My first taste

Now that AchisReggae gave my humble little Blog a big up. I need to get learning html speak real quickly. There is a problem though. I am an old dog, and if my lady luck aint all used up, I might be able learn new tricks. Takes the one or two brain cells I got left a few extra minutes to warm up. Maybe if rub ‘em together…
I will use this entry as my official beginning. If you where paying attention, you noticed I already mentioned that my age is old. Pick a number, any number between 45 and death. That is I. A past arrest report stated that I was a Caucasian male. That is what I get for looking suspicious
This Blog will rant and rave about sweet Reggae music. Covering everything from Roots Rockers to the deepest Dub to the slackest Dancehall. I love it all. I may also wander off on some tangent, but trust me; they will be related like kissing cousins.
Reggae records back in the early eighties were hard to come by for most Americans. A few hip record boutiques downtown carried a minor selection, Mostly the Island Record label releases. Blackworst’s label was the biggest independent until Virgin Music caught on. Competition between corporations is good, stimulates the creativity. The two labels were snapping up local JA talent in blinding flash. Great records where being pressed and shipped quicker than you could strip a Chrysler Cordoba. Fans win out this round. In those imported crates, along with the Bob Marley’s big movers came random gambles. “Black Uhuru? Names I never heard of! Cover looks cool though”.
Of course, I would not remain an ignorant MF’er for long.
I would spend every Saturday afternoon scourging the bins. Sometimes unearthing more than I my wallet could sustain. Sometimes the picture was bleak.

In those bins I found these releases. Heaven’s treasure. So here is a list of my first time dozen…



Culture’s International Herb is a high vibe lie low affair. Their sound is the sweet nothings of a lover whispering in your ear. That is if you love blazing the Chalice and chanting down Babylon. Culture’s Joseph Hill was a politician. Not a politician like the barking devil dogs of the Capitalist party. Hill was a Statesman for Jah. Hill was the Keeper Of Zion Gate. This is one of the strongest from the Roots era. Their Two Sevens Clash is a tight second place. Joseph’s son Kenyatta continues walking his late father’s shoes. No numbers necssary. The perfect buzz!



Israel Vibration’s The Same Song was their debut and is still the best place to start. You need it if your gonna pass Go. Sure, the band made up of Apple Gabriel, Skelly and Wiss soldiered on to make more great records, but this first one has all the optimism, innocence and enthusiasm of group that has not yet experienced the ugly of business. Apple split solo after the last dip down. Skelly and Wiss are still keeping the name high. Good stuff. 7.5 out of 10 stars.



The Wailing Soul’s Inchpinchers. The band had been kicking around JA studios for quite some time before scoring international with Inchpinchers. This would be their highest peak chart-wise. Sadly, this Roots Rocker style was nearing the end of its shelf-life. The new trends in dancehall swept most of these bands off the charts. The Wailing Souls refuse to be a dusty old memory and still continue like nothings changed. 7.5 out of 10 stars.



Steel Pulse’s Handsworth revolution. This band sounded completely original. There is a subtle difference to their vibe. They even Thanked and Praised a little differently. Possessed a punks attitude but without the noisy guitar. I at the time had no clue that they were English. Media coverage was scarce in all things JA. The music rags even seemed to gloss over it in favor of the new wave of haircuts. The band was the first-born generation of Jamaican parents who migrated to England after JA’s independence. (A farce of sorts). These folks were led to believe career opportunities waited for them. The JA immigrants filled the dole queue with the rest of England’s disenchanted. This band delivered 4 or 5 albums of unarmed resistance before going radio friendly. Although, David Hinds, the bands big boss is back at it giving Babylon a good fight. 9 out of 10 stars.



Mr David Hinds and his gravity defying locks!



Militant Barry’s Green Valley was the dreadest! Darker than Big Youth. Thicker than I- Roy. Deadlier at the mic than Clint Eastwood. Producer Keith Hudson supplied the murkiest sludge to get your ears stuck in. Bass so wicked your bones felt possessed. This record requires your undivided attention. This needs to be thumped loudly through your speakers. Green Valley was my first DeeJay experience. It blew my mind like the cheap pair of speakers I blasted it through!. Green valley is one of my all time favorites spins. 10 out of 10 stars. The perfect buzz!



Eek-A-Mouse’s Wha Do Dem. What in Babylon is this? Nobody scats that fast! What a wordsmith Mr. Mouse is. Tales for the whole family to enjoy! 9.5 out of 10 stars. A mighty fine buzz!



The remastered CD version with new cover which is the original vinyl's back cover.



Jah Lloyd’s Black Moses. Coming off the heels of the Lee Perry produced Colombia Colly record Jah Lloyd delivered Black Moses like he was being chased by the hounds from Hell. This record is a blistering set of words and music. Dread power, black man power, people power and even the power of suggestion . Virgin Record's top dog Richard Branson got jealusous of Island Records grabbing the lion’s share of the Reggae market, so he sent Johnny Rotten/Lydon of the recently imploded Sex Pistol to Jamaica for some serious cool out and to talent scout. Mr. Rotten signed on the dotted line those artist that scared Island records. 9.5 out of 10 stars. Chronic!

Not quite the promised dozen 'cause my eyes are bugging. Once I focus...

Something different

I can easily wrap my mind around the idea of repatriation. I would love to walk the same ground as my ancestors. My own journey would take me to two different worlds, the old and the new World. Although, by now, it is safe to say that the whole world is in used condition. My momma’s side takes me to the West Indian island of Saba and on my pop’s side, to the heel of Italy.
What I do not overstand is why someone would leave the ghettos of Kingston for the cold damp slabs of concrete known as London. If I am to be poor, at least I have the sun shining in my eyes and an ocean breeze blowing through my dreads. Sort like substituting the comfort a mothers embrace for the hard grip of your former colonizer. This has me scratching my head. Maybe it is safer being poor in England, where there is no ghetto gun play like in parishes of Kingston? Maybe the Queen actually does offer better human rights?



Where am I going with this little tale and what does it have to do with the gentleman now going by the name of Ghetto Priest and his Onu-Sound release, Vulture Culture. This man is a citizen of the British empire. Some scholars argue that Reggae created outside the cradle of Jamrock is the ruse of charlatans. Is this record guilty of being a fake? Sure the accent is different. Okay, the riddims are not the usual suspects and the topics are not the same politics of the tropics. So is this a Reggae record? Well not completely, he claims to have thrown experimental, folk, easy listening and some good old fashion roots into the mix. Do not let this stop you from spinning it. Ghetto Priest was a thug that went by the name Squidz and after his last incarceration, discovered the Rastafari faith. Strange that being caged behind bars can free up ones soul! Saba, by the way, is that little dot on the map, somewhere between St. Kitts and St. Maarten.

Da Lovely Ladies.

Yeah, Cherine Anderson, she is kinda familiar. Seen the name and I recognize the face. Striking looks. Yep, she is probably a pretty girl with a pretty voice.



Wrong, she is pretty girl with huge presence and a powerful set of pipes. Her record the “The Introduction” is different from the dancehall badgyal style of Lady Saw or the organic earthiness of Queen Omega, it is smack dab in between. a good place to be. A big smile worked it’s way across my face when the melody began for the classic tune Movie Star. Yeah, that’s where I know her from, the movies!



She was in Dancehall Queen and One Love. Truth be told, everybody has heard her duet with Chuck Fenda. The single “Coming Over” was on every best of that year. I was a bit slow and did not connect the dots. And to think, I almost skipped this record.





Next up is Alaine’s Sacrifice, now she is a pretty face with a pretty voice! If I were a 16 year old, her poster would be hanging over my headboard. Right next to Ce’cile’s. I have said it before but the riddim used behind the song Sacrifice, which has backed a lot of singers lately, should be put to rest. It now belongs to Alaine. The hit tune Dreaming with Beenie Man takes a clever twist of the big bad wolf fable. Checkout the video. I recommend this record most heartily. Okay, it is a softie, but hey, I can be romantic!



Shush, I am dreaming...

All misty eyed

The best records were those plain white sleeves with almost no info. Maybe something like mixed at King Tubby by Prince Jammy with the Revolutionaries printed on the label. But with names like that, you just knew that the right stuff was going to come out of the speakers. The records always had potholes and you had to put a quarter on the needle to keep it from skipping. It was like the records where pressed with vinyl from a gutted Chrysler interior. Ah, the good old days…

Forty days and forty nights adrift the Black Ark

Lee "Scratch" Perry took the title Upsetter while his contemporiaries chose royal Titles like King Tubby or Prince Jammy. "Scratch" the man is half flesh and half myth. Sometimes the actual person is stranger than the fiction. Lee Perry is a brilliant but maniacal producer of sounds.



This is a whole made of sums. This nicely collects togther choice singles, album sides and dubs from "Scratch" the solo performer and "Scratch" the genious behind the controls. Passengers on his Black Ark may of found themselves bewildered but also found themselves at the top of the charts. Check the names. All seventies superstars! What? Out of print? Morons! Allright, try this one...



This is a great overall sampling of Scratch's legacy.

Disc one begins Scratch's history with head strong but straight forward productions of ska and rocksteady singers. These tunes are great long lost treasures that hopefully will never be buried again.

Disc two is where that outerworldly sound started leaking from Scratch's pysche. This is the Scratch as a genius or certifiable madman emerging! His touch at the controls was as important as the band playing the music.

Disc three is Scratch as Jamaica's Native Son swallowed up into the belly of the beast! He is living in Babylon (America, then Europe). You can accuse Scratch of having an avant-garde approach, maybe because of the bone-chilling cold winters, his touch at the controls changed. Some of this stuff would give the shivers to German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. Like disc two, it still has that outerworldly vibe, only now it is more like a ghost in the machine.



I don't sing to my plants when I water them, I spin Super Ape. To get a jungle you need the Full Experience. Seeps down deep to reach the Underground Root. If you don't own this, your garden won't grow.



There is something so ethereal about this record. It could be Junior's falsetto. It could be that the tracks were looped through Lee Perry's frontal lobes!



Lee Scratch Perry helped Bob find himself vocally, but Lee's hand is all in the band's sound as well. Most Marley fans consider these original versions collected here, to be his and the Wailer's greatest effort. Most of these were later reproduced for Blackwell's label Island and became Reggae standards. Nothing tho, as they say, is better than the original! Includes extra tracks (Upsetter dubs)-all necessary.



Lee Perry's backing band would be thieved away by Bob and rechristened the Wailers. This is a late 70's edition of that band. The long lanky gentleman standing up on the left is Cedric Myton. Which is a nice lead into the next up band...



Cedric's falsetto took this earth rooted harmony trio to the heavens. So perfect was this debut, that everything released after was judged unfairly against it. Everybody wanted more of the same and with Perry absent at the controls for subsequent releases, the Congos moved into other directions. Thankfully, Cedric is still hitting high notes that only dogs can hear!



The VP Records version of the release with a slightly different mix.

The heaviest soul searching piece of music ever recorded. Not all fire and brimstone though, it is uplifting under all that tonnage.

Absolute Beauty

You can weave a bunch of musical notes together and still come up with burlap, but this is what happens when you spin musical silk. These two sisters from Bordeaux, Ceclia and Helene Faussart, are no mere handy-crafters of tunes but artists that create melodies so smooth and grooves that pulse to the beat of best sex. This is the perfect boudior soundtrack. This record should come with a warning about an erection lasting longer than 4 hours. Check with your doctor first to see if your healthy enough to listen to it.

Love is the drug

This is either a love it or hate it affair. I can understand why most knuckleheads will hate it. This record seems very wrong at first. "Huh, what in Babylon did they lace this with? " This cannot be Sizzla singing RnB! Oh, but it is, and this easily ranks as his bravest record. Only Sizzla could dare such a record. Sizzla has made dozens of records devoted to his love for Jah. So why not something a little more human? He has nothing to prove. He made this record for himself. His tortured falsetto twisting and wrapping itself around words of love. And lust. This is what top forty should sound like. In fact, Addicted is so forward moving, I would categerize this as Avante-Garde. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Grab the plunger

The Reggae community on Amazon has been a bit of a ghost town lately. When I vent or praise a release, I can hear my own voice echoing back. Tumble weeds roll by. Now, I know that the Rastaman's gosple music does not shift the same units as the False Pop Idols do, but where did everybody go? With a little help from a complete stranger who is a friend, Achis, I'll unclog my mind and spill all the mess out onto this blog. I will share what my ears hear and my eyes see. In other words, I'll dribble some Drano...The picture is of Levy Roots proudly showing his ReggaeReggae Sauce. An organic drain cleaner of sorts.