Echo Minott - Been So Long 7'' [198x Music Master Original Pressing]
Nice minor-chord adaption of Anita Baker's 1986 r&b slow jam. Cool likkle riddim by Witty too!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Dave Robinson - Have To Go Thru 12'' [1985 Leggo Original Pressing]
Ridiculous cut of Tempo riddim by little recorded singer Robinson. From what I can garner, most of his small catalog of releases date back to the 70's... yet all of a sudden this massive anthem of his emerged in the mid 80's. Only the second release by the then new Leggo label, this tune is a much sought after 12''. Re-pressed by Digikiller a little while ago, glad to hear this release getting the recognition it deserves. Audio shines through nicely on my rip, but sorry for the crappy quality of pic!
Love the message here, always reminding us to be undeterred by whatever obstacles life throws at us. If you listen to the lyrics, Robinson starts of by saying "I have to go thru", but by the end he's saying "I will go thru!" Not sure why this reminded me of him, but still want to pay tribute to a true San Francisco legend, Robin Williams. Rest In Paradise-
More excuses, more lagging, but more tunes coming next week I promise...
Johnny Clarke - Teach Them The Right 7'' [198x Firehouse Original Pressing]
I love conscious dancehall songs, especially when they focus on bigging up the likkle youtman. This is an absolute scorcher by Tubby and classic roots singer Clarke. Wicked one a way riddim with uplifting lyrics make this an awesome release. The tune though is surprisingly under rated amongst digi heads it seems, even though it also appeared on King Tubby's Fast Car LP and as a Waterhouse 12'' as Teach The Youths Right.
Sugar Minott - Wrong Move 7'' [1986 Skengdon Original Pressing]
Kenneth 'Skengdon' Black had many a big hit with all the top dogs of the golden years... Super Cat, Yami Bolo, Gregory Isaacs, Chaka Demus, etc... A big part of that was due to having the keyboard legend Jackie Mittoo at his side. This tune however was produced by Sugar himself as a favor to Black for letting him use his studio on one of his many trips to Miami to secretly cut dubplates for the Youth Promotion clashes. Probably the only dancehall tune I've ever heard use a digital harp effect, but of course Sugar pulls it off smoothly!
Andrew B - Life In The Ghetto 7'' [1989 New Name Muzik Original Presing]
Huge digi roots tune by Andrew B (or Bees) on Castro Brown's label. New Name released a lot of traditional dancehall in the early 90's, but as songs like this can attest, they were also early pioneers of the digi roots sound. Bees has recorded sporadically over the years, starting in the late 80's, briefly joining Black Uhuru in the late 90's, and still releasing music intermittently to this day. This tune, as well as Struggle And Strive (also on New Name) were repressed by Digikiller a few years ago.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Wayne Smith - My Sweet Love / Tonto Irie - Murder Commit 12'' [198x Unity Original Pressing]
Ohh man this is another rare record for you guys! Though both sides are produced by King Jammy, they were only released on this Unity 12'' in the UK. Side A features a blistering cut of Sammy Levi's Come Off The Road (also on this blog), which to me reminds of the E20 riddim. For examples of that riddim see Sammy Dread's Warrior on Witty, and Wayne Smith's original E20 cut on the Sleng Teng LP by Greensleeves. Side B is equally ruff, featuring deejay Tonto Irie massacring a digital version of Every Tongue Shall Tell riddim. Irie spins a story about trying to go on tour to Paris but the plane crash lands... and when he's taken to the operating table they discover he has a bad case of reggae mylitis (see King Kong tune on Sunset label) which causes him to have big lyrics from his head to his schlong. Hilarious and brilliant tune, though he really just ends up repeating the same verse twice in a row. For some strange reason only Side A included the version (which I've left on for you here). Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
