the big musical history of a little island

March 19, 2014 5:46 AM

Reggae: The Story Of Jamaican Music, is an excellent BBC Documentary in three parts: 1 - Forward March, 2 - Rebel Music and 3 - As Raw As Ever.
posted by flapjax at midnite (16 comments total)

Big bookmark on this one. For all their sins (mostly joking), the Brits have been great curators, creators, and boosters of reggae. Brits of all colours and all persuasions.
posted by Wolof at 6:35 AM on March 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Thank you for this.
posted by GrapeApiary at 6:36 AM on March 19, 2014

Oh, this is perfect timing because I just learned that my sister in law listens to a lot of reggae. THanks for posting!
posted by rebent at 7:09 AM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Trench Town Jamaica, Alpha Boys School documentary

The Studio One Story (previously).
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:04 AM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Great. Now I will be locked in a Reggae documentary prison for hours. (My inmate number in this entertainment prison will be 54-46.)
posted by vorpal bunny at 9:10 AM on March 19, 2014 [4 favorites]

I knew somebody else would get that number.
posted by dubwisened at 9:23 AM on March 19, 2014 [4 favorites]

Nice - I found this article yesterday which'd work well with the vids: "That Chop on the Upbeat" (via) about Junior Braithwaite and it references Coxsone Dodd, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and many others all talking about "that sound." There's links to 8 youtube vids near the bottom to reference the songs mentioned, and makes for a great article all around.
posted by Zack_Replica at 10:31 AM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

My inmate number in this entertainment prison will be 54-46

Right now, somebody else has that number.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:15 PM on March 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Ack. Beaten to it by hours!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:16 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

From the Wiki, re: "54-46 That's My Number..."

"It was also covered by Vanilla Ice on his 2011 album 'WTF'."

Oy gevalt.
posted by NedKoppel at 2:06 PM on March 19, 2014

That was great. And I love this bit when the guy in the interview starts toasting, they overlay the concert recording and it's like in perfect sync.
posted by yoHighness at 4:05 PM on March 19, 2014

yoHighness that is a golden moment.
posted by mjg123 at 6:39 PM on March 19, 2014

That was great. And I love this bit yt when the guy in the interview starts toasting, they overlay the concert recording and it's like in perfect sync.

yoHighness that is a golden moment.

Yeah, there's several bits here and there throughout these documentaries where some old-timer they're interviewing busts out a few lines of his old hit, and they're always fucking good. Guys can still sing, for sure. It's very heartwarming.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:15 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Pick It Up, B-Boys! The Toasting/Hip-Hop Connection. (Foundation Ska blog)
(has a great clip of the "King of D-Jays" King Stitt - and God this is looks like an incredible blog.)

Dub Echoes (documentary)
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:55 PM on March 22, 2014

This is so so good. Just finished part one and the bit with Desmond Dekker just losing himself in the music at Wembley, just wonderful.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:45 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also, thank you thank you flapjax. You do this to me so many times.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:47 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]