Music writer Sophie Saint Thomas throws personal caution (and the possibility of hurting David Bowie’s feelings) to the wind in this shocking defense of reggae music. 

Let me open with a excerpt from an interview David Bowie did with Melody Maker Magazine in 1979:

Melody Maker: You’ve never experimented with reggae, have you? 

I was raised on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the origin of my porny pen name. While my parents also exposed me to the typical classics, the Talking Heads, the Stones, the soundtrack enveloping life was reggae. Long before I had a David Bowie tattoo, I had an “ice gold green” peace sign tattooed on my ass. Years after I said good bye to the Virgin Islands as my home, the music continues to hold a special place in my soul. 

96 degreees….. in the shayade 

Get out of the city. Hop a flight to St. John with friends and rent a cheap house for a month. Hitchhike into town and pick up a bartending job to pay the rent. Immerse yourself in local culture and discover the dark side of island living. See the AIDS stricken homeless and read the paper’s nonchalant reports of the daily rape and murder. Ask yourself why the super markets have to carry shitty imported fruit when there’s a banana tree in your backyard. Have a love affair with a local. Get used to stopping to let donkeys cross the road. Buy a bottle of rum for $6 and drink it at Cinnamon Bay lying on your back while the hot sun dries the sea water off your skin. Bring a boom box (yes, a fucking boom box) and and then tell me Toots & the Maytals don’t make you wanna wind your waist. 

@TheBowieCat