I can't figure out how to add a "Now Listening" section to this blog, so I'm just going to start adding them here...
Alpha Blondy's Jerusalem is a great reggae album from the 80s that I listened to a lot back in my Santa Cruz years. Alpha Blondy was a very talented reggae artist from the Ivory Coast who sang in English, French, Arabic, and some African languages. I don't think he was Rasta, but used a lot of Christian and Muslim imagery in his message.
I remember the first time I heard the title track, "Jerusalem." I think it was on KUSP or one of the alternative Santa Cruz stations. I was sitting in my car in the driveway of the apartment where Katie and I lived the Live Oak neighbourhood. This tune starts off really slow and meditatively....then falls into a reggae beat. At the time I thought I was listening to a Christian radio station, and I remember thinking, "Damn, it's about time those Christians got into some good reggae." Later, probably in 1988, Katie and I drove up to San Francisco to see Alpha Blondy play at the Fillmore. I bought a t-shirt and kept it for years until it finally disinigrated. That night, on the way home driving down Highway 1, we stopped at some midnight beach.
I haven't kept up with Alpha Blondy over the years. I heard he spent some time in Bellvue with some mental troubles. I think he's still around though.
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