Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

As we are now in the thick of the holiday season and as we miss Toots Hibbert so very much, we thought to start with The Maytals’ 1964 ska for Studio One, “Christmas Feeling Ska.”  We followed that set of ska with another set that began with a recently unearthed cut from Derrick Morgan and Patsy Todd, “Raindrops Falling”  The mento set soon followed with another cut from that wonderful 1978 Horace Johnson and The Eagle Star LP, “Paradise Island,”  Lily’s reggae set ended the first hour with a highlight being the Hortense Ellis sung take on the “Movie Star” riddim, “Super Star,’ and our label focus for this week was on the late 70s imprint, Solid State. Stay healthy and peacefl XO Generoso and Lily

Happy Thanksgiving Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends!

We wish you all good health and peace on this Thanksgiving. For our celebration of the foodiest of holidays this year, we took a look at some of the items that you can find on a breakfast or dinner plate in Jamaica, and as we discussed these tasty traditional items, we of course played ska, rocksteady, and reggae cuts about these meals like Pat Rhoden’s and Winston Groovy’s 1971 track, “Samething For Breakfast,” and The Gaylads’ 1966 gem for Coxsone, “Dinner For Two,” and Jackie Edwards, “A Dinner For One,” just to name a few. So, dance, eat, and smile! XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Back on October 31st, the man who first embodied the iconic character of James Bond, Sir Sean Connery, passed away at the age of 90. As we are huge fans of Sir Sean and Bond, and as Bond had a huge influence on Jamaica and vice versa, we wanted as our tribute to not only play the many skas, rocksteadys and reggaes dedicated to Ian Fleming’s hero, but also discuss the connection between the Bond books, films and the island. On our show this week you can hear the tracks like Bobby Aitken’s “Thunderball Ska,” as well as Tommy McCook’s 1966 homage to Goldfinger and many more tributes to 007! Rest in peace Sir Sean XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

This week’s show is inspired by and dedicated to our dear friend, Frank Shefton, whom many of you knew as Captain Al of The R&B Jukebox at our old station, WMBR. Sadly, Frank passed last week after a long illness at the age of 71. Frank was a kind and talented man who not only played the soul music we all love for four decades at WMBR, but he was also a fine playwright who loved the theater. Many years ago, Lily and I began the habit of sharing with Frank Jamaican covers of soul classics and after sending him a cover of The Miracles “Save Me” which he loved, we met up one Sunday and talked of The Chi-Lites and all of the amazing reggae covers of their songs. So, to honor Frank, we have selected all of our favorite Jamaican covers of The Chi-Lites as a tribute to him and his dedication to keeping the soul flame alive. Our respects go out to Frank’s wife, Cecelia and his children. Rest in peace, Frank XO Generoso and Lily

Happy Halloween Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends!

Our theme for this year’s Halloween Spectacular is on our love of insect and small creature horror films! So tonight, we gathered together a wicked collection of Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae cuts about flies, fleas, spiders, and bees, and then talked about some of our favorite films about these . We got Prince Buster singing a ska about “The Spider and the Fly” for his Voice of the People label in 1963, the Hot Rod All Stars’ 1970 reggae on the Black Scorpion. and even Trinity and his 1983 Willie Lindo produced cut, The Boll Weevil Rock. We hope that you find this a super silly, occasionally cinematic, and musically spooky two hours to light up your Halloween! Trick or treat friends XOXO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Back on October 6th, we lost the great Johnny Nash.  As Lily is a born and raised Houstonian, like Nash, he has always been a huge source of pride for her as his immense talents as both a singer and producer helped to push reggae onto the global stage.  After he scored a top five hit in 1965 with the soul cut, “Let’s Move and Groove Together,” Nash went to Jamaica with his manager, Danny Sims, and were introduced to Bob Marley and The Wailers.  Loving the new music that he heard, Nash signed The Wailers and started to release their music to the States on his new JAD Label.  Nash himself scored a massive hit with his rocksteady, “Hold Me Tight,” and that success paved the way for rocksteady and reggae in the U.S.  For our memorial, we will hear some of Nash’s big hits, their many Jamaican covers and some of Nash’s wonderful productions in rocksteady and reggae. Rest in peace Johnny XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Last week we lost two legendary figures in Jamaican music as both Johnny Nash and Bunny Lee passed away. As both men were integral in bringing this music we all love to the world, we decided to honor them with separate programs. This week we looked back on the massive career of Bunny Lee, and as he was the King of Versions, we spent days listening to the riddims that Bunny’s productions made iconic and specially selected a precious few that we love for our tribute.  You’ll hear “The Beatitude” riddim done by The Uniques of course, as well as Dennis Alcapone and John Holt, and many versions of the “Bangarang” riddim, performed by Stranger Cole and Lester Sterling, but also Derrick Morgan, and  Barrington Spence, and many more.  We send our deepest respects to Bunny’s family and so many of his colleagues who loved him a great deal. Rest in power Mr. Lee XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

We hope that you are all doing well this fall so far. We began this week’s program with another rare ska gem from Toots and The Maytals as we will honor him every week for the remainder of the year. The cut, is a scorcher from 1963 that the Maytals cut for Coxsone Dodd on Rolando and Powie, called “Cheer Up!” Our mento set was a massive tribute to fruit and the double meaning that they could be used for in music. Lily selected some super obscure gems for this week’s reggae set that ended the first hour, including the Netfa’s 1975 recording “Love Is the Answer.” Our label spotlight this week is on producer Lloyd A Campbell’s small imprint, Eagle, which has some top tunes from Joy White, Freddie McKay, and Ronnie Davis among others. Stay strong friends XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends,

Firstly, thank you to everyone here and elsewhere online who sent us good thoughts on our Toots memorial last week. As we will continue to honor Toots throughout the rest of the year, we began our two sets of ska tonight with one from The Maytals from 1965 and Studio One that we know that you’ll enjoy, “My Destination.”   Our mento set this week, took you around the island of Jamaica by singing about Sligoville, Montego, and Solas Market. Our reggae set started with a two-song tribute to Ronald “Khalis” Bell, co-founder of Kool and The Gang, who died earlier this month. For our label spotlight this week, we played some of our favorite releases from Sonia Pottinger’s mid-70s imprint, Sun Plum, which features great reggae cuts from U-Roy, Owen Gray, Ansel Collins and many more. We send you wishes of good health and peace. XO Generoso and Lily

Hello Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Friends, 

Over the last week, we have all been dealing with the sad news of Toots Hibbert’s death, and during that time, Lily and I have been thinking about what he and his music have meant to us. What is abundantly clear when you listen to his work over the last six decades is how much his faith guided his life and songwriting. Toots was born as the son of Seventh Day Adventist preachers and was raised in that religion, and so his early compositions reflected his dedication to God. Later in his life, Toots embraced Rastafarianism, and those beliefs also impacted his music profoundly. For our tribute, we looked at Toots’ relationship to the Almighty and played not only his music about his faith, but also ska, Gospel, rocksteady and reggae. from other Jamaican artists whose lyrics express the divine. We love you Toots. God bless you. Generoso and Lily