Polling Day

It's election day! And what better way to celebrate than with Mr Bojangles' take on the 1976 elections in Jamaica?

Election Derby

It's a version of a classic Treasure Isle recording - 'Those Guys' by the Sensations - and was produced by Sonia Pottinger. Bojangles only recorded a few tunes, but he seems to have been a pretty decent deejay. His lyrics here are a pointed and sometimes very funny commentary on the whole process, and fit really very well with the ebb and flow of the polls during the campaign and the results on election night.

Here's the original Treasure Isle vocal:

Hope you enjoy.

Jackie Edwards

Here's a nugget from Mrs Pottinger's High Note label, 'Get Up' by Jackie Edwards. Listen here to 'Revolution Rock' by the Clash - the bassline is the same.



I quite like what the Clash have done with it - completely different but just as good in its own way.

Wilfred Gerald 'Jackie' Edwards is yet another unsung hero of reggae, a smooth-voiced singer and talented songwriter whose career spanned over three decades. He was already famous in the fifties and continued recording until the mid-eighties.
There's some footage of him in the studio from the documentary 'Deep Roots Music', which some of you may remember from way back.







Other tunes of his that I really like are 'I Do Love You', and the versions of 'Invasion' and 'So Jah Say' that he recorded for Bunny Lee.
Enjoy

Heavy heavy heavy!

Today's offering is a very rare I Roy tune called Babylon Road http://www.mediafire.com/?ttbgmjmzxew . It's a version of Brent Dowe's 'Babylon Policy' - it's damn heavy, it's damn good. I Roy is close to his best, playful and lyrically inventive, and he's right at the front of the mix. There are a lot of deejay tunes that you enjoy because they have a great mix (that just happens to include some toasting), with this one you don't really notice the mix until you turn the record over. The dub is seriously heavy with a subtle echo on the guitar, piano and vocal that gives it dreamy feel with a firm focus on the drums, percussion and bass. It took me years to find this one - hope you enjoy.