Category Archives: Guest mix

It was ten years this month: Weeds on the wire

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We don’t usually look back in time but by chance we saw this earlier, which originally was posted on Weeds on July 10th 2016. Have a read/listen. Thanks again to Steve Barker for sending us this at the time!

Socialism train

Socialism Train – 19 in a socialist reggae style

Big thanks to Steve Barker from the excellent On The Wire on BBC Radio Lancashire for supplying this ace reggae chart for us. On The Wire has been playing the best in reggae, dub, electronica, ambient and all sorts of eclectic business weekly for over 30 years and is available on listen again here.

So here’s the tunes and there’s some crackers on here. If the tune is not featured, click on the links to view on youtube.

Cheers again to Steve for the chart, shouts to Fenny and Jim at On The Wire too. Keep up the good work!

1. Ethiopians – Socialism Train

2. The Mighty Diamonds – I need a roof


3. The Heptones – Equal rights


4. Peter Tosh – Get up, stand up


5. Burning Spear – Social living

6. Abyssinians – This Land is for everyone


7. Derrick Morgan – People’s decision


8. Max Romeo – Socialism is love

9. Dillinger – Crashie First Socialist

10. King Tubby – Big Youth fights against capitalism


11. Freddie McGregor – I’m a revolutionist


12. The Youths – We a socialist (version)


13. Prince Jazzbo – Step forward youth


14. Jeb Loy Nicholls – To be rich (Should be a crime)


15. Still Cool – To be poor is a crime


16. Johnny Clarke – Declaration of rights


17. I Roy – Every mouth must be fed


18. Gregory Isaacs – Working class

19. Screechy Dan – Raise Your Glass Fi Di Working Class

To listen to the wonderful programme that is On The Wire, it is no longer on BBC Radio Lanchashire but check the blogspot here.

It’s also on Totally Radio on Sundays at 6pm here. It’s well worth a listen.

Here’s a great tune that was played on last week’s show from L.S. Diezel & Launch DAT called “Poor Man’s Glory”. There’s even a south London Tai Chi connection with this one!

Gardening tool of the week

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Our old hedge trimmers knackered up the other month when we accidently tried to cut a bit of metal that had been sticking out of the front wall. This week we needed a pair, so bought the above from Argos for £50. We didn’t know it was so small until the thing arrived.

Saying that, we’ve been cutting lots of things back this week and still can’t stop cutting things. This weekend we will try it on the hedge with the special hedge attachment, which is a little longer than the blade in it now we hope!

Also, we repurposed the terrarium we found in the street many years ago (below).
It was looking a lot worse for wear with a few sides smashed up so we got ourselves a Stanley knife and cut away the three good sides and made ourselves a cloche! Waste not want not! Now we have to find something to put in it.

Commuter stress in a Lake District style

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Cheers to Rich in the Lake District for sending us this the other day and wrote “This got me pondering the problems people encounter when trying to get to work on time.” He added “You get used to that sort of congestion up here. We even knew the shepherds!“ Brilliant Rich, we love the photograph!

Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why?

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Here’s a book we discovered again in the Weeds gardening bookcase (above). It’s a wonderful book, interviewing gardeners and asking them that one big question “Why do you garden?” All sorts of mad stuff in here from a man who mows grass for the council to commercial rhubarb growers in Yorkshire who grow it under candlelight (below).

We’re asking you the same question. “Why do you garden?” Answers on a postcard or to one deck pete (at) gee male dot com.

Tuesday night tune (before the bins go out)

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We’ve just found this excellent new tune on Bluesky from Cornershop Ft Bubbley Kaur called “Bounce & Salute” and what a great tune it is, with an great video featuring some Trojan singles being pressed and some sort of worker celebration. Wonderful stuff!

Enjoying the heat with that wonky leg?

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We have a bit of a minor leg injury due to carrying heavy stuff about a week Sunday, so we took it very easy in the garden yesterday. After a very light “tip around with a pair of secateurs” we tuned into WAVE from Imaginary Stations on the ATS – 20+ shortwave radio we bought earlier this year. It’s a cheap and cheerful radio and it has some faults but overall, it isn’t bad for the cheap price.

We heard the great mix from our mate Kit G5KIT in Bristol live on air and quoting him a few days ago “I don’t know what it is, but both Dub and Eastern European music both seem to really suit short wave propagation, they just sound …right.” He’s so correct there! Tune in to the studio recording below and Kit’s mix is at 30 minutes in.

Here’s the track listings:
Deep Reggae Sound System – Midnight Dub Waves
Pat Flashman – Summer Dub
The Heptones – Sea of Dub
Groovy Waters – Rock the Casbah

And here’s a few from the Weeds garden including a very small baby sun rose we were given by a friend from work on Friday which was feeling sorry for itself when we put it in the Belfast sink later that evening but on Sunday we even had a flower!

The teasel is attracting all sorts of bugs and pollinators (above) and the cardoon (below) which we bought many years ago at Shannon’s (RIP) survived a blackfly attack after we sprayed some very diluted washing liquid water on it.

And the Globe Thistle is doing well too! Happy gardening everyone.

Spuds from the garden, you can’t beat them

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Cheers to our good mate Gerry Hectic for sending us a photo of his first potatoes of the season, they’re looking fantastic! He said that they were small, but we have no problem with that as they are even tastier when they are like that. Growing your own potatoes are always worth it.

And here’s a tune we haven’t heard for years until the other week when we were painting the fence and listening to a live mix of Gerry’s from an outdoor thing he played at. Great stuff Gerry and keep sending those pics!

Barry Norman’s Film of the Week

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Here’s an excellent film from many years ago well worth watching. It features some historical stuff, Noel Dyer who hitch hiked from Peckham to Ethiopia, The Reverend Hillman, a chap with some great headwear at 39.30 in and some excellent tunes.

The first is one from the great Wilmoth Houdini (one of his well known tunes “Black but Sweet” here as sampled by the Sabres of Paradise) called Ethiopian War Drums.

Then the great Mighty Terror with Emperor of Africa.

 

And a cracking Prince Buster tune called The Prince of Peace only ever heard played out once upstairs at The Betsey Trotwood at an On-U sound related event on a Friday night many moons ago featuring Pete Holdsworth who told us he obtained said record from a charity shop for a sum of less than a quid, years previously.

And finally the Ethopian reggae sound of Tilahun Gessesse. All great stuff off a great film!

Reports from Bristol, SE23 and France

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We’re a bit behind here with posts at Weeds, the other week we received a message from Kit G5KIT, who said “We had 37 degrees C here in Bristol today. The only ones enjoying it are my chilli seedlings, which are now ready to put into containers as the roots are starting to come through the sides of the fibre pots.” Now 37 degrees that is hot, but he’s right, those chilli seedlings (above) are looking great!

Ours are in the ground after we took a bit of a frost risk earlier this year and we are getting a lot of growth and we are just starting to see the flowers appearing (above). Next to the chillies are onions grown from seed that need a bit of thinning out.

 

We’ve been having a good few reports from Spike from Morschen43 from a very sunny and hot Le Puy-en-Velay in France over the past few days. His garden is looking well bountiful now. We start with a rose (above) which he said was from the mountains called Rosa Centiflora (aka ‘Cabbage’ or ‘Provence’ rose). He was also saying that the rose can tolerate temperatures down to -15 degrees Celsius. Wow!

Here’s a selection of what’s growing in his garden now, some wonderful stuff here, a few different varieties of Tomato, Aubergine (Eggplant), Courgette (aka Zuchinni), green pepper and runner beans. We’ll have an update from Spike’s yard soon as there is so much there!

This post was written while listening to the latest Ross Allen Meltdown show on Soho Radio. Guest this week was Jimmy Lindsay who was in the great Cymande, we didn’t know that!

Nothing to do with Zak Bagans

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Excellent couple of releases found by accident tonight from Soul Diggin out of São Paulo, Brazil. The first is a wonderful tune called I See Dead People [not like us dub version]. Nice rhythm and soulful dub!

The second is an excellent version of Ela Partiu featuring the vocals of Tim Maia over the No, no, no rhythm. Clever stuff. Both tunes are worth checking out.

 

May the sun keep shining on our gardens!