Skanking down memory lane

skank (sk ngk). n. 1. A rhythmic dance performed to reggae or ska music.
Forgive me for getting all nostalgic: I am listening to an iPod playlist I created based on tracks from my first REGGAE ALBUM.
Glorious vinyl! I still have "MORE INTENSIFIED, VOL. 2: ORIGINAL SKA, 1963-67," which I purchased as a teenager living in Phoenix, Ariz.
This record began an undiminished love affair with Jamaican music, but since I no longer have access to a record player, I improvised and pulled some of the tracks of the album from various compilation CDs I own.
There are undeniable classics on the disc, such as "Lucky Seven" by The Skatalites and "Train to Skaville" by The Ethiopians. There are also buried treasures, such as "CONGO WAR" by LORD BRYNNER AND THE SHEIKS.
Brynner, born Kade Simon in Trinidad, represented the calypso influence on the development of Jamaican pop music. In "Congo War," he presents a list of major combatants in a contemporary African conflict:
"Everybody's fighting, to get the fortune and fame," Brynner sings on the 1966 single, "but it is amusing, when I read all the bosses' names, such as Kasavubu and Antoine Gizenga, fighting to gain power over Katanga."
It's like a newspaper story made for dancing, and it's a song that has remained with me, so many years after I purchased the record.
"My father made me to know, that my great-great grandfather came from the Congo in the western province of Katanga, but I can't remember his name, because it was too long, and if I called the name, I might have to bite me tongue."