Song of the day – Jan. 29
© James Oliver Senior
Fantan Mojah
I love reggae. The love affair began in earnest the day I waltzed into Blizzarts, a neighbourhood bar on the Main, in Montreal. I was 20 years-old, clueless and broke. I only had the faintest notion of the city’s layout and definitely wasn’t in on where the cool kids hung out. For all I knew, I easily could’ve been on Crescent Street, looking for work at McKibbons or the Peel Pub. But God was paying attention. He steered me, in his Immense Mercifulness, away from Top-40 loving drunken Ontarians and led me directly toward Caribbean goodness. Count your blessings, as they say.
Blizzart’s boss, a baby-faced, squat Portuguese man named Peter, was somehow able to see past my deep affection for Turkish baklava and ice cream (a 15-pound souvenir I lugged home from Turkey) and gave me a job on the spot. I started waitressing on Wednesdays, which were some of the baddest and funnest reggae nights in town. Throughout the many years I kept that job (in Thursday-morning classes, fellow linguists always wondered what sort of crack-den I had just crawled out of), I usually danced more than I worked. But the place was so jam packed no one really cared. That was, if you’ll remember, back in the day when people could still smoke inside.
My friend Micah, Jah Mikes, who now teaches English Literature at a CEGEP not too far from here, always was my favorite Wednesday-night DJ. He consistently came up with just the right admixture of roots, culture, lovers rock and dancehall. Often, what I liked best about his mixes was his full embrace of the cheesiest, most emotional, heart-wrenching lovers tunes reggae stars are capable of producing. A true Italian lover himself, Micah had a tendency to save particularly poignant tune for last call. These closing-time classics (Jah Cure’s “Longing For” was on heavy 3 o’clock rotation at one point), were sure to send those dozens of patrons fated to end the night alone into frenzies of high-risk drunk-texting and booty-calling. In the same spirit, here is Fantan Mojah singing “Will I see you again”. I mean, if lovers rock leaves you absolutely cold, you might want to consider getting your heart checked. Pull up it up!