Keeping it real

Posted on October 12, 2014 by onedeckpete

Sounds from The South 11 – Hey Joe
Our contribution to The Dirt this week is about meeting a imposter pretending to the legendary Joe Hayes from Manchester City (1953-65) on the way to the garden centre a few years ago. Tune of the week is from the great Dennis Brown called Money In My Pocket.

Have a listen on play again here (Sounds from The South is 14 minutes in) for the show that features “gleaning,” The Idiot Gardener and loads more stuff for have-a-go gardeners and outdoor idlers. Thanks to Si, Ricky and Paul!

And do vote The Dirt for your favourite show on Fab Radio International. Please cast your vote here!

Said I’m a council man. And I’ve got (no) work to do

Posted on October 5, 2014 by onedeckpete

Sounds from The South 10 – Never mind the Council
Our contribution to The Dirt this week is about meeting a couple of those Sex Pistols fellows while working as a council gardener in West London in the 1980’s. Tune of the week is from the great U-Roy & The Gladiators called Natty Rebel.

Have a listen on play again when it’s up later this week (5th October show) here (Sounds from The South is usually around 10 minutes in), alongside more gardening related stuff including funerals, morrisons, squashes and a tale about one of The Smiths. Cheers again to Si, Ricky and Paul!

That’s just reminded me, years ago I was told by a bloke who I doing an apprenticeship with (who wasn’t the full shilling on thinking back) that his brother was a mechanic who got a call one day in December 1977 to a coach that was carrying a famous rock band that had broken down on the motorway just outside Coventry.

He told me that when his brother went to fix the coach on the hard shoulder, it was the Sex Pistols and that all the band and their entourage were all dressed in “normal” clothes (flares, star jumpers and hair like Noel Edmonds etc) and all the punk stuff was “just an act.” Briliant, this rates as one of the best stories I’ve ever been told! But please don’t tell that to the dog-collared fashionista I seen at London Bridge station the other morning.

And if you want to vote The Dirt for your favourite show on Fab Radio International please cast your vote here!

Sunday night dub business and sousaphones

Posted on September 28, 2014 by onedeckpete

An excellent tune as played by David Rodigan from the steel city geezer Toddla T on the mix with the excellent Suns of dub featuring Addis Pablo son of the late great Augustus. Heavyweight sunday night dub business, and a night that feels like summer outside.

Talking of Addis, here he is onstage with The Roots with their rendition of his father’s classic “King Tubby meets the rockers uptown” with added sousaphone. Love the on-stage madness!

Two for the sun, nowt for the new i-phone

Posted on September 21, 2014 by onedeckpete

Romain Virgo & Exco Levi – Education (Get it in your head) – Penthouse Records

Konshens – Don Dadda (Supercat Style) – Greatest Creation Riddim

Two great tunes for this intermittently sunshine-filled Sunday afternoon as played by The Rt Hon Rodigan of late. Lovely!

Love the “The i-phone, the i-pod, the Blackberry sims, without education they don’t mean a thing” lyric in the Romain Virgo/Exco Levi tune.

Talking of i-phones, I had to laugh at the people camping out outside the Apple Store in Covent Garden from Thursday afternoon, waiting to buy the new i-phone the next day at 9am. It was freezing Thursday night and there was even a storm in the early hours of Friday too. Was it worth it I ask?

I do hope there were campfires with mass sing-a-longs outside the shop that night and sausages and eggs being fried up on calor gas camping stoves in Covent Garden piazza at 7am. But somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, haven’t they got better things to do like sitting in the back garden in the late afternoon sunshine with a glass of Vino or do a bit of strimming perhaps?

Pots across the pond

Posted on September 20, 2014 by onedeckpete

A big thanks to our good friend Nic G The Fellow Traveller who’s now relocated to Glendale in California and sent us these pics of his landlord, Mr Gonzales’ garden. We love those Cacti by the way, if only we could grow them over here!

As Nic told us in his email, the garden is a chaotic collection of buckets, pots and wheelbarrows, well up our street and all of the stuff in pots (but not the lovely Fig tree) have been started from seed. Those chilli’s are looking great! I reckon Mr Gonzales would love the Vertical Veg website. Cheers for these Nic, and do keep us updated!

I’ll have Wales, please Bob

Posted on September 20, 2014 by onedeckpete

A big shout to Mike P, one of the owners of the great Ffynnonofi Farm near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire where we stayed last month. Mike’s a massive reggae fan and he’s very kindly sent us an ace photo of his.It’s a picture from the late 1980’s of Bob Marley‘s secret hideaway in Littlebay, Jamaica. Bob wrote a good few songs there and the house even had a lovely garden created by the great man himself so Mike tells us.

Considering that the house is nearly no more (no) thanks to time and those Hurricanes, Gilbert and Ivan, this is a great piece of history documented. Thanks Mike!

Back to Wales, one of the caretakers of Ffynnonofi Farm is only the son of the author of the fantastic book we reviewed over a couple of years ago here called “The new complete book of self-sufficiency” by John Seymour. I got the book for the bargain price of a pound in a used book sale at Holborn Library and one well worth getting.

It sure is a small world!

Lone Ranger – Tribute To Bob Marley

Derrick Harriot – Solomon

I’ve had years of being on the wire

Posted on September 11, 2014 by onedeckpete

A massive birthday shout out to Steve Barker, Fenny and Jim for Thirty years of the excellent On The Wire on BBC Radio Lancashire. Well worth tuning into Live on a Saturday night from Midnight to 2am on Sunday or on Listen again here. Cheers for the One Deck & Popular and Madtone radio plays in the past, it’s appreciated!

On last week’s show Fenny replayed his first record he ever spun on the show, one that I’ve never heard before by the ace Mark Perry (I’m very partial to Mark’s delivery of Reggae, ATV’s Life after Life is one of my favourite ever tunes!) with a cover of a BB Seaton/Ken Boothe’s “Whole world’s down on me.” I didn’t even know of that one either. Cheers to On The Wire for passing on their musical knowledge yet again!

While we’re on the subject of great radio shows, a big shout goes out to our good friend Dr Strangedub for playing a track off Hayereyah’s new CD on this week’s (September 10th) Echo Chamber on KFAI available on listen again here. Big up the radio!

Dub like dirt

Posted on September 7, 2014 by onedeckpete

Sounds from the South – Episode 6

Every Sunday from 6-8pm on Fab Radio International is “a gardening programme like no other” called The Dirt. Every week, we at weeds do a spot called Sounds from the south (usually around 10-15 mins into the show) where we say a few words and select a tune.

This week’s is a tribute to “Big Ray’s Country & Western Disco” a legendary club night at The Joiners Arms, Camberwell in the 90’s. The tune is the excellent Ranking Toyan with “How the west was won.”

If you want to listen to our tribute to the legendary country night, have a listen on play again later this week to the 7th September show here at about 10-15 mins in.

There’s older episodes of the show up there too and our spot is usually around the same time in every week. Thanks very much to Simon, Ricky and Paul for having us on!

Last of the summer lime

Posted on September 7, 2014 by onedeckpete

Lord Creator – Such is life – Randy’s

Big thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s “The last Saturday of Summer” at Limewharf and for making it a great day out! Big thanks to Emma at Limewharf for sorting it out, Marc B for the idea and The Rhythm Doctor (who played the above), Thea and Mark G for playing some brilliant tunes! It was a perfect venue for getting together and chatting over a few bevies to some great music.

A couple of gardening related things picked up while at Limewharf yesterday. Firstly, thanks to Dell for letting us know about the forthcoming Cordwainers Garden Autumn Show on Saturday 20th September at 182 Mare Street E8 3RE from 11am-3pm. Look’s great, who’s the local celebrity I wonder?

Also thanks to our old musical collaborator, Hayereyah for passing on his new CD with a gardening themed cover. Great rootsy stuff as per from Hayereyah, no gardening pun intended!

Settee of the week (not available at DFS)

Posted on August 30, 2014 by onedeckpete

We at weeds have just got back from a week away in Pembrokeshire, Wales and how’s this for a slate settee seen at Aberbach Beach, near Dinas Cross. Comfy or what? aberbachbeach The model doesn’t come with an adjustable headrest nor a footstool, there’s not 15 other colour variations and it’s not the most comfortable of sofas to have a kip on, but who cares, it has a sea view! Big up the seaside stone settee!

Dennis Brown, Sly & Robbie – Sitting And Watching – Taxi 12″

The Chi-lites – Stoned out of my mind – Brunswick

Weeds up to me knees

Madtone, gardening and life

Category Archives: Jazz Gardening