Ria Bacon: editor & writer

Linguist with wanderlust,
From the hills of New Guinea to the halls of the Sorbonne,
From the beaches of Bassam to the fields of Friesland,
From the catacombs of Rome to the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.
From the heather of the Veluwe to the dust of Dakar ...

Currently resident in the Land of Sea with a small tribe of kids and Mr B.

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Currently translating a manual on how to make a handpump. Background research takes ages but gives great feeling of learning something new.
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@RiaBacon helloooo! i've been suffering from exactly the same problem.
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@lucypepper Good to hear from you. Real life is getting in the way of my virtual self. Maybe I should outsource the overworked part.
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@RiaBacon i read that as: Fresh post... random outbreak. Need more sleep.
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Stet in a cloud

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Now hear dis!

FYI

Stet means "Let it stand" and is used by editors to indicate that the original text should be left untouched.

...in Arcadia ego is a pun on a painting by Poussin.

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Ria[dot]Bacon[at]gmail.com

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Big up yu batty, gyal II

Constant Spring Road runs north-south, from green-leaved uptown to Halfway Tree. No one knows what the tree was halfway between, and there is no longer a tree to be seen amid the exhaust fumes from the bus terminal and the chronic traffic congestion as the uptowners stream towards their offices in New Kingston and others head further south to the wasteland of downtown or swing round to Hagley Park Road lined with second-hand car dealers, leading much further down to the docks.

Little did I know in 1978, watching Althea & Donna on Top of the Pops, that I would one day drive down their famed Constant Spring. Althea with the huge Afro; Donna in gold lamé ‘alter back and batty riders. It was a huge hit in the UK and we all sang along with it at school, although the only words I could make out were, “see mi inna pants and ting (ooh!) hmm hmm hmm uptown top ranking (ooh!)”. The “oohs” were a bit inconsistent and you could end up feeling stupid if you “oohed” in the wrong place. Ahh, childhood memories …

I saw Althea & Donna a while back on a Dutch TV series, “One Hit Wonders” – as the title suggests, they never had another hit, but they were still the best of friends as they had been since school. They were a refreshing contrast to most ego-explosive band breakups.

Ah gwan wit yu … here it is.


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See me in me heels and ting
Dem check sey we hip and ting
True them no know and ting
We have them going and ting
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots

See me pon the road I hear you call out to me
True you see mi inna pants and ting
See mi in a ‘alter back
Sey mi gi’ you heart attack
Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist
Uptown Top Ranking

See mi in mi Benz and ting
Drivin’ through Constant Spring
Them check sey me come from cosmo spring
But a true dem no know and ting
Dem no know sey we top ranking
Uptown Top Ranking

Shoulda see me and the ranking dread
Check how we jamming and ting
Love is all I bring inna me khaki suit and ting
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots

Watch how we chuck it and ting
Inna we khaki suit and ting
Love is all I bring inna me khaki suit and ting
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots

Love inna you heart dis a bawl out fe me
When you see me inna pants and ting
See me inna ‘alter back
Sey me gi’ you heart attack
Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist
Uptown Top Ranking

See mi pon the road and hear you call out to me
True you see me in me pants and ting
See me inna ‘alter back
Sey me gi’ you heart attack
Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist
Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist
Love is all I bring inna me khaki suit and ting
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots

You shoulda see me and the ranking dread,
Check how we jamming and ting
Love is all I bring inna me khaki suit and ting
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots
Nah pop no style, a strictly roots

And what could be a more fitting accompaniment than a subject I shot last week, and who caused the traffic to slow down to a crawl in order to check out her … green curlers.

Lettin' it loose on Constant Spring

Note: Apart from boosting the contrast and saturation, the image is faithful to the reality, even the text!

See Big up yu batty, gyal I

Related posts:

  1. Big up yu batty, gyal!
  2. First I look at the purse
  3. Peace for one day
  4. King Merc meets higglers uptown
  5. Jamaica rundown
September 5th, 2006 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Fnuky Kingston, Photos, Riddim
  • http://www.caribbean-colors.blogspot.com/ Caribbean Colors

    Sometimes curlers can qualify as hair ornaments, if you do it right.

  • http://cmatheson.info Charles

    I’m certainly not noticing the curlers.

  • http://www.grannyp.blogspot.com grannyp

    delicious! With without curlers – here am I all myself jamming an’ ting. Thanks

  • http://www.madbull4.net/weblog/ Mad Bull

    How you mean, no one remembers what the tree was halfway between?

    “Throughout Jamaican history, other cotton trees have given their names to places, including Spur Tree Hill and Half-Way-Tree (the latter named by the English for the tree’s location half way between Kingston Harbour and Spanish Town; the tree, which no longer stands, was used as a marker between the three plantations once owned by the wealthy Spaniards, Liguaney, de Yalis and Lizama. It was also used as a resting place by slaves and English soldiers on long marches.”

    The above was taken from the Gleaners “Pieces of the Past” series, in particular, the story about Tom Cringle’s cotton Tree…

    Bwoy, its been awhile since I last heard that song! Memories…. Re the picture, that girl needs to exercise that butt, man! It looks like it wants to take over her entire body! I wonder if theres and alien in there?

  • http://www.revolutionisland.blogspot.com Revolution island

    Poppin style, Ria. I too, did not notice the curlers. It aint possible for the weak.

  • http://www.aflickeringlight.com Waterhot

    I linked to a BBC archive clip of Althea and Donna singing Uptown Top Ranking and to a recording of the Canadian singer Scout Niblett singing a very odd cover version (check it out if you can find it online, otherwise I’ll mail you the mp3) almost two years ago – and I still get two or three people a week coming by on Google queries like “Althea Donna one hit wonders” or “Uptown Top Ranking what it mean?” – Now I know where to direct them. Thanks so much for posting the lyrics. Though I must admit the first time I read them I misunderstood the line “True you see me inna pants” and got lost in some very weird pseudo-philosophical conjecture about just what “inner pants” might be and why I wasn’t in touch with mine…

  • Ria

    Mad Bull: If Half Way Tree was between Kingston harbour and Spanish Town, it would mean the harbour was somewhere near the peaks of the Blue Mountains! Think about it. So stet my statement about no one remembers what the tree was halfway between.

    All that is known is that the tree marked an important crossroads, as it does today. “In its shade stood a tavern”, adds the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage and continues: “The first written record that we have of Half Way Tree is dated 1696 and notes the behaviour of some men who were drinking in this tavern.”

    Seventeenth century rudies!

  • Daps ah say:

    later after she tek out har curler, ah murda