Storm clouds are over my head
It’s going to rain, rain
Storm clouds are over my head
Rains gonna fall again
Storm clouds storm cloud
Politicians fighting for power
Storm clouds storm cloud
Demolition bomb in the city
While we poor people
In the ghetto a suffer
I & I a suffer so

It was a dark and stormy night all around San Rafael. Drenchtown cover Northern California. Water’s rising. The Pineapple Express brings torrents from the Pacific non-stop. Do it again. Radio waves above the grey fray cleanse the at-most-fear. Musical rain falls. The clouds burst. A “new group” makes his debut at the end of this reigning segment with this floating Roots Radics respite turned hospice:

From Mystic Man to Eek-A-Mouse with The Royals “Down Comes The Rain”, in “Cold Weather” The Upsetter says “stick together!”

Last time’s 33 years ahead program. Dreadcasting over the air since 1979 & online since 1996 dreader 21st Century Midnight Dread programs air daily at 12am including replays often heard in his Best of All Worlds high noon slot and where one can also become conscious at 6am with the indigenous sounds of Native Son Rising, all curated by Doug everyday, all times Pacific. Many more Midnight Dread sights & sounds here and on this blog’s Midnight Dread page. Go deh. All of dem.

Toots and The Maytals kick this killer radio program into gear with their own “Get Up Stand Up” composition. Bunny sings “Crucial”. Bob echoes “Dubbin’ In”. Lloyd Charmers provides “Sweet Harmony”. Mikey Dread sparks The Clash “One More Time”. To forestall the dread of night hypocrite onslaught MD employs a double dose of LKJ’s “Reality Poem” with this introduction “Let I reiterate and brain smog obliterate!”

“w’en wi can’t face reality
wi leggo wi clarity
some latch aan to vanity
some hol’ insanity
some get vision
start preach relijan
but dem can’t mek decishan
w’en it come to we fite
dem can’t mek decishan
w’en it comes to wi rites”

Scientist Meets The Space Invaders is fresh on the scene so it’s time to “Dematerialise” dub style. Two days after this program aired while working as a union projectionist at the Embassy Theatre on Market Street in San Francisco showing the first anti-hero western ever “Hour of The Gun” I was listening back to my aircheck and Dillinger screaming “Fire Fire” from the second part of this Midnight Dread #58 as I’m staring at the huge movie screen three stories below getting ready to do my change-over of reels when the screen bursts into flames and disappears in balls of smoke. All in attendance that afternoon at the infamous dollar house (3 movies for a buck!) flee the theatre.

I shut down the projection booth and take the elevator to the street only to fight my way out of a crowd of patrons jamming the ticket booth wanting their money back with little regard for their or others’ lives. I never work for the union again. One of my best jobs for the IATSE (International Association of Theatre & Stage Employees) before leaving was running slides for a closed door session on the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Suffice it to say, they have no idea how much radiation was released as the few monitors that were set up during the incident were all pointing the wrong way. I guess the sicknesses germinated then may just be showing up in droves now. That’s stupefied Babylon’s only real monitor. Choah. Me-cology or Ecology, that is the question. The hypocrites run amok at midnight. Scientist is here to blast them.

February 1981 Duppy Doug photo by Roger Steffens

Last time’s 33 years ahead program. Dreadcasting over the air since 1979 and online since 1996 dreader 21st Century Midnight Dread programs air daily at 12am including replays often heard in his Best of All Worlds high noon slot and where one can also become conscious at 6am with the indigenous sounds of Native Son Rising, all curated by Doug everyday, all times Pacific. Many more Midnight Dread sights and sounds here and on this blog’s Midnight Dread page. Go deh. All of dem.

Roger Steffens joins Doug Wendt to play some killer from Peter Simon’s collection

The lions roar alive and dread. A sparkling Bob Marley & The Wailers Pittsburgh Stanley Theatre September 1980 tape surfaces, a concert mostly no one knew was his going to be his last. Bob’s “Reggae On Broadway” debuts. Reggae Jackson premieres with a scorchin’ “Rider On The Range”. Peter was Reggae DJ for his sister Carly Simon’s Martha’s Vineyard club, The Hot Tin Roof. Thus these iconic epic songs with Big Youth and The Meditations. Pure musical dynamite. Burning Spear in Boston in October of 1980 opens the program March coming in like a lion like nobody’s business. Doug & Mikey Dread shock up Bob’s “Dubbin In From The Cold” live on air radio mash up stylee. Gregory Isaacs in Hartford, Connecticut, and the show stopping reggae genius Joe Higgs in L.A scoldin’ the crowd to pay attention as he starts, pointin’ out to the promoter the lack of promotion as he leaves the stage in lightning following the most electrified “Let Us Do Something”ever recorded live. The Mighty Diamonds sing live on Roger & Hank Holmes Reggae Beat KCRW show, a cover of The Intruders “Bet He Don’t Love You”. This is the first 80 minutes as aired live from 11pm-2am March 1st-2nd 1981 available for the first time since it original broadcast.

“On the first day of Spring
we gathered together…
regardless of the government
let us do something!”

Reggae Jackson’s album was produced by Bob Johnston, who did the same for many of the greatest albums of all time. Essentials like Johnny Cash Live At San Quentin, 6 for Bob Dylan including the wild mercury sound of dbl lp Blonde On Blonde, 3 for Leonard Cohen like Songs From A Room, 2 with Simon and Garfunkel, Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme. REGGAE JACKSON SMASH HITS! was engineered by ace mixer Susie Foot. Vocals by Joshua Mills. African giant Joni Haastrup is on “Celebrate This Day (Nigerian)”. Jimmy Foot on guitar. Jimmy just finished up some new Bob Johnston sessions in his band Kingfoot. In “Rider On The Range” one can hear native western reggae inklings of my live group since Foot plays ghost guitar & produces Ghost Town Sound. For some of the best Bob Johnston tales ever, read extensively about his wild tours of Europe in the new Leonard Cohen bio I’M YOUR MAN where they record several live shows at insane asylums across the continent trying to top Cash’s prison triumph. Batter up, spring is coming.

Midnight Dread’s *Major Announcement* comes March 3rd during a harmonic convergence of Night Nurse, Doctor Dread, and MD here, there, and everywhere when Amy & Doc DJ Rockers Arena from New York City! *At about 8pm Eastern Time March 3rd via Amy’s Radio Lily Facebook Page & right here on the mighty Midnight Raver Site!
Something wonderful is about to happen!

Last time’s 33 years ahead program. Dreadcasting over the air since 1979 & online since 1996 dreader 21st Century Midnight Dread programs air daily at 12am including replays often heard in his Best of All Worlds high noon slot and where one can also become conscious at 6am with the indigenous sounds of Native Son Rising, all curated by Doug everyday, all times Pacific. Many more Midnight Dread sights & sounds here and on this blog’s Midnight Dread page. Go deh. All of dem.

“Anotha stunna from the MIDNIGHT DREAD!  Plenty of rootikal sounds and vibes for whatever ails yo head!  Jump on this Zion Train today, please don’t lose your way!”

- RAVER

Now ear this. A new full-time full up stream for Midnight & All-Day Ravers:

After many months, & special tests Doug Wendt presents a special tonic & degree,

Extra something guaranteed, recipe balanced carefully, FDA I-proved, Reggae MD
Vital vinyl, unique mixes, carefully selected, all ages, covers & lovers, uncovered & cured,

Ever-changing, never ending, hand-picked fresh playlists daily, brand new, good for you



Free house calls, level vibes 24/7/365,
no need to feel jumpy, no need to feel bumpy,
making sure you take your musical medicine, leaving the happy in,
Midnight Dread, Mikey Dread, Med-Ical Doctors, Reggae MD

Wrapping you in a bubble of love, Always there when you need it,
Nurses & Doctors agree “Take the conscious party” Radio IO Reggae MD

It’s all about the music.
Be well,
Doug

http://www.radioio.com/channels/reggae/reggae-md/

^^^ 3pm-6pm Pacific Time Saturday April 26th is past but crucial sounds continue NOW ^^^

Enthrall yourself with the artists heard on the only Reggae MD Listening Party this month. I was on its events page with folks enjoying the selections so check out all the photos, playlists, & comments there. Reggae MD debuted full-time March 3rd on radioIO. Ever-changing, never-ending, and good for you, today’s Midnight Dread special featured hot buttered dub along with the best & latest platters to shatter all complacency in this state of emergency. Here’s the freshly baked & sliced Hot List of some current players on Reggae MD. Also like its regular MD FB page to see & hear lots more. Reggae radio’s hot off the griddle!

My now monthly interactive world-wide, your guide, massive & mighty Reggae Music Listening Party occupies all time zones today from Noon-3pm Hawaiian Time, 3-6pm Pacific, 4-7pm Mountain, 5-8pm Central & 6-9pm Eastern Time, & that’s just inside the USA, sponsored in part by Reggae On The River. Lots of new tunes added since April with ’nuff crucial new pix now showing up in the radioIO Reggae MD player as seen here.

Please join the Reggae MD Listening Party page now to check in, post comments, photos, or just plain listen quietly together to the healing sounds. I spent over 300 hours selecting the channel’s entire playlist of songs based on those exhibiting the most ‘magical’ properties & that lickle something extra based on a lifetime of curation, sharing & audience response. Its wealth of material created by so many great artists make for a truly magnificent collection of powerful sounds. And please remember as Roy Shirley alludes to in one of our best public service announcements disguised as music “Don’t text & drive!”

Stroll & scroll this recent Listening Party Page now for some cool pix & props from April’s natty affair. Please “Like Up” the regular Midnight Dread page for other ongoing cool runnings. Please contact me if you’re interested in considering Reggae MD’s special summer rates to promote your music, festival or business directly to reggae lovers who actually still buy lots of music, before the few slots remaining are gone.

“ever-changing never-ending
healing 24/7/365
fresh playlists daily
radioIO Reggae MD“

Reggae MD, full-time full-up upfull reggae radio 24 hours every day since March 3rd, 2014. Also dreadcasting over the air since 1979 & online since 1996 21st Century Midnight Dread programs airing daily on World One Radio at 12am including replays often heard in his Best of All Worlds high noon slot and where one can also become conscious at 6am with the indigenous sounds of Native Son Rising, all curated by Doug everyday, all times Pacific. Many more Midnight Dread sights & sounds here and on this blog’s Midnight Dread page. Go deh. All of dem.

May 30, 1980 is the first date of the 1980 European Uprising Tour and Bob Marley and the Wailers play the Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland.  Great soundboard audio recording from that show and several outstanding photos from photographer Ueli Frey.

On November 7, 1979 Bob Marley performed at Penn Hall in Philadelphia, PA.  He also hosted a party at the Philadelphia Warwick Hotel.  Included here are several images from that date.  The images were published in a local West Indian city paper called Caribbe along with a review of the show on November 12, 1979.  My friend and MIDNIGHT RAVER collaborator Doug Wendt AKA MIDNIGHT DREAD shared this vintage article with us a while back.

CLICK HERE to read the entire article.

After back to back sold out performances at The Hamilton, Washington DC’s top live venue, Junior Marvin’s Force One and Nappy Riddem are ready to take the Foundation To Creation show on the road for the rest of the year. Junior Marvin left his solo career to join Bob Marley & The Wailers after turning down an offer from Stevie Wonder on the very same date, February 14th, 1977. This June sees the tour head to North Carolina, Alabama and New York, and to promote these shows, both Junior Marvin and Nappy Riddem are releasing a new song and a live video.

A positive, uplifting reggae party is always a good time, and the track “Bad Mind People” delivers the goods, complete with a rocking guitar solo by Junior Marvin. With the new track comes a “Bad Mind People” music video with live footage from The Hamilton and other shows. Nappy Riddem has a freshly mastered live recording and video of their deeply conscious reggae-soul tune “I Wish.”

The Foundation To Creation Tour featuring Junior Marvin’s Force One and Nappy Riddem are eager to set-up interviews, free downloads, features and radio play for the June tour dates. Both artists are available for interviews upon request.

CLICK HERE for more!

I recently profiled the Wailers four-night run at London’s Speakeasy at www.bobmarley.com.

Their fiery performances at the club, several of which didn’t start until 2:30 a.m., were a turning point for the band.  As bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett explains in John Masouri’s excellent book Wailing Blues:  The Story of Bob Marley’s Wailers:

“There came a point where we just knew how we were going to set it and that come when we were playing the Speakeasy.  The Speakeasy was the most prestigious club in London at the time and that was our breaking point.  That was when we first began to get attention from the media because they were all there that night just waiting to see what we could do.”

Bob Marley meets a 14-year old aspiring photographer named Dennis Morris during the sound check for one of these shows.  Morris will eventually capture some of the most memorable images of Marley, like the one here, Morris’ first photo of Bob Marley, which was captured during the Wailers’ performance at the Speakeasy.  He also shoots the cover photo for Live 1975!.

Writer Chris Salewicz describes the vibe at the Speakeasy during the Wailers’ four-night run in his book Bob Marley:  The Untold Story.

“Such was the buzz created by Catch A Fire that this set of London shows was a complete sell-out. More than that, the first night at The Speakeasy turned into the hippest cultural event that London had experienced that year.

Moreover, for once this crowd waited patiently in its seats; the fact that the Wailers were so resolutely unpunctual in arriving onstage at their appointed hour seemed to be part of the attraction: this Jamaican soon-come way of thinking was deemed to be definitively cool.

When the Wailers appeared, the contrast between the affluent audience and the group, with their shuffling demeanour, could not have been more pronounced. Crammed on to the tiny stage of The Speakeasy, the group had both a humility about them and a power in their performance.

Such an approach was literally stunning. The strangely quiet, almost hushed performances of the Wailers at The Speakeasy on those nights in May 1973 were life-changing experiences. It was as though there was a spirit hovering over the group.”

Included below is the guest list from one of the Speakeasy shows.  Evidently someone thought it important to make sure Sha-Na-Na made the show.

Our good friend Chris Lane of Fashion Records graciously shared with me his review of one of the performances, which appeared in Blues & Soul Magazine in 1973.  It is brilliantly written and includes words from both Carlton and Aston Barrett.  A truly noteworthy document.

CLICK HERE to read it.

This article appeared in several U.S. newspapers on December 5, 1976.

On 3 December 1976, two days before Smile Jamaica, a free concert organized by the Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley’s home. Taylor and Marley’s wife sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received minor wounds in the chest and arm.

Check Marley’s stunning performance at the Smile Jamaica concert:

While the headline states that Marley was killed, the article itself states that he was wounded.  Very strange…

The sound system crews are doing some amazing work keeping Bob Marley and the Wailers’ classic music alive and well.  Rootikal Sound out of the U.K. was given access to the Island Bob Marley masters from which they crafted a slamming dub plate of “Get Up, Stand Up.”

Jah Youth drops the “Get Up, Stand Up” dubplate live

Aba-Shanti drops the “Get Up, Stand Up” dubplate live

Included here is a rare rehearsal session outtake from Tuff Gong studios circa 1979.  “Ride Natty Ride” is a track from the Survival LP.  Bob Marley and the Wailers performed this tune live throughout the 1979 Survival tour.

Here is a live performance of the tune from the 1979 Oakland Coliseum show.  It features Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones on guitar (and the clip is a share from his You Tube channel!).

Here is the 1979 Tuff Gong rehearsal outtake:

I posted “Rock Stone,” the first single from Stephen Marley’s new album Revelation Part II: The Fruit of Life when it first hit the web. However, at the time I was so busy with other projects I did not have the chance to really listen and evaluate it. With all of the great reggae that’s been released so far this year, Stephen has a harder path to trod to the top. However, “Rock Stone” is an extraordinary track, which places him far ahead of the pack.

The track opens with Stephen chanting the words his father once sang in “Talkin’ Blues,” a reggae/rhythm and blues song from the Natty Dread LP. It is significant that Stephen chose these words from that song because it is that song in particular in which Bob speaks so eloquently about life on the rock. In “Talkin’ Blues,” Bob speaks directly from his heart without much reservation about living a life where surviving is not just about day to day subsistence but instead a daily struggle to overcome the ruthless politricks and overwhelming poverty on the rock.

Even the most respected, revered, rock and folk musicians from the Stones to Dylan did not live the life they described in song. Bob Marley lived the life of a poor man from birth through death , much of his wealth given away to Rastafari, charitable organizations, and to his bredren and sistren on the rock. So when he sang “Cold ground was my bed last night, and rock was my pillow too” he was being sincere. I remember interviewing Al Anderson of The Wailers about what it was like to go from 1974 London (where he was recording with Traffic at the time) to Bull Bay, Jamaica, which was where he joined Bob when he was asked to play guitar with the group.

“I lived it. I was there. I slept on the floor for a year until they released Natty Dread. I slept on Bull Bay Beach because there was no money.”

“Rock Stone” is a song built around this reality. Just like the lives lived by Bob and his people, the track is hard and it is fast and it is heavy. Just like life it is absolutely unpredictable – going from roots to ragga to EDM in less than 5 minutes. The lines chanted by Capleton and Sizzla (who just released the best album of his career) bring a toughness and edginess to the song, which distinguishes “Rock Stone” from the tracks included on Revelation Part I: The Root of Life.

In the end “Rock Stone,” with all of its modern sounds, edgy performances and brilliant production is somehow remarkably “Marley.”