January 7, 2010
From John Sutton-Smith, linchpin of LA's early reggae and ska scene, Beat contributor and jack of all trades
I'm so sorry to read the news of the Reggae Beat, one of my very few must-read magazines. It had truly become an institution for reggae fans around the world, and many of those issues stand up against the best of music magazines over the past three decades. To think that it began as a mimeographed fanzine with a b&w photo of the Skanksters on the cover performing on the steps at UCLA! What a great job you did, CC -- I'm glad they will all be available online, although I still think some specialist publishing house like Genesis or someone should put out a bound collected edition of the complete works of the Reggae Beat!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
NEWS FLASH! I just unpacked a box full of dozens of mint copies of the first half-dozen or so issues of the BEAT- about four dozen copies of issue number one with the return address rubber-stamped in red ink : "THE REGGAE BEAT KCRW 89.9 FM 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405". There are at least two dozen copies of issue #2 and similar numbers of the other issues through April 1983. We just moved to a new house and today we spent eight hours moving boxes, some of which have been stored unopened and untouched for decades. I also found copies of JAH UGLIMAN, SMALL AXE and an extensive index card catalogue of my old 45rpm record collection with matrix numbers, labels, typos, & the works. Plus a box of
ReplyDeletenever-played 45's from my grandmother's record shop. Is that synchronicity or just good luck?
JAH works in mysterious ways....
ReplyDelete