This Is Ska - Watch The Original 1964 Documentary In Its Entirety

In honor of both the Reggae Britannia live show and documentary and the upcoming London International Ska Festival, which includes a number of original Jamaican reggae and rocksteady artists from the 60's and 70's, I wanted to post about the very rare 'This Is Ska' film/documentary that was originally released in 1964.

Running just under 40 minutes and filmed on location in Kingston, Jamaica, it features performances by a who's who of up-and-coming ska artists of the day including Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff and The Maytals. They would all later go on to create rocksteady and early reggae hits that changed the course of music history around the world, influencing multiple generations of musicians including the entire roster of 2-Tone bands.  After watching the film, I can't help but wonder if it inspired Jerry Dammers to film 'Dance Craze.' 

The line-up and songs performed in order of appearance incldue:

Jamaican Ska - Byron Lee & The Dragonaires
Sammy Dead-O - Eric 'Monty' Morris
One Eyed Jack - Jimmy Cliff
Wash Wash - Prince Buster
Treat Me Bad - The Maytals
She Will Never Let You Down - The Maytals
So Marie - The Charmers
Rough 'N' Tough - Stranger Cole
Two Roads Before Me - Roy & Yvonne
I Don't Know - The Blues Busters
Sammy Dead-O - Byron Lee & The Dragonaires
King Of Kings - Jimmy Cliff

While the film has never been officially released on DVD, it came out on VHS and Laserdisc in Japan in the late 1980's. According to a Swedish music blog, a television show there announced they had 'discovered' the film on a trip to Kingston in 2000 and aired the film.  If they had done a simple Google search they could have discovered that the film wasn't lost at all! 

Now through the magic of YouTube, you can watch the entire film below.  Enjoy!

Reggae Britannia Live Concert & BBC TV Show Celebrate The Influence Of Reggae On British Music

Jamaican ska and reggae rhythms have formed the foundation of popular music in the U.K. over the last 50 years and almost every British music craze from skinheads to mods, punks to 2-Tone rude boys and ravers and dubsteppers owe much of the sound and style of their favorite songs and albums to the enduring influence of ska and reggae.

The impact of West Indian culture and reggae rhythms on British culture is the topic of 'Reggae Britannia' a widely anticipated BBC documentary directed by Jeremy Marre, (who also directed the excellent 3-part Soul Britannia documentary series) that tells the story of how reggae music and culture has formed an intrinsic part of British life since the mid-Sixties and how black reggae and ska musicians, either from Jamaica or British-born, found their music and identities shaped by the rejection or acceptance of British audiences. Read a great article in The Telegraph about the documentary.

Marre explains the genesis of the documentary: “I wanted it to be a positive story,” says Jeremy Marre, the film’s director, “to show how reggae in this country evolved, and impacted on British music, society and even politics, and how reggae, as it evolved here, took on a kind of Britishness. It evolved its own style, flavour and lyrics, which were specific to these islands.” The documentary includes interviews with Jerry Dammers and Neville Staple of The Specials, Dennis Bovell, Chris Blackwell, UB40, Paul Weller, Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson, Dennis Alcapone, Boy George and many more.

To coincide with the airing of the documentary on the BBC, the Barbican (a club located in London) is hosting a live 'Reggae Britannia' concert on Saturday February 5th (the show is long sold-out) to celebrate Reggae's influence on British music and culture. The show will feature hits from the 1960s to the present day and tell the history of reggae in Britain from Ska, through Rocksteady, Roots, Dub, Lovers Rock and beyond. Music Director Dennis Bovell (of Matumbi and LKJ's backing band) has assembled an All-Star band which includes some of the most important reggae musicians in the British scene to back up a all-star cast of singers and toasters including Dennis Alcapone and Winston Reedy, Dave Barker, Pauline Black, Ken Boothe, Ali Campbell, Brinsley Forde, Neville Staple and Big Youth.

In fact the BBC are filming the Barbican concert and it will be broadcast together with Marre's documentary a few days later.  Its times like this that I wish I could get the BBC here in New York! Here's to hoping this all gets released on DVD!

Here are the details:

Reggae Britannia live concert
February 5, 2011
Barbican
London

Reggae Britannia documentary
February 11, 2011
BBC 4
9pm - Reggae Britannia documentary
10.30pm - Reggae Britannia live concert from the Barbican

Pauline Black's Memoir 'Black By Design' Now Available For Pre-Order on Amazon.com

Add Pauline Black to the illustrious list of 2-Tone era musicians who are writing books about their personal and musical experiences.  The singer, actress and TV presenter has just announced that her memoir 'Black By Design: A 2-Tone Memoir'' is now available for pre-order through Amazon.com in the U.K. and will be published in August of this year.

While it will more than likely touch on Black's experiences with The Selecter, its sure to explore more personal issues related to Black's experiences as a mixed race child being adopted by a white family. It will also examine issues of racial identity during a time that the U.K. was struggling with its own issues of racism and the challenges of assimilating Black and Asian immigrants into British society and culture.  In that regard, it may touch on topics raised by Neville Staple in his memoir 'Original Rude Boy: From Borstal To The Specials' which was his recollection of life growing up in Coventry and detailed his Black British experience.  

I asked Black about her book during an interview I conducted with her last summer.  Here is what she shared with me about the process of writing her memoir and the difficult questions and topics related to race and identity that she explores:

You just signed a publishing deal for your memoir 'Black By Design.' What was it like to write a book? Did you sit down and write everyday?
I have been writing short stories and opinion pieces for BBC Radio 4 in the UK for years, since the early 90’s. I also wrote a novel in the mid 90’s “The Goldfinches” which picked up publishing interest, but then the recession hit and money was scarce and the interest evaporated. Therefore I did not approach my book as a novice. I knew that I wanted to write my own memoir. When a “ghost writer” is used it is usually obvious. The main difference between my first outing into the book world and now, is that I got a literary agent. Without a literary agent it is almost impossible these days for a writer to be taken seriously by publishers. Publishing interest in my memoir was there from the beginning, largely because I was the only female among the bands that did the legendary “2-tone tour” in 1979 and also because I have extended my repertoire over the past 30 years to include, acting, presenting, radio broadcasting & writing, while still remaining active as a musician throughout the 90’s and Noughties. Therefore my story covered a wider brief. I didn’t want my memoir to be just about the brief period of the 2-tone years. Fortunately my literary agent and publisher agreed with my approach. For the book to have been signed by influential, maverick publisher “Serpent’s Tail” is very much a dream come true. They have a great publishing history reflecting many of the books that have influenced me throughout my life, most notably many of the “Harlem Renaissance” writers like Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen.

Primarily, “Black By Design” is about my search for my cultural and racial heritage, which, I discovered, had surprisingly original beginnings. It vigorously discusses the twin evils of “racism” and “sexism”, which gave me the motivation to join a 2-tone band in 1979 and enter the ongoing musical polemic offered by that inclusion.

I wanted my book to be “ideas driven”, to ask some difficult questions about what it meant to grow up black in a predominantly racist Britain in the 50’s and 60’s and how being adopted into a white working class family influenced my decision to choose music as a career path. I didn’t want to write some dishonest potted history of my private life or just a scrupulously kept diary. Hopefully I have achieved my goal.

Black by Design is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com in the U.K.  

Personally, I can't wait to read the book! 

'Rude Boy 8-Bit' Compilation Collects Ska & Reggae Recorded On 80's Era Video Game Consoles

And now for something completely different!  As someone who came of age in the 80's, I spent an inordinate amount of time at the video arcade at the local mall where I played classic video games like Pac-Man, Space Invader, Frogger and Asteroids.  When the arcade was packed and all the games were being played at once, the electronic pings, bleeps and bloops created a cacophony of sound. The melody for Ms. Pac-Man is still rooted in my memory!

As the 80's went on and video game technology became more sophisticated and home computers became cheaper and more accessible, video games moved from arcades into home gaming consoles. As users moved on to the next generation of games and personal computers, the computers and gaming consoles that were all the rage in the early 80's were soon abandoned. Nevertheless, small groups of artists and musicians have embraced these forgotten computers to produce music which is commonly known as chiptune or chip music after the microchips that powered game consoles. The game technologies that are typically used in chip music production are those most popular from the 1980s through the mid 1990s including the Commodore 64, Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System.

There is now an active community of musicians and producers who only record music and songs using these chip-based sounds.  To my surprise I discovered a compilation of reggae, ska, dub, and everything in between, called 'Rude Boy 8-Bit: Jamaican Music On Japanese Consoles' that was performed and recorded by artists from around the world using a variety of 80's era game console technology. The collection was organized by Euan Lynn on 8-Bit Collective and the entire album is available for free streaming and download from the player below.


Some of the songs are surprisingly melodic and complex, employing vocals and samples as well as legitimate dub and reggae production effects.  The best songs on the compilation include 'I Believe You Jah', 'Bam Dub' which is a chiptune take on Sister Nancy's 80's reggae classic 'Bam Bam' and the chirpy, 8-bit ska of 'Rebound. The bottom line is that ska music yet again remains vital and that digital artists have embraced the genre enough to put the compilation out.

Let me know what you think.

Show Alert!: Punky Reggae Fest In Brooklyn Highlights NYC Ska & Reggae Scene

Nothing to do this weekend?  Then join me in heading over to The Lake in Bushwick, Brooklyn for Punky Reggae Fest, a 2-day festival highlighting a fantastically diverse line-up of ska and reggae bands and DJ's who are showcasing all the great ska bands and musicians who call New York City home.

The first night of the festival on Friday January 21st features All Torn Up!, Royal City Riot, Karuhata, Vic Ruggiero Trio, Blackout Shoppers, Top Shotta and The Frightners.

The second night on Saturday January 22nd features: Desekilibrio, Obamanation, The Hard Times, Yo! Scunt, The Bluebeats, The Facts and The Forthrights featuring Jeremy Pena.

And if that's not enough ska entertainment for you, the festival features some of the best NYC-based ska and reggae DJ’s including Crazy Baldhead Sound System (AKA: Agent Jay from The Slackers), Deadly Dragon, Shockwave, Hagler, Rudies Don’t Care and Al Paragus

Here are all the details:
PUNKY REGGAE FEST
January 21st & 22nd
The Lake
258 Johnson Ave. (between Bushwick Pl. and White St.)
Brooklyn, NYC
Cost: $8

Directions:
Take the L train to Montrose and walk on Bushwick Ave. until you hit Johnson Ave and make a left.

Take the J/M train to Flushing Ave. Walk on Flushing until you hit Bushwick Ave. turn left. Walk on Bushwick Ave. until Johnson and make a right.

Honoring The 80's Reggae Dancehall Album Art of Wilfred Limonious

Album art and design remains a personal interest and passion of mine and some of my favorite interviews on this blog have been with artists like John 'Teflon' Sims (who designed a good deal of the 2-Tone album and single covers for The Specials, The Selecter and more) and Bob Fingerman (who designed album art for The Toasters). I recently discovered a treasure trove of Reggae and Dancehall LP artwork by graphic designer Wilfred Limonious who created the colorful, hand drawn, comic book style album covers for a majority of the Dancehall reggae albums released in the 80's and 90's.

Just who is Wilfred Limonious?  According to a web site which is archiving most of his work, Limonious was a graphic artist who created many of the most memorable Jamaican LP covers of the eighties and early nineties. His work remained relatively unknown outside of Jamaica because most of these records were never released internationally. Reggae and Dancehall aficionados frequenting vinyl import stores around the globe however often keep fond memories of these rare records not only due to the music but also because of Limonious' vivid and often hilarious illustrations. Digging deeper into the crates one will also find examples that go beyond the often cited cartoon characters. Particularly his hand-made renditions of those geometric shapes that were ubiquitous in the eighties have a charm of their very own. Unfortunately very little information can be found about Limonious on the web and its sadly rumored that he passed away in the early 2000's.

Like most notable album artists, Limonious has a unique style and approach that is closely identified with a specific time and place in reggae music history. Dub poet Mutabaruka said of the 80's rise of Dancehall, "if 1970s reggae was red, green and gold, then in the next decade it was gold chains".  As digital reggae took Jamaica by storm in the mid-80's and artists embraced 'slack' culture, the album art they selected to represent them was evocative of the message in the music -- boasting, dancing, sex, money and violence. As the WFMU radio blog pointed out, 'On the one hand, Limonious was a kind of Caribbean Russ Meyer, seemingly obsessed with large breasts and very adept at portraying them in colorful attire. On the other hand, he was a skilled caricaturist whose portraits of reggae/dancehall stars like Frankie Paul, Sugar Minott, Augustus Pablo, General Trees, Early B, Carl Meeks, Charlie Chaplin, Coco Tea, Barrington Levy, Half Pint, Willi Williams, Yellowman, are not without real wit.'

Though Limonious may no longer be with us, his unique and colorful album covers live on.  Have a look at a few of my favorites and visit the archive for a deeper dive.

The Toasters Celebrate Their 30th Anniversary In An Original NYC Style!

The Toasters kicked off their 30th anniversary tour of the U.S. with a homecoming show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn this past Sunday night, but not before Rob 'Bucket' Hingley stopped by a pre-party that my fellow ska blogger Steve Shafer (Duff Guide To Ska) and I hosted in his honor. At the pre-party, Bucket shared that he is hoping to play a few 'special shows' during 2011.

While the band are known around the world for carrying the ska torch and Bucket long ago moved his home base to Spain in order to tour Europe more easily, New York still remains the band's spiritual home and its where Bucket often honors the band's legacy.  The show on Sunday night was no different, as the band was joined by its former toaster/vocalist Coolie Ranx (who appeared on the Dub 56 and Hard Band Fe Dead albums) for an extended version of one of their most popular and iconic tracks 'Run Rudy Run' taken from their first 'Recriminations' EP (which was produced by Joe Jackson).



If you watched until the end then you heard Coolie spill the beans about some big plans the band has for later this summer. Needless to say there will be a lot more details to share as they become available!

Special thanks to Mike DeMatteo at The Establishment for the video and to Sid Reitzfeld for hosting the pre-party at Dusk Lounge.