A few days ago a guy I know from across the alley was pulling out of his parking place and as he drove past, he was playing some Duke Reid produced rocksteady, I forget what song and what artist, but it was one I'd heard a million times. I just remember thinking, that might be the last time I'll ever hear a Duke Reid recording blasting out of a car. When I asked the friend about it later, because a neighbor into Duke Reid rocksteady is a neighbor worth talking shop with, he said that it was satellite radio and that he didn't know the song. Didn't have a clue who Duke Reid was. It was just one of those things. But I did hear it, and he did too, he just wasn't paying attention. Do people even invest themselves in music anymore? Is it just background noise to the 24/7 onslaught of ads and consumer gluttony? Fuck. But I did hear it.
I know the song I heard wasn't "Angie La-La" by Nora Dean, because I would have remembered that. It has to be the weirdest record that Reid ever put out. Reid was all about rocksteady. "Angie La-La" is, I don't know, just weird. Not even close to rocksteady. There's some Donna Summer-lite type gasping in it, spare but prominent percussion, birds chirping 'n' shit. Just listen to it and compare it too any song on the Duke Reid comp linked below. That compilation is great. It was my introduction to Duke Reid way back when I was about the age of the guy...across...the...alley. Oh.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Nora Dean - Angie La La mp3 at Art Decade
Nora Dean - Barbwire mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Duke Reid - Golden Hits (streaming) at YouTube 12 songs
2 comments:
Things may be better in California, but here in Washington, satellite radio isn't just the only place you're going to hear rocksteady. It's also the only place you're going to hear Merle Haggard, or the Ramones, or Howlin' Wolf. I watched a show last night about the rise and fall of rock radio and the role played by DJs, going back to Alan Freed and Dewey Phillips and Rufus Thomas. And satellite is where a lot of the great FM jocks from around the country ended up. I know it's not the same as in the old days. We can't go back to 1968, or even 1982. Teenagers today build communities on social media, not by listening to the same radio stations. But for us geezers who still need our fix of good music, there aren't many options.
Marc
Fuck satellite radio. I know they have good stuff, but I'm not paying a monthly fee for radio. Fuck that. I'm a bona fide tightwad. I have to be. And that there is a divide.
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