ONE LOVE: REGGAE: Amy Wachtel: AKA Night Nurse, Radio DJ, Reggae PR

“I am Amy Wachtel, known as the Night Nurse, and I chose Papa Michigan and General Smiley's "One Love Jamdown" 45, a seven inch. And I have to tell you that your terminology 'of great personal significance' - as opposed to choosing a favourite record, really coloured and informed what I chose and the reasons that I chose "One Love Jamdown " is that when I was first getting into reggae, which was maybe 1980 ish. I was living in Boston, I was still in college, I had just graduated maybe and Iboth worked in college radio and I had a job at an AM radio station in Cambridge which was well cool. It was like, you know, t was like for the zucchini growers. It played some pretty hip music and some hippyish music and Peter Simon of reggae bloodlines and international fame had a show there every Saturday. So I was getting exposed to reggae a lot and then my my college radio station WZBC had someone named Derail, who was in a reggae band 007 and he did radio. So even though I was a rock and roller and then getting into punk and new age .. reggae was coming at me. It as coming from experts. And I don't remember if it's a Derail or if it was Peter but someone gave me One Love Jamdown, the seven inch "56 Hope Road". I loved it.  

I loved it and sometime later Garland Jeffrey's came out with an album called Escape Artist in 1980 and with it was a seven inch, that was included. And it had a song called Miami Beach because there were horrible racial riots in Liberty City in Miami at that time and he did a song about it. And it was on the same rhythm as One Love Jamdown. Now I was green and new to reggae so I had no idea that rhythms are used and rinsed time and time again, you know, from day to day, year to year, so I was appalled I thought that they'd ripped it off Michigan and Smiley and I was really upset ( laughs). 

Crazy enough knowing we were gonna talk about the record I went to look for the Garland Jeffrey record. Ok - are you ready?  

Who produced that song "Miami Beach"? - Dennis Bovell! Who is on it with Garland Jeffrey's? Lynton Kwesi Johnson. Ok I have to confess it took me 35 years to like realise that - that's amazing! 

So then further with Michigan and Smiley I had come home to New York, somewhere between '80 and '82 for a weekend maybe to visit my mom - I don't remember why and I see in the Village Voice an ad that a club called The Armegeddon club on Jane Street in Greenwich Village is presenting Michigan and Smiley.  

I can't believe it like these are like my favourite unknown, you know, people love the record I have to go. No one wants to go with me. A friend who was sort of reggae related said 'oh my good friend Earl Chin will be there he's the Chinese Jamaican, say hello to him. Again I have to say I was so green and new to reggae and Jamaica and Jamaicans that I'm like 'wow a Chinese Jamaican - that's wild' (laughs). You know there's so much history I just didn't know, which now is now like my life and my people, my friends, it's just very funny. So, went to see Michigan and Smiley in Greenwich Village - awesome. Ironically who knew that about five years later that would be my neighbourhood that I live in to this day. And then I went to my first ever reggae sunsplash in Jamaica, that was the summ of 1982 and I went with my friend Rachel, a college friend, and you know it was such a hustle - it was like hustlers paradise.  

A. It's Montego Bay and B. it's reggae Sunsplash so everyone's flocking in to make a buck somehow and then here we are two young white women on our own.  

So we wrote a song called "Shifty Dub" and it was to the rhythm of "One Love Jamdown".(laughs). And I kind of remember it - but I'll refrain from sharing those lyrics!" 

Amy Wachtel: Long Beach, NY, 10th February 2019 

Papa Michigan and General Smiley:“One Love Jamdown” - released 1980 

Amy Wachtel - The Night Nurse