Bless Up

Bless Up

Monday, February 11, 2013

Mango - Dollar Move 7'' [1991 Striker Original Pressing]

Don't know anything about this tune other than it's brilliant! Never heard of the singer, or the label for that matter (not related to producer Bunny "Striker" Lee). Either way it's a hard piece of digikal roots. Not the rarest/hardest to find 7'', but still an essential piece of music. Enjoy this one mi breddahs!


Jah Roots - Gone A Foreign 7'' [199x Duke Original Pressing]

Fierce digi roots tune inna Waterhouse vocal style. Produced by Jah Roots in the 80's but released in the early 90's, and then reissued by Deadly Dragon a few years ago. Only 2 other tunes were recorded on this riddim, a combo with deejay Biggie Ranks called Clean Up Your Kingdom, and also Rolex's Tell Me Teacher. All conscious tunes naturally, this track speaks of strugglas immigrating ah foreign in search of a better living. While aimed at Jamaicans here, it holds so true on an international level. The original 7'' is definitely a rare and hard to come by record for digi lovers out there!


Richie Stevens - No Drugs 7'' [1989 Dennis Star Original Pressing]

Stevens recorded a lot of soft, popish/romantic dancehall tunes, many of which I can't say I really care for. Yet he also had a few tuff tunes about serious conscious issues. Here he tackles drug abuse in the community over a mean Peanie Peanie riddim produced by Dennis Star Hayles.


Pad Anthony Sound Killaz!
Pad Anthony - Born Lover Man 7'' [198x Taurus Original Pressing]
Some of Anthony's biggest hits came from Tubby at the peak of his digi productions days. Anthony's name was synonymous with singers like Anthony Redrose, King Everald, Courtney Melody, and King Kong... the stars of Tubby's stable.  




Pad Anthony - Dancehall Style 7'' [1988 Stereo Mix Original Pressing]

Nice mellow cut of Things And Times riddim. Cool label art in good condition.




Pad Anthony - Turn Me Loose 12'' [198x Witty Original Pressing]

Whitfield Henry aka Witty produced some monster hits in the 80's, and in doing so, created some biiiiiig riddims. The Kuff riddim, originally by female deejay Shelly Thunder, was one of them. This remake of that riddim sounds almost nothing like the original, but still holds its own just as well. Did i say biiiiig?




Pad Anthony - Killing Of A Sound 7'' [198x Music Master Original Pressing]

Might as well follow up with another Witty tune, this one a 7'' from his Jamaican based Music Master label. Once again An-tony talks about his love of killing competitive sounds in the dancehall.




Pad Anthony - Musical Sample 7'' [198x Uncle T Original Pressing]

A "musical sample" of the Uncle T catalog. Uncle T of course being Trevor James, brother of famed producer King Jammy. Not only did Jammy's brother produce, but eventually so did two of his sons, John John and Jam2 as well. Quite the musical family!


Scion Sashay Success - Cry Fi Me Girl 12'' [198x Eclipse Original Pressing]

Scion just has that unmistakeable style, not only vocally, but also the instrumentals that he was usually paired up with. A lot of his material was actually self produced, which he doesn't get enough credit for. Philip Smart, who produced this tune, is also an underrated icon of Jamaican music, having started his career as an engineer for Augustus Pablo in the 70's. By the 80's he had relocated to NY and was banging out hits for his Eclipse label (and others) well into the 90's. This is a crucial example of that (version included).
 
 
Culture T - Live So Bad 7'' [199x Soljie Original Pressing]

Nice build up tune with the thumping Every Tongue Shall Tell bassline kicking in about 35 seconds in. Original riddim is by Horace Andy, though I also love King Everald's Automatic on Waterhouse. Producer Soljie showing his King Tubby posse's roots.