Transcript
John Hopkins (0:00)
It's 2025, a new year and the best time to turn your great idea into a business. Shopify is how you're going to make it happen. Let me tell you how Shopify makes it simple to create your brand, open for business and get your first sale. Get your store up and running easily with thousands of customizable templates. All you need to do is drag and drop. Their powerful social media tools let you connect all your channels and create shoppable posts. Established in 2025 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com promo all lowercase go to shopify.com promo to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com promo It's a balmy Sunday evening in the autumn of 1963 and seven teenagers are walking through the Trench Town district of Kingston, Jamaica. The houses are run down and outsiders write the area off as a get up. But for 18 year old Nestor Marley and his friends, it's home. These streets are alive with people hanging out and playing music. But while the gang of teens jokes around, Nestor is quiet. This is no ordinary evening. Tonight could decide his future. All their futures. They turn onto Brentford Road and head to a building he's passed many times before. From the front, it's just a liquor store, but as they walk into the yard and past the mango tree, they arrive at Studio One, the epicenter of Jamaica's thriving music scene. Opening the door just as they arrive is its founding producer, Coxon Dodge. The friends try to keep cool, but the truth is Dodd is a local legend, proprietor of the first black owned studio on the island and responsible for countless Scar hits. They're desperate to be his next discovery. Dodd holds the door open for the preceding act to leave and then waves the gang into the cramped room. Soundproofing fabric covers the rough walls. It's claustrophobic and stiflingly hot inside, with smoke and a strong smell of cannabis hanging in the air. But they know that Dodd, who's in his early 30s, is a tough nut to crack. So they quickly assemble themselves, eager to impress. Alongside two young women, Nestor and his friend Bunny Wailer jostle for space while their other bandmate, Pete Tosh, gets his guitar ready. The setup is basic, just space for the musicians and a darkened control room behind glass, Dodd holds auditions most Sundays. There is an endless demand for new music. Dodd asks the boys what they're called. They look to one another, uncertain. They haven't quite decided, though the most recent name Idea is the wailing wailers shrugging. Dodd gestures for them to begin with Bunny on drums and Tosh on guitar. Nesta and the girls start with the songs they grew up listening to. R and B from the US Slow and full of harmonies they've rehearsed for hours and hours. But the sweeter they sing, the less impressed Dodd looks. Halfway through the fourth track, he waves them to stop. He's had enough. He strides over to open the door, where outside, another group of hopefuls is waiting their turn. Nestor can't believe it. This is their only way out of the dead end jobs they hate. Exchanging a desperate look with Bunny and Tosh. He knows what to do. There's one last song to try. It's different and it's a long shot, but they have nothing to lose. Before Dodd can stop them, Tosh is playing the opening riff. And now Bunny and Nesta sing and the girls start to dance. This song is a much livelier track, with lyrics about the rude boys of Trenchtown, whose frustrations often spill over into violence. Keeping his eyes on Dodd, Nestor sees the man's expression change. The producer smiles and now he's nodding along. He lets the door close and hears them out. And when it's over, his grin says it all. It's a yes. This is the tune to launch their career. And while the money is terrible, Nestor is walking on air as he leaves the studio. Within months, he and his friends will be famous across Jamaica. But they'll have to wait another decade before they truly make it big, by which time they'll have taken Nestor's middle name to become Bob Marley and the Wayless. From impoverished roots on an island struggling to leave behind its colonial past, Bob Marley created music that spoke with a universality beloved by people all over the world. His love of music was the backbone of his life, and his commitment to the Rastafari faith will shine a spotlight on its ideas. But at the height of his fame, he faced a shocking health challenge that cut his life tragically short. So how did Bob Marley go from Kingston's most impoverished area to filling the world's biggest stadiums and becoming a global star? Did his private life, including multiple children fathered outside his marriage, conflict with the values he wanted to share with the world? And why does his message still inspire young musicians and activists Today, more than 40 years after his death? I'm John Hopkins from the Noisy Network. This is a short history of Bob Marley. In the small village of Nine Mile, somewhere near the middle of the island of Jamaica, a girl Called Cedella is living on her family's farm. Marriage. While she's still a teenager, she meets Norval Marley, a white Jamaican land agent in his 60s. The two marry when she becomes pregnant, and on 6 February 1945, she gives birth to a son, Nestor Robert Marley. Richie Unterberger is a music journalist and the author of Bob Marley and the the Ultimate Illustrated History.