A while ago these images appeared on the North Sixteen Twitter: I recognised them from a 1970s reggae documentary “Aquarius” as they are announced as being Stoke Newington (London N16), which is where I live: (Footage starts at 4:50 but it’s well worth viewing in its entirety) There was some interest about the exact location of …
Continue reading ‘Penny Reel on Stoke Newington Reggae Record shops in the 1970s’ »
I forgot to mention – if you liked Penny Reel’s excellent writing below (in the Tappa Zukie entry) and my feeble attempts at emulating his style then you should definitely get hold of his book Deep Down With Dennis Brown. Comrade Reel is one of the best reggae writers EVER imo – a much underrated …
I’ve scanned these issues of Black Echoes from the late 1980s and uploaded them to archive.org. They are a great window into black culture and the events listings, charts and adverts reveal as much if not more than the features. (I’ve also added a bunch of Rodigan Kiss FM shows and documentaries to archive.org that …
Stamford Hill is right at the northern end of the London Borough of Hackney, bordering Haringey/Tottenham. I’ve lived around there for about 15 years now and have always had an interest in its history. Last May, Richie (Maharishi Hi-Fi / Musical Fever) hosted another one of his excellent nights, this time at the Mascara Bar …
Continue reading ‘The secret Ska history of Stamford Hill by Malcolm Imrie’ »
One of the great things about reggae’s “version culture” is how getting your mitts on a new tune can reactivate whole swathes of your collection. I stumbled across a storming UK twelve on the Boops riddim recently and spent a very pleasant Saturday afternoon on a version excursion tip, fishing out classics and long forgotten cuts …
Don Letts came in for a bit of a hammering in Woofah issue 1, but he’s not too bad presenting this. Perhaps because the archive reportage and contributions from people such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, Vivien Goldman, Jazzie B, King Tubby, Trevor Sax, Daddy G, Ali Campbell, Caroline Coon, Lenny Henry, Rodigan and Tippa Irie …
Continue reading ‘“that sound that seems to get inside you and rearrange you molecularly”’ »
Penny Reel aka Observer on the Chatty Mouth message board: The big turnover was in the mid-1980s when Shaka was playing Ashwin Street in Dalston just over the road from Club Labyrinth (the old Four Aces). Some of the crusties from Labyrinth would arrive at Shaka when the other club closed its doors. Labyrynth being …
Germany and France have been spoilt rotten for decent reggae mags for years, and we’ve had to put up with the odd half column in dance mags or Steve Barker’s one page in The Wire every month. No longer! http://www.riddim-mag.com The first english language issue of Riddim is just out and is £3.50 with a …
“Yeah… In smoking sensimiella you gotta give thanks and praise unto the almighty Lord God Jehovia… do it Jah… MURDER!” Maxi Priest and Paul “Barry Boom” Robinson produced Philip Levi’s “Mi God Mi King”; the first vinyl outing for a member of the troupe of Saxon MCs (more about them soon). The tune originally came …