Fearlessness

After a week of bombarding you with music from this year, time for a trip in the Dubhed time machine (one careless owner, 23 million years on the clock, needs some re-upholstery and an oil change).

Materialising in 1977, your soundtrack today is 15 songs spanning punk, dub, alternative, (Egyptian) reggae, lovers' rock and most definitely not a Christmas song from Neil Young, handily split into two sides for your listening pleasure.

Settle back with a pack of Rowntrees Tots, a can of Blue Raspberry Panda Pop and a copy of 2000AD or Blue Jeans and enjoy the music before the sugar-induced coma hits.

 

Side One

1) Screwed Up: Menace

2) Judgement Dub: Tapper Zukie

3) Nightclubbing: Iggy Pop

4) Cheat: The Clash

5) Rasta Dub: Lee 'Scratch' Perry

6) Bored Teenagers: The Adverts

7) Star Of Bethlehem: Neil Young

8) We Are The One: The Avengers

Side Two

1) Sweet Gene Vincent: Ian Dury

2) Neat Neat Neat: The Damned

3) Zion Gate: Yabby You

4) Alison: Elvis Costello

5) Reuters: Wire

6) Egyptian Reggae: Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

7) Someone To Love Me: Candy McKenzie

Side One (22:17) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (22:36) (KF) (Mega)

Been Losing Long Enough To Know

Woke up this morning
With a funny funny feelin'
And that feelin'
Was an unusual feelin'
Inna my bone yeah
It inna my blood
Inna my toes
Coming up to my brain
Went to the doctor
To check out what's matter
I Went to the doctor
To find out the matter
Doctor said, "Son,
You have a Reggaemylitis"
I said, "What"
Doctor said, "Son,
You have a Reggaemylitis"

 

I've been prescribed an hour of reggae and dub, twice daily, for the next week.  

Apologies to Peter Tosh for pinching the lyrics to Reggaemylitis and then not having the common decency to include the song in today's selection. Reparations are due.

1) Walking In The Sun: Candy McKenzie (1977)

2) Workshop (Red, Gold And Green): Burning Spear (1976)

3) Monkey Spanner: Dave & Ansel Collins (1971)

4) I Don't Want to See You Cry: Ken Boothe (1976)

5) Jah Love Light: Horace Andy (1980)

6) Time After Time: Sylvia Tella (1981)

7) Cool Dub: King Tubby ft. U-Roy (1975)

8) What Colour?: Carroll Thompson (1981)

9) Soulful I: The Upsetters (1969)

10) Chant Down Babylon: Freddie McGregor (1978)

11) Wiseman Dub: The Roots Radics ft. Gladstone Anderson (1982)

12) No More Will I Roam: Dennis Brown (1975)

13) The Way I Feel About You: Marcia Griffiths (1979)

14) Pick The Beam: Yabby You (1977)

15) Feel No Way: Janet Kay (1980)

16) Drum And Bass Line (Live @ Notting Hill Carnival, London): Aswad (1983)

Been Losing Long Enough To Know (58:23) (Box) (Mega)

Lovers Rock

Inspired by watching Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock (finally!) and loved up following the recent brace of excellent love-themed mixes over at The Vinyl Villain from Jez* and JC himself, today's selection features a groovy kind of love (though thankfully no Phil Collins).

 

Mrs. K & I have made a very belated visit to Steve McQueen's Small Axe series of films, originally premiered on BBC One in late 2020. No excuse for leaving it so long, really, as they are an absolute joy in film-making and storytelling, with an excellent cast. Lovers Rock is the second of five films and both have been essential viewing so far.

Despite a deep love of reggae and dub, I cannot pretend to be an expert in any way, but I'm reasonably confident that the lovers rock label legitimately applies to all of today's featured artists. Some - Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson, Marcia Griffiths, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Pat Kelly - I have loved for a long, long time. Others have been more recent discoveries, several via Mojo magazine's "How To Buy...Lovers Rock" - Jean Adebambo, Vivian Weathers, Jimmy Lindsay, 15 16 17, Candy McKenzie and Love Joys. All are an aural delight for the ears, with sweet vocals complemented by rocksteady rhythms and joyous basslines.

 

Apologies for pops, crackles and skips on some songs. No apologies for the sheer quality of the tunes.

1) Lovers Rock JA. Style: Freddie McGregor (1981)

2) Breakfast In Bed (Cover of Dusty Springfield): Candy McKenzie (1977)

3) Sweet, Bitter Love (Album Version By Lloyd Charmers): Marcia Griffiths (1974) 

4) Stoned In Love (Cover of 'I'm Stone In Love With You' by The Stylistics): Pat Kelly (1979)

5) Black Pride: Brown Sugar (1977)

6) Money In My Pocket (Pt.1) (Single Version By Joe Gibbs): Dennis Brown (1979)

7) Let Me Rock You Now (12" Version By Lloyd Barnes): Love Joys (1982)

8) Steal Away Girl: Sugar Minott (1980)

9) No, You Don't Know (Album Version): Carroll Thompson (1981)

10) Caught You In A Lie / Pt. 2 Caught Dubbing (12" Version By Sir Coxsone): Louisa Mark (1975)

11) Black Skin Boys: 15 16 17 (1977)

12) The Way You Walk: Vivian Weathers (1978)

13) Something's On My Mind (Album Version By Tad A. Dawkins & Sylvan Morris): Horace Andy (1980)

14) Something Nice: Gregory Isaacs (1975)

15) Look At Me, I'm In Love: Sylvia Tella (1981)

16) Pipe Dreams (Album Version By Desmond Lyken): Jean Adebambo (1983)

17) Love Was Never Meant For Me: Jimmy Lindsay (1979)

18) Silly Games (Album Version By Dennis Bovell): Janet Kay (1982)

 

Lovers Rock (1:07:23) (GD) (M) 

 

* Jez is also responsible for A History Of Dubious Taste, another of my regular, essential reads when exploring the blogosphere.