THE FUCK IT IS. IT'S SPELLED N-E-W Y-O-R-K.

How do you spell New York? A knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork. That's the way you spell New York. Ask anybody who's heard reggae DJ/toaster Dillinger. It's a line from his "Cocaine In My Brain". My friend Javier turned me onto the song over thirty years ago. Crucial. And Javier was from the punk scene. The cool thing about it is that it wasn't unusual back then. Punks listened to reggae. There was only a limited amount of punk records to listen to, and everybody back then had played their Stooges, Dolls, Velvets and MC5 records to exhaustion. Reggae was just another available type of rebel music. And there was so much to get caught up on.

The song wasn't even on my mind, but I was visiting Funky 16 Corners, and after sampling an excellent mix (Loose and Groovy, the second one on this post), I saw the previous post, a song called "A Knife and a Fork" by Kip Anderson. I guarantee you, even today, if Javier saw that song title he'd have something to say about a bottle and a cork. I've posted the Dillinger song before, but the links are now kaput. No choice folks, time to refresh. I found both versions. The first one was recorded at Channel One and is the better of the two. More character. I don't know where the other version was recorded, or when, because I don't really care. If I'm going to listen to Dillinger doing "Cocaine in My Brain", I'm going to listen to the Channel One version.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Dillinger - Cocaine In My Brain mp3 at Cubikmusik Channel One version
Dillinger - Cocaine In My Brain mp3 at San-Andreas (?)

WE MISSED THE FIRST BAND

It seems like a bad idea, suggesting to someone to take it slow going into a long weekend by listening to a song called "Cocaine", so I won't. But it is a slow burner, and it takes me back to the pre-show hanging out that occurred back when it was played a lot, and not because people I hung out with were doing coke. It feels like a buildup to something, more of music comradery and beer drinking type thing than anything else.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Isodisco LP version
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Giant Panther
People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna (streaming) at YouTub Riddim source

70% POST CONSUMER RIDDIM

I picked up a handful of cheap LPs over the weekend, including a record that isn't typically the sort of thing I go for, Boogie Down U.S.A., a mid-seventies LP by People's Choice. It was produced by Gamble and Huff, of note because they pretty much were the Philly sound. How's this: the Soul Survivors' "Expressway to Your Heart", Archie Bell & the Drells' "I Can't Stop Dancing", the O'Jay's "Back Stabbers" and " Love Train", Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody", all produced by the pair. But, that's not why I picked up the LP. I wanted it because it had "Do It Any Way You Wanna", the song Dillinger (pictured above) revamped as riddim for "Cocaine (In My Brain)", one of his best known songs, a mid-seventies reggae DJ classic. Here's the weird twist, contemporary disco band Escort did a disco cover of Dillinger's "Cocaine". That's not quite full circle, but the time machine's in the shop.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Isodisco LP version
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Giant Panther
People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna (streaming) at YouTube
Escort - Cocaine Blues mp3 at American Athlete

SIR LORD, COUNT, KING, AND WHO?

Change of gears here. I ran into a Sir Lord Comic cut and had to point you to it. He was an early reggae DJ, back when there were very few, Count Machuki and King Stitt among them. Sir Lord, Count and King. That's a lot of royalty floating around in those names. Then U Roy waltzes in, and ruins the whole regal name streak (though he did record for Duke Reid). Where was I? Oh yeah, Sir Lord Comic. His stuff doesn't pop up online very often, so that's why he's down there. The rest are just a cross section of DJ stuff, reggae DJ stuff (if you don't know the difference here's a wiki thing). Some of it's been here before, but there are a couple other goodies I hadn't seen before, a Big Youth live cut from '74, and a very early U Roy, with the Tommy McCook and the Supersonics (gloriously scratched I might add). 

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Sir Lord Comic - The Great Wuga Wuga mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens
Count Machuki - Pepper Pot mp3 at Planet Mondo
King Stitt & the Wailing Souls - Whitebread mp3 at Constant Pressure
U Roy - Flashing My Whip mp3 (via DivShare) at Black Gold with Tommy McCook!
U Roy - Runaway Girl mp3 at Tous les jours la grande chose
Scotty - Draw Your Breaks mp3 at La Grand Chose
Dillinger - Cocaine mp3 at Giant Panther
Big Youth - Cool Breeze mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Big Youth - Santa Massa Gone Ya (Live) mp3 at Earmilk 
Dennis Alcapone - Cassius Clay mp3 at Reggae Top Site 

U ROY VS GROUNDHOG

I ran into U-Roy's "Natty Rebel" today. Holy shit. It didn't just sound good, it felt good. It felt like coming home. You probably have a few songs like that. Everybody has musical constants that follow them. U-Roy's one of mine. And boy, I sure don't have to go any further tonight. I'd already run ito the other three: Dillinger's "Cocaine" (for the umpteenth time), a smooth cut from Delroy Wilson, and a Donna-less Althia (really, no idea if it's the same Althia). Seemed as good a reason as any to pretend like the first day of spring is some sort of big deal. Cheer up east coast sad sacks, it'll be warmer before you know it. Said the warm west coast asshole.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Althia - Love One Another mp3 at Juno Download
Delroy Wilson - Cool Operator mp3 at Juno Download 
Dillinger - Cocaine mp3 at Giant Panther
U-Roy - Natty Rebel mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Earlier:
All Reggae posts Hey, quite a few of the old links are still good.

REGGAE PARTY TONIGHT!

Last August I posted a short thing about Dillinger's "Cocaine in My Brain" and how it borrowed the bass line from People's Choice's "Do It Any Way You Wanna", a song he toasted over prior to recording his signature song. Today, while browsing American Athlete (an excellent blog with tons of groove heavy international music), I ran into a post about Escort's "Cocaine Blues", which is as close to a disco type cover of Dillinger's "Cocaine in My Brain" as you can get it. It's a recent release, but you could swear that it was one of those songs that you never heard back in the late seventies (because, of course, disco sucked, right?). So, the bass line has come full circle, from dance floor to sound system, and back to the dance floor. (Note: get the Escort cut now, because it was posted with a note that said it would only be available for a few days, and that was back in November.)

In looking for an image for this post, I ran into an instant book mark. It's a site called Streamola Archive, and it has tons of reggae-centric stuff on it, streaming and in mp3 format. And I'm not talking about just songs. There's tapes of sound systems, interviews, radio shows, and all sorts of cool shit. Some of the sound files are a teeny bit warbly in parts (because they were ripped from streaming webcasts, from 1999-2001), but it's very minor. And there's some more recent stuff, including an Ari Up DJing gig, from February, just months before her death. It's an excellent set, with recent sounds from Jamaica and a few of the new Slits songs, and a mash up of John Lennon's vocal from "A Day In the Life" with a rhythm that, if you're at all into reggae, you'll recognize. (Stream the whole show at your hoedown tonight!) There's other posts with a Lee Perry set and interview, a King Jammy sound system set from '87, and a interview with Dillinger, and tons more. (Links are below.) I'm also including a repost of a link from a while back, in case you missed it. It's a Slits live set, from the Primavera Sound Festival, in Barcelona, from earlier this year.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

The bass line that won't die:
Escort - Cocaine Blues mp3 at American Athlete
Dillinger - Cocaine in My Brain mp3 at Giant Panther
People's Choice - Do It Anyway You Wanna mp3 at Lulu.com

PARTY SUPPLIES, the other good stuff:
Ari Up DJing w/Joly & Mad Scientist at Party 4 Haiti (2/2010) mp3 and streaming at Streamola Archive
The Slits, Live at the Primavera Sound Festival (2010) at Free Music Archive (NOTE: Click the arrow to the right of the plus sign [+] to download)
King Jammy's SuperPower soundsystem set (1987) mp3 and streaming at Streamola Archive
Lee Perry gig from 1999 mp3 and streamimg at Streamola Archive
Lee Perry interview (mid-80s) mp3 and streaming at Streamola Archive
Dillinger & Trinity interview mp3 and streaming at Streamola Archive
Breif Selection - Reggae mix mp3 and streaming at Streamola Archive

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE BASS LINE

After the last post about the origin of U Roy's "Chalice in the Palace", I thought I'd add a quick post, with the origin of the bass line to Dillinger's "Cocaine In My Brain." (I posted "Cocaine" several months ago, but I think this is the original version.) Before recording "Cocaine In My Brain," Dillinger used to toast over Peoples' Choice's "Do It Any Way You Wanna" at sound systems, hence the lifted bass line. So, there you have it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Dillinger - Cocaine In My Brain mp3 (right click to save) at Giant Panther
Peoples' Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna mp3 (right click to save) at Lulu.com