To celebrate Bobstock or Bob Stalk as in Stalk of Sensi!, I am putting in some clips of readings from Smile Jamaica of Bob’s lyrical wisdom from the little book 56 Thoughts From 56 Hope Road
Each week I read a Thought on Smile Jamaica
Thanksgiving 2012 I picked up a blood infection while cratedigging in Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas I first noticed in St. George.:“That’s weird, I’ll just dump some Neosporin on it on my way to the Record shop.”
I found this little book at Zia’s Records in town. No crate was left un-dug as I was starting to fade. Watching a Family Guy marathon in my Hotel Room on Thanksgiving Day was pretty much one rung above comaville for I ‘n’ I.
Barely made it back to SLC and went straight into the Hospital for 5 days.
You’re never really prepared to go into Intensive Care, but I had slipped that little book into my bag. Five days with nothing but tubes sticking out of you. I had that book to distract me from my stupidity and mortality.
So now I read a passage every week on Smile Jamaica to celebrate Bob’s wisdom and guidance. Selah!
Enjoy the Best of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives Bob Marley Tributes
bless, robt
WWBMD? What Would Bob Marley Do? Light a candle for his 70th birthday!
Tracklist for Online Only Marley Tribute
30 min.:
<56 Thoughts From 56 Hope Road; No. 24; 13 sec.>
Cedella Marley Booker – He’s a Rastaman; Awake Zion (Rykodisc) ’84; Bob’s mom
Culture – Psalm of Bob Marley + Dub; Good Things (RAS) ‘89
Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster (Jammin’); Hotter Than July (Motown) ‘81
Sister Carol – Dedicated to Bob Marley; Black Cinderella (Jah Life) ‘84
The Melody Makers – Lyin’ in Bed; Time Has Come (EMI) ’88 Best of (30 min.)
1 hour:
<56 Thoughts From 56 Hope Road: No. 25; 38 sec.>
Mikey Dread – In Memory (Jacob, Marcus, Marley)(S.W.A.L.K.) (Heartbeat) ‘82
Alpha & Omega – Freedom Fighters; Sound System Dub (ROIR) ’95 Best of; UK trance dubbers
Prince Far I – Tribute to Bob Marley; Voice of Thunder (Trojan) ‘81
Bunny Wailer – Stay With the Reggae; Marketplace (Shanachie) ‘85
Lui Lepkie – Tribute to Bob Marley; Late Night Movie (Joe Gibbs) ‘81
Everton Blender – Bob Marley/World Corruption; Live at the White River Reggae Bash (Heartbeat) ‘99
Abyssinians – Jah Marley; Last Days (Tabou1) ‘98
Big Youth – Hit the Road Jack (Tribute to Bob, Peter, Bunny); Jamming in the House of Dread (ROIR/Danceteria) Live at Reggae Japansplash; Osaka, Jah-pon 8/30/90
Twin heroes of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives
<56 Thoughts From 56 Hope Road. No. 35; 43 sec.>
2 hr. 20 min:
Randeesh – Bob Marley Is a River of Love; Courage (Mountain Lion) 2004
Isaac Haile Selassie – Dear Bob (Tribute to Bob Marley); CD Single (Resin Music) ‘99
Joel Zoss – Bob Marley International; Back to the Island (Rounder) 2001
Dennis Alcapone – Natty Bid Goodbye; Good Old Days (Teams)
Bunny Wailer – Final Statement; Hall of Fame (RAS/Solomonic) ‘95
Smile Jamaica much prefers Collie-rado’s Inversion Galore to Utah’s Winter Smog. 4 down, 46 to go!
Greetings,
<Inversion Galore. Surviving Utah’s Winter Smog>
Settling into Jah-nuary. Middle of winter. The two month period of hibernation between the Green Bud Bowl Packers last game and opening Season for my beloved San Francisco, Giants baseball.
Weeping and Wailing and gnashing of teeth 😦
Green Bud Bowl Packers legendary collapse. Dread only had to do one thing and one thing only: catch the effing ball. Game over. Super Bowl 49. Fiyah bun!
<Green Bud Bowl Packers epic collapse against Seapukes: No Superbowl for I ‘n’ I; 17 sec.>
***
Grinding it out at work trying to avoid the flu and the colds brought about by Utah’s chunky air. Flu shot was a dud. Everyone in my family except me got it. Praise Jah! One of my best friends had to go to the emergency room with fluid in her lungs. Utah from November to March great for skiiers. Not so much for those with ashthma.
So playing rope a dope in cutting through the Post Holiday blah’s with the Kool Roots of Reggae ‘n’ Dubwize.
High-lights of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-nuary 24, 2015; 64 sec.
Wailers Family Tree: Bob & Peter Live in Leeds UK; Tosh live acoustic radio performance; Bunny chants down Botha and Apartheid South Africa, Marcia Griffiths – Steppin’ ’79
Dub Album of the Week: Aba-Shanti Ites. Mutant dub instrumentals
Soundtracks: Reggae on celluloid
Best of Smile Jamaica 25 Years: Marcia G, Prince Lincoln UFOria, Dillinger PSA on STD’s
Vinyl is V-Ital: Roots Dawtas: lovers rock, deejay Seven Leaf, dub poet
Mutant Dub: UFO skywatching soundtrack
<Songs to watch the sky for UFO’s. They are out there. Do not scoff!; 8 sec.>
bless, robt
Galaxy poll on the Terrestrial Drug War
Smile Jamaica Playlist: Jah-nuary 24, 2015:
Set 1:
Kojak – Glory to Jah; Chant Down Babylon (Gorgon) JA vinyl
Aba-Shanti-I &the Shanti-Ites – Tower of Bable (sic); Verse III (Falasha) ’99; Dub Album of the Week: mutant dub style
Black Slate – Mozart in Trenchtown; World Citizen (Unit 8) 2014 UK roots reunion
<Black Slate: UK Roots Reunion; 29 sec.>
Akabu – Fate of the World; Warrior Queen (ON U Sound) ’95 UK female roots group
African Brothers – Gimme Gimme African Love; 10” (Main Line) ’77, Tony Tuff Sugar Minott group
Iba – Babylon Don’t Like; Many Lives (Mt. Nebo) 2006; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
<4 down, 46 to go!; 7 sec.>
Big Youth – Honesty; Screaming Target (Trojan) ’72; on Slaving riddim
UK Roots Reunion. One of Smile Jamaica’s Best of 2014
Set 2:
The Wailers – Stop That Train; Burnin’ (Deluxe Edition) (Tuff Gong); Live at Leeds UK; 11/23/73
Cedric ‘Im Brooks – Jah Light It Right; Light of Saba (Honest Jon’s) ’76 horn jazz + nyahbinghi instrumental
Dennis Brown – Give a Helping Hand; 10” (Observer Gold)
Rhoda Dakar – 007; Cleaning in Another Woman’s Kitchen (Moon Ska) 2007; singer in Special AKA, Bodysnatchers ska covers Desmond Dekker
2 Tone Ska-stress: Bodysnatchers, Special AKA, sang a song about date rape that is brilliant and harrowing “The Boiler”
Set 3: Reggae tunes on Soundtracks
Lee “Scratch” Perry – Dreadlocks in Moonlight; Countryman Soundtrack (Mango) ‘82
Western Roots – Rockers Galore; Babylon Central Soundtrack (ESL) 2010 mutant dub
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.
<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!
<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.
Or read the story and look below for the Annotated Playlist
Greetings,
Aww, strolling down memory lane. 25 years every Saturday on Smile Jamaica. As the Ark-Ive grows, it just takes too long to cull from A to Z. All the Vinyl especially. I just reminisce too much on each album. Where I bought it, why I bought it. Are there herb tunes or Marley covers I forgot about? Halloween ditties or other oddities….and on and on and on.
So my methodology was to try my best to re-create a potential first episode. (I actually debuted first Saturday of KRCL’s Fall Radiothon). So I knew I would have to have a representative from at least a dozen or so of my original favorite artists….all on Black Wax. 50 Records where I get to juggle, consistently from show to show, between 32-35 selections over 3 hours.
I knew I had to feature these artists:
Bob Marley
Don Carlos
Jimmy Cliff
Burning Spear
Lee Perry’s brooding Black Ark sound
Roots Dawtas
Seven Leaf
UK artists
Adrian Sherwood’s Mutant Dub ON U Sound label
The Clash – discovered Reggae via UK punkers before Marley, Tosh and Bunny
Everyone on the floor of my dorm at the U of U got to “enjoy” this album. Perhaps my all time favorite?
Plus songs that I absolutely loved in the 1986-1988 Era:
Culture – Calling Rastafari
UB40 female toaster V’s Version from the rare dubble disk UK version pared down to a single in the US – Baggariddim
Big Youth – Get On Up. Hardcore Reggae disco funk
Sister Frica – One in the Spirit: From Methodist Sunday School to Pablo’s “Far East” Jamaican sound
Arthur Louis – beautiful version with Eric Clapton of Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Below is the Annotated Playlist: Reggae History Lessons, Soundbites, Playlist, photos and captions.
On this Playlist, I search deep in my LONG term memory to try and remember where I would have purchased these Black Wax Vinyls; 1986-1988. Most of these Record Stores are gone now, but back in the day it was a Vinyl Paradise. Lps were cheap to make way for these new gizmos called CDs.
Thanks for being a part of 25 years listening to Smile Jamaica. Forward ever, backwards never!
bless, robt
25 Years of the Red Gold and Green. Give Thanx!
Playlist: Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Sept. 20, 2014
Set 1: 25 Year All Vinyl Is Vital Showcase
Black Uhuru – Party Next Door; Anthem (Mango) ’84 US (Smokey’s Records, SLC)
Bullwackies All Stars – Recording Connection; Black World (Wackies) ’79 Dub Album of the Week; NYC
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Jah Live; Countryman Soundtrack (Mango) ’82 US (Cosmic Aeroplane, SLC); single recorded 1976
<Reggae History Lesson: Bob Marley: You cyaan (can’t) kill God! 25 sec.>
Rita Marley – Beauty of God’s Plan; Rita Marley (Trident) ’81 UK (Streetlight Records, SF)
Culture – Calling Rastafari; Calling Rastafari (Nighthawk) ’82 Various Artist St. Louis, Jah-ssouri (Randy’s Records, SLC)
<Reggae History Lesson: US Record Labels slinging Reggae; 30 sec.>
Black Slate – Legalize Collie Herb + Legal Dub; Rasta Festival (Alligator) UK 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement; ’81 Jah-cago blues label (Rasputin Records, Berkeley)
T Shirt from Year 1 of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive (circa 1988). 1976 single written after Haile Selassie was overthrown as Emperor of Ethiopia and imprisoned by the Dergue (Ethiopian Communists)
Set 2:
Desmond Dekker – Big Headed; Compass Point (Stiff) ’81 UK (Streetlight Records, SF)
Junior Byles – Cally Weed; Rasta No Pickpocket (Nighthawk) ’86 herb tune; St. Louis, Jah-ssouri (label promo)
The Selecter – Bristol and Miami; Celebrate the Bullet (Chrysalis) ’81 2 Tone Brit Ska; about riots in UK and FL (Mad Platter Records, SLC)
Don Carlos – Living in Harmony; Prophecy (Blue Moon/Magnum) ’85 UK (RAS mail order, DC)
Ferguson 2014. Miami 1980
Set 3:
The Congos – Children Crying; Heart of the Congos (Congo Ashanty) ’77 JA; Lee Perry/Black Ark/Upsetters (RAS mail order)
Big Youth – Get On Up; Rock Holy (Negusa Negast) ’80 JA (RAS mail order)
Burning Spear – Jah a Guh Raid; Hail H.I.M. (Burning Spear) ’80 JA (Rutabaga Records, SLC)
Sister Frica – One in the Spirit; Rockers All Star Explosion (Alligator) ’83 A. Pablo prod’n; Sunday School Hymn (label promo)
While my Dad was on the City Council. Methodist Sunday School hymn
Set 4:
Alpha Blondy & the Wailers – Jerusalem; Jerusalem (Stern’s) ’86 UK; Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa (RAS mail order)
Desi Roots – Weedfields; Doing it Right (Hawkeye) ’80 UK; herb tune (Esoteric Records, Sacramento)
Dillinger – Check Sister Jane; King Pharoah (Blue Moon/Magnum) ‘84 UK; Marley Waiting in Vain – Johnny Clarke (Greensleeves mail order, UK)
One of hundreds of gems my Smile Jamaica predecessor, John “Rutabaga” Resse, turned me on to circa 1987-88
Set 5:
Arthur Louis – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door; This is Reggae Music vol. 2 (Island) ’75 US Bob Dylan cover (Smokey’s Records, SLC)
<Arthur Louis and Eric Clapton cover Dylan; 32 sec.>
<Reggae History Lesson: Reggae’s love of AM pop and black soul; 23 sec.>
Jimmy Cliff – Keep Your Eyes on the Sparrow; Best of Jimmy Cliff (Island) ’75 Jah-taly; folk ballad (Half Price Records, Berkeley)
UB40 & Sister V – V’s Version; Baggariddim (Virgin) ‘85 dubble disk. Update of Boy Friday rock steady classic (Randy’s Records, SLC)
Perhaps the best Zimmy cover of this out of hundreds. Eric Clapton on guitar
Set 6:
Ruffy & Tuffy – Third World War; Climax (Black Star) ‘88 Finland (Tower Records, SF)
<World War III as predicted by Nelstradamus last Feb. during Ukraine Coup; 16 sec.>
<Cold War II, Electric Boogaloo: Obama v. Putin; 20 sec.>
Lone Ranger – Legalise the National Herb; Hi-Yo, Silver, Away! (Greensleeves) ’82 UK herb tune (Tower Records, Las Vegas)
Leroy Smart – Rock and Come On; On Top (Micron) ’82 Can. (RAS mail order)
Full Experience feat. Aura – Young, Gifted and Broke; Aura Meets Lee “Scratch” Perry at Black Ark Studios (Blue Moon) Fr. Nina Simone cover; Black Ark w female vox (RAS mail order)
Cold War II – Proof that the sequel is never as good as the original
Set 7:
Casselberry & DuPree – Coming in From the Cold; City Down (Icebergg); ’86 Jah-waukee Marley cover (label promo)
The Clash feat. Mikey Dread – Bankrobber/Robber dub; Black Market Clash (NuDisk) 10” US (Randy’s Records)
Johnny Clarke – Rebel Soldering; Don’t Trouble Trouble (Attack) ’88 UK; Bunny Lee comp (Smokey’s Records)
<Smile Jamaica Reggae Lexicon: Soldering or Welding; 10 sec.>
Flick Wilson – Slave Master; School Days (Jah Life) ’80 JA (The Beat, Sacramento, CA)
10″ Vinyl picture sleeve Nu Disk. One of the very first additions to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives. Randy’s Records, Salt Lake City; Oct. 1986
Sept. 1989: co-host Smile Jamaica. 25 years uninterrupted. Slice of the cake: Red – for the blood of Africa; Gold for the riches of Africa; Green for the bounty of Africa – the Red, Gold & Green
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
Greetings,
Smile Jamaica: The King’s Music, Jamaican Blues, Your College for Musical Knowledge with the Dub Confessor. All killer, no filler. Roots Reggae Sounds for your listening pleasure, 25 years! 10 sec.
Today marks a Quarter of a Century laying down the Roots on Smile Jamaica
Wheel it back 25 years to 1989:
Pete Rose lifetime ban for betting on baseball
Berlin Wall came crumbling down
Bay Area Quake Series. Bad mojo for my beloved Giants
Panama Invasion on my Birthday (Dec. 20)
Bay Bridge collapse in the 1989 Bay Area Quake. Drove over this bridge about a dozen times cratedigging. Visited SF first post quake New Year’s ’89 week.
My radio career at KRCL 90.9FM was late June 1988 til Aug. 1989: 3 AM to 6 AM Sunday Night/Monday Graveyard: 3 O’clock Roadblock. Reggae, World and Ska program.
My listening audience must have consisted of a couple dozen bored 7-11 clerks, insomniacs and cab drivers.
Juggled wax and these new fangled doo-dahs called the Compact Disk through the Alaska Clipper winter of 1988. Twice, that brutal winter, (I hail from the Highline in Northern Montana so I know Winter like I know Roots Reggae), AAA had to jump my crappy Chrysler Cordoba*
You know what a let down doing 3 hours of Reggae in the middle of the dead cold night, drag ass to the car with a crate of Records and 2 suitcases full of CDs, and then hear that telltale click click of a dead battery? Bumba klaat! Fiyah bu’n!
In the immortal words of Ned Flanders, “Son of a Diddly!”
*My Cordoba did not have “rich, Corinthian leather” but pea green crushed velour.
My Green 1981 Chrysler Cordoba did not survive the Alaska Clipper: Winter of ’88: Salt Lake City, Utah
At the end of Summer ’89 I let station management know that I was going to retire from Graveyard Rockers. I had a new girlfriend, it was my last year in college and I couldn’t stagger through Monday and half of Tuesday dead tired from getting home at 7AM as everyone else was Risin’ & Shinin’.
Yeah, and I wasn’t gonna schlep Roots and Vinyl from the University Student Housing on the hill to the Westside of SLC – KRCL’s home – another cold ass winter for a dozen diehards and shift workers marking time. There was no podcast or stream options in ’89.
I had a great time. Hang on tightly, let go lightly. I figured I would just sub on Smile Jamaica from time to time to keep my skills sharp.
KRCL 90.9 FM. Born Dec. 1979. I have been a volunteer there since June of 1988
The guy who was doing Smile Jamaica was a dude named John “Rutabaga” Reese. Prince Far I sings, “The humble calf suckles the most milk”. That’s how Rutabaga was for me. Salt of the Earth Utah kid, loved his Roots Reggae – he had impeccable taste in good One Drop and Rub a Dub Roots Rasta Reggae. Plus he turned me on to Adrian Sherwood and the ON U Sound I call Mutant Dub when I took over the reins on Saturday Afternoon.
John had a crate in a funky bohemian clothing store on the West side of Salt Lake called Grunts and Postures. Even before I met him through KRCL, I had pulled some gems from that crate: Aswad – Bubblin’ 12″; Bob Marley picture sleeve of Buffalo Soldiers. Some really experimental vinyl from ON U Sound: African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate, Singers & Players, New Age Steppers. Mark Stewart and Tackhead Sound System. Suns of Arqa South Asian trance dub.
Salt Lake City funky chic. East side. In its West Side location, I dug a whole heap of crates
I got in to Reggae around Oct. 1986. Someone hyped me to KRCL and Saturday Reggae, early Winter 1987. Back then Smile Jamaica was on at 1pm til 4pm!
I had a listener call me last month and thank me for 25 years and he said that for him, 3 hours of Smile Jamaica was his version of “going to church”.
I told him I knew exactly what he meant because as a “civilian” listener circa 1987, I listened to the Show with the fervor of a Jihadi and the active absorption of Roots Reggae as a University Academic wanna be Undergrad.
I would listen on my Hi Fi in my dorm room with a pad and paper writing down titles that John played and would announce. John played long, half hour sets. Sometimes he didn’t always announce the set list. I learned good quality Roots via Rutabaga’s radio selection.
Rutabaga Reese’s #1 Smile Jamaica influence on Iyah. Trouble You, a Trouble Me!
Ten Random and Essential Rutabaga Reese era Smile Jamaica selections that were a HUGE influence on me:
Don Carlos – Prophecy (Blue Moon)
UB40 – Signing Off (DEP)
Peter Broggs – Rastafari Liveth (RAS)
Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey (Mango)
Benjamin Zephaniah – Rasta (Workers Playtime) – UK dubpoet
Rita Marley – One Draw 12″ extended mix (Shanachie). My favorite Seven Leaf tune Summer of ’88
African Head Charge – Stebeni’s Theme. (ON U Sound). Mutant dub African music with female vox
Alpha Blondy & the Wailers – Jerusalem (Stern’s). The best Sons of Abraham Peace Song sung in French, African, Hebrew and Arabic via Cote d’Ivoire
Culture – Two Sevens Clash (Shanachie); 7/7/77 July 7, 1977 – When the Two Sevens Clash’d. Just another Doomsday
Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man (Mango). Bought this off the display rack on first sight, cratedigging at the Cosmic Aeroplane, Oct. 1986
Impulse buy – Put the cover pon my dorm room wall. Loved the music even more
I could name a 100 more Rutabaga boomshots and not stop for a breath!
When I got involved at KRCL Summer of ’88, Rutabaga and another dread named Papa Pilgrim were great mentors to me in how to “do” radio. Segues, being on the mic. (Praise Jah, I was so stiff and monotone. I wanted to let the music do the talking. My air check was just the facts about the 4-5 songs per half hour set over a featured dub album for the music never stops.)
Papa Pilgrim did a Wed night show called Nite Roots. His show was as popular mid week as Smile Jamaica was on Saturday Afternoon. Roots Reggae fans in Northern Utah had a dubble dose of great radio. Many towns much bigger than SLC have their Reggae Radio shows in the middle of the Night.
KRCL’s Wed. Night Reggae Ambassador, Papa Pilgrim. Spinning Nite Roots for Jah’s Heavenly Choir. Selah!
Rutabaga let me “sub in” on a hot summer Saturday, July 1988. I was so nervous laying the needle on the record. Took me 3 attempts to drop the needle and back cue the platter on my Rita Marley 12″. It was the major leagues from my fumbling around late night Sundays mumbling for the Nite Owls. It was great fun and I think half of the show turned out to be requests.
To quote philosopher Sally Field, “You like me! You really, really like me!”. Getting to do Radio of any sort is a pretty rare thing in this country and I got my taste of volunteer broadcast media. Give thanks!
When I gave up the ghost on 3 o’clock Roadblock I figured I would just tag along every now and then on either Saturdays or Wed. 10pm. Great times, both, for Roots Rub a Dub Reggae!
Rutabaga decided he wanted to share Smile Jamaica. I had no problem saying yes. So he and I tag teamed together Radiothon (Oct.) 1989. We alternated sets each Saturday until Spring Radiothon ’90. Then we did every other week until All Star Break July ’90.
<Your Station that Rules the Nation!>
My fellow UFOrian, Ronald Reagan was pretty generous with his Student Loan kasheesh back in the day. I would take a huge chunk of my Sept. loan check and put it in a savings account. Summer that year I would do a full court blitz of Nevada and Northern California cratedigging for quality Roots Reggae.
Smile Jamaica’s 3 favorite things about Ronnie Raygun: 1. Believed in UFO’s. Star Wars was aimed at Alien Invasion not the Soviets; 2. Funded the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives via his Student Loan and Pell Grant Program 3.
It was early July 1990 and I had just returned with a trunk full of Roots hauled from Reno, Auburn, Collie-fornya, Sacramento, San Francisco, North Oakland, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, El Cerrito, San Mateo, Mill Valley.
Vinyl: Lps, 10″s, 12″s, 7″s, Cds, Cassettes, Books and magazines. T shirts, badges, stickers. Anything Red Green and Gold down to my shoelaces. Posters, tapestries bumper stickers. Rasta or African necklaces, pendants, charms and pins.
North Beach (SF) Tower Records at Columbus & Bay. I would stay at the Travelodge across the street and literally cratedig until closing time and walk back to my room. Tower went out of business 2006. I shed tears. Like losing your girlfriend to a sudden illness
For some reason I remember that it was the night of the 1990 All Star game. I was subbing on a Tuesday Night KRCL rock show rinsing out my favorite non-Reggae delights. Groups like Camper Van Beethoven, The Minutemen, The Replacements. The Clash. The Studio Line rings and it was Rutabaga. After a little chit chat, he offered that he was “retiring” from Smile Jamaica. We weren’t going to alternate weeks. I became solo host of Smile Jamaica the following Saturday and have never looked back for 25 years.Forward ever, backwards never!
I love doing every minute of every show. Some people sing or play instruments or draw. My artistic talent is stitching Reggae and Riddim based musics together in a flow.
“Itch its up, Selekta! Nuff drum ‘n’ bass mek you wine up yer waist, put a smile pon yer face!”
Sat. Sept. 20, 2014. 90.9FM. 4-7 PM Mtn. Smile Jamaica Best of 25 Years: Vinyl is V-Ital Selection!
What better way to celebrate 25 years of juggling wax on the Radio? Same day (Saturday). Same time (since 1990 from 4-7PM). Same guy (yours truly). Same station: 90.9FM. Just like the Simpsons Sunday Night, you have Smile Jamaica Saturday Afternoon. Give thanx and praise, let Chalice blaze!
Saturday, 4-7 PM Mountain Time. 90.9FM. Vinyl is V-Ital. I spent this (Sat.) morning in the Ark-Ives harvesting 50 albums I pulled from year one and two of collecting Reggae Music: 1987-1988. Not my all time favorites. But a variety of what I purchased as I learned how to buy quality Reggae and the serendipity of what you find when you leave no crate unturned in a music Mecca that is the Bay Area.
The album that lit the fuse! Tracked this in the U of U dorms with a friend Oct. 1986. Never looked back. Reggae-myelitis for which there is no cure!
High-lights:
Black Uhuru – Anthem (Mango). The album that started the obsession. On 3 O’clock Roadblock I started every show with a Michael Rose or Jr. Reid Black Uhuru scorching roots gem. 30 sec.
The Congos – Heart of the Congos. The Holy Trinity of Roots: Lee “Scratch” Perry mix, Black Ark brooding sound, Cedric Myton’s beautiful falsetto
Countryman Soundtrack. For Bob Marley’s sublime “Jah Live”
Rare roots cover of Zimmy’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Arthur Louis)
Roots Dawtas: songbirds, toasters, folkies
Seven Leaf Herbal Meditations
Mutant Dub in the last half hour. ON U Sound and the role those Black Wax dub jams meant for my development of quality Mutant Dub*
*Smile Jamaica is the intergalactic portal for what I have been calling Mutant Dub for two plus decades. Therefore, I “discovered” Mutant Dub just like Columbus “discovered” India.
Vinyl is V-Ital, rhymes with Ital!
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica live every Saturday 4-7 PM Mtn. Time:
Saturday, Sept. 20; 4-7 PM Mtn. Time – 25 Years with All Vinyl!
Greetings,
<Smile Jamaica, The King’s Music; Jamaican Blues for 25 Years>
Here is the Sept. 13, 2014 Ark-Ive edition of Smile Jamaica
Read below for the Weekly High-lights of the 3 hour show!
Be sure to tune in next Saturday. (9/20). 4-7 PM. Mountain Time. Live celebrating 25 years in the chair laying down Roots, Dub and your college for musical knowledge. “Don’t be a faka, listen to Smile Jamaica!”
My favorite Vinyl from 1986-87 when I became a Reggae Fanatic. Been strolling through the Ark-Ives. Letters A and B and I already pulled 50+. An average Smile Jamaica is about 33-35 songs.
<Smile Jamaica 25 Years of Vinyl: 9/20/14; 30 sec.>
Annotated Playlist: History Lessons, sound bytes, photos & captions.
Reggae/Cannabis History Lessons
Sleng Teng, the Birth of Dancehall (Computerised) Reggae
Marley Anti-War (NO WAR IN SYRIA!)
Marley biography. Bob in Germany
Operation Eradication: Anti-marijuana crop burning imposed on Jamaica by Reagan for monetary/trade assistance. Neoliberal war on the poor
The Middle Passage: African Slavery
High-Lights of 9/13/14 Smile Jamaica:
Dub Album of the Week: Skatalites Jazz-Frican drums & horns
Wailers Family Tree: Bob Live ’80; Peter Jah-loween preview, Bunny ’87
Vinyl is V-Ital: Lps black wax, 7″ Jamaican Jukebox, 10″ Disco Mix
Roots Dawtas: Euro Dubstresses, Sister Carol does Bob Andy, 2 Tone ska, Collie-rado dubhoppers
Mutant Dub World Tour: Jah-cago, UK, Fr., Collie-rado
Operation Eradication: Neoliberal attack on Marijuana in Jamaica as the “poor man’s banker”. To get US money, Jamaican gov’t had to eradicate a source of income for poor rural farmers: Cannabis, The Seven Leaf, Collie Weed. Raaas claat, Bumba claat, Fiya burn!…Literally
Set 7: Jamaican Jukebox: 45 7″ RPM
Lloyd Hemmings – Africa; 7” (Jama) ’74 UK
<Reggae History Lesson: Slavery & the Middle Passage; 70 sec.>
Stanley Braveman – Pumps & Pride; 7” (Rebel Force)
Roland Burrell – Johnny Dollar; 7” (Sonic) ’83
Don Taylor – Africa Must Be Free; 7” (Foundation Sounds)
The Middle Passage: 12 million plus Africans made this journey on floating coffins. “We were packed like sardines in a tin. When the boat overload, they throw some of us overboard” — Prince Far I with Singers & Players “Dungeon”
Set 8: Mutant Dub
Jai Alai Savant – Low Frequent See; Flight of the Bass Delegate (Gold Standard Laboratories) 2007 Jah-cago
Dubterror – Shinobi; Dubterror (Universal Egg) 2009 UK
King General & Bush Chemists – Joker Smoker; Money Run Tings (Conscious Sounds) ’96 UK herbtune
Kanka – Make It This Time; Sub.Mersion (Hammerbass) 2009 Fr.
Heavyweight Dub Champion feat. Lady K – Trouble; Return of the Champion (Champion Nation) 2009 Collie-rado
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 