The Mix

Since early adolescence, I've been a crackhead when it comes to new music. I get bored easily with the song or style of the moment and constantly jones for something new. And long before the days of satellite radio and internet downloading, I had the Minter Mix tape, the occasional compilation of songs my buddy Rob liked. Generally, I liked everything on the tape. Sometimes the band was completely unfamiliar to me, like say Yo La Tengo, and I liked them instantly. Or maybe I knew the artist, but hadn't heard the song. For example, I've always loved Lloyd Cole, but Rob put a song "My Bag" on one mix tape and to this day, it's my favorite Lloyd Cole song. There are always a few songs on a Minter Mix tape that will hit you unexpectedly. The latest one for me is "Texas Holdup" from an artist I'd never heard of --- Prince Buster. From the sound of it, Texas Holdup is a very old song. You can tell because the recording lacks the depth you hear on modern audio. And this song is really bizarre. It starts off with gunfire and ricochet sounds. Then some guy says: "This is a hold up. Don't nobody move." Then the bebop begins. At first it's got the feel of a novelty song. But on a second of third listen, I noticed there's a lot going on in this song --- latin brass, an uptempo jazz beat, and then of course the bizarre gunfire sample and callout. I looked up Prince Buster. He's from Kingston Jamaica and started making music in the early 60's. He's a forefather of Ska and widely revered by his fellow reggae countrymen, even though there's nothing really reggae about this song. How could it, when for no reason, Prince Buster keeps yelling "Dallas Texas!" Thank you Prince Buster. And thank you Robert Minter.