Back Issues of the Wailers News September 1998
What do Bob Marley & The Wailers, Kenny Rogers, Andy Gibb, and Debbie Boone, all have in common? Not simply the fact that their all musicians, but they also all appeared on an October 1977 edition of "The Midnight Special", which is currently being rebroadcast on the cable music channel VH1, at select times.
"The Midnight Special" was a late night variety show featuring the entertainment worlds' biggest names, such as Sly & The Family Stone, George Carlin, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and countless other talents. The series aired from 1972 until 1981.
Bob Marley & The Wailers were scheduled to perform live on stage at the October 1977 "Midnight Special" show, but because of Bob's foot injury due to a soccer mishap, the band didn't perform live. Instead, the show had to use Island Records' footage from the Bob Marley & The Wailers "Live" video, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London in June of 1977. Kenny Rogers introduced the pre-recorded footage, showing "Jammin'" and "Get Up, Stand Up".
The show also featured performances by Kenny Rogers, Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life", and Andy Gibb. VH1 should re-air this particular episode of "The Midnight Special" in the very near future, so keep an eye peeled for it.
"Reggae Inspiration"-
Be on the lookout for a new collection of reggae poetry, entitled "Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology Of Reggae Poetry", selected and introduced by Kwame Dawes. The book hit the stands in July of 1998, so it should be available pretty much everywhere. As the press release states, "This is an anthology to delight both lovers of reggae and lovers of poetry."The book features poets such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, Afua Cooper, and many others, writing poems with such topics as tributes to Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Big Youth, Burning Spear, and many other reggae musicians. Other topics include politics, art, history, and culture.
This tremendous anthology, published by Peepal Tree Press, features over 216 pages and combines contributors from the USA, Canada, England, Africa, as well as the Caribbean, who have all been inspired to create poems based on reggae music.
If you want to order directly from the publishing company, you can e-mail them at: [email protected] for more ordering information.
Special thanks to Matthew Smith for this great story!
"WailersNet"- This is a brand new section for The Wailers News page, where we'll let everyone know each month about news regarding the Wailers on the internet.
A lot of people have been asking us about the whereabouts of former Bob Marley & The Wailers' guitarist & songwriter, Junior Marvin. Junior left the Wailers Band in the spring of 1997, to persue a solo career in, of all places: Goiania, Brazil. There he formed a group called Junior Marvin and Batuka, and they are currently working on their first album together. The status of Junior Marvin came to us from Leo Vidigal who's Brazilian based magazine "Massive Reggae" has also recently found a home on the internet. Junior Marvin was featured on issue #7 of "Massive Reggae" (see picture at the left). Be sure to visit the online version of their magazine!
"Standing Ovation...Revisited"-
In the newest issue of The Beat magazine, Roger Steffens sheds some more light on Bunny Wailer's soon-to-be released 50-track double album, "Standing Ovation". If you remember from our July 1998 issue, we mentioned some of the brand new tracks that were going to be included, such as "Stand In Love", "Don't Blame Rasta", "Genetic Order", "Reggae Converts", "Veterans", "Reggae Rebel" and Teenie Wappaz". The set will also feature Bunny's early Coxsone singles, Solomonic singles, and the greatest hits from Bunny's regular albums.
In Roger's article, he says that the set will also include a "fabulous remake" of "Hallelujah Time", which originally appeared on the Wailers classic album, "Burnin'". Roger said for fans to look for a fall 1998 release. It will definitely be an incredible piece of work, and certainly not to be missed!
"Alpha Blondy With The I-Threes"-
On the newest Alpha Blondy album, "Yitzhak Rabin", the I-Threes (actually only two of them) make a guest appearance on a few of the songs. Both Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt are featured on the tracks "New Dawn", "Yitzhak Rabin", and "Les Larmes De Therese". The album was partially recorded at Marley Music studio and also at Tuff Gong in Kingston, Jamaica. The album is out now on the Tuff Gong International/Lightyear record label.
This isn't the first time that Alpha Blondy has worked with members of Bob Marley & The Wailers, because for his "Jerusalem" album, Alpha recorded with the Wailers Band at the Tuff Gong studios. Alpha, whose vocal style is very reminiscent of Bob Marley's, considers Marley as one of his biggest musical inspirations.
If you can't track down "Yitzhak Rabin" in your local music store, you can order it online, by clicking HERE! or the picture at the right.
"Lauryn Hill Is Burnin'"-
If you take a look at the newest album from Fugees' female vocalist Lauryn Hill, entitled "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill", you might see a striking resemblance to the cover of The Wailers' "Burnin'" album. Both covers feature a burned-in portrait of the artists, on a wood background (see picture at left!). The relationship doesn't end there however, because not only was Bob Marley an influence on Hill, but he is a grandfather to Hill's newly born son, Zion.
Hill's first solo album is out on the Sony Records label, and also features former Bob Marley & The Wailers' guitarist and founder of the legendary Soul Syndicate, Earl "Chinna" Smith. The album also features guest appearances by guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana.
Tour Dates: Wailin' All Over The World- Bunny Wailer & The Solomonic Reggaestra & The Psalms
The Wailers Band
Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers
Kymani Marley
Andrew Tosh
The I-Threes
The 7th Annual Peter Tosh Birthday Celebration
Bob Marley Festival (Click here to see the official webpage!)
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Have you missed previous issues of the Wailers News? Don't worry, just click HERE! to visit our back issues page.