Keith Hudson “Be What You Want To Be” w/ version (1981)

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Curtis wish he were as funky as Keith Hudson.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Mayfield man to the bone, but Hudson takes funky to the marrow.  Wait, not “funky”…. Phonky!  A man’s man with his swagger, and a ladies man with his looks, Hudson might fight you and record you on the same day.  If he couldn’t beat you, ‘Stamma’ surely would.  ‘Stamma’?  As George Fully Fullwood once told me during an interview “Stamma was as his right hand all de time.  Dem nuh cross Stamma.”

Hudson’s style?  “Nuh skin up.”

No frontin.’

So natty he once “Broke The Comb…“

So sit back and have a listen to the phonkiest soul brotha, and oh what a mutha…hey watch yo mouth!

From the album ‘Playin’ It Cool’ (1981) I give you “Be What You Want To Be” w/ version and from the ‘Pick A Dub‘ album featuring the Barrett Brothers I give you “The Michael Talbot Affair.”  Also check my review of Hudson’s ‘Rasta Communication’ which was re-released by Greensleeves last year.

And, seriously, where else on the web can you find vintage Melody Maker articles about the “Dark Prince Of Reggae“?  Lucky for us it is a double-feature: Tosh and Hudson.  Courtesy of MIDNIGHT RAVER’S own Peter van Arnhem.

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Rude boy gone a foreign

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That’s right.  The Raver is scouring the streets of one of the great American cities this week…Montreal, steady looking for that vintage vinyl.  Seriously, it is shocking how much American culture dominates this French-Canadian territory.  I mean, just like America, the people are rude-as-shit, hippies begging for cash on the corners, and each restaurant greasier that the previous one.  I’ll tell you what though, Montreal has something that you will never find in the good ole US of A (well, maybe in Vegas, but I disowned Vegas in 2003).  Michael Jackson street performers!  I shit you not.  On every corner too.  I can watch that all day.  Most would say that Michael Jackson is a great American export, although I would disagree (I have a problem with alleged kid-diddlers and convicted ones too).  Here are a few others you can thank us for:

1. The Simpsons (Love it so much that it’s all I’m watching while in Montreal, AND IT’S IN FRENCH!)

2. Ice (They look at me here like a lunatic when I ask where the ice machine is.  So American)

3. Great zombie movies (I will explain)

So it appears that they are filming a zombie movie or television show outside my hotel.  I realized it when I woke up, opened the curtains, looked down, and saw about 50 zombies creeping down the street.  I flipped.  Thought the end was near.  I asked the concierge about the zombies (“Is this a Montreal thing?”) and he said no worries, just filming for TV.  Whew!  Thought I was done for.  So my mind started to wonder:  wouldn’t it be great if there was a “Zombie Circus”?  A real travelling circus, just with zombies.  They would do trapeze, high wire walking, etc.  They could stick their heads in the mouths of lions, and when the lions bite off their heads, they keep performing headless.  I would go see that.

So to mark my trip to Montreal, here are a few cuts from Eek-A-Mouse’s superb 1988 album “U-Neek,” produced by Gussie Clarke for Peace Posse, including “Rudeboy Gone A Foreign.”.  If you don’t have this one, track it down…it’s a killa.  Hard to find though. 

One note, I get tears in my eyes when I listen to the first one here “Let The Children Play.”  An elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma was decimated today by the devil’s tornado.  Multiple casualties.  Unspeakable.

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Kennedy Center Honors Bob Marley

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The Legacy of Bob Marley

Got my tix!

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The Kennedy Center, in collaboration with the Grammy Museum, celebrates the international artistic and social influence of legendary reggae singer Bob Marley.  Featuring Junior Marvin, Roots Radics, and others.

Sun., Jun. 23, 2013, 8:00 PM
Concert Hall
1 hour, 45 minutes
$20.00 – $48.00

Tickets on sale now.  Tickets went on sale March 25, 2013 to Kennedy Center Members

Not a member? Join today to receive priority purchasing and other benefits!

Tickets went on sale April 3, 2013 to the public
Call Kennedy Center Information or check online regularly for last-minute availability.

Horace Andy “Musical Episode” Extended Mix (Wackies)

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A great Horace Andy cut featured on what is, in my opinion, the finest produced 12″ that Wackies ever pressed, the Sugar Minott “Wicked Ah Go Feel It” 12″.  By the sound quality here you might assume that this is a re-press copy.  However, this is from a flawless original copy that I got from the great folks at Deadly Dragon Sound in NYC! This record was treated like gold, and you can definitely hear it.  My favorite Horace Andy cut from his years with Wackies.

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“A Man For All Reasoning” by Neil Spencer, New Musical Express, May 16, 1981

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Published just 6 days following Bob Marley’s passing, this fitting tribute by Neil Spencer hits hard and heavy.  I include it primarily because of the photo, a publicity photo for the “Catch A Fire” album, which is one of my all time favorite photos of King Marley.

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Max Romeo & Prince Buster All Stars “Word, Sound, and Power” (Prince Buster)

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Here is a Max Romeo cut from 1969/70 called “Word, Sound, & Power” w/ Version from my own 7″ vinyl collection.  Lee Perry production.  Max Romeo’s distinctive vocal over the original  “River Jordan” riddim, played  by the Prince Buster All-Stars.  Take note of the sax on this track.  Sounds absolutely ridiculous.  Version is real nice.

“Jordan River’s gonna roll”…

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Larry Mac, Jahmai, Ani, + Ridim live; Bay Area Reggae Musicians Special, May 19th 1980 Midnight Dread #20 -complete show-

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Nor Cal legends Ridim play three live tracks from The Catalyst & Keystone Berkeley in MD #20 Parts 1 & 2. Two of Ridim’s principals, yardies Larry MacDonald & Jahmai, speak along with Virgin Islander Ani on the history of roots reggae & Jamaican musicians living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s. Another 33 years ahead Midnight Dread goes deep & comes up with full coffers. The week’s Reggae Calendar includes a double bill of Toots & Third World live at The Old Waldorf in San Francisco & Zellerbach Auditorium across the bay on the campus at UC Berkeley. Discs, Wheels & Sports is moving their reggae wares to a new location near Lake Merritt. M Al’s reggae sound studio is open for biz nearby downtown Oakland. Listen to the ripples of reggaemylitis’ invasion into the bay music scene. Amazing advance vinyl pressings from Black Uhuru & Pablo Moses round out this well-charged radio program.

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Larry McDonald plays three key Ridim tracks from an upcoming limited edition vinyl release and goes into great detail on the musicians. Mac also talks at length about the just closed Broadway musical REGGAE, Michael Butler’s followup to HAIR starring Phillip Michael Thomas with music by Max Romeo & Ras Karbi who also appears in the ambitious stage play. Michael Kamen, producer of The Wall by Pink Floyd who went on to produce Jah Malla’s first album for Atlantic around this time, was Music Director for REGGAE. Key times for reggae & culture. Sans the wonderful live Ridim “Wadasowa (Love)” selection from end of Part One, here’s the entire Larry Mac interview:

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“The medal on my neck was won in the 1970 Festival competition. I came to US in 73. It was in the Daily Gleaner so my guess is that they own the copyright. Their morgue would have quite a bit of stuff on me.”-Larry McDonald:
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Dreadcasting & streaming liquid musical jewels with daily 21st Century Midnight Dread programs at 12am including deja views often heard in Wendt’s Best of All Worlds slot when noon is high. Become conscious with the indigenous sounds of Native Son Rising curated by Doug everyday at 6am (all Pacific Times). Explore more Midnight Dreadness here.