14: Saying Goodbye To John Holt

John Holt’s 1970 Release “Working Kind”

When I started the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady back in 1996, a show that has always focused on early Jamaican music, I knew that there would be a time when a lot of the artists that I had loved from that period would begin to pass away but I would never have imagined the occurrences that have happened these last few months. Hopeton Lewis, Jackie Bernard, Tito Simon and now, arguably the most celebrated of that group, Sir John Holt, has passed away at the age of 69 in London. There had been rumors of his passing since Holt had collapsed at the One Love Festival in England not too long ago but now the rumors are confirmed true. This past week, we dedicated the entire show to John Holt, from his earliest recordings with Leslie Kong at Beverley’s, through his time as the lead singer of the hugely successful vocal group, The Paragons, and finally as an even more popular solo artist. You will hear one of the finest voices to have ever recorded in Jamaica.

John Holt was born in Greenwich Farm, Kingston on July 11th, 1947. At the young age of 12, Holt entered the music industry with performances at talent shows. Like so many of his peers, Holt would perform in these shows and would also eventually make multiple appearances on the (like Veer Left) Vere John’s Opportunity Knocks Talent Show. During these early competition years, Holt won a total of 28 awards. As Holt gained fame from the shows, he attracted the attention of Lesley Kong and recorded his first single for the Beverley’s label in 1962. His first recorded single is what we started off with during this John Holt memorial show.

Given the popularity of vocal groups and duos in the early 1960s in Jamaica, a very young Holt teamed up with Alton Ellis to record a duet in 1964, for Vincent Randy Chin called “Rum Bumpers,” a fun ska number about bootlegging. That same year John Holt would join what would soon become one of the most popular vocals groups in Jamaican history, The Paragons. However, he was not initially involved when the group was conceptualized at the back of the Kingston Parish Church, by Keith Anderson, better known as Bob Andy, and Tyrone Evans in the very early 1960s. Andy and Evans were members of the church and started singing as a duo on the church compound. Bob Andy, in an interview from 2013, explained the group’s beginnings.

“There were lots of duos in the market at the time: The Blue Busters, Keith and Enid, Higgs and Wilson, Alton and Eddy, to name a few. Tyrone felt that was kind of a strong field, so we started listening to groups with more than two, like The Drifters, The Four Tops, and The Temptations. While we rehearsed and played the piano, lots of people would join in. We tried many, until we settled with Evans, Howard Barrett and myself. Then someone told us about John, who was on his way to becoming a solo artiste after winning on Vere Johns, and so we got him into the group. He fit perfectly and we continued as four until I left, and they decided they’d remain a trio,” he said.

Andy went further, explaining that at one point the group swelled to five, with the inclusion of Junior Menz, a future lead vocalist of the Techniques and the name Pentagon was contemplated, but when Menz left, they settled with the name, Paragons. The Paragons version with Holt first cut tracks for Coxone’s Supreme label, and we played those songs first. After recording for Coxone, the Paragons traveled over to his rival, Duke Reid and cut more tracks for Treasure Isle and would see their greatest fame as a trio. In 1967, at the peak of rocksteady, The Paragons would record a few tracks for Winston Blake’s Merritone Label.

Though the Paragons officially split up in 1970 with the immigration of Tyrone Evans and Howard Barrett to America, Holt had been recording singles as a solo artist throughout the late 60s at the Paragons main label, Treasure Isle but also for his old producer, Coxsone Dodd, and young producer Bunny Lee. We’ll hear those singles next. Holt’s popularity continued to grow in both Jamaica and in England and the demand for full length releases of his solo work grew rapidly. His first full length would come courtesy of Coxsone and the superb 1970 LP, A Love I Can Feel. He would record his subsequent LP with Coxsone, for UK release, with it’s hit title cut, OK Fred. A follow-up record simply entitled “Holt,” produced by Bunny Lee and released on Jaguar would also prove hugely popular in England with the hit version of “Stick By Me.” Holt would also contribute vocals to a couple of brilliant songs on the seminal Prince Buster produced release featuring a young DJ named Big Youth, entitled “Chi Chi Run” in 1972. He would then work with Harry Mudie on the lavishly produced 1972 classic, “Time Is The Master.” Giving Holt’s vocals that string accompaniment that would become the trademark of many of his recordings, specifically aimed at the UK audiences.

Putting this show together reminded us as to how great his voice was. John Holt will truly be missed. R.I.P. John.

Listen to the show via the WMBR archives here: LISTEN HERE

This link will be active until 11/4/2014

An Ex-Con Writes The Story And Dustin Hoffman Sort of Directs 1978’s “Straight Time”

Original poster for 1978’s “Straight Time”

The 1970s were a pretty successful time for Dustin Hoffman. After the critical and box office successes of “The Graduate” and “Midnight Cowboy” in the late 1960s, Hoffman’s career was in full flight, so by the late 1970s, he was on a torrid pace, starring in a string of films that are now viewed as modern classics such as “All The Presidents Men,” “Straw Dogs,” and “Lenny.”

So in 1978 after all of these hits, Hoffman could use his status to bring to the screen a personal project and try his hand at directing, so he subsequently purchased the film rights to the novel, “No Beast So Fierce,” about an ex-con trying to go “straight,” which was actually written by an ex-con, Edward Bunker. Bunker had initially written the manuscript while still serving time in San Quentin for theft and eventual the murder of another convict (he says he didn’t do it). After his release, Bunker would help write the screenplay for “Straight Time” with Alvin Sargent, Jeffrey Boam, and Nancy Dowd (uncredited), and to add even more authenticity, Hoffman would even give Edward Bunker a small acting part in the film.

The rumor then, which is now Hollywood legend, was that Hoffman was incredibly difficult to work with and that he had been known as an insufferable perfectionist, a fact that Hoffman later exploited for comedic sake in 1983’s “Tootsie.” Yes, Hoffman was known to drive so many directors insane that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he even fired himself as the director of “Straight Time,” because he felt that combining acting and directing was compromising his performance. Hoffman hated failure, so in a decade where he didn’t make too many missteps, he oddly decided to replace himself as the director of his own film with Ulu Grosbard, the celebrated Broadway director and the man behind Hoffman’s only universally accepted flop of his 70s career, 1971’s whiny, “A Star Is Born” styled mess that was painfully entitled, “Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?”

Though he repudiated his performance, Hoffman is excellent as Max Dembo, a career thief was has just been released after a six year prison sentence. His parole officer Earl (M. Emmet Walsh) hounds Max in a way that makes you believe that he has absolutely nothing else to do. No personal vendetta in place here, Earl is just exceedingly confident that Max is going to trip up soon and violate his own parole. This almost surrealistic, obsessive persecution seems to be a clear manifestation of Bunker’s own fear of going back inside prison.

As part of his parole, Max must find work and does so at an employment agency where he meets a young woman named Jenny (Theresa Russell) who he asks out, and they immediately become a thing. Max punches the clock at his canning factory job and tries to keep it clean, but after Earl discovers some proof of the heroin that Max’s friend Willy (a pre-Buddy Holly Gary Busey) left in his room, Max is dragged back to jail for a parole violation. Inside, Max’s blood is tested clean of dope, and he is released but soon realizes that he will never again be left alone and ditches Earl to go back to a life of thieving with his pal, Jerry (Harry Dean Stanton).

If you were reading the last two paragraphs correctly, you would have noticed that there is a ton of talent in the supporting cast in “Straight Time.” I even neglected to mention Academy Award winning actress “Kathy Bates” who has a small role here as well. Here in lies the major strength’s of this film, it’s casting. Hoffman may have been critical of his own talent, but his performance is desperate and strong, and it is his critical nature that may have truly saved this production as he really knew how to pick them. Though the dialog rings true in “Straight Time,” the story and direction are pretty standard, but it does provide a solid frame to showcase this collection of acting talent.

The official 1978 trailer to “Straight Time”

“Straight Time” opened in 1978 to mixed reviews and a weak box office, which makes me think that maybe Hoffman wasn’t the only one with standards that might have been a bit too high during that decade. “Straight Time” is not a masterpiece by any means but should be noted for its performances, which as I wrote earlier in this review are very fine. Sadly, Dustin Hoffman would not try his hand at directing for another thirty years until he made the elderly snorefest, “Quartet,” another trite old white folks film made for the Judy Dench crowd. Hoffman doesn’t act in “Quartet,” which I guess corrects his earlier mistake of acting and directing at the same time, but I wished that he had at least tried to direct one more film during that charmed period when he held acting to such a high standard.

Lily Cooks Up Delicious Yu Choy and Oyster Sauce

Yu Choy is similar to Chinese broccoli. Oddly, in the northeast, it is more readily available than broccoli. As a result, the Fierros eat it a lot.

The key component to this week’s dish, Yu Choy with Oyster Sauce, is the Mushroom Oyster Sauce that tops the Yu Choy. Lily will show you how to make the sauce and how to prepare the greens! This is one of her few one pot dishes, so it is a fast and simple recipe. Feel free to use the sauce for other dishes as well. It is a pretty tasty base sauce for egg noodles!

Enjoy!

Music courtesy of Antonin Dvořák, String Quartet no. 12 ‘American’, Op. 96 in F.

The Return to Noir Fundamentals in The Fade Out

It’s been over seventy years since film noir was at its peak, but the genre and its framework seems to never have left our culture, with iterations, updates, and transformations in films, novels, and of course, comic books. With so many new takes on the noir, it was oddly refreshing to read The Fade Out, a series that goes back to the fundamentals of this embedded genre.

Issue One Cover

The Fade Out centers its mystery on the murder of Valeria Sommers (birth name: Jenny Summers), the young starlet on the course to becoming the next Veronica Lake. The year of our story is 1948, a year where all of America was on its toes. Pearl Harbor and World War II had put people on alert for any signs of physical attack, and anti-communist sentiments had people on alert for any signs of cultural attack. Despite the victory of World War II, America still had some paranoia about what major force will be faced next, and it looked like communism was it. With America on the brink of full McCarthyism, the industry that would feel the brunt of it, the film industry, had begun to experience the rising concern about communists infiltrating media.

Set in the iconic noir location of Los Angeles, the narrative of The Fade Out is carried by Charlie Parish, a screenwriter for a studio on the edge of failure and the oddly lighthearted but very confused narrator of the series. Issue One introduces us to Charlie as he wakes from a drunken coma in an unknown apartment and tries to recollect the night before. As his blurred memories gradually become clearer and as he walks through the apartment, he realizes that he is in Valeria’s bed in her apartment and finds her murdered Valeria in the room next door. The discovery of her body incites panic in Charlie because it must have happened while he was asleep in the next room, but he has no memory of waking up to any disturbance. What entails is Charlie’s attempts to further recall the details of the party he attended and to wipe away evidence that he was at Valeria’s apartment in fear that he may be considered as a suspect. The main case to solve in The Fade Out is a pretty traditional one with a setup almost identical to that of Clue; we know the set of suspects, and we follow Charlie along as he tries to piece together each of their potential motivations to kill Valeria. On the murder mystery plot line alone, The Fade Out is motivating and attention-grabbing. However, what makes The Fade Out a series that I look forward to is its incorporation of the rich political and cultural environment of the late 40s.

Issue Two Cover

At the height of noir in America, films could not fully incorporate a wide range of subjects ranging from sexuality to political climate, and they certainly could not discuss the ugly details of the impact of McCarthyism on the film industry itself. With The Fade Out written in current times, the creators have the opportunity to enrich the noir story with relevant cultural and political topics affecting America’s film industry in the late 40s, and they certainly take advantage of this more open creative license.

In the core murder case, the details of the film studio’s actions to cover up the circumstances of Valeria’s death in order to avoid scandal enhance the narrative by leaving Charlie as the single person to acknowledge that Valeria was in fact murdered and as the only person left responsible to find her killer. In retrospect, we now know about film studios’ actions of megalomania and monopoly in the 40s and 50s, but in no way could those be addressed in the films made by those studios at the time–that would absolutely setup a conflict of interest. But given that The Fade Out is written today, those details of truth manipulation can now be included, making the setting and narrative more engrossing and setting up the onus on Charlie to find the perpetrator alone without the intervention of any law enforcement, making the perspective of the mystery even more alluring.

In addition, one of the most captivating sub-plots in the narrative is that of Charlie and Gil Mason, a story that could have never been addressed on film on the brink of McCarthyism. When Charlie entered the film industry, Gil served as his mentor, but after Charlie’s stint in the war leading to perpetual writer’s block and Gil’s communist sentiments preparing him to be blacklisted, Charlie and Gil become embroiled in a cover-up scheme that could only occur in the late 40s and could only be explained in a narrative written today. For me, Charlie and Gil’s tumultuous working and personal relationship drive the narrative and augment what would otherwise be a fairly standard murder mystery. Given the belligerent and oddly sympathetic nature of their actions, Charlie and Gil’s conversations and actions with each other emerge as the star component of the series.

As with any noir adaptation set in the 40s and 50s but written in modern times, The Fade Out contains more explicit details of sexual hedonism alluded to but never allowed in the films of that era. Unlike in Satellite Sam, sexuality does not exist as the core device of re-imagining the noir for The Fade Out. The update to the noir here really occurs through the integration of political and cultural artifacts and sentiments into the main plot and subplots of the series. The Fade Out sticks to the basics of the noir genre, but it rises above a classification as a noir duplication in its ability to use history to make a period piece come alive and engage readers who are almost three quarters of a century removed from the original setting. It may not be the most groundbreaking series, but for those who like history, mysteries, and noir, The Fade Out, with its earliest issues, seems to have potential for strong narratives and fascinating characters and relationships.

The Fade Out Issues One and Two are available now via Image Comics.

Homosexuality On American Television: 1972’s “That Certain Summer”

1972 Print Ad for “That Certain Summer”

Last week for this blog, I reviewed the excellent made-for-television version of “All Quiet On The Western Front” directed by Delbert Mann of “Marty” fame. During that review I reveled in the daring of the television films and mini-series of the 1970s, mostly concentrating on the choice of young directors who were tabbed at the time to make films for TV, such as Wes Craven, John Carpenter, and Toby Hooper. What I neglected to mention was the daring selection of topics that the networks chose during that time period, everything from drug abuse, to prostitution and yes, even the boy in the plastic bubble. Sadly, most of these topics were given the slightly heavier than ABC Afterschool Special treatment but every now and then one was handled properly, and that was the case with 1972’s “That Certain Summer” directed by Lamont Johnson.

Based on the novel by Burton Wohl, who also wrote the controversial, “A Cold Wind in August,” and “The China Syndrome,” “That Certain Summer” is the first American television movie to address homosexuality in a sympathetic way. The subject had received the big screen treatment in Hollywood to varying degrees of success in films like 1961’s “The Children’s Hour,” and 1967’s “The Fox” but it wasn’t until William Friedkin’s 1970 film, “The Boys In The Band,” that an American film showed homosexuals behaving in a less than psychotic way with no violent aftermath. Unfortunately “Boys In the Band” was not commercially successful, but due to its notoriety, it did bring the subject forward and allowed homosexuality to have a treatment for a more mainstream audience just two years later.

“That Certain Summer” is the story of Doug Salter, a divorced man who lives with his partner Gary in San Francisco. Doug’s son Nick, who resides in LA with his mother, is unaware of his father’s sexual preference, so when Nick plans to spend the summer with his dad, Doug asks Gary to move out so that their life together can stay a secret. Despite their best efforts, Nick finds out about Doug and Gary’s relationship, becomes upset and runs away, and eventually returns to his father who tries to help his son understand his sexuality, which isn’t all together successful. The handling of these moments for its era is done surprisingly well, and much of that success can be attributed to its choice of stars.

Playing Doug would be Hal Holbrook, who would soon become one of the busiest actors of the 1970s with roles in “Julia” and “All The President’s Men.” In 1972, Holbrook had only been in films for a few years and the general sentiment in Hollywood at the time was that any part playing a homosexual was career suicide. He initially turned down the role but eventually accepted the part because he felt a kinship to the main character of Doug, primarily due to the fact that he had recently separated from his wife but was unable to tell his young children about the split.

The actor selected to play his partner, Gary, was Martin Sheen, who like Holbrook had only been in films for a few years, so when presented with the possible negative reaction to playing a gay character he responded, “I’d robbed banks and kidnapped children and raped women and murdered people, you know, in any number of shows. Now I was going to play a gay guy and that was like considered a career ender. Oh, for Christ’s sake! What kind of culture do we live in?”

The film did not harm either of their careers as soon after “That Certain Summer,” Sheen would portray Kit Carruthers, the charismatic sociopath in Terrence Mallick’s masterpiece, “Badlands,” and just two years later he would work again with “That Certain Summer” director Lamont Johnson on another superb and controversial television movie, “The Execution of Private Slovik” about the only American solider to be executed for desertion in World War Two. In 2007, Holbrook, after a long, varied career, would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for “Into The Wild,” making him the oldest actor (at age 82) to get an Oscar nomination for a supporting role.

As for “That Certain Summer,” after re-watching it after all these years, I will attest that it is a fairly tame handling of the material, but again it is always done tactfully and with great attention to small emotional moments by the film’s excellent leads. Sadly, it should also be noted that despite films like “That Certain Summer,” and “The Boys In The Band,” LGBT issues were not automatically given the respect that you would hope for in Hollywood, and unfortunately, for the rest of the decade, gay-themed but exploitative films like “A Different Story” were produced and released. Regardless, it is extraordinary that a film like “That Certain Summer” was greenlit for television in the early 1970s, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have seen such two distinguished actors take a chance by working on a film with such a volatile subject matter for its time.

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady: 10/15/14 Generoso’s Birthday Show and 1968!

The Three Tops “Great 68 Train” from 1968

Besides being the year of Generoso’s birth, 1968 was one hell of a year for Jamaican music. That year saw the end of the rocksteady era and the rise of a new rhythm in Jamaica…reggae. As the tradition goes during the last eighteen years of the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady, Generoso’s birthday radio program is punctuated by having good friends stop by the station, the making of a cake with one slightly disturbing word as it’s message for the year, and the playing of tracks from 1968, both rocksteady and reggae of course.

The show begins this year with eight tracks that actually feature the year “1968” in their title, many of which were Jamaican song competition entries for that year like “Intensified ’68” by the late, great Desmond Dekker which begins this year’s show followed by the version from Lynn Taitt and The Jets going out as always to Magnus. The Three Tops punchy rhythm on “Great ’68 Train” produced by Coxsone followed and a smart reggae from producer/vocalist Clancy Eccles “Festival ‘68” ended that opening set. Of the 1968 titled tracks we played, we must say that “Come Down 68” featuring the smooth voice of Trinidadian, Kentrick Patrick, a.k.a. Lord Creator is my favorite. We so wished that Creator had cut more tracks during early reggae as his voice was made for the rhythm and the track does remind me of his masterpiece, “Such Is Life,” which he cut for Randy’s.

This year, we called out to the listeners for their favorite 1968 tracks and our good friend Melody Wining suggested the track that many people regard as the very first reggae release… “Do The Reggay,” a Beverley’s produced cut that does possess that irresistible early reggae rhythm that we love here on the show, and a lead vocal from Toots which is as always as raw and brilliant as you could ever hope for in a cut.

Finally, we want to wish love to you our Brian, Nancy, and Brett who came to the station that night to help us celebrate and to all of our listeners and friends who called or emailed good wishes throughout the day and the show.

Listen to the show via the WMBR archives here: LISTEN HERE

This link will be active until 10/28/2014

Generoso and His Triple Layer Italian Cream Birthday Cake!

It is 1:15AM on Generoso’s Birthday so I guess its now time to make his birthday cake!! A triple layer Italian chocolate and vanilla cream cake which is damn delicious, if not terribly decorated (we have no skill here). This cake does take some time but I think you will love to make one for yourself and Generoso and Lily will show you how. You will need at least a dozen eggs, a pound of butter, confectioners sugar, a couple of large chocolate bars, vanilla extract, sugar, milk, flour and one serious blender!

Background music is by my buddy, Ottorino Respighi and his Suite no. 1 from Ancient Airs and Dances.

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, the Unlikely Couple to Save the World

This week, when I traveled to my local comic book shop, I was thrilled to find the newest issue (#20) of Hawkeye. For me, Fraction and Aja’s take on Hawkeye was my entry point into the world of graphic novels and comic books, and it is a series that I perhaps hold a little too dearly to my heart. Sadly, my excitement faded when I found out that the issue was a Kate Bishop one rather than a Clint Barton one (especially after #19 which is almost entirely written with sign language). I’ll cut my criticisms short on the Kate component of the Hawkeye series and just say that the narrative for Kate’s story arc is lackluster and pallid compared to that of Clint’s.

In light of my disappointment, a neighboring series caught my eye because I am now programmed to take a look at anything that has the name “Hawkeye” on it. Hawkeye vs. Deadpool is a new Marvel cross-pollination hero series, with issue zero released in September and issue one released in October. Superhero collaborations, be it two heroes or teams of heroes, are always a little dicey. Like greatest hits albums, which will often only include the most popular tracks and only show one side of an artist, superhero collaborations often lose the nuances and the intricacies of the characters involved and end up showing only a more polished version of the skeleton of the main subjects. However, the best thing that a summary/compilation album can do is introduce you to the fundamental core of an artist and encourage you to explore beyond. Similarly, collaboration/crossover narratives in comic books can do the same, and Hawkeye vs. Deadpool is one of those superhero combinations that facilitates the desire to dive deeper into the individual characters involved.

Artwork for Issue Zero Cover

Artwork for Issue One Cover

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool introduces us to Clint Barton’s and Deadpool’s vastly conflicting personalities and tactics as superheroes, with Clint as the semi-diplomatic and semi-reasonable member of society and Deadpool as the brash and semi-caustic mutant. Both have senses of humor that also acutely reflect their personas, making their interactions with each other the bright star of this series. The action part of the story focuses on the two trying to prevent a S.H.I.E.L.D. hacker from causing harm, but the real meat of Hawkeye vs. Deadpool lies in their uncanny working relationship; the two oddly have a similar relationship as Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in The In-Laws (1979), with Hawkeye resembling Sheldon, the mild-mannered dentist, and Deadpool resembling Vince, the impetuous businessman and possible CIA agent. Both pairs are in desperate situations and must rely on non-ideal partners to try and save the day. Consequently, in their bickering and in their comedic moments of miscommunication, Hawkeye and Deadpool, like Sheldon and Vince, become characters that you care for, cheer on, and want to learn more about.

Don’t expect an insightful commentary on humanity through superhero metaphors from Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, but do get excited for its silliness and its pure entertainment and comedic value. Though not a masterpiece, Hawkeye vs. Deadpool achieves what it sets to accomplish: a fun integration of two unlikely heroes and personalities. In addition, I am not familiar with the new Deadpool series, and I am now motivated to read it, which makes Hawkeye vs. Deadpool all the more successful in its endeavor.

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool issues #1 &2 are now available via Marvel comics.

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 10/8/14: Clarendonians Ska

Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin: The Clarendonians

We started off the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady this week with a thunderous version to version excursion which we always send out to my mentor and dearest departed friend Magnus Johnstone: Errol Dunkley and his killer cut on Count Shelly from 1973, “Where Must I Go,” followed by Daddy URoy’s version, “Merry Go Round” which was cut for High Note in 1976. We had a fun mento set this week that started with a bizarre release on MRS that featured a new-report style tribute to Princess Margaret entitled “Caribbean Curtsy.”

The history behind the Clarendonians is a bit unclear and conflicting. We know for a fact that Fitzroy Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin were the two founding members of the group. Both grew up in Hayes, Clarendon and formed the duo in 1963 when Austin was 18 and Wilson was only 12. After performing in local talent shows, the Clarendonians caught the eyes of the music industry and recorded first for Leslie Kong in 1963 with their single, “A Day Will Come.” As Austin and Wilson continued to perform, they caught the attention of Coxone Dodd and began recording for his Studio One And after this point, things get very confusing, but before we dive into the cloudy history of the Clarendonians line up, we’ll first hear “A Day Will Come,” their first single and then their early cuts for Studio One. We know that Freddie McGregor joined the Clarendonians at the age of seven, and it is believed that Coxone Dodd was the one who suggested that Freddie should be the member to expand the Clarendonians into a trio. While the Clarendonians recorded as a trio, the members of the group also recorded in duets with each other. McGregor recorded with Wilson as the duo Freddie and Fitzie, and Austin also recorded with McGregor as Freddie and Peter. And even though the duet recordings did not include all three members of the Clarendonians, the recordings of the duets were often branded with the Clarendonians name. And to make matters much more confusing, each member of the Clarendonians recorded solo tracks that were occasionally pressed with the Clarendonians name as well.

Despite all of the confusion and mystery surrounding who exactly is on each recording that claims to be that of the Clarendonians, we do know that there are three core members, and as a trio they predominantly recorded for Studio One. Austin became disaffected with Dodd in the late 1960s and went on to record as a solo artist for producer Ken Lack and Phil Pratt, but eventually left the music industry and went on to work as an aviation supervisor at Norman Manley International Airport. Of the Clarendonians, Ernest Wilson was the first member to establish himself as a solo artist. McGregor took more time to establish himself as a solo artist, working at Studio One as a session drummer and backing singer, and eventually found success with “Bobby Bobylon”, and of the trio, had one of the most successful careers. On “The Best of the Clarendonians” record pressed by Studio One, there are only pictures of Austin and Wilson (as seen above). In addition, there is written introduction and description completed by Vin Dunning which does not mention Freddie McGregor in any way.

On October 8th, 2014, we did our spotlight on The Clarendonians from the earliest recordings during the ska era only. We hope you enjoy it!

Listen to the full spotlight and the show via the WMBR archives here: LISTEN HERE

This link will be active until 10/21/2014.

It’s Fall! It’s Time For Che Bap!

In this week’s cooking video, Lily shows you how to make probably one of the easiest dishes she makes, Che Bap.

Che Bap is a dessert made with corn, coconut milk, tapioca, and sugar. It’s a very easy warm dessert that can be made in a large batch. The Fierro house often eats it in the fall and then hides away from cold weather.

Enjoy! Music provided by Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto no. 1 in Eb, Op. 6.