Reggae Radio From the Archive

Past episodes of the late, great "Roots Rock Reggae" that aired Friday nights on KUSP-FM in Santa Cruz, CA.

RRR here

My First Digging Revelation

I'll be posting mixes and some rare record rips here, but for albums like the one, it's not so rare you couldn't just track down the vinyl, or find a digital copy on your own.

Dollar bins and cut-outs were gold in those days. I discovered this record as a cut-out at the time it was released, and it hipped me to a lot of new concepts about record shopping: First, I bought it because I noticed the same musicians that played on Herbie Hancock's albums (but here w/o him); Second, some of the best music you'll find might be on something you've never heard of; and Third, the budget and dollar bins will contain a bunch of those types of records. I discovered so many that way which are now considered classics.

Besides having a much-loved break, this is a totally dope album with Bill Summers' African percussion, Blackbyrd McKnight's screaming acid rock guitar, Bennie Maupin's distinctive sax and the rock solid rhythm section of Paul Jackson bass and Mike Clark on drums.

Growing up in the Bay Area, I met a lot of the musicians happening at the time through in-store appearances and such. I met Bill Summers around this time. It wasn't until many years later, 2000 or so, that I got to meet Mike Clark. He's still performing and recording and was excited to be working again with Jackson. It's a pleasure meeting some of these folks, often these hot musicians are not super-famous, and they genuinely appreciate it that someone is geeking out about their music.

Beat Tape 1

This is a mixtape of beats I made over a two-week period of a lot of late nights. 3 parts, with sounds from my crates from a variety of genres, heard through the filter of hip-hop and dub. Featuring Waxsmith on the cuts! 

LINK:

Lightningclap Beat Tape 1



I am intimately familiar with all the music sampled here, future posts will focus on an exploration of some of the artists used in these beats, plus observations and anecdotes from my 30+ years digging vinyl.

Oh yeah, and heap more mixtapes.