Farmers' Week 2014 - February 7-14, 2014 in the BVI

Steel Pulse's Smash Hits is Classic Reggae Music

Steel Pulse is a reggae band that was formed in 1975. Their Smash Hits album features hit songs like "Your House," "Bodyguard" and "Tightrope."

Steel Pulse (http://steelpulse.com/) is a reggae band started by musicians of West Indian heritage who were living in the United Kingdom. They have released over fifteen reggae albums, one of which won a Grammy award. Steel Pulse's Smash Hits album was released in 1993 and at the time presented a compilation of their hits of the early 1980s. Songs like "Chant a Psalm," "Roller Skates" and "Not King James Version" are featured on this album.

Who is Steel Pulse

The founding members of Steel Pulse were David Hinds, Basil Gabbidon, Ronnie "Stepper" McQueen, Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett, Selwyn "Bumbo" Brown, Alphonso "Fonso" Martin and Michael Riley. Steel Pulse's official website shares that McQueen "suggested the group name, after a racehorse." As time passed, old members departed and new members joined. The most recent list of the band members are the original Hinds, Nisbett, and Brown with the backing band featuring Alvin Ewen, Clifford "Moonie" Pusey, Sidney Mills, Kevin Batchelor, Jerry Johnson and Clark Gayton.

Steel Pulse Released Many Albums
Steel Pulse first album was Handsworth Revolution in 1978. The songs included the song "Handsworth Revolution" and "Soldiers." The next album was in 1979, Tribute to the Martyrs and then in 1980, Reggae Fever (Caught You) was released. Songs from the albums released in 1982, 1984 and 1985 form the Smash Hits album, respectively True Democracy, Earth Crisis and Babylon The Bandit. Their 1991 release Victims features the song "Taxi Driver". A live album Rastafari Centennial was released in 1992, Vex in 1994 and Rage and Fury in 1997. 2004 brought reggae fans African Holocaust with the song "No More Weapons" featuring Damian "Jr Gong" Marley. In addition to Smash Hits, Steel Pulse has released other compilations of their reggae music including 2000's Ultimate Collection and 2006's Rastanthology II: The Sequel.

The Songs of Steel Pulse'sSmash Hits

Smash Hits compiles sixteen of Steel Pulse's reggae hits. Including two dubs or instrumentals, this album includes songs from Babylon The Bandit, the winner of 1985 Grammy's Best Reggae Album. David  Hinds, the lead singer, wrote all of the songs on this album except for "Your House" which was written by Alphonso Martin.

• "Blues Dance Raid": "Music a bubble/not looking for trouble" start "Blues Dance Raid" from the True Democracy album. This song is about the authorities who infiltrated a jam session. "Tipped off by informer, them a watch who come out and come in" tells the listener that there would have been an informant. Steel Pulse was emphatic about the raid and sang "Them a run come kill I vibes/ interfere with I." Morgan Heritage remade the song in 2008 with the title "Raid Rootz Dance."
• The Struggling Man's Song is "Tightrope": Steel Pulse in "Tightrope" expresses that sometimes life is difficult but there is hope. The chorus is "They got me walking/ walking on a tightrope/ can't afford to bump my toe/ as long as Babylon/ Babylon is my foe/ I will have hope in my soul." Babylon refers to the 'system' - the politics and red tape that keeps people from progressing. "Tightrope" comes from the Earth Crisis album.
• "Not King James Version": Steel Pulse encourages listeners to learn about their history in "Not King James Version". "This ya version a no King James Version/ cause out of Africa came the God not heathen" is the chorus. The band repeats "African Heritage - I don't wanna lose you" throughout the song. The reference to 'King James Version' is to the King James Version of the Bible. Their claim in this song from the Babylon The Bandit album is that the bible and the history books omit the true value of Africans to ancient history.
• "Roller Skates" Tells a Story: Steel Pulse tells a story in "Roller Skates" about a fun date in the evening where the singer is jamming his boombox while on roller skates. "The guy jumped on me/ messed up my clothes/ smashed and cracked my radio/ calling all detectives/ there's a criminal at large" are some of the lyrics. In "Roller Skates," Steel Pulse continuously repeats "Life without music/ I can't go" and "Give me back my radio." The song could also be a deeper metaphor for the music industry where the big executives probably were taking advantage of the artists.

Steel Pulse's Smash Hits is a reggae album featuring the band's earlier hits like ""Worth His Weight in Gold" and "Leggo Beast." This album compiles the top songs from Steel Pulse's 1982, 1984 and 1985 albums of socially conscious yet enjoyable reggae music.

My Journey - Music by My Side

I went to a workshop today that encouraged me to continue doing some of the things that I do. It encouraged me to keep a journal and as you know a blog is a web journal. I love this blog because I can free my mind with just my crazy thoughts, my creative juices and my unique inspiration.

I came home today wanting to cover some math with my son as well as enjoy some music. I went from reggae to R&B and spanned some years going back to some Marvin Gaye, Hi-5, Lloyd, Avant, Tony Toni Tone as well as some Niyorah, Pressure, Omari, Rizon and others. I just felt mellow like I need to let loose. I danced a bit which is something that I love to do.

Some grade 4 parents including myself are having troubles with elapsed time so I needed to change the tempo. My son is getting it slowly and it makes no sense for me to further frustrate him and myself. Instead I threw on some music and he made some strides. We'll attack again tomorrow with or without the music.

Music has been my best friend as a child. I have lots of brothers and sisters but we never lived together when I was a child so I had to talk to my radio. Music has been my company and my inspiration and I think it will forever be a part of me.

Through primary, secondary and tertiary education and even on my way to work, I've always had music by my side. You may think it's a sad existence but it's my life and I love it.

Ribbon

The Oddities of Life

Dr. Lettsome has a poem called "A Cooking Oddity" about sugarapples. That word just popped to me. An oddity is a strange or peculiar person, thing, or trait. I have lots of odd things about me. I don't like other people's hands in my hair. I am inexplicably selfish with my time. I like being considered the underdog. But that's me.

In life, there are many things that cannot be explained. We have some 'ticklish' situations and no one can understand what the cause or the solution is. Every day will not be the same. Life is not perfect like math. What worked today may not work tomorrow.

Our life is a series of oddities and that's just how it is. You can't sit and worry yourself to death over things that you can not control. Sometimes you don't even have a choice in what's happening to you. However, you can choose what your reaction can be. In the space of a few days, parents lost their son, a mother can't locate her daughter and a father drowned.

We have to keep praying for each other. With the oddities happening around us, we have to bear each other up and hope for the best at all times. When the bad comes, we have to take time to mourn and regroup. Let's us keep a positive mindset and keep each other in prayer.

Ribbon

Use Your Skills Well

At one time I was all into crossword puzzles, then into games on my phone, then into poetry every day. I have been shifting and making a mix of it all. I still game and write poetry and blog posts and other stuff too. I think we should always be flexible and available for change.

We should never back down from a new challenge. I've recently been experimenting with crafts and up-cycling. I love a thrift store so that works perfectly for me. I love the idea of taking something old and reshaping it into something new. 

My job allows me to promote this with food and with animal and plant products. Agriculture shows us the need to make full use of the food that is available to us. We need to reduce our food-print by finding ways to use all fruits, vegetables and animal protein. 

I am advocate for using time wisely. What skill can you further? What do you like to do? Try something new today. It may be profitable for you in the future. I know some guys who love video games and they made a business out of it!

What can you do?

Ribbon

Five Reasons to Enter a Beauty Pageant

Enter a beauty pageant for a great experience, to gain confidence, to improve public speaking skills, to meet new people and to win the prizes.

You can enter as a contestant in a beauty pageant for different reasons. You may want to improve your confidence level and public speaking skills. Some people enter pageants just for the experience and also to meet new people. Another reason to participate in a pageant is to win the prizes. Parents would have to make the decision for their toddler, tween or teen to participate. As pageants are now also open to adults, the middle-aged and the seniors, these adults have to make the choice.

Beauty Pageants Can be a Good Experience

Think of a beauty pageant as a good experience for a tween, teen or adult. It is an opportunity to showcase your beauty and talents. While pageantry has different rules from high fashion modeling in relation to the walk, poses and photography, being a contestant in a pageant can be a stepping stone into the world of modeling. Another factor that would make it a good experience is the new things you learn that can be applied to everyday life like learning to be more ladylike and poised.

A Good Reason to Enter a Pageant is to Gain Confidence

Gaining confidence is good for any person of any age. Taking part in a pageant will surely help to build a person's confidence because the event will be held in front of an audience of friends and strangers. Even if a contestant does not win, the fact that she participated is enough to lift her spirits and raise her confidence.

Improve Public Speaking by Entering a Pageant

There are several activities that young people can participate in to improve their public speaking which include joining a drama group, sharing poetry or joining a youth club. However, since most pageants have appearances at public events, an introduction and possibly a question segment and interviews, this provides an excellent way to improve public speaking skills. Pageants for older young ladies may also have a platform speech segment which also requires additional research and a longer time on stage sharing information.

Beauty Pageants Offer Good Prizes

In the past, winners of the Miss British Virgin Islands Pageant have won a new automobile and a scholarship as well as the crown which the winner gets to keep. Some pageants offer cash prizes and in some cases all the contestants receive trophies, sashes, gift certificates or gift baskets. Potential contestants should also note that once they have financial backing, they will get to keep the costumes, gowns, shoes and accessories from the event.

Pageants are a Great Way to Meet New People

A good reason to enter a pageant is to meet new people. Any opportunity to meet new people provides a chance for networking. A young lady or a toddler's parents will get to know the other contestants, pageant organizers, make-up and hair-stylists. New friendships can be formed and business linkages can be made through pageants.

One might ask, 'What's a good reason to enter a beauty pageant?' Enter a beauty pageant for networking, to improve confidence and to hone public speaking skills. Another good reason is the opportunity to win the prizes and for the experience of being on stage. 

Songs on the Songbird Riddim released in 2013 from the US Virgin Islands

One day I was watching Tempo and I saw some familiar faces like Pressure and Niyorah from the Virgin Islands were performing in a music video. I tuned in closer and realized that it was a riddim track which uses one melody but features several artists. The music was quite mellow and the lyrics seemed positive so I ran to the computer to get some more information.

The riddim is called "Songbird Riddim" and the album was released on May 21, 2013 by I Grade Records as "Zion I Kings Riddim SeriesVol. 1". The music writers are Laurent Tippy Alfred and David Goldfine. Sixteen (16) reggae artists hailing from the Virgin Islands, Jamaica and the US sang on this riddim.

The music video that I watched featured the VI artists, Pressure with "The Rain", Niyorah with "War Is Not The Answer", Junior P with "Times Ah Get Hard", Miseal Gonzalez with "The Power of Love", Dushane with "Holding On To Freedom" and Ras Batch with"So Beautiful". Midnite from St. Croix also performed "A New Overstanding" on this riddim.

The track list is with snippets of the lyrics are:

1. She's Got Soul - Lutan Fyah

"Because she's blessed with the gift of love, she's got soul".

2. The Rain - Pressure

"The rain is no different from my tears, when I look at what my people bear, I swear, I never give up the fight and show no fear"

3. So Beautiful - Ras Batch

4. I Know - Danny I

"I know that I never, ever walk alone, in Jah presence Rasta build his home and me know from me little and me grow".

5. Bumpy Ride - Glen Washington

6. War is Not the Answer - NiyoRah

"Waris not the answer, create love always".

7. Best in Life - Jahdan Blakkamoore

"Looking forward to the best in life, nah bother with no stress in life, so many valleys to walk, rivers to cross and so many mountains to climb".

8. A New Overstanding - Midnite

9. Tension - Jah9

"There is tension building inside I and I'm trusting my spirit to guide I, even if no one else overstands, I have got to do what it demands".

10. Times Ah Get Hard - Junior P

"Time ah get hard...through this money thing people hand get sticky".

11. The Power of Love - Misael

"Caring for each other is what it's all about, I don't care where you've been living, as long as you can feel it, together we can make it grow".

12. Don't Let Go - Shay

"Goodbye is too easy, to give up so freely nowadays, it's a fight to stay but don't let go".

13. Holding onto Freedom - Dushane

"I'm holding on to freedom, seeking out Jah face".

14. JAH Preserve - Reemah

15. Call on JAH Name - Duane Stephenson

16. Birds of Praise - Tuff Lion (riddim only)

The artists definitely put time and energy into the music because lyrically, the album is well done. If you love reggae, then this is an album that you need to have in your collection.