the Stock Market suffered the greatest crash since The Great Depression in 1929.
Wikipedia:
Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).
Black Monday? More like Peter Tosh’s Hairy Eyeball
I like to think that Peter Tosh got in his licks from beyond this world. Praise Jah, his birthday fell on a Sunday this year. Because the conditions are ripe for another crash.
De-dollarization is what Ukraine is really about. Russia doesn’t want to sell energy in the reserve currency: dollars. They will accept rubles, yuan (Chinese currency) or gold. Tosh predicted this with his tune The Day the Dollar Died.
<Peter Tosh: Livicated to his legacy, prophecy and his supernatural powers; 1 min 55>
Dollar or green toilet paper?
No 2 Peter Toshisms. Peter had a unique lexicon of word mashups that twisted convention into cynical reality. Here are a few off the top of my head:
“No such thing as a diatribe, I preach livatribes”
““The Crime Ministers who shit in the House of Represent-A-T’ief”.
America – A-sad-ica; because there is nothing “merry” about America
<Toshism: America = A-sad-ica>
Edward Seaga – head of right wing Jamaican Labour Party – Edward CIA-ga
House of Representatives – House of Represent a Thief
Poltics = Politricks
Prime Minster – Crime Minsister
System – Shitstem
Militant dread in full kuffiyeh
No. 3: Reggae History Lesson: Peter Tosh pays a steep price for “Legalize It, I will advertise it” at the One Love Peace Concert
From Wikipedia:
The One Love Peace Concert was a large concert held on April 22, 1978 at The National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
The One Love Peace Concert brought together 16 of Reggae’s biggest acts, and was dubbed by the media as the “Third World Woodstock”, “Bob Marley plays for Peace” and simply, “Bob Marley Is Back.” The concert attracted more than 32,000 spectators with the proceeds of the show going towards “much needed sanitary facilities and housing for the sufferahs in West Kinston.” The concert was kicked off at exactly 5:00 PM with a message from Asfa Wossen, the crown prince of Ethiopia, praising the concert organizers’ efforts to restore peace in Jamaica. This introduction to the event is important in illustrating the growing prevalence of the Rastafari movement in everyday Jamaican culture. The concert was divided into two halves, with the first half devoted to showcasing some of Reggae’s newer talent, and the second half devoted to the more established artists.
Tosh harangued the audience from the stage. Taunting the cops and poltrixters on legalizing herb and supporting colonial states like Rhodesia and South Africa. The cops caught up to him later and beat him nearly to death.
One Love Peace Concert movie: Bob, Peter, Jacob Miller, Dennis Brown and more; Apr. 22, 1978
Ark-Ive. Here on Smile Jamaica blog; without commercial interruptions
Twitter: SmileJ_KRCL for live alert and stream upload/blog posts
<Smile Jamaica 20+ years of Jah-loween; 60 sec.>
Here are the High-lights of today’s Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive
Your station that rules the nation….
<Don’t touch that dial!>
Peter Tosh Birthday tomorrow. Oct. 19, 1944 marks the birth of Peter Tosh (born Winston Hubert McIntosh).
He was murdered….wait for it…. Sept. 11, 1987. I’m going to tell you a story about how Peter crashed the stock market on the anniversary of his Oct. birthday 5 weeks after his murder. Then we’ll hear him prophesize about it in The Day the Dollar Died. What about WTC Building 7?
Peter Tosh prophecy: The Day the Dollar Died. Russia and China are in process of that very notion. Nelstradamus told you!
<Zombies love the Roots ‘n’ Dubbers; 17 sec.>
Next week is Jah-loween Show. Twenty plus years of ghosts, vampires, witches and zombies. I’ll tell you why I do it 6 days early instead of one day late. (Halloween is Friday this year). Last week I played about 44% of the show. Nuff Jah-loween tunes this week as well! Pick up your cross and follow me! Lee “Scratch” Perry
All treats no tricks! Gorillaza have a dubble dose of Jah-loween on Smile Jamaica
Ark-Ive. Here on Smile Jamaica blog; without commercial interruptions
Twitter: SmileJ_KRCL for live alert and stream upload/blog posts
“Vncent Price: Can you dig it!>
Can you dig it? Pon the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives DVD Player this Jah-loween Season. Vincent Price unleashes plagues of Biblical proportions against the Hospital Staff who killed his wife in surgery. That is not covered under Obamacare!
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.
Smile Jamaica 