Two great sides of a 12″ by The Gladiators with Evil Doers and Pocket Money and an additional version by the great U-Roy. Trying to rack our brains which charity shop in the midlands in the long long past we found it in.
And talking of U-Roy, here’s the great man talking about King Tubby and his electronic and pirate radio wizzardry near the end of a track by Lapa called the 45th Parallel.
Here’s the audio of this morning’s broadcast on WRMI of the KMTS End of year transmission. This programme features two shortwave radio themed mixes from us at Weeds up to me knees. The first mix opens up the proceedings from 00.00:
“Keep it chilled for KMTS”
Grey Frequency – Chimes (Rai Internazionale)*
Audiovert – Another Universe*
Lapa – 45th Parallel
U Roy talking about King Tubby’s pirate radio adventures
KUNTARI–Orchid
(*Both tracks from the Cities and Memory shortwave project, more info here)
Then follows some eclectic programming from our good friend from across the pond, Ye olde DJ until 42.10 and then:
“The Circles of your mind”
Upcoast Channel 5 – CODAR
Lullatone – Sunday Morning Shopping with a Stroller
liloieee – Train tracks
Paul Davidson – Midnight Ridim (from the Jamaican release of the single Midnight Rider)
Gats – Schneewittchen
Love Unlimited – Under the influence of Love
Hope you enjoy the show and do turn it up loud. As the station says on their mixcloud:
“The KMTS transmission service winds down our 2021 activities with this fast radio burst of test tones, sounds and songs.
So click on the radio, turn out the lights, and let exotic sounds from distant mountain top towers, take you on a trip to a land that is far away…”
There will be more to come in the following weeks and months so keep ’em peeled!
Yesterday we were very saddened to hear of the passing of the great Jamaican producer/arranger and vibes man Bunny Striker Lee. Watch the above at 2.15 minutes and onwards to see the great man in action with some brill dance moves!
And here’s a Bunny Lee produced classic with some versions that’s been played at the Weeds HQ many many times.
And below is another top tune produced by the great man which will be given an airing on the “Weeds up to me knees dub mix” on Jesse Yuen‘s excellent North of the River Swan show from 4pm-6pm on RMT.FM Radio Thamesmead this Sunday coming.
RIP the great Bunny Striker Lee! You will be sorely missed but your tunes will live on and on!
A happy belated Solstice to one and all for yesterday. There wasn’t much dancing around standing stones or frolicking with morris men around these parts as it was far too hot. It might have been the longest day but don’t worry as we’ve still got a good few weeks of sunshine (fingers crossed) and lots of balmy nights to enjoy!
Above: part of the Stonehenge free festival 1989 fanzine and a couple of bits from a general festival survival guide from the 80’s both gathering dust in the loft at Weeds HQ. “Breakfast in bed” at a festival, now that would be nice! More on the Stonehenge festival here too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85tDl9gtSnQ
It was a week of mixed weather and also one of getting an irritating head cold toward the end of it. For the relief of a pounding head and aching limbs the most recent Rt Hon David Rodigan show was replayed a few times.
On the show he mentioned the productions of the great Lloyd ‘The Matador’ Daley which made us search out this little number (above) with a flip that was supposedly the first tune to dip into dub-wise tendencies. Rodigan played an early outing by the great U-Roy called Scandal (below) which is one hell of a tune! And below that is the original vocal from The Uniques. Big up the great Roddy for passing on the musical information as ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qBc2xmKomQ
It’s now coming up to the time to tidy up those veg beds during the day and take it easy indoors in the warm at night. Big up that Autumn equinox!
Heard this belter last night on the Rt Hon David Rodigan show. It’s from Cut La Vis ft Peppery called Festival on NICE UP! records (available as free download above.) We love this tune and it’s been on replay all day at Weeds HQ!
It uses a sample from Jackie Edwards’ This is another festival, the U-Roy toast, Heavy duty festival is one of our all-time top tunes after finding it in a charity shop in Coventry for 10p in the late 70’s on a very scratched Grounation 7″.
The Cut La Vis tune was on loud while we fed the garden this evening with (un)sweet smelling comfrey liquid whilst picking off snails who are threatening to have the flower buds off our ebay bought 15ft Giant Mongolian Sunflowers (er, they’re at 7ft at the moment but we won’t quibble at that!)
Never mind the snails and smelly comfrey liquid, big up NICE UP! records for this summer cracker!
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!
Dread All Stars – U Roy Special Pt. 2
I was feeling well fed up towards the end of last week then I twigged, I hadn’t done anything in the garden for a couple of weeks.
So as soon as I got in from work Friday night I got the old flymo out, tidied up the lawn, picked some tomatoes, green beans and the few parsnips (in a That’s Life stylee) I sowed way back in February. Now all I need to do is make a start on the weeding…
And here’s how the sweet corn is getting on, not brilliant but better than the time I tried a few years ago. Only small cobs at the moment.
When that old gardening lark goes well, it’s a grand old life!
Big up the great Daddy U-Roy even though we heard that when he headlined a gig in Brighton the other week he only played for 8 minutes! That beats the Guinness book of records “shortest set in the world” when I saw Joy Division at Malvern Winter Gardens many moons ago (20 minutes before a 10 minute jam with Sector 25 after jeers and shouts!)
I mean U-Roy is 70, at that age I want to be in bed perusing a Reader’s Digest and having me Horlicks before dropping off at 9pm let alone headline a reggae gig after midnight! If that is true about the Brighton gig here’s nearly half of U-Roy’s set (3.23)!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hzBGFjt-4
Yesterday I spent most of day sitting in a dentist’s chair having work done on me teeth as I’m a case presentation (aka “case prez”) for a dental student, so still feeling a bit shell-shocked from that combined with the heatwave we’re having here at the present so feeling a bit odd to say the least. I’m not really up for doing much in the garden tonight apart from watering the plants and having a butchers at what nature does best while sipping a cold bevvy from the comfort of a chair!
Anyway, here’s a couple of tunes to blast out in the garden this weekend while ‘tipping about’ with a hoe. Enjoy the old heatwave!
Weeds up to me knees 