Bohemia Radio, Calypso War & the Love Joys

BOHEMIA AFTER DARK, Cool Midnight Specials, mixed by Dr. Auratheft
http://www.siebethissen.net/Dr_Auratheft/Mom_Radio/index.htm

1 Nightclubbing (intro)
2 Medeski, Martin & Wood: Hey Joe
3 Myron: Free
4 Dancing Djedi: Body Surfin’ (Mos Def, Q-Tip & Tash vs. Ernest Ranglin)
5 Ernest Ranglin: Below The Bassline
6 Monty Alexander & Ernest Ranglin: East of the River Nile
7 Madlib: Slim’s Return
8 Tunnel Clones: What You Want
9 Jimmy Smith: Mellow Mood
10 Lonnie Smith: The Call of the Wild
11 C.L. Smooth & First Floor Brothers: I’ll Take You There (Signal Mix)
12 Azul: Black Rose
13 Jackie Mittoo: I’ll Try
14 Capleton: Mi Food
15 Alice Russell: Humankind
16 N’Dambi: Call Me
17 Kenny Burrell: Soul Lament
18 Scout Niblett: Uptown Top Ranking

B.A.D. (Bohemia After Dark) sounds like a sweaty midnight radio show: great tunes, wicked basslines and first class cover songs. SoulJazzHop-style. It was that awesome Dancing Djedi track that got me into this mix - when I heard those guys rapping over an Ernest Ranglin riddim, I reached for more Ranglin records and the rest slid organically into it. A kind of post-modern & post-bohemian 52nd Street/Kingston 14 compilation I guess.

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WAR AT DIRTY JIM’S, Calypso War Songs (1920’s-1950’s), mixed by Dr. Auratheft
http://www.siebethissen.net/Dr_Auratheft/Mom_Radio/index.htm

1 Alan Lomax: War
2 Lord Invader, Macbeth The Great & the Duke Of Iron: Calypso War
3 Deleon vs. Simeon: Calypso War Drums
4 Wilmoth Houdini: War Declaration
5 The Executor: My Reply To Houdini
6 Lord Melody: Cowboy Sparrow
7 Mighty Sparrow: My Reply To Lord Melody
8 Lord Invader: Rum & Coca Cola
9 Lord Invader: Pepsi Cola
10 Mighty Terror: Calypso War
11 The Duke Of Iron: Calypso Invasion
12 Lord Invader: Steel Band War
13 Alan Lomax: Stick Fight (interlude)
14 Lord Invader: Té Way (Stick Fight)
15 Lord Beginner: Victory Test Match
16 Mr. Calypson: Muhammed Ali
17 Count Alert: Hard Time
18 Derrick Harriott: Happy Time
19 Commander: No Crime No Law
20 King Fighter: He No Dead Yet
21 The Duke Of Iron, Lord Invader & Macbeth The Great: Edward VIII
22 Calypso War Talk

Dirty Jim’s Swizzle Club was a famous Calypso tent in Trinidad: notorious for its battles or wars among the great Calypsonians. Several months ago I did a Calypso mix, called Big Bamboo, in which I emphasized the war songs or picong songs – that old African and post-African tradition of competition and competence, so important for artistic progress in Caribbean and extra-Caribbean culture. According to my mailbox you enjoyed that show. So here is another volume – 100% war. There are many classic wars here, but I have also included a commercial battle between Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. In the forties, Rum & Coca Cola was the best selling Calypso record in history, yet the famous manufacturer was not involved in this success. Although US Radio stations banned the song on grounds of free advertising, lustiness in the lyrics and for its references to alcohol, however, Coca’s rival Pepsi approached Lord Invader in 1945 to do another Calypso commercial. This song - Pepsi Cola – never made it to a record and has been found only recently. Other wars include stick fight battles, a drum war between Deleon & Simeon, and cricket & boxing battles. Alan Lomax introduces the whole concept. The last song - Edward VIII - is not a war, but I wanted to close down with a peace treaty.

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LOVE JOYS UPDATED, Love Joys 1981-2006: Kind Of 25th Anniversary, mixed by Dr. Auratheft

1 Wackies Band: Sensimilia
2 DJ Berengar: One Draw RMX
3 Natti Love Joys: Number One
4 Natti Love Joys: Stranger
5 Wackies Band: Gimme Back (Version)
6 Love Joys: Studio Man
7 Love Joys: It Ain’t Easy
8 Natti Love Joys: Not Gonna
9 Natti Love Joys: Nothing I Can Do
10 Love Joys: All I Can Say
11 Rhythm & Sound w/Claudette Brown: Best Friend
12 Natti Love Joys: Untitled
13 Natti Love Joys: Friend You Need
14 Love Joys: Long Lost Lover
15 Natti Love Joys: Friends

Discography:
1981 Love Joys: Reggae Vibes (track 6)
1981 Love Joys: Gimme Back - 12” (tracks 5 & 7)
1982 Love Joys: Lovers Rock Reggae Style (tracks 10 & 14)
2000 Natti Love Joys: Millennium Bug (tracks 4, 8 & 13)
2002 Rhythm & Sound w/Claudette Brown: Best Friend - 10” (track 11)
2003 Natti Love Joys: Universal Mind
2004 Natti Love Joys: Live At Blue Cats (Bob Marley Tribute)
2006 Natti Love Joys: Thingz (tracks 3, 9, 12 & 15)

Like so many other reggae artists of the seventies and eighties, the Love Joys were introduced to me by girl friends. In 1982 I was given a cassette tape: Lovers Rock by the Love Joys. I still think the album is one of the greatest soul records of the eighties. And it’s a milestone in the history of reggae. Here you find marvellous songs about loss, lost and found love, injustice, social critique and redemption, sung and written by two Jamaican cousins from Brixton, England: Sonia Abel & Claudette Brown. Their voices seem perfectly made for each other, creating an unheard harmonized sound that has never been matched. In 1981 they left for New York to hook up with Lloyd ‘Bullwackie’ Barnes in his famous North Bronx reggae studio: Wackies. Not only did they the backing vocals for other artists like K.C. White, they also produced two impressive albums and a 12” – probably the best records Wackies ever released (another classic is Horace Andy’s Dancehall Style, 1983). Since I first listened to the Love Joys, I never stopped playing those records: songs like All I Can Say, Studio Man, Stranger and Long Lost Lover have become part of my sonic genetics. Recently there has been a kind of Love Joys revival - audioblogs like Schrikdraad (http://schrikdraad.blogspot.com/) and Black Magic Plastic (http://blackmagicplastic.blogspot.com/) have posted songs and comments and readers/listeners have expressed their respect. However, many Love Joys biographies on the web only tell half of the story: “After recording these seminal female roots records, they disappeared, never again recording for Wackies or anyone else”. Elsewhere it reads: “The group quickly appeared and disappeared, releasing their only album Lovers Rock in 1982”. But there is more to the story. Sonia Abel got married to famous Jamaican bass player Jah T. (Jati) Allen and changed her name into Marla Allen. Jati has played with many artists, most notably with Cedric ‘im’ Brooks and in the eighties he was a member of the Wackies band, producing that singular New York reggae sound. In the nineties Marla & Jati formed the Natti Love Joys and founded their own reggae organization and annual festival: Camp Reggae in the Smokey Mountains of East Tennessee (http://www.campreggae.com/). Since 2000 they have released several albums and their music ranges from reggae to triphop. Recently the Natti Love Joys have put out the cd Thingz (2006). Marla Allen plays the keyboards and she still displays great vocal talents. In 2002 another illustrious duo, Rhythm & Sound, hooked up with Claudette Brown, the other half of the Love Joys, as a part of their With The Artists-project. In typical Rhythm & Sound fashion they asked Claudette to sing over their electronic dub riddim: the result was an awesome nostalgic 10”: Best Friend – which is totally reminiscent of the Love Joys sound of the eighties. Coincidentally it has been 25 years since Reggae Vibes was released. So I decided to pay tribute to the Love Joys – not too nostalgic, but in an updated fashion, like a kind of 25th anniversary present. Hope you’ll dig it.