Greetings, I'm Professor Skank, a hardcore reggae enthusiast from St. Louis,
Missouri. I've always taken my music very seriously, first being a passionate
follower of The Who in the early '70s, then moving on to The Clash later in
the decade. That's also when I originally got into reggae music.
The Clash's debut album (by the way, possibly the most intense rock n' roll record
of all time) contained an incredible cover of "Police and Thieves." I was so
intrigued by it, I went out and found the original song on the excellent introductory
album, "This Is Reggae Music, Vol.3."
I was still into the hard rock sounds of cutting-edge bands like The Jam, Buzzcocks,
X, Sex Pistols and Stiff Little Fingers, but I was slowly getting hypnotized
by the unique sound of reggae. A local radio station had a show called "Beat
Down Babylon," which was fantastic. Every week, the extremely knowledgeable
Leroy Pierson would play killers and I would record the show (I still have over
70 tapes). Talk about an education!
After college in Austin, Texas (studying journalism) I finally decided to put
my love for reggae to good use, and began writing for the St. Louis Post Dispatch
in 1992. Soon after, it was my turn to spread these great tunes over the airwaves,
co-hosting "Positive Vibrations" with Joe Striker each Saturday from 6-8 p.m. CST
on KDHX 88.1 FM, St. Louis Community Radio. Striker retired in 1998 and was
replaced by Michael Kuelker. In 1999, the show was expanded by one hour and
we were on Saturday nights from 7-10. In 2004, the show went back to 2 hours.
We're still on Saturday nights, but we're now broadcasting from 8-10 p.m.
(hate to say but they changed the time again, so we're now on from 9-11 p.m.).
I also occasionally promote concerts and have previously brought in town the
Meditations, Lucky Dube, Midnite, Ossie Dellimore and Zion, as well as promoting two local Reggae Fests
and Roger Steffens' presentation, "Life Of Bob Marley." I've written articles
and reviews for Reggae Report, The Beat, Reggae Review, the St. Louis American,
the Riverfront Times and the aforementioned St. Louis Post Dispatch. I also
wrote the liner notes to the Meditations' cd, "Reggae Crazy."
In 2003 I started my own record label - Skank Records - and re-issued
Ossie Dellimore's classic debut, "Freedom's Journal," in January 2004.
My sophomore release, a killer compilation entitled "Crucial Reggae From
Outside Jamaica" was released 10 months later and believe me when I tell
you that it is awesome...Volume 2 of that series was released in
May of 2005 and Vol. 3 was released in November of 2006. "Third Ear," from Maimon And The Mongoose Band (originally
known as "Mongoose") was released in March 2007 and another awesome compilation,
this one entitled
"Classic Rasta From Jamaica And Beyond, Vol. 1" was released in June of 2008. After some health problems, a new cd from Zion, "Strictly Roots,"
was released
in April of 2010 and the sophomore release from Ossie Dellimore was released 5 months later, in September. Zion's cd entitled "Crying For Freedom" was released in June of 2011 and Vol. 4 of the "Crucial Reggae From
Outside Jamaica" series was released in the spring of 2012. I take my
label very seriously (each cd has a 16 page booklet with lyrics) and I truly know each disc will
absolutely blow you away...
Twelve years later I released a crucial disc by Taj Weekes featuring Zion Albert, entitled "Eyes To See."
It took this incredible release to get me to resurrect the Skank label. This is the best one yet. As 2024 winds down, I'm working with Taj on another one. Soon come.
