Skinhead reggae fans are sure to flip when they first take a listen to The Revivers' new five-track 10" EP, Early Reggae--it sounds like some fantastic lost gem from 1970 that you were lucky enough to dig out from a long-forgotten crate at a used record store. Even though they sound like they're straight from JA, The Revivers are comprised of members of such SoCal ska/reggae stalwarts as The Debonaires, The Skeletones, and See Spot and you can bet that they know their way around a vintage early reggae tune.
Recorded using old-school, lo-fi techniques and equipment, The Revivers convincingly recreate the sound and vibe of Jamaican music circa '68-'71. On Early Reggae, The Revivers' choice covers include The Beechers' "adults only" cut "Come into My Parlour" ("I hear those boys with their rumours/Said you're a real grinder"); producer Clancy Eccles' house band The Dynamites' organ-driven instrumental "Ramble"; The Yardbrooms' pleading "My Desire"; Sir Collins & The Black Diamonds' slinky and slightly dangerous "Black Panther"; and Pat Satchmo's cover of "Hello Dolly" (which skates a bit close to parody with the Louis Armstrong imitation vocal).
While this reviewer is not too familiar with these amazing original tunes--which appeared on the Trojan, Upsetter, and Duke imprints--they sure sound mighty sweet here.
While many of The Toasters' releases in the 1990s found their way on to vinyl through licensing deals with German ska labels Pork Pie (New York Fever) and Grover (Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down), the band's 1996 album Hard Band for Dead, which spawned two of their biggest hits--"2 Tone Army" and "I Wasn't Going to Call You Anyway" (a parting shot at a very difficult band)--never found their way onto wax (maybe Pork Pie didn't have the cash to press an LP?). At the time, the ska market for vinyl in the US was very small (even the series of numbered, limited edition 7" singles that Moon Records released in the mid-to-late 90s sold surprisingly slowly), so it made financial sense to import a few copies of the LPs from Europe (where fans still craved vinyl) to sell in the Moon store and through the label's healthy mailorder service.
We flash-forward about a decade and a half later, to when Jump Up Records main man Chuck Wren runs into Bucket at Chicago's Riot Fest. While talking shop, Chuck is very surprised to learn that Hard Band For Dead was never released on LP (the other notable exception is Dub 56, probably one of the most beloved Toasters albums ever). Long story short, Buck and Chuck broker a deal--and now Jump Up has just issued 2 Tone Army on black and green vinyl (the next pressing will be in white), which includes a card that allows you to download six more alternate tracks from the album recording sessions.
Of note, the iconic NYC Ska rude boy (which originally appeared on a Moon Records t-shirt back in the late 80s) on the 2 Tone Army LP cover is not Buck (I had always assumed it was), but Steve Hex (AKA Karl Stephen LaForge), The Toasters' co-founder and keyboardist who appeared on the "The Beat" 7", the Recriminations EP, and Skaboom, Thrill Me Up, and This Gun For Hire albums. Hex died in Berlin in 2005 under questionable circumstances (he was found with a severe head wound and was assumed to have been the victim of a mugging).
For your reference, here is the original 1996 track listing for Hard Band for Dead:
1. 2Tone Army (Hingley) 2. Talk Is Cheap (Hingley) 3. Friends (Hingley/Ugbomah/Toasters) 4. Secret Agent Man (Barri Sloan) 5. Chuck Berry (Hingley) 6. Mouse (Reiter) 7. Hard Man Fe Dead (C. Campbell) 8. Don't Come Running [Extra Intro] (Faulkner) 9. Properly (McCain/Ugbomah) 10. Maxwell Smart (Irving Szathmary) 11. I Wasn't Going To Call You Anyway (Hingley) 12. Speak Your Mind (Hingley/Rice) 13. Skaternity (Reiter/McCain) 14. Dave Goes Crazy (Rimsky-Korsakov)
The album featured guest spots by The Godfather of Ska himself, Laurel Aitken (on "Speak Your Mind"), The Skatalites' terrific saxophonist Lester Sterling (on "Mouse" and the cover of Prince Buster's "Hard Man Fe Dead"), The Ventures' guitarist Jerry McGee (on "Friends"), and King Django (chatting on "Properly").
From what I can tell (my copy hasn't arrived in the mail yet), two additional tracks have been added to the LP reissue proper:
And here are the 2 Tone Army bonus digital download cuts:
Retroactive [Unreleased] (Reiter) Speak Your Mind [Instrumental] (Hingley/Rice) Skaternity [Demo] (Reiter) Moon Ska Stomp [Unreleased] (Hingley/Toasters) Speedy Gonzales [Unreleased] (Hingley/Toasters) 2Tone Army [Blues Reprise] (Hingley)
Megalith Records will be releasing 2 Tone Army on CD--which will include all of the tracks above--a little later this year.
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There was a CD re-issue of Hard Band for Dead/2 Tone Army back in 2009 on Party House Records in the UK (a label that I think is now defunct). In response, back in July of that year, I wrote up some notes about Hard Band for Dead and posted them on this blog--and they might be worth revisiting here...
Some Duff Guide to Ska Notes to Hard Band for Dead:
In an attempt to capitalize on the intense music press/industry buzz in the mid-90s (Billboard and others declaring ska "the next big thing," and every major label wanting a ska-like band in their pocket), Moon Records produced two of its first music videos, "2 Tone Army" and "I Wasn't Going to Call You Anyway," to help promote this album (which also received a good amount of airplay from college radio, according to the CMJ charts at the time). In true DIY fashion, I shot "2 Tone Army" on Super 8 film at a Toasters show (with Lester Sterling in the line-up!) at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea; outside the first Moon shop on 2nd Street in Alphabet City; and in my UES living room. The footage was digitally edited with the assistance of the late video and performance artist Dieter Froese at Dekart Video in Chinatown (they typically did most of their work with PBS, museums, and video and performance artists, but occasionally edited videos for major label bands like REM). The whole production cost about $2,500--and it ended up premiering on MTV's "120 Minutes" and going into fairly regular rotation on MTV and M2 (hell, they even created a special "Skaturday," when they featured ska viddys for a couple of hours).
Contrary to all of the label's/band's expectations, MTV gave the "2 Tone Army" video an extraordinary amount of support because: a) they genuinely liked The Toasters' music and knew how long they had been plugging away on the scene; 2) they didn't want to miss out on ska craze (the hype really was brutally intense, even if the major labels really didn't know ska from Adam or how to market it)--and there weren't that many new ska videos being produced; and 3) they got a kick out of the fact that we had the nerve to submit this somewhat crude, low-budget video, while many other indie acts were lavishing tens of thousands of dollars on theirs trying to make the big time.
Originally, I had planned to shoot a music video for "Chuck Berry" (the single on the record player in the video is the limited edition "Chuck Berry" 7", which was released well before the rest of the album was finished), but switched it to "2 Tone Army" after hearing an advance copy of the song. Since these were untested waters, The Toasters were minimally involved in the making of this video (I came up with what little concept there was and basically showed up to film them at both the FIT show and their promo photo shoot on 2nd Street before they went off on a tour--one of these pictures ended up on the back cover of the CD--we never scheduled anything specifically for the video) and Bucket didn't see any footage until the editing was completed (either he had complete faith in me or was entertaining my flight of fancy). I spoke with him on the phone after he first saw the video and could tell that he was extremely underwhelmed--but as things progressed, he seemed pretty pleased with all the mileage the band/label got out of it.
Like "2 Tone Army," "I Wasn't Going to Call You Anyway" (which was directed by Drew Sentivan, who also made several higher-end videos for Moon in collaboration with Crazy Duck Productions, all of them great, including The Toasters' "Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down" and "I'm Running Right Through the World," as well as The Scofflaws' "Nude Beach," Isaac Green and the Skalars' "High School," and the Skoidats' "Last Night" ) went into regular rotation on MTV and M2 (remember that station--completely devoted to actually playing music videos, many of them from alternative/indie bands?). For better or worse, Moon also permitted MTV to use excerpts of several songs off of Hard Band for Dead for shows like Singled Out and The Real World, in the hopes of expanding the band's audience and stimulating CD sales.
After the recording sessions for Hard Band, the souring relationship between Coolie Ranx and the rest of the band hit an all time low--and he left/was booted from The Toasters soon after. (One memorable, cringe-worthy event from this period took place at The Toasters' Central Park SummerStage gig, a big deal back then since they were one of the first ska acts ever featured in this concert series, as when it came time for the band to hit the stage, Coolie was AWOL--Bucket and Sledge had to take over Coolie's vocal duties; he finally showed up several songs into the set, dramatically leaping onto the stage from the audience.) As a result, just before the Hard Band for Dead masters were sent to the printing plant, most of Coolie's tracks were dropped from the album (I'll always remember Toasters bassist Matt Malles telling me how bummed he was that one of the songs he co-wrote with Coolie was left off the record--he thought it was the best track of the bunch.) Interestingly enough, the "2 Tone Army" video inadvertently captured the transition between Coolie Ranx (who is in the photo shoot segments) and Jack Ruby, Jr. (who was on stage as a member of the band at the FIT show).
One last tidbit: a version of "2 Tone Army" (recorded months before the Hard Band sessions by the Moon Ska Stompers, which was comprised of members of The Toasters and NY Ska Jazz Ensemble, as well as Victor Rice and King Django) became the theme music for the very cool animated/stop action Nickelodeon show "Kablam!".
NYC's brilliant Dub Is A Weapon will be releasing their long-awaited new CD "Vaporized" on 4/26/11 through Harmonized Records. However, you don't have to wait until then to check out the album--you can preview all the tracks here, as well as download some free mp3s of other DIAW material (some of it live) here.
Dub is A Weapon will also be gigging in New York and New England this March and April (note the NYC record release party on 4/16/11), in addition to playing some shows with John Brown's Body.
DIAW 2011 Spring Tour/Record Release Parties
Friday, March 25 @ 7:00 pm: Mount Snow Reggae Fest, Snow Barn, Mount Snow, VT
Friday, April 15 @ 10:00 pm: Albany Record Release Party! Red Square, Albany, NY
Saturday, April 16 @ 10:00 pm: Vaporized Record Release Party! Sullivan Hall, New York, NY
Thursday, April 21 @ 8:00 pm: On Tour with John Brown's Body, Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
Friday, April 22 @ 10:00 pm: Vermont Record Release Party! Nectar's, Burlington, VT
Saturday, April 23 @ 8:00 pm : On Tour with John Brown's Body, Tralf Music Hall, Buffalo, NY
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Also, on Thursday nights when Dub Is A Weapon isn't on the road, band leader Dave Hahn hits the decks as Hahn Solo, hosting "Roots Rock Reggae" alongside Carter Van Pelt (WKCR-FM) at Motor City Bar in Manhattan (127 Ludlow between Rivington and Delancey). They spin reggae wax from 6:30 pm 'til 10:00 pm--and it's free!
With a festival of this size and length, it's no surprise that there has been a plethora of info being pumped out from Rockers Revolt offices to the ska scene about the 2011 London International Ska Festival...and to be honest, it's been hard to keep up with everything as it seemed like every day brought another fantastic new development.
Well, since the fest is now only about a month away, here is a terrific video that provides you with all the info regarding what bands/DJs are performing on which day of the event. Wish we could be there ourselves...
No sooner am I done with reviewing the latest album (Jacuzzi) by his alter ego King Hammond, Nick Welsh goes and announces that his new album (The Life & Times of a Ska Man) is coming down the skinhead reggae pipeline soon.
Here is the video for a cut from that album, "The Voice of the People," that sports some excellent old footage of The Prince himself:
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And since we're on the Nick Welsh/King Hammond subject, we might as well take this opportunity to post the artwork from King Hammond's forthcoming Floorshaker LP from Jump Up Records...
I saw Gaz Mayall at the Y this morning. Okay, he wasn't exactly at the gym on the elliptical machine next to me. As I was hauling my sorry self over to the treadmills for a run, I spotted The Beat's "Save it For Later" video on one of the TV monitors (they pump in a 80s music video station as one of our viewing options). The sharp-eyed will know that Gaz appears several times in The Beat video as one of the customers in the night spot where the band is performing. And since it is St. Patrick's Day in one of the most Irish cities in the world (and my wife's family is Irish and our kids are obviously half Irish), it got me thinking that Gaz and his stellar band The Trojans recorded a number of Celtic ska tracks (he released a CD of them, Celtic Ska, on Gaz's Rockin' Records), including the great "Gaelic Ska" from The Trojan's debut album, Ala-Ska, which was recorded way back in 1987. Here's that video for your viewing pleasure...
Who else but the great King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh, songwriter-bassist-singer for Skaville UK, The Selecter, Big 5, and Bad Manners) would be audacious enough to release not one but two stellar albums (the other record in question is the killer The King and I; you can read our review of it here)--as well as a pair of spin-off vinyl EPs, Riot in London Town and Hey Mr. DJ--all within a six-month period?! Jacuzzi contains everything that one could ask of King Hammond and more: super catchy ska and skinhead reggae tunes; wonderfully cheeky lyrics; booty-shaking, groovin' grooves; and impeccable performances (which are all more impressive, as I think Nick played every instrument on the album--at one point in "Reggay Train" he shouts out, sounding a bit surprised himself, "King Hammond's on the fiddle!").
The hot tub of the shimmering title track (and you gotta love how the chorus goes "Jah, Jah, Jah-cuzzi") is a people soup metaphor for slumming it on the seamier, ethically-challenged, hedonistic side of life. You know in your heart and head that giving into temptation is wrong, but it feels so damn right: "Holy Mother, forgive me for my sins/I always fall from grace when the day begins/Look into my eyes and tell me what you see?/The grand illusion or cold reality?/Bad drugs and Englishmen are only a call away/For the Cowboys and the Indians, who want to come and play/in the jacuzzi?...Look back in wonder at Paradise missed/but I was in the deep end of a personal abyss/When luck was handed out, I guess I missed the queue/I couldn't get my jeans on in time to meet with you." It's the hell of being keenly self-aware (coupled with a working knowledge of right and wrong) and the heaven of getting off on one's vices (hey, everybody's got their own angel and devil whispering in each ear: "All men are equal...in the jacuzzi!")
"Riot in London Town" (which also appears on its eponymous EP) bemoans the fact that so much of London is being torn down and replaced with crap architecture. The hippie pop psychedelia of the late 1960s--the flip side of the mod/skinhead revolution--typically creeps in the edges of King Hammond's music as it, no doubt, influenced the skinhead reggae artists of the day. On "Hammond-edlic!," the King lets his freak flag fly, urging listeners to "drop in...drop out" on this throbbing, deeply-layered, incredibly trippy and funky reggay instrumental (did I hear tablas in there?). Without question, this is my favorite track on the album.
"Tattoo Girls" is a loping ode to ladies with ink ("Rude girls in Mexico, Rockabillies in the USA!"). "Reggay Train" builds on the proto-skinhead reggae rhythm of The Pioneers' "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" and/or Symarip's "Skinhead Moonstomp" (which is really Derrick Morgan's "Moon Hop") to deliver us in rude boy style to Rainbow City circa 1969. "Chicken and Chips" celebrates King Hammond's addiction to KFC's crispy (or extra-crispy?) product, though it's all presented/projected through a female protagonist (before Nick set me straight, I thought this was a song about lesbians--"That girl just eats chicken and chips/She won't put nothing else to her lips...She used to be finger lickin' good--better than the rest/Now the thing that turns her on is leg or a breast"--I'm always on the lookout for the subtext in everything, real or imagined!).
"They Will Rise" is a cheery, calypso-esque warning to all righteous souls not to surrender an inch to the many bad-minded people amongst us: "And if you feel like you've been taken/You're not the first, won't be the last/And if you let them rule your situation/They will rise..." While we're on the subject of people trying to do us in, the King kisses off an ex that specialized in head games in "Three Card Trick" ("I don't want to play that game no more!").
"Bongo Ska Fever" is an awesomely propulsive vintage ska stomper that Prince Buster never wrote (love how he pronounces 'ska' as 'skar'), while "From the Hip" smoothly visits Harry J's All Stars territory. "The Hanky Panky" ("King Hammond has ESP/Extra! Sexual! Perception!...Girls and boys/like the hanky panky/Have some fun/you know it's true/They like to kiss it up/they want to hug it up, too/they like to feel it up/and then they follow it through") and "Reggae Movement #2" (which alludes to a certain part of the body "moving" in every sense of the word) are knowing, slightly naughty dirty reggae instrumental cuts that would make it past the broadcast censors, but still have the inner-twelve-year-olds in us snickering away, 'cause we really know what they are all about.
As always, King Hammond manages to successfully embody the spirit and sound of late sixties skinhead reggae while creating thoroughly original and winning cuts. It really doesn't get much better than this--count me amongst the King's loyal musical subjects! Long live King Hammond!
Scotland's Amphetameanies have a eye-popping new video (love it when they're playing on the Moon--and keep an eye out for the Death Star!) out for their single "Good One Go" (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here).
As you (should) know, The Amphetameanies are one of the featured acts on the upcoming 2011 London International Ska Festival--they are playing day three:
Saturday, April 23, 2011 The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling (UK/USA) Gaz Mayall’s Gaelic Ska Champions (UK) Intensified (UK) Napoleon Solo (Denmark) The Amphetameanies (Scotland) Jimmy the Squirrel DJs throughout show: Felix Hall & tba - Club night running after bands through til 3am: Lynval Golding (The Specials) & Wrongtom's Ska Review
(For the line-up of the entire London Ska Fest--Owen Grey is the latest addition--click here.)
It's a revelation that is unlikely to increase ska's cool quotient: the Queen Mum liked Jamaican ska and apparently had several LPs in her collection.
An article in today's Daily Mail (UK) notes that contents of the Queen Mother's personal record collection were made public for the first time. Not surprisingly, she came into contact with the music via a fairly highbrow connection (what, you think she went to dance to a sound system at a street party?!):
"...the Queen Mother, who died aged 101 in 2002, picked up an appreciation for West Indian music during visits to Jamaica.
‘During one of her trips to the Caribbean in the Sixties she was introduced to ska music, which she became very fond of.
‘Noel Coward, who was a personal friend, had a house called Firefly in Jamaica and she greatly enjoyed her visits there.'"
Sadly, the piece does not mention the titles of these ska albums...that bit of info would be fascinating.
Just a quick reminder that the Version City Party has returned to Manhattan with a show at Shrine in Harlem tonight from 6:00pm - 11:00 pm (3/12/11). All of the details can be found here.
As always, MOJO Magazine continues to be one of the few mainstream music publications offering consistently good coverage of ska and reggae (even if it tends to be generally backward-looking--re-issues, re-unions, and such--and not so much on the current scene...but, we'll take whatever we can get!).
This month's issue features The Smiths on the cover--and I'll cop to having an intense love/hate relationship with the band. "How Soon is Now?" is probably one of the best New Wave songs of the 80s (more often than not, it was cranking on the radio in the family Oldsmobile station wagon that I used to cruise Yonkers and the Bronx in high school); Johnny Marr is a musical genius; and I still intensely love at least half of the songs in their catalogue. Having said that, you gotta take Morrissey in small doses. Case in point: driving back to the city from upstate recently, I had The Sound of The Smiths playing on the stereo and after about 30 minutes (the playlist: "Bigmouth Strikes Again," "There is a Light That Never Goes Out," "Panic," "Ask," "Shoplifters of the World Unite," "Sheila Take a Bow" and "Girlfriend in a Coma"), my wife was clawing at her ears and hoping that a double-decker bus would smash into us...
Now back to our regularly scheduled ska and reggae programming!
In the April 2011 issue of MOJO, reggae expert David Katz gives the new Dennis BrownAt Joe Gibbs (17 North Parade) box set four stars ("The overall feeling is of an exceptional talent fully in command of his abilities, backed by some of the best reggae players of all time"). Culture'sAt Joe Gibbs (17 North Parade) also rates four stars (Katz writes, "This box set reissues the two initial Gibbs produced albums [Two Sevens Clash and Baldhead Bridge], plus a later Gibbs compilation More Culture, and a bonus disc of rare singles from the same era, all of which still sounds truly fine today").
Ian Harrison notes in his "The Vinyl Countdown" column that I-Roy'sGussie Presenting I Roy has been re-issued on 180 gm vinyl by Sunspot (and that this imprint will be releasing Big Youth's awesome Screaming Target next). And the "Filter Reissues Extra" section heralds the millionth reissue of The Upsetters' Blackboard Jungle (Get on Down); I already have several different versions of this album, so I think I'll pass on this one.
Fans of Bob Marley and the Wailers may be interested in the review of the new book "I & I: The Natural Mystics Marley, Tosh & Wailer" by Colin Grant. Andrew Perry dubs it worthy of four stars--and notes that perhaps one of the more interesting observations it makes concerns the band's--and Marley's in particular--embrace of Rastafarianism. Perry writes, "For Marley, it was all about coming through the confusion of his mixed-race parentage, the author believes, and asserting his blackness." "The Small Axe Guide to Dub" by Jim Dooley is also evaluated (by David Katz, who gives it four stars out of five)--it's a guide to over 200 of the best dub albums--and judged to be "a very useful reference point for all dubheads".
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Bonus: News from The Only Band That Mattered! Yeah, I know this is a ska blog, but The Clash incorporated a lot of ska and reggae into their mix--plus I'm a enormous fan--so they're getting some space here! There was an incredible feature article in the March 3, 2011 of Rolling Stone (with the tween pop anti-Christ Justin Beiber on the cover) about the rise and crash of The Clash: "The Fury and the Power of the Clash" by Mikal Gilmore. The piece is not available on-line unless you have a subscription (though there is a short interview with Mikal Gilmore about his interactions with The Clash over the years posted here), so track down a copy of this issue at your local magazine shop or newsstand.
And in Clash-related news, MOJO reports on the return of Big Audio Dynamite. BAD has reunited and is touring the UK and the US this spring (playing Roseland in NYC on 4/19/11--I've got tix, but had to sacrifice an arm and leg to do so). BAD's 1985 debut, This is Big Audio Dynamite, was re-issued with bonus tracks last year and MOJO notes that their follow-up, No. 10, Upping St., which was co-written and produced with Joe Strummer, will be coming out the pipeline this year. According to Mick Jones, there are a bunch of unreleased tracks demos penned by (and maybe even featuring) Strummer from these sessions knocking about Jones' flat that might be included on this expanded version!
Apparently, Jonesy was inspired to get BAD back together after touring with the Gorillaz (Jones: "...there was a continuity from BAD that came to me, they were trying a similar kind of aesthetic that I recognized"). The version of BAD hitting the road (dates below) is the original 1985-1989 line-up:
Mick Jones - vocals and guitar Don Letts - sound effects and vocals Dan Donovan - keyboards Leo Williams - bass Greg Roberts - drums and background vocals
And, using their original gear and samples, BAD will be playing tunes from albums released during this era: This Is Big Audio Dynamite (1985), No. 10, Upping St. (1986), Tighten Up Vol. 88 (1988), and Megatop Phoenix (1989).
Big Audio Dynamite - 2011 UK/US Tour Dates
Tues, March 29th - Liverpool - O2 Academy Wed, March 30th - Glasgow - O2 ABC Thurs, March 31st - Newcastle - O2 Academy Sat, April 2nd - London - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire Sun, April 3rd - London - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire Weds, April 6th - Nottingham - Rock City Thurs, April 7th - Leeds - O2 Academy Fri, April 8th - Manchester - Academy Sat, April 9th - Bristol - O2 Academy
Thu, April 14th - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theater Sat, April 16th - Coachella Festival Tue, April 19th - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
First of all, his whole new Reggae 69 Fan Club is simply brilliant (check out some of the details here). Essentially, a whole bunch of us ska and skinhead reggae fans made pledges in various amounts to the Reggae 69 Fan Club through Kickstarter and Jason is using these funds to print up the series of six exclusive, limited-edition vinyl singles (featuring Ocean 11 w/Queen P & Malik of The Bullets, Queen P & The Apologies, the Irie Beats, The Bullets, Roger Rivas, The Revivers, and The Impalers, amongst others), plus pins, stickers, patches, posters, and more. The cool thing is, if you don't have a lot of disposable income in these down-and-out times, you can still participate and have Jason send you a nice care package from the club; should you have a little more change weighing down your pocket, your Reggae 69 box can be considerably heavier...
For someone like myself whose love of vinyl 45s has been re-kindled in the last year or so (there have been a slew of really good ska singles recently, including a bunch from the Ska is Dead 7" series), Reggae 69 is a freakin' dream come true!
Now comes word from Jason that Reggae 69 Fan Club and its new imprint Moondust Records have just struck a deal to re-issue four Laurel Aitken skinhead reggae-era tracks on two double-A sided singles: "Reggae 69" b/w "Big Fight In Hell Stadium" and "Apollo 12 (Skinhead Invasion)" b/w "Moon Rock"! (Listen to these cuts via the videos posted below.) As a huge Laurel Aitken fan, I'm particularly thrilled by this development. I've had the honor and pleasure of knowing and working with Laurel (during my stint at Moon Ska Records) and he really was the best--an incredibly gifted songwriter, musician, and performer, and a true gentleman.
So, you may be asking yourself, why is The Duff Guide to Ska pushing this club if the pledge period is over? Well, even though the project is fully funded, you can still join the Reggae 69 Fan Club to enjoy the fruits of Jason Lawless' labor (he'll just print up more copies of everything)!
Not sure what category this falls under, but it's kinda fun for aspiring DJs and MCs. (Dig through the crate and give the DATC lion a dubplate to get things going!)
(Hat tip to Marco on the Bass for pointing this out as "Minutes of fun with Mikey Dread.")
If you are a Jersey rude boy or girl, you'll want to make sure to get down to the Bigger Thomas (post-2 Tone ska) and Pidgin Droppings (reggae) show at the Hat City Kitchen in Orange, NJ tonight! (All of the details are listed in the image to the right, which you can enlarge a bit by clicking on it.) The Bigger Thomas line-up this evening will feature ace guest musicians Dave Barry (The Toasters) and Roy Radics (The Rudie Crew).
Bigger Thomas always put on a stellar set (a source tells me that they will be appearing at one of the Dirty Reggae Parties at The Lake in Bushwick soon!)--check out a video I shot of them performing a cover of The Specials' classic "Nite Klub" (with several musicians who were touring with The Specials at the time) at the NYC Ska Festival at B.B. King's last spring.
This is definitely a very cool development for the NYC ska scene: Version City is back in Manhattan after a long exile in Brooklyn! Welcome back to where ya belong!
The next Version City party--which is free, by the way (a huge plus in these downtrodden times)--is taking place on Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at Shrine in Harlem with a spectacular line-up (see below).
If you haven't been, Shrine is a great, intimate venue to catch ska and reggae acts--and very easy to get to. The last time I was there I took a city bus that dropped me off right in front of the venue and I walked just a few blocks to take the 2 train back downtown (or you can always catch a cab or car service back home). For a taste of the club, check out the video I shot of The Bluebeats performing The Drifters' "I Count the Tears" at Shrine back in the fall of 2009.
Here are all of the details:
Version City Harlem Saturday March 12, 2011
Shrine World Music Venue 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (7th Avenue at 134th Street) New York, NY
I gotta tell ya, I can hardly keep up with King Hammond these days! I'm in the midst of reviewing Jacuzzi, his second album in a six-month period, and still need to write up his brand new Mr. DJ vinyl EP--and now he's gone and unleashed even more fantastic music upon us! Check out the video below for the sweet new rocksteady tune "Easy Lovin'" below.
Word also has it that Jump Up Records will be releasing a King Hammond album in the US in the near future. It's going to be 14 tracks and is tentatively dubbed Floorshaker.
Jump Up Records
