Here are a couple mp3s from this is ska argentina to warm you up for this feauture...
Alton Ellis- I've Got a Date (alternate version
Doreen Shaffer- Nice Time
I met Selector Lucho from Upsetting Hi Fi soundsystem at a greasy fast food joint on Ave. Scalabrini Ortiz north of Palermo, Buenos Aires. We started talking by making fun of all the 16 year old straight-edge hardcore kids that were passing us on their way to a show around the corner. Meanwhile we were splitting Quilmes after Quilmes and taking about Jamaican records. Lucho brought me to a bar near-by and for a brief evening he initiated me into the rarified world of ex-skinhead rudeboy Argentine reggae DJs who have been collecting Jamaican records forever.
They say things like "soundsystem" and "in the dance", they call dubs "versions", the DJ is the "selector" and the singer is the "deejay" or "toaster". They think that things like Bounty Killer should never be called "dancehall" beacause dancehall is a style that existed only for about 6 years in the eighties with dejays like U-Roy and Half Pint. Basically they are living in a different era in a different culture on a diferent continent, and it's pretty awesome.
Lucho probably new more about riddims, studio one, and the golden era of ska, rocksteady, reggae, rub-a-dub, and dancehall, than anyone I know. He has appeared on the same stage as Lee Perry, Mad Professor, and Mikey Dread when they came to Argentina. He has thousands of Lps. In fact, he told me that when he dropped the 12" version of Mikey Dread toasting on the Clash's "Bankrobber" dub, Mikey couldn't believe it because even HE didn't have a copy of that.
Lucho and his friends we're some of the coolest most down to earth people I met in Buenos Aires. Maybe it was just because we could bond over music (not just reggae, but punk, power pop and 80s, all of which they knew tons about), but they seemed much more honest and cool that almost any of them portenos we met in other, trendier parts of the city.
If you are ever in Buenos Aires, check this is ska argentina for upcoming dances. They also have an Mp3 section, and for streaming radio check Butambaba, an Argentine site which has 5 channels and lots of info (en espanol, claro), or of course Rockers on 88.9 ERS from Emerson college in Boston, which has (usually) great Jamaican music from 4-8 every weekday.