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Reggae - A daily blog

Reggae - August 2006

Rasta Dog

August 31st 2006 12:20
There is a dog up the road from my house that doesn't look especially like a dog. You don't notice it until it barks and then you look and you see a dog with dreadlocks down to the ground. It is of course known effectionately as the rasta dog. Its breed is a Hungarian Puli.

I didn't really take to this dog at first, but as I walk past each day it grows on me.

I would hate to take care of it. There's a reason I have short hair, let alone having a dog with dreads.




From what I can tell it is merely a gimmick. Don't think it can sing - though having heard its vocals at work it could match Dave Barker shouting over the top of some tracks.

For more info on this dog, there is a club in Victoria

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45 RPM and/or Dynamite?

August 30th 2006 13:06
This Saturday in Sydney we are a little spoilt for choice in terms of club nights. There is 45 RPM @ HQ Bar playing reggae, ska, soul and mod or Dynamite at the Brighton. Personally I am going to get to both, but 45 RPM will be the place I spend most time. Get along to at least one!



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Backy Skank Gigs

August 29th 2006 13:08
It has been a quiet first half of the year for Sydney ska and reggae bands, even the normally prolific Backy Skank. The second half of the year is entirely different however:

Thursday 14th September Newcastle Uni Bar on the Hill with Rubix Cuba and others

Wednesday 4th October The Zoo Brisbane with The Beat

Friday 6th October The Gaelic Club Sydney with The Beat and The Signals

Saturday 7th October Corner Hotel Melbourne with The Beat and The Ska Vendors

Thursday 19th October The Gaelic Club Sydney with The Strange Tenants and The Signals

Friday 20th October The Cambridge Hotel with The Strange Tenants and The Signals

Saturday 4th November Complete Madness Annual get together Empire Hotel - Guests TBA

Saturday 2nd December Empire Hotel with The Ska Vendors and more
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Top weekend for ska and reggae

August 28th 2006 12:29
I had been looking forward to the week just gone for some time. Prior to this weekend the band hadn't played a gig for months, but also it had been quiet for ska and reggae gigs generally.

Friday nights started out with a few folk-punk bands at the Empire. Mutiny, the fantastic band from Melbourne were the headline act and were supported admirably by Sydney City Trash and the Corps. Not reggae, but entertaining music nonetheless.

A decent crowd turned out the following night for Mark H’s birthday. It was good to see Jed from the Lyrical Madmen doing something new and Kampei, who I haven’t seen for some time. We had been pushed back and I appreciated it as it meant people could get more drunk ready to dance.

New singer and new bass player for the Signals meant I was a little nervous about how we would go down, but I shouldn’t have been because we got a really positive reception and I was pleased with how the set came together. How good is it being on stage playing reggae and rocksteady.

Steppin’ Razor were up next and I have to say they are going in the direction I wanted them to - less straight out punk songs and more reggae and ska-punk songs. Their cover of Chase the Devil is fantastic. Last up were Backy Skank and were great, despite the crowd starting to thin as it was getting late. Roll on the second half of the year!
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Reggae and ska news

August 25th 2006 07:46
I am so out of touch. The reggae world goes on, but I am just letting it pas over me as I concentrate on prac teaching.

Here is some news that I have quickly collected


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Reggae in the suburbs

August 24th 2006 11:19
You won't even come across a guy like this in Sydney's suburbs
This week I started my first week of prac teaching. I am at a high school about half an hour south of where I live in Newtown. I am teaching a year nine geography class of low ability students and a year ten commerce class. Not the point of this blog exactly, but there you go.

Normally my day is based around reggae and ska. Yes I go to uni and I have a wide variety of interests, but a lot of my thinking is on music and much of my time is spent organising, corresponding and listening. It's all about ska and reggae.
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Reggae Sunsplash Tour

August 23rd 2006 13:35
This isn't tourist mecca JA, it is downtown USA.
Last time I mentioned the famous Sunsplash name, it caused a little bit of a stir within some UB40 fan ranks. That was to do with Jamaica, but now they are taking the gig or festival on tour of North America.

In fact, I actually missed some of the dates, but it still applies to some.
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Joseph Hill from band Culture dies

August 22nd 2006 13:32
I was doing my regular surf of the Trojan Records site and discovered that Joseph Hill from the band Culture died recently. He was only 57 and like many of the Jamaican artists who have sadly died recently, he was on tour. He was in Berlin with the band when he died and consequently Culture’s tour has been cancelled.

Believe it or not, Culture released 26 albums of material, a feat that receives much respect from many directions. Although 57 isn’t young, I feel myself saying that yet again that a Jamaican has died prematurely. A shame.
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Download your Youtube videos

August 21st 2006 14:48
Due to the fact I put quite a few youtube videos in my blog, I though I would give you all a good hint if you haven't already cottoned on to it already.

This program allows you to download videos from Youtube rather than merely stream it. This is pretty desirable if it is a video you want to keep.
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Pama International - Trojan Sessions

August 18th 2006 09:53
pama international - trojan sessions
It isn’t a lucky band which gets signed to Trojan Records, one of the most well known reggae labels in the world for many decades now. It isn’t as though Trojan has a huge roster of bands. In fact, Pama International is the only contemporary band signed to the label. They have done their time though, with a number of other releases on the Jamdown record label in the UK (as well as Do the Dog in the UK and Asian Man and Jump Up in the US) and played shows consistently with a huge range of artists while supporting their local ska and reggae scene. Members have also been in a bunch of previous ska bands (too many to mention). So they deserve this release on the very prestigious label.

This record starts out very strongly. The first number is an energy filled skanked up number featuring Rico Rodriguez called Disobedient Child. An album should start out with a song as good as this, and with the great horn line and fantastic drumming, you’ve got me in.
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Sydney Punk, Ska and Reggae Show

August 17th 2006 13:33


Although many will claim there has been plenty going on in Sydney in terms of reggae, for those that grew up in the Sydney ska scene (where many of the bands also played reggae songs), we know it has been one of the quietest times in recent memory


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Sting Festival

August 16th 2006 10:23
I was having a conversation yesterday with someone about Sunsplash and its position within Jamaica and we spoke about how Sunsplash is more the mainstream festival, The Big Day Out if you will. What has been more in tune with the current music scene in Jamaica is Sting. I didn’t actually know this.

I thought I would check out when the next Sting was then and it turns out it will be in Miami, Florida on September 26th. It has well and truly become a brand with events planned all over the world. The organisers are changing the direction of the event somewhat. They are pushing the peace side of things and adding hip-hop to their list of genres. I suppose it is natural enough to combine hip-hop with dancehall and reggaeton.
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Press a vinyl record

August 15th 2006 13:16
Despite the huge movement towards digital media, there remains a place for the good old vinyl record in the world. See it as a collector's item or a Deejay's best friend and already you have a pretty good market for the 45 RPM record or the 12" album running at 33 RPM.

You also have a movement towards people buying their new music on record, where they would normally buy it on CD or download it. People like having something tanglible so there is a place for bands and record labels to release mateiral on the ol' fashioned format.
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New Dizzybeat Layout good for Sydney Reggae

August 14th 2006 08:40
I thought since I have put so much work into a new design for my website, I should actually plug it a bit so people know about it.

I have been doing Dizzybeat.com for 5 and a half years now and the latest design is the fourth I've used. I actually have been quite happy with them all, but the latest design is meant to be easier to update and for the reader, much easier to follow.
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Fun Boy Three and The Bodysnatchers

August 11th 2006 13:36
Image used for review purposes
This blog isn’t going to be a name and shame type article where bands I think are bad will just cop it, but I am going to suggest some bands that perhaps just didn’t get it quite right.

The first is Fun Boy Three. For such a well dressed, rudeboy looking guys when they were in the Specials, Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding sure managed to look effeminate when they formed Fun Boy Three. They would probably say to you that they weren’t a ska band and it is true they were just a pop band really, but they still deserve a mention. Their songs were really crap too. I don’t know that it was the best move to team up with their female equivalent in Bananarama.
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Ska and Reggae Youtube Videos

August 10th 2006 11:23
This is another one for the Youtube fans. I don't have broadband unfortunately, so when I head to Youtube, to download a video I have to be sure I am going to enjoy it. I am not all that patient though so I don't do it often. They are always related to ska and reggae when I do download them.

Anyway for some of the readers, I got an email today from a discussion list telling of a Youtube group for ska and reggae videos. A top selection of ska, reggae, rocksteady and 2-tone videos are in this group


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The Beat comes to Australia

August 9th 2006 11:15
I don’t know whether this should be announced yet, but the rumours have been getting around and I don’t think it is too big a deal to announce they will be touring Australia in October. From what I can gather this takes in at least Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

This sort of gig will go down well in Australia. It is aimed at the English expats and other ska fans that don’t get to see that many good ska bands. We had The Special Beat here last year and Neville Staple and band this year. Both went down really well with said crowd being the majority of punters. They were enjoyable nights.
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Studio One Soul 2

August 8th 2006 11:40
soul jazz


Soul Jazz records have for some time now been putting out CDs of the old Studio One back catalogue, even while the great Coxsone Dodd, the man behind the Jamaican institution, was alive. The releases continue and one recent release is Studio One Soul 2


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Dynamite Dancefloor Etiquette

August 7th 2006 10:04
I went to a top night on Saturday night called Dynamite! It was a launch for a CD on Soul Jazz Records called Studio One Soul 2. I managed to score a CD for free, which I will review tomorrow. The night started off slow – we got to the Bright Up Bar around 10 pm and there was very few people. We considered coming back later, but the sounds were too good. This night had very little promotion outside Surry Hills and when I was chatting to one of the organisers, he said he’d just gotten back from four years in London. I wasn’t expecting many people with the slow start, but I was enjoying having a dance, even if many others bar our crew were.

Slowly (like me getting to the point of this lecture – and it is a lecture*) people started to filter into the bar. I will admit the bar isn’t especially big, but before it was full people started to move onto the dancefloor to stand. Notice the word stand not dance! When there is a visible change between dancefloor and carpeted floor, do not stand on the dancefloor particularly when there are people dancing on it. I know there is often room on the dancefloor, but that space has been set aside for busting a move. If you aren’t a dancer, steer well clear please.
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Bob Marley, Tuff Gong and the Resort

August 4th 2006 10:33
marley resort
I thought I would check out what was going on in the Tuff Gong camp today. Tuff Gong is the label that has released Bob Marley material for some time. They also released some current artists’ songs, usually those who are alive. They aren’t actually on Tuff Gong, but rather sub labels. Tuff Gong is also a studio and record store in Jamaica. I digress however. What I didn’t know and what I wanted to discuss was the fact Tuff Gong is part of an overall larger Bob Marley Group of Companies.

I don’t know enough detail about how this is structured, but it does seem strange the directions they have gone in. Tuff Gong and the Bob Marley museum seem natural enough and it is good to see there are charities apparently giving back, but what is with the Marley Resort?
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Reggae and Ska News August

August 3rd 2006 13:50
Excitingly for some of us and following up from the release of the new Pama International album on Trojan Records comes a 7” release on the same label. The first contemporary band to be on the label for years, Pama International will on September 4th have in their catalogue a single with Neither High Nor Dry (featuring Dennis Alcapone) and It Ain't Funny (featuring Dave & Ansel Collins).

Sydney band Rastawookie will be playing @Newtown this Saturday August 5th. This popular reggae band have gone from strength to strength playing huge shows as supports to other major acts, headlined other big shows and been part of many local ska and reggae shows for the last few years.
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Reggae Sun Ska in France

August 2nd 2006 12:19
reggae sun ska poster
I can’t speak French so I am not getting much out of the official website for the festival of Reggae Sun France. I can make out however that it is this weekend in France – that being August 4th and 5th. The Trojan Records says it is in “the village of Cissac Medoc in the South-West of France.” So I guess that is!

The other thing I can make out is the fantastic lineup for this two day event. The performers for the two days include names from all around the world and number 20 (or thereabouts). France has a very strong reggae scene so I can assume there will be a great turnout. There is a camping area so a party atmosphere is pretty much guaranteed too.
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Dancehall and ska dance steps

August 1st 2006 11:16
BBC Reggae website
BBC Reggae website
I think I have found the best website from the most reputable of sources documenting the fashion and the dance of reggae music in all its forms. The BBC have long had quality content under their umbrella. I suppose it is the pride of place the BBC holds in the UK and the way it is funded, but it still amazes me the documentaries, books and the website they have for ska and reggae music. I imagine the place reggae has in recent UK music history contributes to the amount of content they produce too.

Anyway, the BBC Reggae website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/features/reggae/ includes sections on the history, the artists and fittingly for this blog fashion and dance.
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