GENERAL ECHO

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

We’re kicking off 2023 in fine style by welcoming back a DJ duo containing at least one bona fide punk rock legend! “Bassie” is the pairing of Tessa Pollitt (The Slits) and Soft Wax (Deptford Dub Club). They last selected tunes for us at the much-missed Victoria in April 2019, and really looking forward to hosting them in the Trades Hall.

During her time in The Slits, Tessa provided the bassline for classics such as “Typical Girls” and “In The Beginning Their Was Rhythm”, not to mention their masterful deconstruction of “(I Heard It Through The) Grapevine”. Her lifelong passion for reggae started in the 1970s and she is a truly fantastic selector.

Her partner in Bassie, Soft Wax, has been putting on popular roots reggae, rocksteady and ska nights in South-East London for years, as well as promoting the much-loved Deptford Dub Club since 2014.

Come and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

£3 members
£5 Guests and non-members

Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1192013191403476

[GENERAL ECHO]

[stillunusual]

Small Axe (issue #11)

YEAR: 1982
CREATED BY: Ray Hurford
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A5

WHAT’S INSIDE….

Small Axe was a reggae zine published by Ray Hurford from 1978 to the late 1980s.

In this issue the centrepiece is a lengthy interview with Gregory Isaacs (by Penny Reel) that goes through the highlights of his career up to 1982, which proved to be an eventful year - mainly for the wrong reasons. He released his most successful album to date (the excellent “Night Nurse”) but also got involved in drug dealing, ended up addicted to crack cocaine and spent a few months in jail for firearms offences….

The rest of the zine consists of an article about the film “Countryman”, information about other reggae fanzines (in various countries) and reviews of many great-sounding reggae records, most of which I’m sad to say I’ve never heard.

The back cover is an advert for Dub Vendor - a reggae emporium that started off as a market stall in 1976. By 1982 Dub Vendor had expanded into two shops with a mail order arm, as well as a record label (Fashion Records). I used to order stuff from their mail order catalogue on a regular basis during the 1980s, and although the shops and record label are now defunct, it’s good to know that Dub Vendor is still alive and well online. 

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

The first issue of Small Axe (which also features a lengthy article about Gregory Isaacs) is in my box of 1970s fanzines. 

my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our December session we’re very excited to welcome back the legendary Oxman! This will be his second appearance at General Echo but his first since we’ve moved from The Victoria to the Trades Hall. An institution on the London reggae revive scene, whether behind the counter at Dub Vendor, on the mic at the 100% Dynamite parties that Soul Jazz used to throw, or presenting his regular show on Soho Radio. D'Oxman has a long and deep history, from running his own sound, producing, record collecting, to hosting dances. Whether selecting or MCing, he is one of the best in the game. When he plays tunes it is full on showman vibes, juggling 45s and expert toasting throughout. Do not miss!

On warm up duties we have another return booking, the wonderful DJ Laura Dagger Deb, who stepped in for us short notice at a session last summer but we’re delighted to promote her set properly on this occasion! Laura has a great ear for Jamaican R&B nuggets, mento, jump-up, ska and rocksteady, so expect a set of crackly but beautiful vintage sounds.

Come and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

£3 members
£5 Guests and non-members
Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

FB Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/3395749267334737

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our November session we’re very pleased to welcome back a pair of selectors who have played for us in the past: Sistren Shirley and Vital Sound, both of whom have shows on Real Roots Radio. They always come packing a box of quality tunes, including some one off dubplate specials!

On warm up duties we have Jeb Loy Nichols - Jeb Loy Nichols is a musician, writer and artist who has, for the past twenty years, lived on a remote smallholding in the Welsh hills. Born in Wyoming and raised in Missouri, he went to New York City at the age of seventeen where he worked in a record store and fell in love with the emerging hip-hop culture. In the early 1980s he moved to London where he shared a squat with Ari Up from The Slits and made the acquaintance of Adrian Sherwood, at that time starting his record label On-U Sound. He sold second hand Black Ark 12"s on Portobello Market with Pete Holdsworth who went on to run the Pressure Sounds label. In the 1990s he formed the country-dub band Fellow Travellers, and has since gone on to record fifteen solo records. He has also published three novels and exhibited his distinctive woodcut artwork internationally. The night after General Echo, he is playing a launch show for his new album on On-U Sound, ‘United States Of The Broken Hearted’, at the What’s Cookin’ night in neighbouring Leytonstone.

We’re also celebrating 7 (!) years of putting on our little reggae disco so come down, raise a glass with us, and enjoy listening to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

£3 members
£5 Guests and non-members
Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1029268597867413

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our October session we’re very pleased to welcome back Nabihah Iqbal to General Echo, having last spun tunes for us at our lovers rock special at the much-missed Victoria in February 2020.

Nabihah is a musician, producer, curator and broadcaster from London. As well as a recording artist who has made records for Ninja Tune and other labels, Nabihah is a renowned DJ who has presented numerous shows on BBC Radio, played clubs around the world, been an artist-in-residence at Somerset House, guest edited an issue of Mixmag, been commissioned to compose music for the Turner Prize, and much much more. Check out Nabihah’s website to discover more: https://nabihahiqbal.com/. 

Nabihah is always packing a box of killer tunes for the right occasion and will no doubt be rocking the Trades Hall dancefloor with a fine selection of roots, reggae, dub and more.

Come down and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

£3 for Trades Hall Members

£5 Guests and non-members

Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/3366483046974199

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our September session we’re very pleased to welcome Masai Judah to play tunes for us for the first time. Forming half of East London Reggae label Mas-Ski Productions, Masai Judah is of Jamaican heritage and started out with Magic Touch Sound who were the resident sound (along with local veteran Daddy Al G) at the 77 Club on Dalston Lane in the early to mid 80s. They also played in house parties around London. As a qualified electronics technician he worked his way into the hifi, pro audio and music technology industries, designing his own sound system pre amps, sound fxs and syndrums. He also carved out a name on community radio starting out on Sweet FM hosting the ‘Reggae Show’ then moved onto Klimaxx Radio then finally Supreme FM Radio. He also used to be a music retailer with a stall in Walthamstow Market and a shop in South Woodford under the name Reflective Records. Phew! With an eclectic mix of Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots, Dub, Old School Dancehall and new school he is passionate about keeping the roots and traditions of Reggae alive as well as being contemporary.

Come down and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

Free for Trades Hall Members

£3 Guests and non-members

Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

Event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/5884593714893771

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our August session we’re very pleased to welcome DJ Melvina Moves to play tunes for us for the first time. Melvina is a resident DJ at the Chip Shop in Brixton, she also selects regularly at other South London joints including Dub Me Always, Deptford Dub Club. Upstairs at the Ritzy and The Vinyl Meltdown. She recently selected at an official after show party for the mighty Jah Shaka! Melvina will be gracing the place with a vinyl selection of roots, rockers & rocksteady.

Come down and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.Free for Trades Hall Members

£3 Guests and non-members
Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/611790140277393

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our July session we’ve got something slightly different to the usual dance, this month we’ve got something to feed your head AND your feet when we welcome writer and researcher Edward George to Walthamstow. 

Edward’s radio show The Strangeness of Dub on Morley College Radio is a truly essential listen - it dives into dub, versions and versioning, drawing on critical theory, social history, a deep and broad musical selection, and live dub mixing.

Edward will be in conversation with Paul Rekret about these topics and more at the start of the night, before taking to the decks to play some of the selections discussed.

The Strangeness Of Dub show is described as follows: 

“Dub is strange. A musical process and a sub-genre formed in the early 1970s and pioneered by Clement Dodd, Sylvan Morris, Lee Perry, King Tubby, Scientist, Jah Shaka and The Mad Professor, dub takes place through a kind of violence, an act of reducing archival audio documents to fragments and traces, yet is associated, in its sound system context, with communal reverie and meditative states.A marginal music and a music of margins, first and most enduringly located on the ‘b side’, the underside, of phonographic recordings, dub is a sub genre of reggae music, subordinate and secondary to song-writing, musical performance and recording. And yet more so than reggae song writing, vocal or musical performance, dub’s influence reverberates across other genres of electronic music, even while never quite comprising a genre of its own.”

Check out the Strangeness Of Dub archives here: https://morleyradio.co.uk/series/the-strangeness-of-dub/

Edward George is a writer and broadcaster. Founder of Black Audio Film Collective, George wrote and presented the ground-breaking science fiction documentary Last Angel of History (1996). George is part of the multimedia duo Flow Motion, and the electronic music group Hallucinator (Chain Reaction).

Paul Rekret is a researcher and teacher in political and cultural theory. He is associate professor of politics at Richmond American International University, London, and is author of numerous publications including Down With Childhood: Pop Music and the Crisis of Innocence (Repeater, 2017), as well as being a contributor to The Wire and London Review Of Books amongst others.

Doors 7.30pm

Talk 8pm

DJ sets 9.30 - 1am

Advance tickets £6 from Ticketlab - https://ticketlab.co.uk/event/id/12319
£8 on the door / £3 for Trades Hall members

[GENERAL ECHO]

Monthly reggae disco in North-East London. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our May session we’re very pleased to welcome Mistah Brown to play tunes for us for the first time. An established selector on the London scene, he is well known as one of the main people behind Trojan Jukebox (the official Trojan Records club night celebrating one of the most iconic UK reggae labels of all time) and as part of the Tighten Up crew, who describe their musical policy as the hottest ska, the coolest rocksteady, the ruffest reggae, the tuffest roots and the hardest dub!!

I’ve been fortunate enough to witness Mistah Brown on a few occasions before and can assure you that you’re in for an evening of truly excellent selections by someone with deep knowledge and love for what he’s playing. 

Come down and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school social club.

Free for Trades Hall Members / £3 Guests and non-members

Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.A

lso please note there are no advance tickets, we just have to put a weblink to stop FB displaying this as a free event.

Event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/655835562184774

[GENERAL ECHO]

Regular reggae disco in North-East London playing dub, dancehall, roots, rockers, ska, rocksteady and other bass transmissions on two turntables and a space echo. The night is named after sadly departed MC Earl Anthony Robinson, the voice behind classic deejay tunes such as “Drunken Master”.

For our April session we’re delighted to welcome back our friends the Camberwell Connection, aka Dubplate Pearl and Mr Swing Easy. Dubplate Pearl is originally from West London: born in Notting Hill, grew up in Shepherds Bush, now lives in East Dulwich. Musically influenced by her parents who liked listening to jazz, soul, calypso, pop and reggae. She has previously played out solo and as part of the Sisters of Reggae collective. Mr Swing Easy makes up the other half of her current partnership, and as well as his noted skills on the decks, has also written an acclaimed book on his experiences in the reggae scene, ‘Englishman’.

We’ve hosted this duo on a few occasions before - both at the Trades Hall and at our old home The Victoria (r.i.p.). It’s always a joy to have them and they always give us a very entertaining musical education with classic tunes and lost gems, running the gamut from rocksteady to dub to lovers rock. We’re going to let them do their thing but also have a bit of tune-for-tune soundclash planned for the end of the night!

Come down and listen to some of the greatest music ever made in a beautiful old school club.

Free for Trades Hall Members
£3 Guests and non-members
Please help the trades staff by bringing the correct money for entry.

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/7330713396970642