We’re in the middle of the summer. Know how I can tell? Oh that’s easy for sheazy. It’s 110 degrees in Tucson. See, you can tell it’s the middle of summer in Tucson when it’s 110 degreees.

So I can’t believe I’ve run this site for over a year now and only made one reggae mixtape. Me, the baddest “baldhead” in the Southwest! So I’ve decided to repent for this crime to the “riddim”. This week’s mix is full of cool, “eerie” jams to get you through the blazin’ heats. So light up that “spleef” and turn up the bass! What de bangarang mi dread?????

SIDE A
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01. Reggae Beat Goes on / Family Choice A choice cover of the Whispers’ “And the Beat Goes On” from Soul Jazz’s excellent Hustle! Reggae Disco comp.

02. Nigger / Gregory Isaacs Um, yeah … But it’s a good song!

03. Phoenix City / The Skatalites Phoenix is one of the crappiest cities going, but it has two things working in its favor: 1) The The Fry Bread House on 7th Ave., and 2) this song.

04. Bongo Man / Bongo Man Byfield A skillful appropriation (erm, rip-off) of Sam Cooke’s “What a Wonderful World”, where Bongo Man tells us how much of a sweet bongo man he is.

05. See Dem a Come (12” Mix) / Culture From the bonus tracks of the excellent reissue of Culture’s classic Two Sevens Clash album.

06. Ram Jam Master / Yellowman Yellowman is the best!

07. Party Wit Me / Tiger Ranks I’d totally party with Tiger Ranks.

08. I Trim the Barber / King Tubby Tubby is king.

09. Is It Because I’m Black / Senior Soul The second reggae cover of Syl Johnson’s “Is It Because I’m Black” that I’ve come across; the other is Ken Boothe’s version.

10. Cockee & Pussy / Jah Thomas & Sister Jackie A naughty boy-girl duet.

11. Want Me Cock / Owen & Leon Silveras He’s talking about his rooster!

12. Shaking Up Orange Street / Prince Buster Prince Buster is the coolest. The coolest!

13. Archie Wah Wah / Desmond Dekker This song is about how Archie from the Archies got real righteous into Jimi Hendrix and totally freaked the band out.

14. Matty Gunga Walk (12″ Mix ) / Clint Eastwood & General Saint Yes, it’s that Clint Eastwood. And THAT General Saint!

15. Dreamland / The Wailers An early version of a track that ended up on Bunny Wailer’s excellent solo debut, 1976’s Blackheart Man. Bunny takes lead away from Bob Marley on this one.

SIDE B
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16. Disco Devil / Lee Perry & Max Romeo From the Disco Devil 12″, whose release accompanied Romeo’s masterpiece, War Ina Babylon.

17. Young Gifted & Black / Bob & Marcia A great pop reggae single that was a hit in the UK.

18. The Driving Instructor / Dave & Ansil Collins Group I wouldn’t have thought a song about a driving teacher would be that sexy, but hey, shows what I know!

19. Elizabethan Reggae / Boris Gardiner & The Love People Shakespeare could’ve bumped his rump to this one!

20. Boops / Super Cat “Boops” is the best song title on this mix since “Matty Gunga Walk”.

21. Train From The West / U-Roy FYI, U-Roy is a different dude than I-Roy, and they’re both totallly different dudes from XXX-Roy, the cheekiest reggae toaster.

22. Love Is Gonna Let Me Down / Toots & The Maytals One of Toots’ heaviest soul tracks, you gotta dig that rhythm change up in the beginning.

23. How You Gonna Get Control / Bellfield Real deep country reggae.

24. Taurus Dub 2 / Dub Specialist Need that vocal track out ripped out of your track, replaced with unnatural bass boosts and heavily echoing triangles? Call the Dub Specialist!!

25. Strongman Sampson / Eric Morris Sampson is one of my favorite Bible stories, because it relates a truth that we know all too well to be true — never let a woman steal your hair while you sleep, for that is the source of your powers.

26. Lick I Pipe / Carl Murphy Go ahead and lick your pipe. See if I care!

27. Rivers Of Babylon / The Melodians A classic jam based on the story of Psalm 137.

28. Rasta Train / Raphael Green and Dr. Alimantado Choo choo! Here comes the rasta train, coming down the tracks! Over the bridge and through the tunnel straight to Mount Zion!

29. Moon River / Greyhound You can regg-ify just about any song and make it sound cool.

30. Who Make the Stars Shine / The Creary Sisters From the Jamaican folk gospel compilation Man From Galilee, released in 1968 on Coxsone Dodd’s religious label Tabernacle.