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Posts tagged as “Reggae”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Sonia Pottinger – The First Lady of Reggae” Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Sonia Pottinger – The First Lady of Reggae” Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2026

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Threads: @stlmarlonwest IG: stlmarlonwest Bluesky: @marlonweststl.bsky.social Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Women’s History Month! Welcome to another Music Monday at GBN. Your monthly groove wrangler is back with a new collection for your musical pleasure.

When discussing Jamaica’s greatest reggae producers, names like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, King Tubby, Bunny Lee, and Joe Gibbs are frequently bandied about. However, Sonia Pottinger—the “First Lady of Reggae”—is seldom included in that conversation.

Against all odds, Pottinger became a formidable force in Jamaica’s male-dominated music industry as the country’s first female record producer, record shop owner, and label head. Today, we are shining an audio light on her incredible work.

Affectionately known as “Miss P,” she was one of Jamaica’s most noteworthy producers from the 1960s through the 1980s. She excelled through an individualized approach to production bolstered by keen business acumen, leaving behind a catalog of outstanding breadth and quality.

Reggae producer Sonia Pottinger (photo via reggaereport.com)

From the rocksteady craze of 1966 and ’67 to the classic roots reggae recordings of The Gladiators, I have gathered this collection of Sonia Pottinger’s essential tracks.

Please enjoy!

As always, stay safe, sane, and kind. See you next month for another dose.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Fresh Reggae Tracks” Summer Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Fresh Reggae Tracks” Summer Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 14, 2025

Happy Music Monday, you all. It’s your pal and selector, Marlon, back once more with a collection to brighten your month.

We are into July and for my money, a particularly good time to enjoy some sweet reggae music.

This “Fresh Reggae Tracks” playlist is devoted to new reggae. Many of these tracks were released this year, while others are from recent years. Reggae has always been infused with social change, love, and unity.

Today the genre is as vibrant and diverse than ever. This collection gathers roots, dancehall, dub, and hip hop to showcase range of artists and styles.

Aza Lineage, Lila Iké and Burna Boy are but a few of the artists featured in this collection. There are members of the Marley Family and emerging acts gathered here for your listening and dancing pleasure.

Do enjoy.

And always stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “AfroPunk: Reggae Meets Punk” Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “AfroPunk: Reggae Meets Punk” Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2024

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Threads: @stlmarlonwest IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

While Reggae is a true import from Jamaica, it really gained a global footing in England. It and Punk both arose out of the economic depression and social inequality in the late 1960’s and 1970’s.

Many Reggae songs of the time like Bob Marley’s “Punky Reggae Party” and “Concrete Jungle” were overt commentary on life in London, while many Punk artists adopted some of these traits and spreading a message of rebellion against the Establishment.

He was not the only one to see that punks and Rastas shared a same idea of freedom and of rebellion against social norms and the setting of said norms.

Hope you enjoy this free-wheeling collection of songs celebrating the intersection of Reggae and Punk. As always, stay, safe, sane, and kind.

I’ve included tracks for the “Second Wave” of ska where bands like The Specials, English Beat, and Selector combined traditional ska song and grooves with a sped-up rhythms of punk music, introducing ska to new generations.

I’ve also included tracks from “Rocket To Kingston” credited to Bobby Ramone. It is a melding of the isolated vocal tracks from Bob Marley dropped over edited Ramones backing tracks. It shouldn’t work, but it does.

Marlon West

MUSIC MONDAY: “Strange Things” – a Halloween Collection of Reggae (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Strange Things” – a Halloween Collection of Reggae (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 4, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy first Monday of October! It’s your friend and selector, Marlon, back with another GBN offering.

‘Tis the season again. Halloween season, that is. Here’s the first of four October offerings. “Strange Things” is a collection of reggae, ska, and calypso hand-picked for this time of year.

This ain’t the collection to scare kids off your porch with. Though it is almost certain to make you (and them) move. Here’s a casket of new and classic reggae trucking in duppies, ghosts, vampires, zombies, and other undead creatures.

It’s scary, just how many reggae tunes there are that fall into this ghoulish category once you start, wait for it… digging.

Dad jokes aside, this playlist gathers tracks dealing with monsters and devils from the earliest ‘60s rocksteady to today’s reggaeton. More Halloween season tunes to follow next week.

Until then, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Silly Games” – The Best of Lovers Rock Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Silly Games” – The Best of Lovers Rock Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on August 9, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

This week’s offering is more than a little inspired by the 2020 film Lovers Rock.

Writer-director Steve McQueen’s loving portrait of a house party was one of the best films of last year. I’ve included a few tracks from the soundtrack by Gregory Isaacs, Janet Kay and others.

Though this collection takes us back the last days of the rocksteady era and early days of reggae, it features artists like Ken Boothe, Johnny Nash and John Holt and Hortense Ellis.

They enjoyed international hits with versions of well-known love songs and originals that would go on to be clone classics of the genre.

Happy Monday, and enjoy this reggae mushy stuff.

As always, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “African Unity” – A Collection of Reggae From Around the World (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “African Unity” – A Collection of Reggae From Around the World (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 19, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, you all! This week’s playlist celebrates reggae music from around the world.

Reggae originated in Jamaica in the 1960s. It is deeply linked to Rastafari, Afrocentric thought, and promoting Pan Africanism. It is the nation’s most impactful export.

Over the decades, reggae has traveled with Jamaican immigrants, and its message and popularity has spread cross the globe.

Today there are reggae performers from every corner of the planet. In the United States, Latin America, Europe, the UK, Asia, and Africa you will find reggae artists thriving.

Here’s a collection of established artists like Linton Kwesi Johnson, Steel Pulse, the late Lucky Dube, and Alpha Blondy. Also included are emerging artists like Awa Fall, Los Cafres, and Matthew McAnuff.

Hope you enjoy this collection of classics and new music. And as always, stay safe sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Pressure Drop” – A Ska and Reggae Collection (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Pressure Drop” – A Ska and Reggae Collection (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 17, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday! I’ll keep it brief this week. This collection gathers decades of ska and reggae.

From pioneers like The Skatalites to new artists including Jaz Elise. Here is hours of roots, rock steady, dancehall, and dub reggae.

I have endeavored to include classics and releases from 2021 in the playlist that will move you all day long. Please enjoy!

And even as we emerge from lock, stay safe, sane, and kind!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Roots, Rock, Reggae” – a Bob Marley Collection in Honor of his 76th (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Roots, Rock, Reggae” – a Bob Marley Collection in Honor of his 76th (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 15, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Earlier this month was the 76th anniversary of the birth of Robert Nesta Marley.

It is hard to overstate his impact on popular music and culture. Marley was a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of social consciousness and spirituality.

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He is still a global symbol of Jamaican music, culture, and Pan-Africanism. He co-founded The Wailers vocal group with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Junior Braithwaite.

They created early ska and rocksteady in the studios of legendary producers Coxsone Dodd and Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Marley would go on to bring reggae music to an international audience, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Rolling Stone has ranked him No. 11 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Here’s a collection includes his many classics, early recordings, live performances, and remixes, and dub reworkings. This playlist is a testament to the lasting impact of Bob Marley.

As always stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I Can See Clearly Now” – A Playlist Tribute to Johnny Nash (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I Can See Clearly Now” – A Playlist Tribute to Johnny Nash (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 12, 2020
[Photo: American singer and songwriter Johnny Nash poses in a park in London, 1972. By Michael Putland / Getty Images]

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Johnny Nash had no particular episode of personal hardship in mind when he composed “I Can See Clearly Now” in the early 1970s, though over the years it has struck a firm chord with generations who appreciate its feeling of new hope emerging from the despair: “I can see clearly now the rain has gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshine-y day.”

He died last week at age 80.

Nash was American but spent time living in Jamaica in the mid-1960s, and the island’s influence on his music came to the fore in 1968, when his rock-steady compositions “You Got Soul” and “Hold Me Tight” were Top 10 hits in the UK, helping to kickstart a period of mainstream interest in reggae that remains to this day.

His reggae-fied version of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” made it to No. 6 in the UK the following year, followed by “Stir it Up,” written for him, and later reclaimed, by his friend Bob Marley. That was a UK No. 13 in 1972, only months before the release of “I Can See Clearly Now.”

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This playlist includes many of Johnny Nash’s recordings, songs by him, Bob Marley, and other early reggae artists, plus many of the cuts that dominated the radio in 1972 alongside Johhny Nash’s enduring song of hope.

Hope you enjoy this tribute collection. Next week I’ll be back with a more “seasonal” offering.

Until such time, stay safe sane, and kind… and vote!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Time Tough”- A Tribute to Reggae Legend Toots Hibbert (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Time Tough”- A Tribute to Reggae Legend Toots Hibbert (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on September 14, 2020

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

This September 11th also marked the passing of one of the fathers of reggae music: Toots Hibbert.

Starting out with the rock steady pioneer Clement “Coxcome” Dodd, The Maytals emerged as one of the earliest reggae hit-makers. Hibbert holds a firm spot in Jamaica’s musical pantheon as the first artist to use the word reggae on a record, “Do The Reggay,” and to bring the music to the world at large.

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Many likely first heard his songs covered by The Clash, The Specials, and other punk and ska artists. This collection features the Toots & The Maytals versions of “Monkey Man” and “Pressure Drop.” 

I have also included some of his many covers including “Country Road” and collaborations with Willie Nelson, UB40, The Easy Star All-Stars, Los Pericos and others.

Hope you all enjoy this tribute to one reggae and ska music’s most enduring founders. Have a great week, and see you next Monday.

Stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)