Biggordy

I'm not pedantic about much but it bugs me when people for example refer to things like Liquidator and 007 as Ska and don't even take ten minutes to have a quick read up on what's what. No excuses now with the t'internet. History of Jamaican music is everywhere if ya Google it. Gordy

Alton Ellis is known for his rocksteady sides, yes. But he made excellent 70s reggae sides too such as Deliver Us, Black Mans Land, Back To Africa etc. The Ethiopians had more than the one album and Leonard Dillon continued making great albums as The Ethiopian into the 80s after his singing partner Steven Taylor was killed in 75 in a hit and run accident. Gordy

Bump. New rocksteady podcast going up tomorrow! Top selections from the North East's top revive reggae DJ! Gordy

The last few tunes here are 68-71 reggae, not rocksteady!!! Also there's quite a bit of 68-71 reggae in the other section!! Just putting ya right!!! Gordy

Also compilations on Trojan called "Trojan Battlefield" and "Duke Reid's Nuclear Weapon" for the early ska/boogie stuff. Then you've got the stuff put out by Brian Harris in Brum, the King Edwards label reissue CDs titled King Of Ska 1 and 2. Also Ska Down Jamaica Way series and Top Sounds From Top Deck series, but be careful here as these two series of albums have a lot of overlap as both are full of Top Deck/Tuneico sides. Gordy

Curtis Mayfield got me into Northern Soul. Otis Redding got me into Soul. I bought a double LP on Atlantic "Best Of Otis Redding", the one where his face is made up from newspaper bits with the red and white gatefold sleeve. I bought it as I thought at the time (in my early 20s) that "I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Love Man" were Northern tracks! His voice blew me away and now I know and love deep soul too. Gordy

R.I.P. Ike On every news site/channel except Sky. They'll probably have one sentence later on saying "wifebeater who played music dies" or summat.... He was a bad man yes, but name me a famous musician who's squeaky clean. Gordy

Check em out at: https://www.djgreedyg.podomatic.com All feedback appreciated! Cheers Gordy

Yep, I went and it was mint. Best weekend I've had in ages. Gordy

I agree, but he's not around these days and all the artists in this film are still active today.

CDs arrived from Frosty and Dave, great selections chaps! To the couple of people waiting on discs, they're on the way now. Cheers Gordy

That's why I stopped my podcasts mate. Kudos to the people offering swaps but people who just take stuff and can't even say thanks get right on my man-tits. Gordy

Thanks to the handful of people who've sent me PMs (and to the chap who's already sent me a CD). I just finished putting together a couple of discs of soulful Jamaican tunes (including some great covers of actual soul tunes*) and these will be winging their way to you this weekend. (I didn't bother including the Silvertones' horrendous cover of "What's Wrong With Me Baby" on Studio 1, which was attempted in an NS style and ended up sounding like cheesy lift muzak). Gordy

I don't wanna swap with Smiffy cos he's a cheeky git who has his head stuck up Duke Reid's bum Seriously though, here's how it works with me. I send soulies Jamaican stuff and they send me early 60s doo wop influenced soul goodness, mid tempo mid 60s stuff, deep soul, 60s/early 70s Latin stuff or R&B. Absolutely NO modern! Cheers Gordy

Sorry I haven't been around much due to personal problems, but I'd deffo be up for swaps. Form an orderly queue and no fighting at the back! Drop me a message if interested. Cheers Gordy

I no longer run the forum at Proboards. I also no longer post tunes on the net or podcast. Nowt to do with anyone here but I ain't doing any favours for anyone any more as I was almost hounded off of my own forum by a bunch of "anarchist" do gooders whose sole purpose in life is to take a pop at anyone with even the slightest bit of "authority". They didn't respect mah authoritah (copyright Eric Cartman) so the good gotta suffer for the bad

Well sort of, the story of Ska and Rocksteady featuring the surviving Skatalites, Lyn Tait, Roy Panton, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe and many more! Gordy

You are indeed right with Jericho Rock (which also features Ernie Ranglin on guitar). There's a great vocal cut to this by Tyrone Evans (of Paragons fame) called "How Sweet It Is". It was around a couple of years ago on a booted 12". Originals of Studio 1 extended mixes are hard to come by. BTW, all you lot "darn sarf" get your derrieres up to Newcastle next month. Why? Just type Boss Sounds Festival into Google and prepare to drool........ Prince Buster, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Ernie Ranglin, Max Romeo, Dennis Alcapone, Gregory Isaacs and more all on the same bill. They call it a festival but it's more like a soul weekender only for ska and reggae, held indoors in a massive 3000(?) capacity venue with record stalls, Jamaican food, etc. Don't think they have tombola and bingo like Cala Gran though As for Spouge, look out for an album on WIRL (Bajan pressing) called "The Memorable Jackie Opel". Gordy

Sorry to be a pedantic git again lol. No.1 Station was by my good friend Mr Dennis Alcapone (ok Gordon, stop effing namedropping - Ed). Also Bluebeat was the main label at the time for UK issues along with the others (and R&B which stood for Rita and Benny (King) two of the first retailers of JA music in the UK). Jackie Opel didn't record much in the rock steady style (which is a shame IMO) as he had gone back to Barbados in late '66, where he got involved in a local Bajan music called "Spouge" which was like a hybrid of ska and calypso. The first place to look in rock steady is to get tunes by the vocal trios of the time - the Paragons (as mentioned), The Techniques, The Melodians, The Heptones, The Sensations, The Gaylads, The Royals, The Ethiopians, The Emotions, The Clarendonians and many more. Then you've got the great singers like Slim Smith, Bob Andy, Pat Kelly, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Carl Dawkins, Busty Brown and others. Hope that helps. Gordy

Yep, rock steady is deffo the starting place for soulies! As for the music from 61 to 63, it was known in Jamaica simply as rhythm n blues, same name as it got in the US. Jamaicans who had migrated to the UK initially called it "shuffle" music as they shuffled their feet to it. The term "Bluebeat" was coined by an uncredited UK music journalist circa 1963 (due to the fact that about 70% of all Jamaican music issued here was on that label), much the same way that Dave Godin coined "Northern Soul". Gordy

Yep, that's put together by a friend of mine from Canada named Mossman. If you think that's good, wait til ya see what's coming out in 2008.......... Little clue, ain't a website or recorded music and some popcorn (not cheesy black pop music sort) may come in handy! Think "Funk Brothers" movie, only a ska and rock steady version!!! Gordy

It's ok I'll get Lee Perry to "Set Me Free"

It's too lengthy to go into but here's a brief potted history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggae_genres And this one is good too: https://www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/malyce/music.htm Basically ska was influenced by New Orleans R&B with heavy jazz influences added too. Rock steady was the most soulful Jamaican style and you'll find a LOT of Impressions and Chicago soul covers in this style. Original 1968 reggae speeded the beat up again and included influences from calypso and American funk. Then around 1972 the Jah Jah lot came along and slowed it all down almost to a standstill for the roots sound. If you'd like to know more about the music still, the best place to come to is my forum at: https://www.djgreedyg.proboards77.com It's not as busy as this forum but there are around 200 dedicated and knowlegable people posting on a regular basis, many of whom are DJs and collectors on the "proper" reggae scene as opposed to the skinhead and mod scenes (no offence chaps!!) Gordy

According to a couple of collectors I just spoke to, there never was a Jamaican issue of Waterfall, it was recorded in the UK.

Don't have the Ken Lazarus tune, but I've got the Delroy Wilson "Sammy Dead". Also got the Eric "Monty" Morris version too. Will put em up later. Gordy