Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Tag: Duke Reid

Early reggae
Zeroto180

Nora Dean’s Voice — Tremulous, Intriguing

I suspect I am hardly the only one who finds Nora Dean‘s voice so compelling — the emotional directness and its unique, tremulous quality. Given what little is known about Dean and how infrequently her voice was committed to disc, this only adds to the intrigue. Michael Garnice, creator of

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Chris Blackwell
Zeroto180

Trojan Records History Highlights

It always helps to have streaming audio within arm’s reach to make music history more of a ‘multimedia’ experience. From reading Young Gifted and Black:  The Story of Trojan Records by Michael de Koningh and Laurence Cane-Honeysett, for example, I have picked up a number of helpful listening tips and

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"Small Garden"
Zeroto180

‘Scully’ & His Green Thumb

At one point in its week-long tribute to master percussionists, Noel ‘Scully‘ Simms and Uzziah ‘Sticky‘ Thompson, Zero to 180 quoted Discogs.com’s bold claim that Simms is “arguably the first Jamaican artist to release a record single” — but then played the indignant card by loudly noting Discogs’ failure to

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"Guns Fever"
Zeroto180

‘Sticky’: “Guns Fever” Vocalist?

Thanks to Harry Hawks‘ biographical portrait of master percussionist (& sometime vocalist) Uzziah ‘Sticky‘ Thompson for Reggae Collector’s Artists Hall of Fame, we learn that (1) ‘Sticky’ gets a shout-out in the intro to Baba Brooks’ “Girls Town Ska” from 1965 [Q: “Hey Sticks, where you going tonight?”  A: “I’m

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"Blue Boot"
Zeroto180

“Blue Boot”: Next-Generation Musical Footware

A key transitional moment in the history of popular music largely went unnoticed when Eric Donaldson took the baton from early rock & roll pioneer, Carl Perkins – author of “Blue Suede Shoes” – upon the release of this great single from 1972 on the Jaguar label, “Blue Boot“: “Blue

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"Weather Report"
Zeroto180

“Weather Report”: Play the Simon & Garfunkel Game

Here’s a fun game – a public service of Zero to 180 – that you can play with a group of friends: Get a time piece (or watch with a second hand) Click the triangle below to play “Weather Report” by The Tennors. Make note of how much time elapses

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"Flaming Rock Steady"
Zeroto180

“Flaming Rock Steady”: It’s a Scorcher

In 1966 legendary session guitarist, Ernest Ranglin, released a fun and breezy set of instrumentals in Jamaica on the Federal label entitled, A Mod A Mod Ranglin. The original 12-song LP has since been reissued on CD with six additional tracks – including this one, “Flaming Rock Steady“:~ “Flaming Rock

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"Little Nut Tree"
Zeroto180

“Little Nut Tree”: Rocksteady Revamped as Reggae

IThe Melodians recorded two versions of the same song – “Little Nut Tree.” The first version — recorded with underappreciated and pioneering producer, Sonia Pottinger, after the group had enjoyed a succession of hits on Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label — is definitely on the rocksteady side of the reggae

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