VF Live: Charlie Dark's Have Box Will Travel #2

Digging into his 7,000+ collection of dancehall and reggae 45s.

With quarantines and lockdowns due to the Coronavirus pandemic ongoing around the world, artists are finding new ways to connect with people worldwide.

As part of our new feature on site – VF Live Sets – our favourite collectors take you inside their homes and record shops, for intimate selects and mixes.

In the second instalment of Charlie Dark’s new weekly Wednesday afternoon show – Have Box Will Travel – the Run Dem Crew founder, community leader, activist, poet, DJ and Attica Blues member delves into his collection of over 7,000 dancehall 45s. Speaking about this week’s instalment he shares:

“This week we remain in the dancehall side of my collection with a look at some of the digital post-Sleng-Teng productions with a sprinkle of Roots and Culture for good measure. As I mentioned last week, I went on a deep dancehall record binge a few years ago, and started travelling the country buying collections from sound systems that were closing down eventually ending up with over 7000 80’s and 90’s 45s.

“One day I’d like to make a film about this music – some of the rarities and collectors – especially as it’s a genre that hasn’t really been rinsed. There are still lots of gems to be found if you look in the right places and some really inspirational records for the beat heads and sample collectors amongst you.

Let me know if you are feeling the sounds and check out the tracklist for an insight into what tunes were played.”

Catch Charlie Dark every Wednesday at 1pm GMT, on VF Live.

Tracklist:

1. Bunny General -Down In the Ghetto
2. Sleepy Wonder/Bunny General -Fade Away
3. Spragga Benz-Machine Gun
4. Pinchers- Dem A Watch We
5. Shabba Ranks -Peanie Peanie
6. Johnny P -Body Tune Up
7. Johnny P -Ital Jockey
8. Pnichers -Defend The Indian
9. General T.K -Rebuke Them
10. Shabba Ranks -Best baby Father
11. Crime Stoppa -Don’t Touch Crack
12. Ugliman -Computer
13. Echo Minot- Original Fat Thing Version
14. Augustus Pablo -Coconut Oil
15. Purple man- King On the way
16. Burning Spear-Travelling Man
17. Lloyd Parks -Mafia