As regular readers know, we love Michael Smith, whose life was tragically cut short. Here’s a short documentary featuring Michael Smith, UK poet Linton Kwesi Johnson and CLR James. There’s something about Michael Smith’s voice and timbre that just hits you so … Touching documentary showing the man’s sense of humour and humility.
In an online profile, Colum McCaffery describes himself as “Lecturer, researcher, contrarian”, but his contrarian side is professional and in person he’s witty and agreeable. “Contrarian is something that other people call me”, he says. Born and reared in Inchicore in Dublin, McCaffery trained as a technician and he worked for RTÉ, mostly in the engineering division, for 30 years. During that time he studied political communication and broadcasting and earned his PhD at UCD where he then taught Political Communication for 20 years. A socialist and Labour party member, he’s now retired but he still teaches adult education classes – and he’s a regular blogger.
Colum McCaffery
I was encouraging my students to get out and participate and get involved in public debates, and one of them said to me, ‘Well, why don’t you do it yourself?’ So I started a blog. For a while it was the most ignored blog on earth but about two years ago, people began to mention to me something that they had read on the blog. The blogosphere is old hat now; these days it’s all about social media. But you can put the link from your blog on your Facebook site and it will attract some readers.
The enigmatic singer Martin Campbell defies stereotyping. While his experiences mirror those of many Jamaican singers – including a spell at the Alpha Boys School – Campbell remains something on an outsider. When we spoke to Martin Campbell from his home in the UK, he was busy re-assembling his old Channel One studio gear and preparing his next set of releases in original and analogue style. Campbell talks exclusively to Irie Up magazine about the future of reggae music. more in issue 12
Let’s face it, few governments or institutions devote themselves to celebrating or preserving reggae music, leaving the work to a few enterprising individuals. Rogers Steffens, archivist, educator and historian, tells Irie Up about his longtime devotion to preserving the legacy of the Wailers and his own mission in reggae music. more in issue 12
Ronan Lynch, organiser of The Reggae Movement Exhibition on Tour joins MickFitz on Northside2Day to discuss all things reggae and invite listeners to visit The Reggae Movement Exhibition on Tour, whether in Dublin or beyond. click to listen
American station NPR came to talk to us at the Reggae Movement Exhibition.
“Berlin is a city known for its electronic music and club scene. But not everyone knows that many of the tricks used in today’s club mixes, such as bass cut switches, echo and delay effects, and frequency filters can be traced back to sound system from Jamaica.” Read or listen to full story on NPR website
“Basically, you got to be amazing these days”. From the reggae town of Leicester, I Mitri Counteraction Soundz waxes lyrical about the darkness and light of UK dub music. He talks about the changes, continuities and innovations in the reggae business and the mission to deliver the UK dub sound with a live band. more in issue 10