Whole Lotta Libraries

I had an action-packed Saturday with a tenuous library link running through the day. It included a visit to the Rock 'n Roll Public Library  (RRPL) exhibition, running at the Art Pavilion in Mile End Park in London until 18 September. It is worth popping in if you are in the area or if the mobile library rolls into your town at some point in the future. 

The RRPL is an archive of stuff collected over the years by Mick Jones (The Clash one not the Foreigner one). There is some material relating to The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite but the bulk is general pop culture stuff. A lot of it is what might normally be described as tat but as it is in an exhibition I am required to refer to it as 'ephemera'.

It is really more of a curated car boot sale than a library, but to be fair the curator has done a great job. There is a replica of a 1960s sitting room, some themed exhibits and - where the curator presumably got a bit stumped - some colour coded sections, all of which draw you in. 

The RRPL was actually the last event of the day. It kicked off (literally) at the football at lunchtime and I was able to cheer my team on to victory. Visiting supporters sometimes sing about our stadium being a library, presumably because they recognise it to be a place of learning and enlightenment.

After the match I strolled over to Dalston to get the bus to Mile End for the RRPL and quite by chance came across a ceremony celebrating pioneering reggae entrepreneurs and entertainers who had links to the legendary Four Aces club, which from 1966 to 1997 stood on the site of what is now the local public library.

I had already missed quite a lot of the proceedings but I was able to catch presentations to Louisa Mark's daughter, Jah Shaka's son, members of Black Slate and Sir Lloyd Coxsone (below), who had a thing or two to say about Babylon's influence on the UK reggae industry - in summary, he doesn't approve.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted a Jah Shaka flyer in one of the RRPL photos. I included that photo in a vain attempt to make this all seem vaguely coherent.

Onto the music. We will start with Louisa Mark's debut single from 1975, produced by Sir Lloyd, which is often credited as being the first lovers rock record. We follow it with a cut from the first volume of Jah Shaka's "Commandments of Dub" series in album, released in 1982. 

In selecting a Mick Jones tune I went for this track from "London Calling" on the very flimsy grounds that the library in Dalston is next door to a Sainsburys. Mick's other band and Black Slate are in the videos.

"Caught Me In A Lie" - Louisa Mark

"Chapter One Verse Three" - Jah Shaka

"Lost In The Supermarket" - The Clash