Howdy Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

As many of you now know by now, Toots Hibbert has been hospitalized since last week and so, we send our prayers and good thoughts his way.  In a show of support, we selected two ska cuts from Toots in 1964 to begin this week’s show, starting with a rare cut  for Randy’s that Toots wrote in honor of Muhammad Ali entitled, “He Is The Greatest.”  We followed that Toots ska up with another by Toots, a spiritual ska that he recorded for Coxsone in 1964, “He Is Real.”  Another set of ska followed with our Labor Day-inspired mento set thereafter, and then a long set of reggaes selected by Lily about faith for Toots, which featured an amazing Pluggy Satchmo nod to the 23rd Psalm, which he cut for Half Moon in 1976.  Our label spotlight this week is on Charles Hanna’s short-lived by superb, Graduates imprint, which we rattled off in one shot with no breaks for your listening pleasure.  Get well Toots! We love you XOXO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

For this week’s program we turned our attention to the impressive catalog of songs composed by famed husband and wife songwriting duo, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who during their careers wrote hit after hit for The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Gram Parsons, just to name a few.  As a tribute for this show we selected our favorite covers of the Bryant’s songs, many of which were sung by some of the greatest vocalists in Jamaican music history like Alton Ellis and The Pioneers, who each cut great takes on the Bryant’s classic, “Bye Bye Love” and Ken Parker, whose 1972 reggae version of “Take A Message to Mary” is an absolute gem.  We hope that you enjoy our tribute to Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and we hope that you and yours are all safe and healthy. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

This week’s Bovine Ska started off with a classic duet from Clive and Naomi on Treasure Isle in 1964, “You Are Mine.” After our opening two sets of ska, we began our mento set with a rare Count Lasher cut from 1961 entitled, “Love Friction,” which is not the Melotone cut of the same title which you’ve heard before. A fantastic set of reggae ended the first hour, which featured a classic from Freddie McKay on Hit in 1977, “When the Right Time Come.” Our label spotlight for this week was on the Virgonian imprint, which operated solely in the year 1977 and released brilliant reggaes from Brent Dowe, Cornell Campbell, and Tinga Stewart, to name a few of the great artists on the label. Please stay safe and healthy dear friends. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

With our show this week comes the sad news that we have lost the talents of sound system operator and prolific producer, Count Shelly (born Ephraim Barrett), whose passing was just announced early Monday morning. Count Shelly was an enormous force in bringing reggae to England and in his honor during the second hour of this Bovine Ska, we delved deeply into his first imprint, the Count Shelly label.  This particular label that Count Shelly ran, featured productions by Duke Reid, Lloyd Charmers, Ranny Bop Williams, and Bunny Lee, but for our spotlight and memorial, we only played the cuts which were produced and/or arranged by Count Shelly from 1972-1974.  We send out our deepest respects to the Count’s family and many friends and colleagues during this difficult time. Rest in power Count Shelly and thank you for spreading this music we all love so much. Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Jamaican rhythm and blues filled the first two sets of this week’s Bovine Ska,  with a highlight being a great 1961 cut sung by singer/guitarist, Basil Gabbidon, “Holly Miss Molly,”   Our mento set began with a medley of classics delivered by Boysie Grant for Motta’s MRS label in 1955. As we found out that our all-time favorite deejay, Big Youth, will be receiving the Order of Distinction later this year, Lily selected his 1973 gem, “Daylight Savings Time” and the version. “Energy Crisis.”  And for our label spotlight this week, we dug deep into Keith Chin’s exceptional, BIG M Label which has top tunes from Max Romeo, The Untouchables, and Soul Syndicate,  Stay healthy and safe friends! Till next week.  XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We hope that you are all healthy and safe.  The show began this week with a dandy of a ska from Stranger Cole and Patsy Todd from Buster’s Voice of the People label which have never played on the show before, a 1965 scorcher entitled, “Love In Independence,” that we hope you’ll love. There were two ska sets this week and then a super fast, upbeat mento set which was followed by a salvo of reggaes chosen by Lily that had at the front, “Push Pull” the 1974 Studio One classic from Pablove Black with the version from The New Establishment.  For our label spotlight, we picked Tony Shabazz’s Shabazz label that has many top reggaes from Winston Jarrett and the Righteous Flames, Love Brothers United, which were backed up by Skin, Flesh, and Bones and The Revolutionaries.  Finally, we ended the show with another small tribute to Dobby Dobson and a full set of 60s Jamaican soul cuts. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Last Tuesday, we received the sad news that celebrated singer/songwriter/producer, Dobby Dobson had passed away at the age of 78. To honor Dobby (born Highland Ralph Dobson in Kingston), we began this week’s program with two Jamaican rhythm and blues cuts from 1960 and 1961 respectively that feature his voice with Chuck Joseph’s as Chuck and Dobby, “Cool School” and “I Was Wrong.”  Furthermore, for our spotlight this week, we selected Dobby’s Double D Label  that has multiple stellar productions from Dobby of his voice, as well as The Meditations and Barrington Levy.  We also said goodbye this week to one of our favorite actors, John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico), who also passed last week, by playing iconic reggaes and rocksteadys inspired by his films: Enter The Dragon, Joe Kidd, and Cry Tough.  To the families of Dobby and John we send our deepest respects during this very tough time. Rest in peace Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends, 

We hope that you are all staying safe and healthy.  This week, we began two sets of ska and small tributes to three Jamaican music legends whose birthdays occurred this past week: Desmond Dekker, Eric Monty Morris, and Roy Shirley.  We recently acquired a vinyl copy of the Horace Johnson and The Eagle Star’s album on Folkways that contains a sensational mento cover of Mighty Sparrow’s “Can’t Make Love Without Money” which we started that set with tonight. Lily selected an impressive array of reggaes to send the first hour, including Dillinger’s 1978 gem, “Tambrin Season.” For our label spotlight this week, we took a look at the late great Larry Marshall’s main imprint, Amanda, which has too many excellent songs from Marshall to fit in this show. Take care friends XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

For those of you who are living in the States, tomorrow is Tax Day and we feel your pain, so for this week’s show, we have many many songs about the dirty filthy money. Who has it? Who wants it? How evil is it, really? Songs like Derrick and Patsy’s 1962 cut for E&R, “Give Me Back My Dough,” Toots and The Maytals’ ska for Beverley’s in 1964, “Neither Silver or Gold,” and Trinity’s “Consumption Tax” will give you an idea of what we were up to this week. We stepped away midway through the show and presented you with a spotlight on Clive Chin’s Tanya Label which has great mid-70s reggaes from Tony Tuff, Cedric “Im” Brooks, and Jah Stitch. Stay safe and healthy friends XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

As many of you may know by now, The Maestro, Ennio Morricone, passed away on Monday at the age of 91. We dedicate this week’s Bovine Ska to him and in his honor, as Ennio was born and died in Rome, many of our songs in the first hour are about The Eternal City. We also included songs that touch on the western film genre which he famously scored for Leone, Corbucci, and Tarantino, and played selections from the music Morricone wrote for the 1971 Leone film,  Giù la Testa, known in the States as Duck You Sucker, Lily’s favorite score of his. In our second hour we did a label spotlight of Leroy Rowe and E Clarke’s Love Bird imprint which features great reggaes from 1975-77 by Fay and Enid and Levi Williams. Rest in power, Ennio. Please stay safe everyone. Love, Generoso and Lily