"Love is all I bring" -- International Women's Day Special March 9, 2012

Louise Bennett-Coverley aka Miss Lou (1919-2006) 

was the grandmother of Jamaican music, dialect poetry and comedy. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in the 1940s, and performed extensively in the US in the 1950s during the "calypso" boom.

She returned to Jamaica to help create the little theatre movement, and delivered "Miss Lou's Views" on the radio from 1966 to 1982.

After moving from Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale and settling in Toronto, Miss Lou said:

"Any which part mi live - Toronto-o! London-o! Florida-o! - a Jamaica mi deh!"

Dub Project feat. Shyama: Joy -- The Dub Project: A Twilight Production (M Records 2004)
Louise Bennett: Brown Girl In The Ring -- Children's Jamaican Songs & Games (Folkways 1957)
Millicent Todd: Fire In Your Wire -- Queen Patsy & Stranger Cole Fabulous Songs of  Miss Sonia Pottinger Vol. 1 (Rocka Shacka 2007)
Cooly G: Craze Refix -- Dub Organiser Vol. 1 (Dub Organizer 2010)
Jah Wobble & Julie Campbell: TIghtrope -- Psychic Life EP (Cherry Red 2011)
The Dice: Judy Nylon -- Pal Judy (On-U Sound 1982)
1 Stop Experience: Mentally Ska'd -- Peeping Tom (Ind. 2011)
Mwanamke Mwfrika: Black Woman -- African Woman Abroad (African Woman 1982)
New Age Steppers: Conquer -- Love Forever (On-U Sound 2012)
Rita Marley: Pied Piper (Rio 1966)
Judy Mowatt: I Shall Sing -- Reggae Songbirds: 17 Great Tracks From The High Note Label (Heartbeat 2010)
Marcia Griffiths: Hurting Inside -- Reggae Songbirds: 17 Great Tracks From The High Note Label (Heartbeat 2010)
Mungo's Hi-Fi feat. Soom T: Bad Bad Boy -- Forward Ever (Scotch Bonnet 2011)
Louise Bennett: Me Want Me Daughter -- Jamaican Folk Songs (Folkways 1954)
Lillian Allen feat. Anta Allen: We Are The Future -- Freedom & Dance (Verse To Vinyl 1987)
Lillian Allen: Dis Ya Mumma Earth (Peace Poem) -- Conditions Critical (Verse To Vinyl 1987)
Ranking Ann: Feminine Gender -- Method To The Madness (Trojan 2005)
Hortense Ellis: Hell & Sorrow -- Keep The Pressure Down (Prestige Elite 2004)
Sonya Spence: Talk Love  -- Reggae Songbirds: 17 Great Tracks From The High Note Label (Heartbeat 2010)
Jessica: Ying Yang -- Reggae Playground (Putumayo 2006)
Ammoye & Rise Ashen: Haffi Win -- Haffi Win (Balanced Records 2010)
Althea & Donna: Uptown Top Ranking -- Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music (Island 1993)
Est'elle & Joni Rewind: Uptown Top Ranking -- An England Story: The Culture of the MC in the UK 1984-2008 (Soul Jazz 2008)
Dub Colossus: Uptown Top Ranking -- Addis Through The Looking Glass (Real World 2011)
Black Chow: Wonderland -- Wonderland EP (Jahtari 2011)
Candy MacKenzie & The Upsetters: Long Enough -- The Return Of Sound System Scratch (Pressure Sounds 2011)
Bonjay: Creepin -- Broughtupsy (Mysteries Of Trade 2010)


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Louise Bennett and others explore the origins of Jamaican music in ring games and digging songs. Fascinating!