What Do Anthony Bourdain and Vinyl Records Have in Common?

by Joe Wallace

As of late I’ve become addicted to Anthony Bourdain’s writing. Bourdain is a kindred spirit–he’s got the kind of take no prisoners attitude and and a love for grit and realism that I find refreshing in the world of overly nice and excessively coiffed media ding-a-lings. In another life, I spent far too much time working in television to see things any other way, especially ON television.

I’ve been digging old episodes of No Reservations, the weekly Bourdain globe-hopping food frenzy, and what did I find in an old collection from 2007? Anthony Bourdain tackling Jamaica in all its ramshackle glory. The food makes me want to brave the trip, but the most exciting part of that particular episode for me was the look behind the Jamaican music industry, complete with in-house vinyl record pressing operations at some of Jamaica’s busiest and most ambitious local recording companies.

There was some amazing footage not only of vinyl records being pressed, but also the sink-or-swim no-nostalgia ruthlessness of these record labels when it comes to product that just isn’t selling well. Jamaica being poor as it is, can anyone blame these record labels for hacking up the unsold stock, melting it down and pressing another potential dancehall hit?

The vinyl-centric part of the clip below comes about three minutes in, but the entire show is really worth a watch as it’s an eye-opener for anybody who isn’t hip to Jamaica food, culture or the truth behind the Marley tee shirts. As Don Letts points out, a lot of people who don’t actually live in these conditions tend to romanticize poverty, Rastafari, and the place in general. To paraphrase Letts, the ghetto isn’t something people want to do anything but escape from. I found Bourdain’s no-nonsense approach to the good and bad of Jamaica to be very refreshing…and the look at the record biz there? Priceless for a vinyl junkie and dub lover like me.