Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We dedicate this week’s show to Orson Bean, F.X. Feeney, and Bill Smith, three remarkable gentlemen who passed away this weekend.  All three, in very different ways, helped to make Los Angeles better with the love and dedication to the arts and in their honor, we passed on doing our usually cynical Anti-Valentine’s Day show and instead brought out a lot of joy. We started with two sets of rare ska beginning with Keith Walker’s 1965 mock boxing ska match between Duke Reid and Prince Buster, “Musical Fight.” We followed those sets with a hand-percussion heavy mento set and followed that with jamming set of reggaes from Lily that featured the late Glen Brown’s 1974 take on Aaron Neville’s hit, “Tell It Like It Is.” Our spotlight is on Cables’ founder, Keble Drummond’s short-lived but wonderful, MOD LABEL that has top cuts from Keble and Jah Fish!  Rest in peace F.X. Orson, and Bill ❤ XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We began this show with Happy Heavenly Birthday wishes to Bob Marley, who would’ve turned 75 this Thursday, Feb 6th. In tribute, we played “One Cup of Coffee,” one of Marley’s earliest singles recorded at Beverley’s, a ska version of Claude Grey’s 1961 country classic,”I’ll Just Have Another Cup of Coffee.” We followed that song with two sets of ska that led into our weekly mento set that had a theme of “crime and punishment.” The first hour ended with a set of gorgeous reggae chosen by Lily with The African Brothers cut for Ital in 1974, “Lead Us Father.” Our label spotlight is on the small, but strong Green Berry Top Form Label that has top cuts from U-Roy and Eric Clarke with more wonderful versions from Tubby! XOXO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

This week’s Bovine Ska began as always with two sets of ska but one of those sets is easily our fastest set of ska in a long while and one that was punctuated with The Cavaliers’ version of the classic, “Dip Them,” and The Zodiacs fierce 1965 cut for Duke Reid, “Renegade” Our mento set with on the smooth variety leading off with Lord Fly’s 1952 cut for Motta, “Blu-Lu-Lup” and we followed that set with six killer reggae cuts selected by Lily with Leroy Smart’s take on “Waiting In Vain” as the anchor cut. Our spotlight this week is one another tiny mid-70s reggae label, BOMB SHELL, which has top songs from Roman Stewart, The Cordells and versions by King Tubby. Stay warm friends! XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We decided to start off this week’s Bovine Ska with two sets of mid-tempo ska that included 1966 cuts from Clancy Eccles, Roy Richards and Hugh Godfrey. Our mento set this week began with a rare song that we just acquired which is credited to the Jamaica School of Music and we followed that set with a reggae dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. beginning with the 1977 song bearing his name sung by Max Romeo. Our label spotlght this week is on the super small, WAIT A BIT Label (1976-78) that features great cuts from Tinga Stewart and Sam Bramwell amongst others. Stay warm friends! XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

This week’s Bovine Ska opened with two sets of jubilant ska beginning with the young Delroy Wilson’s 1963 cut for Coxsone’s Rolando and Powie label, “I Shall Not Remove.” Our mento set followed with Count Lasher’s 1959 gem for Ken Khouri, “Island Gal Sally” and the first hour ended with a superb set of reggaes pulled by Lily that started with “Never Never, ” a 1975 scorcher from Johnny Clarke.who just celebrated his 65th birthday on Sunday. Our spotlight this week is on Ossie Hibbert’s wonderful label, Hound Dog which is filled with top vocal cuts from Leroy Sibbles, Derrick Morgan, and Horace Andy. Much love to you all XO Generoso and Lily

Good New Year To You, Bovine Ska Friends,

We dedicate this show to our friend, Jason Lawless who died just a few days ago and to all of the artists who left us in 2019. On our show this week we look back at the many talented singers, instrumentalists, and producers whom we lost last year.  Many of these creators like the late Noel “Bunny” Brown, Pat Kelly, and Glen Brown we have honored more fully on our shows in 2019, but we wanted to look back say a final farewell to these amazing people one more time.  We wish you all as safe and blessed 2020. XO Generoso and Lily

Happy New Year Bovine Ska Friends!

For our final program of the 2010s, we decided to throw a little party as we came up with a theme of time itself. On this program we started with a slew of Jamaican rhythm and blues cuts about the moment when the New Year starts, MIDNIGHT, like The Downbeats’ 1961 song for the R&B label, “Midnight Love.”  We then took a musical look at the days of the week with ska, rocksteady, and reggae gems such as: “Last Saturday Morning” by Higgs and Wilson, “Remember That Sunday’ by Alton Ellis and Phyllis Dillon, and “This Monday Morning Feeling” by Tito Simon!  Have a blessed and healthy 2020!  XOXO Generoso and Lily

Happy Holidays Bovine Ska Friends,

As we record this show on Christmas Eve we selected set after set of ska, rocksteady and reggae that are filled with positive thoughts beginning with two sets of ska about joy and togetherness like Byron Lee and The Dragonaires 1961 cut, “Joy Ride” and Roy and Yvonne’s 1964 classic for Gaydisc, “Join Together.”  You get a super upbeat mento set followed by a reggae set filled with joy from Lily with a highlight being Lloyd Parks’ “Mighty Cloud of Joy” for Justice League. Our label spotlight features the seasonal red and green colored imprint, “Warika” that has mid-70s gems from Brent Dowe and Toots and the Maytals. Happy Holidays to all XO Generoso and Lily

Happy Holidays Bovine Ska Friends!

Thank you so much for all of the good holiday wishes and appreciation for last week’s show. This week, we kept it super happy beginning with two sets of ska punctuated with The Four Aces superb cut for Beverley’s in 1964, ‘Peace and Love.’ Our mento set begins with a children’s song entitled, ‘I Went To Party’ and followed it with three jolly mento cuts. Lily picked a great set of reggaes to end the first hour, with the Phil Pratt produced gem from Dennis Brown, ‘Let Love In.’ The second hour featured cuts from late trombonist producer, Ron Wilson’s Splendid Sounds Label. Amazing tunes from 1973 from Joe White and Busty Brown and many more! XO Generoso and Lily

Happy Holidays Bovine Ska Friends,

For this, our 23rd year of celebrating the holidays on the Bovine Ska we decided that we would be free of the ska and reggae versions of traditional Christmas carols like ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Silent Night’ and opted instead to create sets of songs that should put you in the holiday mood without the familiar. On this year’s show you’ll hear rare cuts like Alton Ellis and Otis Wright’s ‘The Comforter Has Come,’ Augustus Pablo’s ‘Snowball and Pudding,’ and The Gladiators’ ‘Holiday Ride,’ just to name a few. We hope that you enjoy our selections this year and that they’ll accompany you on your joyous holiday celebrations throught the season! XO Generoso and Lily