Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

A special thanks to all of you who wrote to us who appreciated our tribute to Hux Brown last week. Bless you. This week we began our show with two sets of ska beginning with Eric Monty Morris’ 1964 ska for Duke Reid, “The Harder They Come,” which besides a title, bears little resemblance to the Jimmy Cliff reggae classic of the same name. We thankfully just found an excellent vinyl copy of The Mapletoft Poulle Orchestra’s 1962 album, “Jamaica Mento” and so we started our mento set off with a super song from that release, “Outlandish Clothes.”  Lily selected an awesome reggae set to end the first hour which featured a stellar Dennis Bovell-produced cut sung by Errol Dunkley in 1977, “A LIttle Way Different.”  Our label spotlight this week is on the Quarter Mile imprint which includes some brilliant versions to versions in reggae from 1975-76 done by Sly Dunbar, Tommy McCook and Dirty Harry. Stay safe and healthy friends. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

On this week’s program we have to share the sad news that Jamaican guitar legend, Lynford “Hux” Brown has passed away.  Hux died on June 18th in Oakland, California where he had been living for over 40 years. He was 75 at the time of his passing. Hux’s contributions to Jamaican music are immeasurable and with our entire show this week, we memorialized Hux by playing not only the cuts he was most known for, but we also dug through our records to find some of the finest performances from Hux on releases you may not be as well acquainted with. We hope that our tribute does Hux the justice that he deserves.  At this sad time, Lily and I send our condolences to Hux’s widow, Bonnie, his daughter and grandchildren as well as all of his friends and many colleagues whom he played with over his decades long career.  Love, Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We hope that this week’s show finds you healthy and safe! We began with two sets of ska this week, beginning with Ransford Barnett’s 1963 cut for King Edwards, “Sligoville Town.” A four song set of skas from 1964 followed, and then we launched into our mento set which started with a Lord Tanamo cut on Kalypso from 1958 that we just acquired entitled, “Fat Or Slim.” Lily threw together an awesome reggae set to end the first hour that ended with two outstanding productions from Jo Jo Hoo-KIm on Channel One, “In Time To Come.” Our label spotlight is on Barrington Jeffrey’s Barry’s Hide Out imprint which is chock full of great dubs from 1976. And our show bizarrely ended with FIVE versions of the Procol Harum hit from 1967, A Whiter Shade of Pale,” that demands your attention! XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends, 

We began this week’s program with two sets of fierce ska, starting with Prince Buster’s scorching 1966 rendition of Gordy-penned cut that Jackie Wilson made famous in 1958, “To Be Loved.”  Our mento set this week featured one of our favorites from Lord Foodos’ Calypso! LP, “Lousy Mother In Law” and we dedicated the reggae set at the end of the first hour to our dearest Barbara for her earthstrong celebration this past week. For our label spotlight, we chose Watty Burnett’s small but awesome, Zima Saw label that features amazing reggaes from 1975 from Burnett himself, Ranking Joe, and Scratch.  Stay safe and healthy friends and we’ll be back next Tuesday  XOXO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

One of the finest songwriters in American music history, this week we salute Dan Penn, who over the last sixty years has had a hand in some of the most iconic soul and pop songs ever recorded. On our program this week, we took a look at Penn’s catalog of hits which includes his writing partnership with Spooner Oldham by spinning the many Jamaican covers of these songs.  You’ll hear John Holt’s and Delroy Wilson’s renditions of Penn’s “Close To Me.” Dandy Livingstone’s take on “I’m Your Puppet, ” and Prince Buster’s rocksteady interpretation of “Dark End of the Street,” just to name a few.  We hope that you enjoy this tribute to Dan Penn and we hope that you all stay safe and healthy during these times. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We hope that you are all staying safe and healthy. Shortly after we posted last week’s Bovine Ska, we were passed the very sad news that the talented solo artist, Naggo Morris, who eventually took over for Leroy Sibbles as lead singer of The Heptones, passed away last week at the age of 72.  During the second hour of this week’s show, we gave our respects to Naggo as we played his earliest recordings as a member of The Soul Boys, a group Naggo formed with Barrington Spence,and Junior Zun. We then selected some of Naggo’s early solo cuts, and tracks when he fronted The Heptones as well as other recordings that he lent his superb voice on like U-Roy’s Rasta Ambassador LP and Alton Ellis’  Daydreaming record. We send our respects to Naggo’s family and friends during this sad time. Rest in power Naggo. Thank you. Love, Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

As some of you may know by now, last Friday, our good friend, Armi Diaz passed away. Armi was good guy: a talented artist, a painter and cartoonist, who loved this music that we love so much, especially, as he told us on numerous occasions, the pre-ska of mento, play and work songs. So, in tribute to Armi, for played these early cuts, be that mento or calypso, ring song, etc and followed them up with Jamaican ska covers from the early to mid-1960s. You’ll hear Lord Power’s  raucous mento, “Penny Reel” followed by Eric Monty Morris’s ska take. Baba Motta’s blissfully lurid, “She Pon Top” with Prince Buster’s ska version right after. We send our deepest respects to Armi’s family and many friends during this sad time. Rest in peace. Armi  XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

On Tuesday, May 5th, we lost the woman who gave us ska’s first international hit, Millie Small. Over the last week since her passing there has been much written about Millie and the influence of her 1964 version of Barbie Gaye’s 1956 cut, “My Boy Lollipop” which went to #2 on the U.S. charts and #1 in Britain. This past Saturday we spoke at length with the wonderful, Roy Panton, who teamed up with Millie in 1962 to form an amazing duo who scored hits in Jamaica with Coxsone Dodd, Lindon Pottinger, and Prince Buster, to name a few. Roy graciously shared his memories with us from his days with MIllie as singing partners, and offered us his insights into her professional career before worldwide fame. We are so grateful to Roy for giving us his time and memories to share with you all. Rest in peace Millie. Love, Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We hope that you all had a healthy week! For this edition of the Bovine Ska, we began with a lovely 1963 duet from brother and sister, Alton and Hortense Ellis which they cut for Clement Seymour ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s N D Label, “I’m In Love.” The ska flowed seven more times after that which led into our weekly mento set which began with Count Lasher’s smooth cut for Stanley Motta’s MRS label, “The Old Man’s Drive.” The first hour ended with an top notch set of mid-70s reggaes selected by Lily that are heavy on great guitar ideas like Big Youth’s “Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing,” and for our label spotlight we took a good look at the Lucky Star imprint that saw impressive efforts from Freddie McKay, David Issacs, Jackie Brown and Norris Reid. Please stay safe and as always we be with you next week! XOXO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We began this week’s show with two sets of lovely ska, one smooth and one fierce, starting off with Cornell Campbell’s pretty cut for Randy’s in 1963, “Make Hay.” Our mento set began with a tribute to Laurel Aitken. Last Wednesday would’ve been his 93rd birthday and so we played his 1957 release for Caribou, “Nebuchadnezzar.” Our first hour ended with a full set reggae salute to The Rolling Stones, and that set featured an amazing version of their 1966 song, “Out Of Time” done here by Henry Buckley for Tiger in 1970. Our label spotlight this week is on Rafael Gray’s Spartacus label that has sharp mid-to-late 70s reggae from Leroy Horsemouth Wallace, Prince Williams, and General Roy. Our background music for the first hour this week is in tribute to Hamilton Bohannon, who passed away over the weekend. Bohannon has been a longtime favorite here on the Bovine Ska and he will be so missed. Stay healthy and safe friends XOXO Generoso and Lily