"Every record has a story" - R. Zee Jackson

Every record in my collection has a story. Because of the fact that I hardly bought my stuff on the internet almost every record has a little story. I can still remember where I bought it or who provided me the inspiration to buy a certain album. As a collector I used to spent my days as a hard core record hunter. With my good friend I travelled regularly to Antwerpen, Gent, Brussel, Paris and London to hunt for records. Fairs, shops, wholesalers we went everywhere and at some point for me it was more the journey then the records. Here is just a story how a specific album ended up in my collection.

This story is one about "coincidence" or maybe about the fact that there is not such thing. In may 2008 I bought a stack of reggae records from a private collector up North in Groningen. While checking them out I bumped into an album I didn`t know. It was "Seat up" by R. Zee Jackson. The sleeve looked interesting and I never saw the label before. So I give it one spin and put it aside to listen to it more carefully before deciding to add it to my collection.

In july of that same year I spend time with my family in Jamaica. On Reggae Beach near Ocho Rios I met a very friendly grey bearded Rasta man. He introduced himself to me as Castro Pink. We chat about reggae and he told me about his production work and so on. At one point he gave me his business card. The card said: "Esso Jaxxon, stage name; R. Zee Jackson". I was very surprised and I told him about his album that I found the other day. He told me the story behind the album. How they were booked as a backing band for a Jamaican artist (can`t remember who it was, I thought Alton Ellis)  on his Canadian and American tour. But there was delay because of visa problems and they killed time by recording the tracks for the album. And that was how it came out in 1980. And that`s how this album ended up in my collection. Musically it`s a solid roots album, check it out.

Flying D

Support your local record shop

In these Corona hard times with all this rules on social distancing a lot of shops close their doors temporarely. My local record shop keeps the store open under strict rules; You have to sanatize your hands when you come in en no more then 5 customers allowed inside and of course you have to keep the 1.5 meter social dinstance. I promised myself to go there every saturday in this difficult periode to buy at least one record every time. You have to support your local record shop. Record shops are vital; music is the staff of life.

I used to travel allover the world to visit record shops and fairs to hunt for records. A lot of the shops I went to in eigthies and the nineteens are long gone. They died out by the competition of the internet or just by the economical downfall. I still meet a lot of other collectors who complain about the solid record shops that are no longer there. Of course there are exeptions.

This made me realize I am still a lucky guy because my local "used" record shop that helped me most to start up my reggae collection is still up and running in a healthy state up to this date. Diskid opened his doors in Zwolle in 1987 while I was buying reggae albums for some years already. Up to that time I always had to travel to other cities to find my reggae stuff. Diskid was a general used record shop that made it possible for me to dig through loads of used records on a weekly base. For years I visited the shop every week. First just for finding records, but later on also to have a good time and have some good discussions on various topics with the owner and other regular customers. I also helped the owner one day in buying reggae stock at some wholesalers in Amsterdam.

The shop moved a couple of times to better locations and some years ago the owner also started to organize a yearly record fair with mostly private sellers. I attended there on most occasions with a full Jamaican Music stall and sometimes I had to spin a little reggae set on the sound system. Now having children and other priorities besides collecting and selling records I don`t visit my local record shop as often but still once a month I pop by for an update. And nowadays the facebook connection is also working. But as I said in these Corona time I will try to visit every week to support my local record shop.

I remember once in those early days (1989?) I was still studying and I had this birthday party at my house. My student friends gave me this special gift voucher issued by my local record shop. It was a hand writen coupon with the value of 25 dutch guilders. They went to the shop and asked the owner if they could buy a gift voucher for his regular customer. So he just improvised that one! And of course on my first visit after that birthday he had this special album for me behind the counter. That was Ras Michael - Kibir Am Lak! By the way later on he started to issue official printed gift vouchers! :) Diskid is still out there and I had some great catches out there and always a good time! Big respect to all record shops!

Flying D

Reggae rules!

That`s the nice thing from having some good shelves with records. You don`t have to play music to enjoy them. I can just pick my little relax moment after a busy day at work in standing in front of the shelves with my record collection. Just pick some things out and look at the sleeves. It is like going through memories and having a laugh about some nice sleeves. I saw this one today.Reggae rules!! Watch how John Travolta and his Disco is smashed by this Zap Pow super hero! 

Flying D

Delroy Wilson and the Power of Dub

This story is about the power of dub and just a little bit about Delroy Wilson. Actually Delroy Wilson is only on the sleeves of the two records that this story is about. It was in 2003 when I was in Jamaica at the house of one of my sisters - in law. There I met Mello who used to operate a small local sound system with his brothers.

He told me it was like how a lot of Jamaicans operated their own sound. In the good old days you gained much respect from the community when you owned a sound system in Jamaica. “Im boss man! Im haffe a sound!”. And that is how Count Mello started out by the end of the sixties. He ended his sound system activities in 1990. When I told him that I was interested in reggae music, boxes and scandal bags full of 45’s and albums started to appear from under his bed and from several different closets in the house. And every time I thought I saw it all, more records appeared from somewhere.

At one point I was going through a box of albums and I found two of the same Delroy Wilson - Prophesy copies. I looked in the sleeves and I saw that both records were pressed on a Music Ism label with the title "Richie Mac - Jah is I light"? While studying these records Mello asked "You like the dubs?". I asked him what he was talking about and he told me that those were dub records I was looking at. Dub records? How do you mean?

A "small" set of speakers and the mixing desk of the sound system were still connected in the back room of the house. Now in modern style with two CD players. For the occasion a turntable appeared from under the bed and was plugged in. Mello took one of the records and put it on the turntable. He adjusted some of controls on the mixing desk and started the turntable. The first sound that came out of the speakers was a clear and nice horns line followed by a heavy and warm bassline. When the JA style speakers brought in the drums the a full horns dub filled the room. It was such a magical moment when those vibes filled the room and I was totally astonished by what I heard. I knew I encountered the power of dub in full effect on that moment.

It turned out that I found two Aquarius recorded dub albums: "LP - No.3 and 4 - Dub - Aquarius" according to the matrixes. Although the stamps on the label mention "dub lp - 1 and 2. Two solid albums full of nice and heavy dubs. I still love to play the track that was unvealed to me first. Just to revive this magical memory in dub! Mello told me they just pressed those two copies for him when he was at Dynamic Sounds one day to buy some ammunition for his Sound System. Probably they used random labels and sleeves!? Well they are specials for me!! Maybe somebody out here can fill me in about the proper labels and sleeves for these records?!

Sir Collins & the power of music

 Quite a story about an album I rarely spin. I almost feel some kind of shame when I listen to it because to me this album is a document of somebody elses very deep personal emotions. I decided to bring it out here because to me it is a precious piece in my collection by showing me the power of music. Maybe I shouldn`t but I do it with sincere and deep respect to all people who were somehow involved in the tragedy behind this album. At the time I picked up this record I had no idea what I was buying. It was certainly the sleeve that triggered me to buy it but I wasn`t aware of the story behind this album. At home I gave it some serious listening and I digged into the history of the New Cross fire. A disaster that happened on the night of Saturday the 17th and Sunday 18th of January in 1981. Something about this album touched me very deeply.

Some years ago I discussed this album with an other reggae lover. He stated to me that this album wasn`t interesting in his opinion. All he heard was some "happy catchy reggae" he said. How can you hear happy catchy reggae on an album which is a tribute to all the victims of the New Cross Fire, I thought!? So I tried to explain to him how I experienced this album. What happened to me when I listen to the songs in which Sir Collins used the voice of his son that passed away. How I tried to put myself in the position of Sir Collins who made this album in a proces of deep mourning. What touches me is not the voice, it's the mix. The emotions that Sir Collins put in certain songs are very strong. If you want to be touched by that you have to place yourself in the frame in which the artist created the album. And on those rare occasions that I spin this record I still feel Sir Collins full emotions from those days; goose bumps! Is the music interesting? Musically technically maybe not, but who cares? Music is so much emotion and can help you in every part of your life. When, where, how and which music does help you is something that just happens. So let it happen and describe your experience. So you can inspire others to appreciate the music by making them listen through your ears. And so I asked my friend to try to listen with different ears to this album. The power of music that is what this album is all about!

Flying D

A Upsetting journey?!

It must be in the eighties that I picked up a copy of the album “Dave Barker meets the Upsetters – Prisoner of love” on a record fair in the Netherlands. It was the original release from 1970 on the Trojan Upsetter label with a nice laminated sleeve and the vinyl in immaculate condition. On the back of the sleeve I found this stamp of a record shop saying; “Music Center, P.O. Box 3068 Shar-I-Nua, Kabul Afghanistan”. That made me wondering; how on earth did this Upsetter record ended up in Afghanistan? For years now I do have this record in my collection. A collection of records gathered from all over the world, with many stamps or stickers of record shops overseas. Most of them from shops in England, US, Jamaica, Canada and some European countries. But this stamp from Afghanistan is far the most intriguing one. Plenty times I wondered about the journey this record made before it ended up in my collection. How did it travelled? Where and on which occasion had it been played? And who had listened to it?

For people from my generation Kabul is mostly known because of the war in against the Taliban, when American troops invaded Afghanistan after September 11 2001. But what was Kabul like in the early seventies? When you read about that you will find out that Kabul developed to a cosmopolitan city during the sixties. With the increase in global air travels more and more foreigners start to come to Kabul. The tourist industry picked up rapidly and the mood of the city became more and more liberalized. A lot of foreigners lived as expats in Kabul in those days. And it is said that in the late sixties and early seventies it was easy to buy high quality cannabis and other types of drugs in Kabul. This was just before the King Zahir Shah was moved by a coupe in 1973. Then the stability in the country changed, and most of the expatriaites went out.

Those were also the last days of the Afghanistan – Kathmandu – Amsterdam ganja trail. A trail which supplied the rising Smoke shops in Amsterdam. And as far as I could trace the Shar-I-Nua district, that is mentioned in the stamp, was especially a neighbourhood were foreign people and tourists stayed. And even today it still seems a bit of a trendy hippy quarter of Kabul assigned to cater for the foreign tourists.

So maybe my Upsetter record was imported in Afghanistan by some English expartiates at the time. Or some hash smugglers brought it in?! It is still nice to dream about the journey this record made while you listen to the intense tracks of the Upsetters. Is there anybody out there who has a better clue about the story of this record?!

Flying D

Dancehall retirement - Tribute to Krispy Disco

 

Sleeve design for a mix-cd I made for Mello

Not too long ago, on a Saturday night, I drove to the south side of my hometown Zwolle with two crates filled with Jamaican 45`s in the back of my car. It was cold and dark outside. A heavy pulsing steppers dub from Jah Warrior boomed out of the speakers in my car. That night I had an appointment with another avid reggae collector. He was interested in buying some 45`s from me. In my mind I was already preparing the selection of tracks that I was going to spin that night. High Note, some Studio One, Techniques, Firehouse, Jammy`s, Black Scorpio, Harry J, Redman; the labels flashed through my mind.

Suddenly, I had to think about the journey which those 45’s had made. Right now, in the trunk of a my car, through a cold fall night, on a smooth asphalt road on their way to the south side of the Dutch city Zwolle. And back then in the early eighties, just pressed at Dynamic Sounds, Sonic Sounds or Tuff Gong. From the warehouse or a small distributor by car or motorbike through the burning sun, over a road full of potholes through the mountains. Passing Flat Bridge and through Fern Gully straight from Kingston to a small record shop in Ocho Rios. Bought there by Count Mello, the selector of the Krispy Disco Sound System.

Krispy Disco was a small local sound system. Like how a lot of Jamaicans operated their own sound. In the good old days you gained much respect from the community when you owned a sound system in Jamaica. “Im boss man! Im haffe a sound!”. And that is how Count Mello started out by the end of the sixties. As a side activity to the pastry shop Krispy Patties which he ran together with his brothers. He played his sound on parties and dances, or just from the back of the shop on the market. The bass blasted out of his big set of speakers! That must have been some experience in those days. Where would Mello have played all those 45’s? I don`t know, but on many occasions he must have loaded them in the trunk of his car. Packed in tape boxes and scandal bags on their way to a local party. A lot of people must have danced the night away on the hits of Culture, Peter Metro, Brigadeer Jerry and Frankie Paul. By the end of the eighties the digital riddims like the Sleng Teng must have blasted out of the speakers! Feel the vibes!

Count Mello (2009)

Mello ended his sound system activity around 1990. In 2003 I met him at his house. When I told him that I was interested in reggae music, boxes and scandal bags full of 45’s and albums start to appear from under his bed and from several different closets in the house. And every time I thought I saw it all, more records appeared from somewhere. With the car they picked up some other boxes with albums from the storage behind the pastry shop. Thousands of 45’s and a couple of hundred albums. A small set of speakers and the mixing desk of the sound system were still connected in the back room of the house. Now in modern style with two CD players. But eventually also the turntable appeared from under the bed and was plugged in for the occasion. There in the back room at Mello`s family house I selected the 45’s of which a part was now in the back of my car. Occasionally I put on some of the tracks and then the heydays of Krispy Disco Sound System revived for a short while. They had to laugh over the tracks I selected. They were vintage and brought memories, or there was a nice story behind it. And on many occasions a little piece of Jamaican history was unfolded by the lyrics but also the various riddims showcased a peculiar and interesting music history. “You flop them, man!” Mello said when he liked the selection that I played. If I was involved in some sound clash.

And so I had many sessions in the last couple of years at Mello`s family. Sometimes the entire afternoon and evening till late in the night. And all those sessions came with a delicious meal of rice and peas, Jerk chicken, curried goat or another typical Jamaican dish.

And then I packed around 500 45’s neatly in a box and shipped them with UPS to the Netherlands. At home I listened to every 45 carefully. I added most of them to my own collection and I sold some to other collectors. And that`s how the 45’s, and a piece of Jamaican dancehall history, ended up in two crates in the back of my car on a perfect smooth road heading to the South side of Zwolle. Later on that cold September night the top room of an average town house was lighted up by the sounds and vibes of Jamaican dancehall. A dancehall salute! To Krispy Disco Sound System. That was how the 45`s I sold will disappear in the orderly organized record archives of a reggae collector in the Netherlands. From now on they will be handled with great care, they will be cleaned till they shine, and when they play, the music will be listened to instead of felt! The sounds they carry will never again blast out of the more then man-sized speakers to hit a dancehall crowd. They will never decide a sound clash anymore. They went with retirement! Those 45’s of Krispy Disco.

Flying D

Krispy Disco indeed!



Stamped 45 label