Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic
Jamaican DJ Dillinger toasts each of the winners to date of the Independence Festival Song Competition in “Festival Rock,” his entry for the 8th annual event in 1973: “Festival Rock” Dillinger (1973) 1966: The Maytals with “Bam Bam” 1967: The Jamaicans with “Ba Ba Boom” 1968: Desmond Dekker & The Aces
Thanks again to record collector extraordinaire, Tom Avazian — underwriter of numerous Zero to 180 research initiatives (most recently, Scotland’s The Poets) — who provided a vinyl copy of 1988 UK anthology, 20 One Hit Wonders, an album that includes a strong track from a band of Birmingham musicians, The
Listen carefully and you can count each of the three cymbal crashes in this unjustly obscure – and humorous – rocksteady 45 “The Slot Machine” from Jamaican vocal group The Three Tops: about a “gambling lady” with a yen for the one-armed bandit: “Slot Machine” The Three Tops (1968) I
Will Ferrell’s inspired sketch idea as a cowbell-wielding member of Blue Oyster Cult named Gene Frenkle may have lost some of its freshness, however Ferrell deserves credit for galvanizing interest in this long-neglected member of the percussion family. Five years after that Saturday Night Live sketch originally aired, Paul Farhi
Very little seems to be known about this great single from the late rocksteady/early reggae era other than the artist name (Cliff & the Diamonds), the producer (Joe Abrahams), and song title (“Mother Benge“) – check out the hip musical non-sequitur that opens the song: “Mother Benge“ Cliff & the
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
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
If you’re like me (someone who didn’t have access to YouTube growing up), you’re probably familiar with this iconic photo of rockabilly singer, Ersel Hickey — But maybe not his big 1958 hit, “Bluebirds Over the Mountain“: Check out the loping guitar intro with the lead guitar and bass playing the
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