A Different Donald

Celebrating Donald Sutherland, 17th July 1935 to 20th June 2024.

A brilliant actor, Martin over at New Amusements nailed it with a succinct and spot-on summation of his star turn in the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, also a personal favourite. 

Donald brought an intensity to every role that he played, sometimes seemingly effortlessly, always enhanced by those piercing blue eyes. In ...Bodysnatchers, you could absolutely believe that Donald's character had gone for days without sleep and was running on empty...and that final scene. Stayed with me for a long time!

It was also a joy to see Donald appear in the video for Cloudbusting along with Kate Bush. Frankly, whatever he was in was better for his presence. Much is made of Will Smith's against-type role in 1993's Six Degrees Of Separation, but it stands or falls on the dynamic with the couple that his character encounters. It works because Donald and Stockard Channing were cast in the roles. Worth watching if you can track it down.

 

Which clumsily dovetails into the theme of today's selection. Unlike son Kiefer, Donald didn't release any albums or play gigs at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, However, he has appeared in many, many films, and there are plenty of songs in my collection that share titles. I've got form with this, having created previous selections based on the work of Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Taylor and Juliette Binoche (possibly others, but I forget).

Unfortunately, no songs titled Six Degrees Of Separation (I do have a 12" by a band of that name, which I'll spare you) but I did run a few posts last year based on the fun variation Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon. 

 

So, an obvious starter for today's selection were The Comsat Angels, whose members include (the other) Kevin Bacon. Conveniently, they also recorded a song for 1982 album Fiction with the same name as one of Donald's most famous films. Don't Look Now, but I think I've got away with that tenuous connection!

It's an eclectic sequence of songs and artists, taking in Roxy Music, The Kingfishers, Black Uhuru, late period Ultravox and Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud collaborating with Anni Hogan and Thomas Lang. I've taken some liberties with spelling and the inclusion or omission of the definite article here and there. I've also crowbarred in a reference to Donald's starring role in 1971 film Klute, where the titular drum & bass artist appears in the song name. It also allows me to sneak Mogwai in through the back door. Just imagine if Donald had accepted a role in Gremlins, it would have been even better...!

I felt compelled to include Cloudbusting but at the eleventh hour swapped Kate Bush for a cover version that Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3) recorded for a US compilation in 2010. I like it.

It seemed appropriate somehow to pick a fellow Canadian to close the selection, and Neil Young happily stepped up to the mark. Ordinary People was Robert Redford's directorial debut in 1980 and Donald is astonishing as you might expect. Timothy Hutton won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Donald was never nominated for an Academy Award, though he received an honorary Oscar in 2017.  

Not one to do things by halves, Neil Young's take on Ordinary People is an 18-minute chug-a-thon epic, with all the bells and whistles that you may expect, but doesn't feel a second too long. I don't know what Donald thought of Neil's music but I've just discovered that they did meet at least once, when they were both inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame in 2000, along with Joni Mitchell, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short and William Shatner. Now, that must have been some dinner table conversation...!

Ninety minutes of music then that I hope will also get you looking up some more of Donald's films - Kelly's Heroes! - and rediscovering what singular, otherworldly talent Donald Sutherland is.

And the post title? Well, another take is that when I read the sad news, I wished that the Grim Reaper had come calling for a different Donald instead...

Rest easy, Mr. Sutherland, you did good.

1) Don't Look Now: The Comsat Angels (1982)

2) Casanova: Roxy Music (1974)

3) Instinct: Iggy Pop (1988)

4) Setting Sun (Edit): The Aliens (2007)

5) The Eye Of The Needle: The Kingfishers (2023)

6) Alone: Scanner & Anni Hogan ft. Thomas Lang (2016)

7) Fools Gold (7" Version By John Leckie): The Stone Roses (1989)

8) Heaven Help Us (Try) (Manyanamegamix): Zeke Manyika ft. Sylvia & The Sapphires (1984)

9) Ask The Dust: The Porch Song Anthology (2006)

10) Kelly's Heroes (Album Version): Black Grape (1995)

11) The Great Train Robbery (Dance Mix By Arthur Baker): Black Uhuru (1986) 

12) Cloudbusting (Cover of Kate Bush): Neil Halstead (2010)

13) Thee Eagle Has Landed: Genesis P-Orridge & Psychic TV (1994)

14) Summer (Klute's Weird Winter Remix By Tom Withers): Mogwai (1998)

15) Time To Kill (Album Version): Ultravox (1986)

16) Ordinary People: Neil Young (2007)

1974: Country Life: 2

1982: Fiction: 1

1984: Heaven Help Us (Try) EP: 8 

1986: The Great Train Robbery EP: 11

1986: U-Vox: 15

1988: Instinct: 3

1989: Fools Gold EP: 7 

1994: Ultradrug: 13

1995: It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah: 10 

1998: Kicking A Dead Pig: Mogwai Songs Remixed: 14

2006: Spell Of The Trembling Earth: 9

2007: Chrome Dreams II: 16

2007: Setting Sun EP: 4

2010: Sing Me To Sleep, Indie Lullabies: 12

2016: Scanni: 6

2023: Reflections In A Silver Sound: 5

A Different Donald (1:30:03) (KF) (Mega)

Growing In My Backyard

Sun is shining, bass is booming, rhythm is rocksteady...must be be another Sunday reggae and dub session.

Hometown rockers Talisman get things off to a superb start with the 11-minute 12" mix of Dole Age, originally a vinyl side in 1981, introduced to a whole new audience (me included) with the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983. An essential purchase.

From there, it's a mix of 20th and 21st century sounds. The latter is represented by all-female combo Tight Spot with an unreleased song discovered and released by Happy People Records on 7" vinyl in 2021. An album highlight of the same year was Clarion Call by Xan Tyler and Mad Professor, delivering sharp lyrics with sweet rhythms. Rhoda Dakar delivers a David Bowie classic with aplomb, offering up a dubbed out version on the flipside. And three legends come together, with Horace Andy teaming up with Sly & Robbie for a modern dub colossus.

There's a brief stop in the 1990s to witness Benjamin Zephaniah and The Hazardous Dub Company with a cautionary tale that sadly resonates three decades later.

Back then to the 1970s and 1980s, a veritable who's who of reggae, lovers rock and dub legends, with Bob Marley & The Wailers versus a pre-'Scratch' Lee Perry, Louisa Mark, Tapper Zukie, Sylvia Tella and King Tubby dubbing up Yabby You. 

 

In 2021, Happy People also offered up a deep cut vinyl 7" by G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars. Remembered as the first white group to attempt an authentic reggae sound on record, their self-titled debut in 1974 closed with a version of Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door. Sound familiar? Well, this guy had a hit with an 'inspired' version less than a year later...

Ending the selection the only way possible, Black Uhuru sing the praises of Sinsemilla, the title track of their third album from 1980 and the record that crossed over to a global audience. Michael Rose, Sharon 'Puma' Jones and Derrick 'Duckie' Simpson telling it how it is, Sly & Robbie laying it down. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

1) Dole Age (12" Mix By Talisman & UK Scientist aka Richard Grassby-Lewis): Talisman (1981)

2) Air Tight (Version By Spero Anthony): Tight Spot (2003)

3) Like Birds: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)

4) Spell (Album Version By Lloyd Charmers & Maxi Million): Sylvia Tella (1981)

5) The Man Who Dubbed The World (Cover of David Bowie): Rhoda Dakar (2022)

6) I'm Alive Dub: Horace Andy + Sly & Robbie (2006)

7) Allies (Album Version By Dr. Love & Dennis Rootical): Benjamin Zephaniah & The Hazardous Dub Company (1995)

8) Firey Dub (Version By King Tubby): Yabby You (1977)

9) Rush I Some Dub: Tapper Zukie (1977)

10) Sun Is Shining (Dub) (Version By Bob Marley & Lee Perry): Bob Marley & The Wailers (1971)

11) Keep It Like It Is (Album Version By Clement 'Bush Ranger' Bushay): Louisa Mark (1981)

12) People (Who Killed People) (Album Version By Gerald Thomas Moore & Tony Braunagel): G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars (1975)

13) Sinsemilla (Album Version By Sly & Robbie): Black Uhuru (1980)

1971: Soul Revolution Part II ('Rhythm' Version): 10

1975: Reggae Blue: 12

1977: King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You): 8

1977: Tapper Zukie In Dub: 9

1980: Sinsemilla: 13

1981: Breakout: 11

1981: Dole Age EP: 1

1981: Spell: 4 

1995: Back To Roots: 7 

2006: Dubbin' It Up: 6

2021: Clarion Call: 3

2021: Time Heals Everything EP: 2

2022: The Man Who Sold The World EP: 5

Growing In My Backyard (57:45) (KF) (Mega)

Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Fancy a coffee? Take a seat and relax whilst I put some music on.

For someone who was born and grew up in Bristol, I've seen relatively few reggae acts live in concert and the vast majority of these will have been at either the St. Pauls Carnival or Ashton Court Festival in the 1980s and 1990s, the latter now sadly long gone. The former thankfully returned in 2023 as a bi-annual event and fundraising for 2025 is underway; you can donate here.

Over the years, I've amassed a modest collection of live concerts, some officially released, others bootleg recordings of variable quality but made more accessible via t'internet. Here's a 45-minute selection featuring some of my favourite performances.

Misty In Roots are first up with Ghetto Of The City from their debut album, Live At The Counter Eurovision 79. As the title suggests, this was a recording of a show in Belgium and is quite rightly lauded as not just one of the greatest live reggae albums of all time, but one of the greatest live albums, full stop. You'll see this happening a few times in this brief Dubhed selection and I will not be arguing to the contrary.

 

Talisman are from my birthplace, so it's very likely that I saw them at one of the aforementioned live events. Unfortunately, as I was generally under the influence and these happenings were ticketless, I have no idea if I did or not. A shame as they were clearly on fire, as this extract from 1981 shows. I picked up the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983 on CD which features Wicked Dem. It's now available on Bandcamp and is highly recommended, as is pretty much everything on Bristol Archive Records, to be honest.

What can I say about Bob Marley & The Wailers that hasn't already been said and more eloquently? One of the greatest songs of all time from one of the greatest artists of all time from one of the greatest albums of all time, Bob Marley & The Wailers Live! (or Live! At The Lyceum, if you're scrutinising the vinyl label). 

 

No Woman No Cry is credited to Bob's friend Vincent Ford, but is believed to be a pseudonym that Bob used in order to evade his publishing company at the time. Clearly, the courts agreed as Marley's estate gained control of these compositions in 1987 and successfully resisted a counter claim by the label in 2014.

Speaking of Bob, the Performing Arts Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica was dedicated to him and 18 months after his death, Black Uhuru performed there as part of the Jamaica World Music Festival. The quality of this 1982 bootleg recording is a bit ropey to say the least but the quality of the music shines through.

Another bootleg of slightly better quality is UB40 with a 'short' version of Madam Medusa, their damning indictment of Margaret Thatcher and a reminder of how very good they were in their early years. This was originally featured in the seminal music film, Urgh! A Music War. The version here is a rip from the VHS release that I found online. Incredibly, UB40 didn't make the cut for the vinyl album release, itself a must-have in any record collection.

Staying with another legendary reggae band from Birmingham, Steel Pulse are up next with Makka Splaff. The song originally featured (as Macka Splaff) on their debut Handsworth Revolution. The version here appeared on the legendary Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus album, released on 10" vinyl with a limited edition bonus 7". A copy on Discogs will set you back (I think a rather reasonable) £29.00, less if you're not bothered about the 7".

Another contender for greatest (live) album of all time is Aswad with 1983's Live And Direct, recorded at that summer's Notting Hill Carnival in London. I remember seeing a full-page ad in Smash Hits at the time, priced as a mini-album at £2.99. At 9 tracks (10 if you split the 2-song Rockers Melody) and 45 minutes in length, there's no 'mini' about it and the sound is as fresh and crisp now as it was three decades ago.

Closing today's selection is Matumbi, whose theme tune to the BBC TV series Empire Road was also included on the 1978 compilation Don't Walk, Boogie nestled in my parent's record collection. Both the TV show and the song made a big impression on me and - unknown to me at the time - introduced me to the genius of Dennis Bovell.

After Tonight is another classic from the Matumbi catalogue, which Dennis has revisited and re-recorded several times throughout his career, most recently in 2022 with Winston Reedy. This live version was recorded on day 2 of the Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea in December 1979. A fund-raiser for victims of the conflict in Cambodia, it was a mammoth 4-day event at the Hammersmith Odeon, kicking off with Queen, ending with Paul McCartney and Wings and featuring The Pretenders, The Specials, The Who and Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

The day 2 line-up was Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Matumbi, Dennis and other bandmates bolstering the former's line-up, followed by The Clash. What a night that must have been. You needn't wonder: with another name check for the Albums That Should Exist blog, you can find collated selections from all four days posted last summer. Zip file links are still live, though I had to close down multiple pop-ups and revisit the initial link page to eventually get the download. Well worth the effort though, as all three acts are on top form.

All that yakking and I need another brew! Let me just stick this selection on repeat...

 

1) Ghetto Of The City: Misty In Roots (1979)

2) Wicked Dem: Talisman (1981)

3) No Woman No Cry: Bob Marley & The Wailers (1975)

4) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner: Black Uhuru (1982)

5) Madame Medusa: UB40 (1980)

6) Makka Splaff (The Colly Man): Steel Pulse (1977)

7) African Children: Aswad (1983)

8) After Tonight: Matumbi (1979)

 

18 July 1975: The Lyceum, London, England: 3

02 October 1977: Electric Circus, Manchester, England: 6

31 March 1979: Cirque Royal/Koninklijk Circus, Brussels, Belgium: 1

27 December 1979: Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England: 8

28 August 1980: Arènes De Frejus, Fréjus, France: 5

28 July 1981: Bath Pavilion, Bath, England: 2

26 November 1982: Jamaica World Music Festival, Bob Marley Performing Arts Center, Montego Bay, Jamaica: 4

26 August 1983: Meanwhile Gardens, Notting Hill Carnival, London, England: 7

 

Everything's Gonna Be Alright (45:08) (KF) (Mega)

If Summer Is Here, I'm Still Waiting There

What better way to offset what has so far been a pretty washed out May in this neck of the woods than with a dozen reggae tunes to let some sunshine in?

Many of the usual suspects - and Dubhed regulars - are present and correct: Gregory Isaacs, Marcia Griffiths, I-Roy, Junior Murvin, Carroll Thompson and Dennis Brown. A couple that have appeared less than I had thought: Black Uhuru and Bob Marley & The Wailers. The biggest surprise is that this is the first time here for Jackie Mittoo. Why so long?!

 

1) The Boom: Tapper Zukie (1979)

2) Warriors (Album Version): Gregory Isaacs (1978)

3) Mr. Bojangles (Cover of Jerry Jeff Walker): John Holt (1973)

4) Fresh And Clean: I-Roy (1974)

5) Solomon: Junior Murvin (1977)

6) I Just Don't Want To Be Lonely: Marcia Griffiths (1974)

7) Just A Little Bit (Album Version): Carroll Thompson (1981)

8) I Don't Want To Go: Pat Kelly (1979)

9) Waiting In Vain (Album Version): Bob Marley & The Wailers (1977)

10) Drum Song (Re-Recorded Version): Jackie Mittoo (1977)

11) What Is Life? (UK Remix Album Version): Black Uhuru (1983)

12) So Long (Rastafari Calling): Dennis Brown (1974)

 

If Summer Is Here, I'm Still Waiting There (42:59) (Box) (Mega)

Beyond Uhura

Celebrating Nichelle Nichols, 28th December 1932 to 30th July 2022.

Nichelle, born Grace Dell Nichols, will of course be forever associated with her ground breaking role as Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series from 1966 to 1969. Slightly before my time but, following the series' cancellation, the BBC had repeats of Star Trek on regular rotation during the 1970s, so I grew up avidly watching the show. 

 

Even without knowing the significance of the character in the show, Lieutenant Uhura was both a favourite and an early crush (I was not alone in this). Nichelle even got to sing in a couple of Star Trek episodes in the first season, Charlie X and The Conscience Of The King.

Prior to Star Trek, Nichelle appeared in stage productions of Carmen Jones and Porgy & Bess and toured the USA, Canada and Europe as a jazz singer with Duke Ellington's and Lionel Hampton's bands. Nichelle also broke into television, including an episode of Gene Roddenberry's first TV series, prophetically titled The Lieutenant.

Nichelle's role as Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek was ground breaking, a Black woman as a central character in a high profile TV series at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. Nichelle intended to leave after the first series and actually handed in her resignation to Gene Roddenberry but a fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King highlighted the cultural and political importance of her role and she stayed. Following the original series' cancellation, Nichelle went on to star in the animated series from 1973 to 1974 and the first six Star Trek films from 1979 to 1991.

Nichelle also had a significant relationship with NASA from 1977 to 2015, promoting the space programme and encouraging women and people of colour to become astronauts. What an incredible, inspiring woman.

Lieutenant Uhura's name can also be credited to Nichelle: when auditioning for the role, she had a copy of Robert Ruark's 1962 book Uhuru with her. Nichelle suggested it for the then-unnamed character, it was tweaked to Uhura and history was made. 

 

Uhuru is a Swahili word meaning freedom and it would be remiss of me not to include a roots reggae favourite, Black Uhuru, performing What Is Life? with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare at Yomiuri-Land Theatre East in Tokyo, Japan on 28th July 1984.

Nichelle has gone "to explore strange new worlds" but she will forever be remembered and loved for her impact on this blue-and-green globe, hanging in space.

Bass, The Final Frontier

Celebrating Robbie Shakespeare, 27th September 1953 to 8th December 2021.

I read the sad news less than an hour before posting this, so today's selection is particularly on the fly and, like Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Richard H. Kirk previously, how do you begin to do justice to an artist whose contribution to music has been so vast, so far reaching?

I couldn't avoid including some of the obvious choices that will have been popping up all over the internet in the wake of his passing, but I've tried to include some less well-known pieces, whether as Sly & Robbie, providing essential bass to iconic songs or at the controls, producing and remixing. If Robbie Shakespeare had 'only' been a bass player, he would still be a legend. His impact on my musical education and the sheer joy of hearing him in perfect harmony with Sly Dunbar gets me every time.

 

1) Legalise The Dub: Sly & Robbie Meet Bunny Lee (2002)

2) Fu-Gee-La (Sly & Robbie Mix): Fugees (1996)

3) Dub The Government: Sly & Robbie (1997)

4) Sound Man Style (Prince Jammy Presents Uhuru In Dub With Sly & Robbie): Black Uhuru (1982)

5) Night Nurse (Sly & Robbie Dub Mix): Sly & Robbie ft. Simply Red (1997)

6) Aux Armes Et Cætera: Serge Gainsbourg ft. Sly & Robbie, Ansel Collins & The I Threes (1979)

7) Private Life (Long Version By Chris Blackwell & Alex Sadkin) (Cover of The Pretenders): Grace Jones ft. Sly & Robbie (1980)

8) Superthruster (Album Version): Sly & Robbie & Howie B. (1999)

9) Spasticus Autisticus (12" Version): Ian Dury ft. Sly & Robbie (1981)

10) Ruined In A Day (Rhythm Twins Dub By Sly & Robbie): New Order (1993)

11) Mop Head: Sly & The Revolutionaries (1977)

12) Strange Turn: Adrian Sherwood ft. Sly & Robbie (2003)

13) Getting Hot (Original 12" Version By Steven Stanley): Gwen Guthrie ft. Sly & Robbie (1983)

14) Boops (Here To Go) (Vocal 12" Version By Bill Laswell): Sly & Robbie ft. Shinehead & Bootsy Collins (1987)

 

1977: Go Deh Wid Riddim: 11

1979: Aux Armes Et Cætera: 6 

1980: Warm Leatherette: 7

1981: Spasticus Autisticus EP: 9

1982: Uhuru In Dub: 4 

1983: Padlock EP: 13 

1987: Boops (Here To Go) EP: 14

1993: Ruined In A Day EP: 10

1996: The Score: 2

1997: Dub Rocker's Delight: 3 

1997: Night Nurse EP: 5

1999: Drum & Bass Strip To The Bone By Howie B.: 8

2002: Sly & Robbie Meet Bunny Lee At Dub Station: 1 

2003: Never Trust A Hippy: 12

 

Bass, The Final Frontier (1:00:39)