Snap, Crackle, Pop

I bought this for an obscenely overpriced $10 at some tourist rip-off of a record store on Haight one an afternoon I got off work early at Shockwave.com and walked all the way to Ocean Beach exploring San Francisco. Ate something delicious, got cruised atop Buena Vista park, waited forever for a Muni bus and realized that I probably should have moved straight to The City instead of being stuck without a car in thoroughly suburban North Oakland (getting a car, of course, being out of the question).

When I got home I discovered the album had a huge warp in it (which, come to think of it, was the case with a number of VP Records releases I'd purchased in Brooklyn). But hey, it still played (take that, CDs) and it was such a sweet relief from the thousands upon thousands of repeat listenings of "Legend." The hardcore skank on this early four-track recording of Marley singing a Tosh-penned classic over Motown-tight four-part harmonies makes musicology concrete in a way a dissertation never could.

Simmer Down -- Bob Marley and the Wailers, Featuring Peter Tosh

Buy it here, shrinkwrap-fresh, for $11.99. And pick up a Ben Sherman while you're at it.