08.29.13 - Beres tunes & Cool Hand Luke from the UK

LISTEN TO THE ARCHIVE AT JAMAICAROCK.COM

A happy Earthstrong out to the soulful Beres Hammond! The show starts out with some of his older songs, such as ones with Zap Pow and moves into his classics and a few newer ones. The ladies love Beres. In the second hour I was joined by our friend Cool Hand Luke from North London and his wicked vinyl selections. He also joined us later that night at our weekly Downtown Top Ranking party where he kept the vibes strong and selected into for the deejays on the mic into the wee hours. Check the archive.

06.06.13 - Black Roots, Sugar Minott, Nitty Gritty, Junior Reid

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Deadly Dragon Sound had recently painstakingly reissued Nitty Gritty's "Every Man A Seller" on Sugar Minott's Black Roots label. I took this opportunity to showcase some more killer tunes on this label, more tunes by Nitty Gritty and the prolific Sugar Minott as well as big tunes off of his other Youth Promotion label. I then found out that it was Junior Reid's Earthstrong and he fit in perfectly with this set. Some of my favorite songs by Reid were also produced by Sugar Minott and all three of these artists often ran the same riddim with King Jammy. Included also are a couple of Junior Reid's own productions. All respect. Check the playlist and the archive.

11.15.12 - Sound Digital Sound

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I've always loved the Steely & Cleevie version of Rockfort Rock on the album above, as well as the sound boy killing tracks. The hardest one being "We A Di Don" by the dancehall godfather Johnny Osbourne. For this show I decided to start off with this very track and base the show around some of my favorite sound, digital and dancehall tunes. Check the playlist and archive above.

08.23.12 - Tenor Saw, 80s Digital and More

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Tenor Saw

Clive “Tenor Saw” Bright was raised in the Payne Avenue district of West Kingston. His first single, “Roll Call” was recorded in 1984 for George Phang’s Powerhouse label, on the “Queen Majesty” rhythm. He moved on, with his friend Nitty Gritty, to work with Sugar Minott’s Youth Promotion sound system and label, having hits in Jamaica with “Lots of Sign”, “Pumpkin Belly”, “Run Come Call Me”, and “Fever”. His most successful single, however, was “Ring the Alarm”, voiced over the “Stalag” rhythm for Winston Riley’s Techniques label. The singles’ success saw Tenor Saw work with Prince Jammy, recording “Pumpkin Belly” on Jammy’s (then) new “Sleng Teng” rhythm. Further hits followed in 1986 with “Golden Hen” (on the Uptempo label), and Minott issued Tenor Saw’s debut album, Fever, that year. In common with most dancehall albums of the period, most of the rhythms were digital copies of older tunes from the 1960s and 1970s, usually produced originally by Coxsone Dodd or Duke Reid. Thus, “Shirley Jones” versions Keith “Slim” Smith’s “Rougher Yet”, and “Eeni Meeni Mini Mo” versions “Real Rock” from Studio One, while “Roll Call” versions The Techniques’ “Queen Majesty” from Duke Reid, while “Lots of Sign” versions “Tonight” by Keith & Tex, produced by Derrick Harriott. - (from Last.fm)

Thinking of Tenor Saw this week, then when I looked him up online I had noticed that he passed away in August of 1988. I decided to do a show on him, some of my favorite 80s digital productions from huge talents such as King Tubby and King Jammy, as well as artists from this era and a few songs about artists passing too soon, that Tenor Saw is mentioned in.