WARNING: 25 years of filming. Hard-drive failures. Lost footage. This documentary was made from what survived.

Long before reggae became part of mainstream culture in Europe, French artist Fluoman was already painting its history.

Born in 1952, Fluoman discovered reggae and the Rastafari movement in the 1970s, and it changed the direction of his life and his art. From that point on, Jamaica, Africa, Rastafari and the musicians carrying that message around the world became central to his work.

And Fluoman wasn’t simply observing the reggae movement from a distance.

He became deeply connected to it.

When major reggae artists passed through France, many visited his studio. Over the years, Fluoman met and worked around some of the most important figures of the music, creating concert posters, stage backdrops, album artwork and paintings that today have become increasingly difficult to find.

In August 1980, he even painted a mural at Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong studio in Jamaica.

Fluoman developed an unmistakable visual language using fluorescent acrylic paint. Under ordinary light, you see one painting. Turn on ultraviolet black light and another dimension appears: colors, contrasts and details hidden moments before suddenly come alive.

For Fluoman, the idea had a natural connection with reggae itself. Just as one riddim can produce countless versions, singers and mixes, one of his paintings could reveal different versions of itself depending on the light.

He eventually produced more than 600 fluorescent paintings, while his work expanded beyond reggae into Africa, Ethiopia, Pan-Africanism, the fight against apartheid and his own memories of the continent where he spent part of his childhood. He even collaborated with Thomas Sankara, one of the great symbols of Pan-Africanism.

Among the treasures preserved in Roger Steffens’ Reggae Archives is a fantastic original Culture concert poster designed by Fluoman for the Bataclan in Paris — another surviving piece of an extraordinary period when reggae, visual art and political consciousness were exploding together across Europe.

Artists like Fluoman remind us that reggae history isn’t preserved only on records and tapes.

It is also on walls, posters, album sleeves, canvases and in the work of the artists who helped give the music a visual identity.

History lives in the groove… and sometimes under a black light.

This shelf alone spans roughly 30 years of Jamaican music history, from ska to rocksteady to roots reggae. From Alton Ellis to Bob Marley, and from beloved classics to super rare treasures like Haile Selassie Is the Chapel, these records tell the story of a culture, a sound, and an era.

What makes this archive even more extraordinary is that Roger did not just collect the records. He met the artists, interviewed them, and gathered the stories behind the music so he could preserve the full picture beyond the song.

For collectors, a 45 is never just a record. It is history in your hands. A label. A pressing. A version. A moment in time that somehow survived.

And this is only one shelf.

That is what makes Roger’s archive so special. It is not just a collection. It is a living map of reggae’s journey, preserved one record at a time.

History Lives in the Groove.

Over the years, members of the Marley family have visited Roger Steffens’ Reggae Archives in Los Angeles, exploring photographs, recordings, interviews, books and countless pieces of history documenting Bob’s extraordinary life.

For some of his children, the archives became a window into parts of their father’s journey they were too young to have experienced themselves. On one visit, Ziggy Marley even heard recordings of his father that he had never heard before.

Roger has always been willing to share what he preserved. When the archive contained rare or unreleased Bob Marley recordings, he made copies available to the family, not treating the material simply as something to possess, but as history that should be heard by the people to whom it also belonged.

That relationship extended beyond visits to the archives. Roger worked with the Marley estate and, with French producer and musician Bruno Blum, produced and documented the landmark collection Bob Marley & The Wailers 1967-1972 - Soul Revolution for JAD Records/EMI France, helping bring historically important material from Bob’s formative years to a new generation of listeners.

That is one of the quiet powers of an archive. It doesn’t simply preserve the history of an artist for fans and researchers. It can reconnect a family with voices, recordings and moments from its own past.

Sometimes an archive preserves more than history. It preserves family memory.

Photographer Chuck Foster was there to capture it
More than four decades later, these photographs are preserved in the Roger Steffens Reggae Archives, documenting a remarkable moment in reggae history.

By then, Steel Pulse had already achieved major international recognition. Their album Babylon the Bandit won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording in 1987, and their 1991 album Victims received another Grammy nomination.

In 1991, Hinds also publicly spoke out about racial discrimination by New York taxi drivers after repeatedly being passed by cabs, an experience reflected in Steel Pulse’s song “Taxi Driver.”

This photograph captures Hinds in conversation during that early-1990s U.S. television appearance. The exact network, program and identity of the interviewer have not yet been confirmed.

Another piece of reggae history preserved in Roger Steffens’ archives.

By 1992, Gregory was already one of reggae’s giants, internationally known for his unmistakable voice and songs like “Night Nurse.”

But getting him to tell his story was another matter.

In late that year, through RAS Records founder Doctor Dread, Roger received an extraordinary invitation: Gregory wanted to give a definitive, no-holds-barred interview about his life, music, troubles, drug use and arrests. Nothing was supposed to be off limits. Gregory reportedly promised Roger three full days.

So Roger flew from Los Angeles to Jamaica.

What followed was not exactly what he had been promised. Roger spent days trying to pin down the famously elusive Cool Ruler. Gregory would appear, disappear and return. Eventually, the interview unfolded in fragments at his African Museum headquarters in Kingston, stretching late into the night.

People came and went, conversations were interrupted, and Gregory handled business while Roger kept recording. Somewhere in that chaos, Roger took this candid photograph: Gregory behind his desk, telephone to his ear, surrounded by papers.

The interview went far beyond music. Gregory spoke about drugs, arrests and people who sometimes exploited artists, but also about the charitable “Treats” he organized for poor children. Roger discovered unexpected details: Gregory owned racehorses and even wrote fairy tales for his children.

Then, long after midnight, Gregory picked up an old acoustic guitar.

Instead of answering another question, he improvised a song about Roger, transforming Roger Steffens into “Roger Stephanie,” singing about Roger coming from California to Jamaica to write his story, before breaking into laughter.

More than three decades later, the interview survives. And so does this photograph, another remarkable piece of reggae history preserved in Roger Steffens’ archives.

Robin created something completely different from our main poster, with a raw, vintage reggae feel that takes us straight back to the era when Roger first began documenting the music.

We liked it so much that we decided we might make it an official alternate poster for LIVICATED.

Same film. Same history. A completely different groove!

Thank you, Robin, for the beautiful work!

What do you think?

true film enthusiast. When he became involved with LIVICATED, he understood what we were trying to accomplish and genuinely wanted to see this film finished and seen around the world.

And he helped us enormously.

Tshombe worked with us on many of the complicated legal issues involved in making a documentary built from decades of archival material. He helped clear much of our fair-use material and, very recently, helped us through the process of securing our Errors & Omissions insurance, one of the final steps needed to distribute the film.

But what says the most about Tshombe is how he helped us.

He knew we had almost no money. He knew this was a small independent documentary made through years of persistence rather than a large production budget. And he helped us anyway, reducing his normal legal fees by 75% because he believed in the film and wanted to help us get it out into the world.

There are many people behind an independent film whose names the audience may never know, but without whom the film might never reach the screen.

Tshombe was one of those people for LIVICATED.

It is especially difficult knowing that he helped us get so close to the finish line and will not be here to see where the film goes next.

We will miss our friend, and we will always be grateful for his generosity, his enthusiasm for film, and everything he did for LIVICATED.

Rest in peace, Tshombe. And thank you.

— Paul and the LIVICATED team

..music and the stories behind it back to radio listeners.

KCRW aired two hours of highlights from each of the festival’s four nights, and Reggae Beat International would eventually be syndicated to more than 130 stations worldwide. Roger was also deeply involved with The Beat magazine during this period.

Cooper recorded seven years of Sunsplash, creating an extraordinary audio record of the festival. Those recordings are preserved today in the Roger Steffens Reggae Archives.

Roger wasn’t just standing on the Sunsplash stage witnessing reggae history. He was already preserving it.

legendary Upsetter and King of Dub whenever he performed in Los Angeles. Their encounters included memorable moments backstage at the House of Blues in Hollywood.

Their connection went beyond interviews and concerts. Roger also spent time with Scratch at his private home, surrounded by the art and objects that reflected Perry’s endlessly creative mind.

And Roger collected everything.

Among the Lee Perry material preserved in Roger’s Reggae Archives are Scratch’s concert setlists, the pieces of paper taped to the stage at his feet to remind him what song came next. After the shows, Roger saved them.

Photographs, interviews, magazines, recordings, setlists and memories. Pieces of a remarkable relationship, and of reggae history, preserved across decades.

Some of that extraordinary history is part of LIVICATED: The Story of Roger Steffens’ Reggae Archives.

... important and too often overlooked figures in Jamaican music.

Often called the “Father of Reggae,” Higgs played an extraordinary role in the development of the young Wailers. Long before Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer became international names, Higgs mentored them, rehearsed with them and helped teach them the musical discipline and harmonies that became part of their foundation.

Yet Joe Higgs has never received the recognition his contribution deserves. His influence reaches far beyond his own outstanding body of work. He helped shape musicians who would eventually carry reggae around the world.

Today, this photograph hangs on the wall of Roger Steffens’ Reggae Archives.

The recorder, the notes, the photographs, the interviews. This is how history gets preserved.

History Lives in the Groove.

Erik is expected to deliver the final cut this weekend. We will give him our feedback by Monday, and if everything goes according to plan, we should have the completed film by the end of next week.

From there, LIVICATED will enter QC, or Quality Control, where the film must pass all the technical requirements for distribution. Once we clear that final hurdle, our distributor estimates it will take approximately three months for the documentary to become available across the different streaming platforms.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we recently suffered a hard drive failure, which turned into quite a task. Missing footage had to be recovered and reuploaded, while material spread across multiple backup drives had to be reconnected to the edit.

It has been a very long road, with more obstacles than we could ever have imagined when we started this journey. But LIVICATED is almost there.

Thank you for your patience and for sticking with us throughout this incredible adventure.

History Lives in the Groove.

Artwork Robin Antigua

His story begins with The Soulettes, the vocal trio he formed with his cousin Rita Anderson, later Rita Marley, and Marlene “Precious” Gifford.

Then came an extraordinary chapter. When Bob Marley left Jamaica for Delaware in 1966, Vision briefly joined Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in The Wailers, helping keep the group recording during Bob’s absence. His voice can be heard on several Wailers recordings from that period.

But Vision’s journey through reggae history didn't end there.

Years later, the tall, slender percussionist with the unmistakable dreadlocks could be seen alongside Peter Tosh, playing percussion and touring with him during the 1980s. He appears prominently in Tosh’s legendary 1983 performance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Vision would also perform with Bunny Wailer and spend time with California roots reggae group The Rastafarians.

And eventually his path crossed with Roger Steffens.

Roger recognized something important in Vision that reggae history sometimes overlooks: the people who were there, who contributed to the music, and who carried its story forward even when their names weren't written in large letters.

Roger interviewed Vision in 1994 at the One World Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado, preserving his firsthand memories of the early Wailers and the world surrounding them. Decades later, Vision’s testimony became part of Roger’s oral history So Much Things to Say.

Please, correct if needed! Again, so many cool stories to recall

... of that long relationship.

Released in 1974, Sweet Bitter Love was Marcia’s second solo album, produced by Lloyd Charmers and released by Trojan Records. That same year marked another major chapter in her career with the formation of the I-Threes alongside Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt, who would become an essential part of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ sound.

More than two decades later, their paths were still crossing. In 2001, Marcia performed at Roger’s World of Reggae exhibition events aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, including Bob Marley classics such as “Bend Down Low,” “Three Little Birds” and “Iron Lion Zion.”

And the connection goes far beyond this signed record. Roger’s archives preserve hours of recorded interviews with Marcia, her own voice, memories and stories documenting an extraordinary career in Jamaican music.

Records are important. But so are the voices and memories of the people who made them.

That’s what an archive preserves!