In the UK today is called a bank holiday but here the banks were even open. Is there a country more keep to drop holidays than Canada? It is on all the evidence the best day to buy meat as the entire A&P meat section was on about 50% off and, so, it has been a day or roasting and braising and stockmaking and freezing amongst a bout of keen spring cleaning.
The day has not been without personal growth. This morning, on NPR, there was a discussion of the short lived genre of boogaloo. I don’t think I knew there was in fact a genre as I only really knew the word from “Back off Boogaloo” by Ringo Starr on one of those really poor early 70s albums he foisted on unsuspecting tweens to mid-teens. Apparently it was a word used by pal to Ringo, Marc Bolan of T-Rex – the greatest band no one much listens to anymore. Not even me as I only have lps and the turntable is in storage. But this is not about Ringo but the recent release of The Rough Guide to Boogaloo:
Boogaloo originated in New York’s inner-cities in the late 1960s and spawned an array of excellent bands and vocalists, but it has never received much broad recognition. The Rough Guide to Boogaloo aims to change that, nicely showcasing the trademark blend of Cuban salsa rhythms and American soul.
I have and enjoyed the introduction to the first wave provided by The Rough Guide to Ska and have just bought but not listened to The Rough Guide to Dub. This series serves as a preliminary step to deeper obsessions which often require hunting out Trojan Records compilations.