No Condition Is Permanent

Pictured: Joe Gibbs.

Welcome to ‘Tribesman Rockers’, one of the many high spots of the 1978 dub album [African Dub Almighty Chapter Three], conceived, created and superbly crafted by the Mighty Two, aka studio owner/producer Joe Gibbs and his engineer Errol ‘ET’ Thompson. Just as you’re coming to terms with what’s going on around you, a familiar melody percolates out of the maelstrom. Lord Creator’s ‘Kingston Town’. Somewhat disconcertingly, as it’s not really possible to imagine a song further mutated from what its composer intended it to be – either musically or sociologically – yet still remain recognizable.

But disconcerting is just what it ought to be. To take each element of the tune as separate – the bass, the drums, the horns, the bongos, the keyboards and so on – then set out to refocus the whole piece of work by adjusting, tweaking, bringing forward or pushing back each of them individually until the whole is satisfactorily rebalanced is to reach back to Africa and the practices that came over to Jamaica as obeah. Behind the smoke and mirrors and the waving of chickens are the art’s central planks – the far less-photogenic healing ways: homoeopathy, herbalism, that sort of thing. It’s an ancient African medicine that splits the body up into seven centres or ‘selves’ – sexual, digestive, heart, brain, etc. – and by prescribing various herbs and potions would, as practitioners always describe it, ‘bring forward or push back’ different centres; remixing, as it were, a person’s physical or mental state into something very different. In other words, obeah could be used to cure a headache, just as it could make the worst grouch love the whole world or set the meekest of souls up to do battle. In the same way, by adjusting the controls at the mixing desk, a tune as bright and breezy (some might say cheesy) as ‘Kingston Town’ can be reinvented as something so edgy and surprising as ‘Tribesman Rockers’.

— Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 349 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT:

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 349 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT BY CLICKING ON THE THREE DOTS /\

Here’s what we played in Ep. 349 of No Condition Is Permanent:

THE FIRST SET

Archie Bell & The Drells — “The Soul City Walk” — Philadelphia International Records: 40th Anniversary

Monomono — “Tire Loma Da Nigbehin” — Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos

The Renegades — “Charge!” — Impossible But True: The Kim Fowley Story

Los Megatones De Lucho — “Pa’ Los Bravo” — Dj Hecu Presenta: Wild Rhythms Vol. 2 By Salsa Son Timba

Don & Dewey — “Bim Bam” — Specialty 45rpm

Money Chicha — “Yo No Soy Turku” — Echo en Mexico

John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett — “Louisa On A Horse” — John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett

The Versatiles — “Push It In” — Trojan Box Set: X-Rated Box Set

Devo — “Uglatto” — Hardcore Devo: Vol. 1

IT’S MADISON TIME…

The New Bangs — “Go Go Kitty” — Beat Jazz / Pictures from The Gone World Vol. 1

THE SECOND SET

Ray Barretto — “Acid” — Acid

The Misunderstood — “My Mind” — Deviation Street: High Times in Ladbroke Grove 1967-1975

Yol Aularong — “Yuvajon Kouge Jet (Broken Hearted Man)” — Cambodian Nuggets

The Flamethrowers — “Whippy Wow” — The Michigan Box: 1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels

Sylvia Hall — “Don’t Touch That Thing” — Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay

George Clinton & The Parliaments — “The Goose (That Laid The Golden Egg)” — The Singles 1967-1971

Gul Sorgun — “Ara Leyli” — Turkish Ladies: Female Singers From Turkey 1974-1988

The Moon Dawgs — “Baby As Time Goes By” — Trip To The Moon: 14 Obscure R&B, Garage Rock And Deepfunk Songs About The Moon

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals — “Chapter Three” — African Dub All Mighty Chapter 3

Stelvio Cipriani — “Blindman’s Mariachi #2” — Blindman OST

THE THIRD SET

The Only Ones — “Creature Of Doom” — The Only Ones

Junior y Su Equipo — “America India” — Ecuatoriana: El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969-81

Gram Parsons — “Ooh Las Vegas” — Grievous Angel

Ibo Combo — “Engendre” — Engendre

Roy Brown — “Boogie At Midnight” — Pay Day Jump: The King & Deluxe Acetate Series

Buari — “Ku Ka Maria” — Buari

Whitefield Brothers — “Yakuba” — In The Raw

Juan-Juan Zou — “Pond Side” — Taiwan & Singapore Disco

THE FINAL SET

Dave Hamilton — “Tell Your Mama” — Detroit City Grooves

Yabby You & The Prophets — “Mash Down Rome Dub” — The Yabby You Sound (Dubs & Versions)

Jimmie Haskell and His Orchestra — “Astrosonic” — Count Down!

Armand Pascal Lido & L’Ivoiro Star — “Dogbo Zo N’Wene” — Assalam Aleikoum Africa Vol. 1

Buzzcocks — “Breakdown” — Spiral Scratch EP

Najib Alhoush — “Free Music I” — The Free Music (Part 1)

Rudy Greene — “Wild Life” — Stompin’ 10

La Orquesta Carnaval Swing — “Descarga Colombiana” — The Afrosound of Colombia, Vol. 3

LORD BUCKLEY’S WEEKLY BENEDICTION…

The Fugs — “Fingers Of The Sun” — Tenderness Junction

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