By Steve Robles

I WAS WATCHING American Idol last season with my girlfriend, and a commercial for Skippy peanut butter came on the tube.

We were shocked. It was a cartoon based completely on dancehall, with music reminiscent of a Beenie Man track, dreadlocked male elephants wearing the traditional knit tams, scantily dressed female elephants, and lots of bouncing around. It was further proof that beyond a doubt the Jamaican rhythm was busy crossing over into the American mainstream, and I couldn't help grinning.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on dancehall. I didn't know much about it till my s.o. asked me to take her to Kelly's Mission Rock to see Sister Nancy – whose seminal 1983 hit "Bam Bam" has been sampled by everyone from Groove Armada to DMX and can still be heard in most dancehall club sets. The show was put on by local crew Theory 5, which is also responsible for a scandalously fun monthly at Kelly's called Luscious that features the popular, flammable combination of dancehall and hip-hop sound systems.

Just about every crew that throws regular parties at Mission Rock has picked up on this dynamic, which draws a diverse, mostly fun-loving crowd. If you get there early enough, you can take advantage of early-bird drink specials while strolling the pier. Or you might catch a glimpse of local girls testing out tricky dance-floor maneuvers prior to cutting loose in what's consistently a packed crowd.

Going for the gold

One sure sign that mighty Jah himself was using me as an instrument to spread the word about the music that causes well-endowed ladies to erupt into spontaneous booty poppin' on the dance floor (to paraphrase Ludacris) was that He recently pulled a few strings and put Malibu on sale at Albertsons.

So we were already full of rum by the time we got to the Endup's Reggae Gold, right before last call. Held on fourth Saturdays, Reggae Gold may be as close to a slice of steamy Kingston vibes as you're likely to get in this oft-frigid clime. Despite it being a chilly night, the girls were dressed like it was a Caribbean summer, and the guys were doing their best to get their attention.

The beauty of Reggae Gold, though, is that nobody has to try that hard. Folks are there for any and all forms of fun, from meaningless flirting on the packed floor to ... who knows? Maybe breakfast at Boogaloo's with a little luck. And when it gets too hot inside, and it will, standing next to the patio waterfall will chill you out for sure.

Diversity can sometimes be hard to find at S.F. clubs, which makes the crowd dynamic at Reggae Gold impressive. "I can't think of any other music that brings out such a diverse crowd – young, old, white, black, you name it," says promoter Kerstin Haavimb, who's been putting on Reggae Gold for a year and a half now and whose enthusiasm for the music and the scene has helped put it on the S.F. map.

Before getting involved with Reggae Gold, Haavimb cut her teeth on Club Dread – now carrying on Mondays at StudioZ.tv – which has been carrying the torch for reggae and dancehall for 10 years and has hosted shows by legends like Pato Banton and Yellowman.

Like most of the S.F. clubs offering dancehall riddims, Club Dread also touches on other genres of Jamaican music, such as reggae (natch) and my girlfriend's favorite, rocksteady (R&B-inflected oldies from artists like Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals).

Thanksgiving

Earlier this summer I found myself in the company of Daddy Rolo, the man behind Club Six's Thursday-night dancehall party, Give Thankz. His remix series Sound Klash Ammo Vols. 1-3 (www.deadlymix.com) gave us plenty to talk about, but soon enough the conversation turned to Coxsone Dodd. Rolo, who came to embrace dancehall through hip-hop, knows his history, and we raised a plastic cup to the late Jamaican pioneer.

The roots of dancehall, like most forms of modern Jamaican music, can be traced to one spot in Kingston, the profoundly influential Studio One. Dodd, who died in May – just days after the city of Kingston renamed the street where his legendary recording studio resides Studio One Boulevard – helped introduce the world to every Jamaican icon from Bob Marley to Horace Andy to Lee Perry.

Back home, Give Thankz brought a nice vibe to Club Six, warming the place up as midnight came and went. Everybody danced like there was nobody watching, the way it should be. Though we couldn't help staring at one crazy white guy who looked like Mark Wahlberg in Rock Star trying to break-dance or something. Hmm ... maybe sometimes you should dance like someone's watching.

Despite some issues (drink prices could be shaved a bit, and the credit card denial leaves you at the mercy of a ruthless ATM's not-too-handy "convenience" charge), Club Six is still one of my favorite venues. Dark passageways and cozy nooks make it an ideal spot for Rolo's tasty weekly, and the location's good for car kids and public transit peeps.

Getting it

You wouldn't think it'd be easy for a DJ to mix from rare groove funk to dancehall without sending people fleeing from the dance floor. And you'd be right; it's not. But somehow Jah Yzer pulled it off at a True Skool event at Milk.

Yzer is part of the Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, the city's preeminent reggae-dancehall-hip-hop crew, along with I-Vier and Irie Dole. The Hi-Fi does Bless Up every Tuesday night at Milk and is fairly ubiquitous among local dancehall events and clubs – it even snared a spot at last summer's Sierra Nevada World Music Festival at Angels Camp.

Milk has supported the local dancehall and reggae scene with various weeklies since the club began. And one great by-product of its location is that if you get there early enough, you can run across the street to Amoeba Music to look frantically for that hot track you just saw a hottie shake it to.

Wisdom Records (4308 Mission, S.F. 415-841-1258, www.wisdomrecordssf.com) is another place to find what you're listening to in the clubs, whether CDs or 7-inch singles.

And lastly, to see a bit more down 'n' dirty dancing than you'll find on the local scene, as well as a taste of the Kingston club culture that breathes life into the genre, put Don Letts's 1997 film Dancehall Queen in your Netflix queue. Think club-going Cinderella in hot pants.

Dancehalls

Luscious takes place second Saturdays, 9 p.m.-4 a.m., Kelly's Mission Rock, 817 China Basin, S.F. $20. (415) 626-5355, www.kellysmissionrock.com.

Reggae Gold takes place fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., Endup, 401 Sixth St., S.F. Call for price. (415) 646-0999.

Club Dread takes place Mondays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., StudioZ.tv, 314 11th St., S.F. $10 (excluding special events). (415) 252-7666.

Give Thankz takes place Thursdays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., Club Six, 60 Sixth St., S.F. $5 (free before 11 p.m.). (415) 863-1221, www.clubsix1.com.

Bless Up takes place Tuesdays, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., Milk, 1840 Haight, S.F. $5 (free before 10:30 p.m.). (415) 387-6455, www.milksf.com.