1. Prince Francis - Rock Fort Shock (2:37) 2. Roy Shirley - Hold them (2:44) 3. Marvells - Rock Steady (3:04) 4. Dennis Alcapone - Upsetter Version (2:56) 5. Count Ossie - Meditation (2:31) 6. Jackie Mittoo - This Scorcher (2:00) 7. The Humanitarians - Look Within (4:44) 8. Urang Matang - Bobby Baboon (2:34) 9. Tenor Saw - Fever (4:35) 10. The Beat - Big Shot (2:29) 11. Laurel Aitken - Pussy Price (3:01) 12. Tommy McCook - The World Needs Love (2:12) 13. Don Drummond - Silver Dollar (2:58) 14. Sister Nancy - Bam-Bam (3:16) 15. Mungo's Hi Fi - Did You Really Know (feat. Soom T) (4:32) 16. Susan Cadogan - Do It Baby (3:07) 17. U-Roy - Pumps and Pride (feat. Tarrus Riley) (3:47) 18. Vin Gordon - Liquid Horns (3:19)
Putting this together gave me so much pleasure, I hope that came across on the air. I have been told I sound dour, dull and even apologetic. Oh well, not to worry! If you want "Hey guys, let's go craaaaazy" I suggest commercial radio; if you want real music being played by a music lover because it makes them smile or moves them then give Fusion a try!
You may have seen me tweeting and re-tweeting recently about me having another crack at internet radio, this time with new station Fusion On Air. The main reason for me once again dipping my toes into the waters of DJism is simply that I've really missed the buzz of hearing a tune, wanting to share it and having the outlet to do so! Fusion are launching this evening (Sunday 3rd Feb) with three one-hour shows. My slot this week is the middle of the three at 8pm UK time but I'm not going to have a set showtime, or a set type of show. This week it's just a selection of reggae (and stuff) that has made me smile over the last week or two; future shows may follow that format or may have a theme of some sort. Next weekend I'll be presenting an hour of Women of Reggae, the only male voice you'll hear will be mine - and I keep that to an absolute minimum. Please pop along to have a listen live or stream the shows on mixlr. The ethos behind Fusion is simple "Just for the love of music, and the fun of it!"; no rampant egoism, no commercial pap, no superstar DJs - just decent music that we wanted to share. You can find Fusion on Twitter as @FusionOnAir. Here's some ConFUSION music to whet your appetite in the mean time!
Another hour-long episode of Rich's Reggae (and Stuff):
1.
Desmond Dekker & The Aces - A It Mek
2. Ranking Dread - Fattie Boom Boom
3. Clancy Eccles - Fattie Fattie
4. Audio Razor - Comes And Goes
5. Earl 16 - Chase The Devil
6. The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad
7. Soul Vendors - The Whip
8. Damian "Junior Gong" Marley - All Night
9. Hot 8 Brass Band - Ghost Town
10. Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan
11. Dennis Brown - Man Next Door
12. Prince Fatty - That Very Night In Dub
13. Dave Barker - Your Love Is A Game
14. Toots and the Maytals - You Really Got Me
15. Harmonians - Music Street
16. Dreadzone - First Steps
I WILL think of a better name for this show at some point, but in the meantime you can stream it on mixlr. Having issues with Soundcloud so can't upload there for some reason - if you fancy an mp3 let me know & I'll sort it!
... or at least one of them, is Flipron. Not just because they write witty and catchy tunes as will be proved if you listen to this:
Neither is it just because they are from the South West (although that does tend to incline my head and heart to view any band more favourably) and have songs with titles like Hanging Round The Lean-To With Grandad and Raindrops Keeps Falling On The Dead. The fact that their new album is called Firework Shoes and has a lovely, colourful, smiley cover certainly helps, but that isn't the main reason I'm so struck with Flipron either:
Nor is it because their latest single is a collaboration with Specials legend Neville Staple. Or that said single is a truly wonderful slice of Spaghetti Western Boss Reggae that would grace any Trojan compilation:
No, I think the reason I'm so struck by this band is all of the above PLUS the fact that when I ordered a couple of EP's and a 45 from their record label - Tiny Dog Records - I got an friendly, personal email from them thanking me for my order, asking how I heard of the band and telling me when I could expect my records. On a weekend! You don't get THAT with Amazon or iTunes.
Neither do you get music of this variety, originality or quality on mainstream radio or the TV. Which, I suppose, is why I feel the need to write posts like this - it's my small attempt to redress the balance somewhat. Christmas is coming; I know there's more chance of being bitten by a daffodil than of an independent artist getting the Christmas number one in the meaningless charts, BUT... If you are thinking of buying the latest X-Factor travesty for someone; why not get them a copy of Firework Shoes instead, or in fact any album or EP from a band that exists outside the comfy, crooked, corporate world of the media machine? You'd be giving them a much better gift, supporting REAL music and you'd probably win the Christmas Lottery too.*
*I made that lottery bit up - don't blame me if you don't win. Blame God. Or Cameron. Or Dave Lee Travis. Or some other git.
We in Devon are going to get our very own Police Commissioner. How exciting! It seems this is a country-wide thing that our dear leaders deem to be in our best interests; although on past form I have my suspicions it wouldn't be happening unless there is a bung, a big-business favour or back-door privatisation hidden somewhere in the agenda.
For what it's worth my vote is going to Nicky Williams. I emailed all of the candidates through the League Against Cruel Sports website and of only TWO replies Nicky's was the one that won my vote. Not only did she mention her opposition to the cruel, pointless and barbaric badger cull, she also didn't instruct me not to email again like one of the other candidates! Note to Mr Ivan Jordan, that is not, perhaps, the best way to win support!
Never needing much excuse to pick out a few tunes on any given subject I offer these 5 Police-related tunes for your perusal:
Kicking off with a classic from one of the finest voices to grace reggae - or any other genre for that matter - Junior Murvin's timeless Police & Thieves.
I received the It's Gonna Get Dirty EP by Dirty Revolution from Do The Dog records this week (2 free CD's with a renewal of my subscription to the Do The Dog skazine - can't fault that!) This track is off that EP and pretty bloody good in my opinion it is too!
Next up is a tune from the criminally-overlooked Nutty Boys album from Crunch! - Chris and Lee from Madness. I've got a mate who still maintains that the album is called Crunch! and that the band is The Nutty Boys. But he's wrong. So there.
Riding on the success of Murvin's Police and Thieves, Lee Perry released a number of dub and DJ cuts on the same track and rhythm. This DJ version from Jah Lion is on the Arkology box set and an absolute belter:
Finishing this little selection in storming style is The Humanitarians with Call The Police. Sorry, that should "the award-winning Humanitarians", two nights ago the band deservedly picked up the Best EP award at the South West Music Awards. I reviewed this absolute belter a couple of posts ago and it's still getting played almost daily in the Badger House.
