We've had posts about Yakety Sax (a.k.a. the Benny Hill music) and we've had posts about the Jamaican backing tracks known as riddims. But we've never had a post about Benny Hill riddim. In roughly decreasing order of how much Yakety Sax you can still hear: Elephant Man, "No Ticcle." Leftside, "Cowboy." Sample, "Kotch." Timberlee feat. Tosh, "Heels."
posted by escabeche on Dec 18, 2009 - 17 comments

"Being gay in Jamaica, it's like, don't tell anybody. Just keep it to yourself..." homophobia in jamaica and the culture it's creating.
posted by artof.mulata on Jul 19, 2009 - 57 comments

Live Hope Love — Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica.
posted by netbros on May 4, 2009 - 5 comments

An entire beach in Jamaica has been stolen. Although much of the sand has been found, it is estimated that it will take up to 100 years for the beach to be rebuilt. People now think that there is a coverup operation. [more inside]
posted by ooklala on Oct 18, 2008 - 26 comments

Dubstep is from the UK. It's typified by skittering, shuffled, syncopated rhythms with lots of triplets, dissonant and minor tonality, and most strikingly... (sub)bass. It uses a lot of effects people associate with dub. Crank your woofer and listen to the likes of Skream (who has done a pretty good introductory mix), Plastician, Digital Mystikz, and El-B. [more inside]
posted by phrontist on Jul 11, 2008 - 68 comments

Each of the following MySpace Music pages features bios and/or photos and/or videos and/or miscellaneous related materials and/or up to six songs by each of the following old school Jamaican Reggae and/or dub artists: Alton Ellis, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, The Wailing Wailers, Big Youth, Dennis Brown, Mikey Dread, The Meditations, Leroy Brown, Mad Professor, Augustus Pablo, Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, King Tubby, The Abyssinians, Everton Blender, Bunny Wailer, Prince Alla, Israel Vibration, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Shinehead, Jah Ruby, Carlton Livingston, King Jammy, Duckie Simpson, I Threes, Judy Mowatt, Sly and Robbie, Barrington Levi, Yellowman, Delroy Williams, Wailing Souls, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Burning Spear, Max Romeo, Black Uhuru, Leroy Sibbles, Ijahman Levi and Earl Cunningham. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 7, 2008 - 25 comments

mp3s:
Jake Leg Blues - Mississippi Sheiks
Jake Walk Blues - The Allen Brothers
Alcohol and Jake Blues - Tommy Johnson (lyrics)
Articles:
"Jake Leg," about how the blues diagnosed a mysterious 1930 epidemic is a pdf scan of a New Yorker article from September 15, 2003 from here.  The Jake Walk Effect is from North Carolina Moonshine, as is The Jake Leg in Song  See also Paralysis In A Bottle (html) [more inside]
posted by y2karl on Oct 30, 2007 - 18 comments

Jamaican Label Art. J.L.A. is a website for those people who are obsessed with Caribbean music and the artwork and design of the labels on the vinyl reproductions of that music. It doesn't matter if those labels are on recordings of Jamaican music released in the U.S.A., or indeed Trini Calypso released in the U.K. It's all the same to us!
posted by soundofsuburbia on Feb 8, 2007 - 5 comments

Jackie Mittoo. Wayne McGhie and the Sounds Of Joy. Bob and Wisdom. The Mighty Pope. And many others. A free concert back in July and a series of reissues have begun to tell the story of the Toronto reggae, funk and soul scene of the 1950's, '60's and '70's.
posted by The Card Cheat on Dec 29, 2006 - 3 comments

Who is Rabbit Jones? Some text and images NSFW. A man steals a giant rabbit head. He meets another man who eats flies. He beats up a weirdo, then gets ugly drunk, and impersonates a refugee. Plus lots of other adventures & cool Rabbit Jones photos. But what is the connection to Jamaica? "The weirdness of Kingston is highly entertaining. Is Peter Dean Rickards "The Canadian born, chubby, self-appointed, self publicist, media terrorist of Kingston" or just a hater?
posted by Area Control on Dec 12, 2006 - 5 comments

Strippers, monkeys, pirates, and fire, a humorously titled account of the 1692 destruction by tsunami of the pirate city Port Royal.
posted by Astro Zombie on Jun 24, 2006 - 10 comments

I finally saw it and captured it on film. The picture got me wondering whether or not anyone else was equally smitten by these freaks of nature. Apparently the good people at The Albino Squirrel Preservation Society are. So are these seemingly nice folks. Leave it to the BBC to be the definitive authority on the topic. Of course there are those who will turn this into a tourist attraction or a way to make a quick buck. There are frauds. There are criminal aspects. There is always a detractor or two, and as always too much hype.
posted by scblackman on Mar 28, 2006 - 39 comments

Bob Marley's works enter the Grammy Hall Of Fame - including No Woman No Cry, Marley's tale of his time in the ghetto of Trench Town, Jamaica (photos)...Marley gave his friend Vincent Tata Ford writing credits, in part, to keep Ford's soup kitchen running...
posted by tpl1212 on Jan 20, 2005 - 17 comments

Vigilante justice, Caribbean style.
posted by h00dini on Mar 25, 2004 - 16 comments

Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. 'Vodou is Haiti's mirror. Its arts and rituals reflect the difficult, brilliant history of seven million people, whose ancestors were brought from Africa to the Caribbean in bondage. In 1791 these Africans began the only successful national slave revolt in history. In 1804 they succeeded in creating the world's first Black republic: the only one in this hemisphere where all the citizens were free. Their success inspired admiration, fear and scorn in the wider world. Cut off from Euro-American support, Haitians managed to created their own dynamic "Creole" society-one rooted in Africa but responsive to all that was encountered in their new island home.' History, theology and religious art.
Related :- an essay on the Vodou concept of soul, Voodoos and Obeahs on sacred-texts ('required reading if you want to understand the background of Haitian and Jamaican Vodun, and the profound influence of imperialism, slavery and racism on its development').
posted by plep on Jan 2, 2004 - 10 comments

Ja Man! Jamaica becomes car exporter. First it was sugar, rum and reggae- 'At Last, the first hand built Jamaica automobile. Cruise the Islands with the “Island Cruiser”' - Damn, you know I've been waiting for this!
posted by kodas on Aug 29, 2003 - 10 comments

Jamaican Riddim Directory. Run it selecta! [audio]
posted by soundofsuburbia on Jul 28, 2003 - 10 comments

"Blaze di fire mek we bun dem!!!! (Bun dem!!!!)" - ["chi chi man",TOK]

What's a boy to do, when your 'family' is openly threatened on the radio with assault & murder by nominated artistes ?
Protest at the 'Outrage'!
posted by dash_slot- on Oct 3, 2002 - 12 comments

Miss Cleo is from CA not Jamaica, man. Who would have thought that she was a fraud?
posted by aj100 on Mar 15, 2002 - 26 comments

Jamaica may legalize marijuana. I figure if a country that grows so much of it, and allows religious groups so much more influence in politics than we do is going down this (seemingly) sensibile road - perhaps we should consider it here in the 'ole USA...
posted by owillis on Aug 20, 2001 - 10 comments

Rioting in Jamaica. This one hits very close to home, as it's where my family is from and where I partially grew up. While the immediate effect of people dying is terrible, the long term effects of this news on tourism (Jamaica's top industry) will probably be devastating to an already poor country.
posted by owillis on Jul 10, 2001 - 7 comments