BIG EARS: Things I learned from Don Letts, Part 1

dean_chalkley_800

photo: Dean Chalkley

One of the benefits age is hindsight. From my ancient vantage point, I can look back and survey all of the twists and turns my musical tastes have taken over the years. Some of my departures may have appeared as radical tangents or even defections at the time, but if you stand this far back and zoom out, the jagged zig zags of my detours become mere points along a long curve. The story of my musical learning curve is probably not much different to a lot of people searching for new music outside the mainstream in the days before the internet. Looking back, I can clearly see where a British man of West Indian descent named Don Letts has both consciously and subconsciously affected the trajectory of my musical consumption. If you are reading this, Don Letts has most likely had some of effect on yours as well.

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Respect

Tom-Sims

Tom Sims, RIP

 

It might sound crazy to some kids, but there once was a time before snowboarding. The first time I slid down a hill sideways on a board was at Boreal Ridge near Lake Tahoe. in the early 1980s. Since I already skated and surfed, I thought I would rip automatically. The reality was I was happy to make if off the ski lift without eating shit. My primitive board was a laminated piece of plywood shaped like a torpedo. Snowboards did not have metal edges yet. Just a couple of small metal fins near the tail. It was crude but it board designed to be ridden on snow. A few years before, it did not even exist. Continue Reading