Friday, April 29, 2016

Lord Tanamo, RIP

Lord Tanamo
I was away for much of this week, so am behind on reviews, news, etc. So, please forgive this late post on Lord Tanamo's passing.

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On April 24, The Jamaican Observer announced that singer and songwriter Lord Tanamo (AKA Joseph Gordon)--a founding member of The Skatalites--passed away in Toronto at 82 on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. When I last wrote about Lord Tanamo in 2009, he had suffered a stroke, was in a nursing home, and had no contact with family or friends.

In tribute to Lord Tanamo, I'm re-posting my review of his excellent final album--Best Place in the World--recorded with Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior Allstars in 2000, which includes some background on Lord Tanamo's musical career. (One of the best collections of his original recordings is Trojan's I'm in The Mood for Ska: The Best of Lord Tanamo, released in 2007.)

We offer our deepest condolences to Lord Tanamo's family, friends, and colleagues.

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Lord Tanamo with Dr. Ring Ding and The Senior Allstars
Best Place in the World
Grover Records (Germany)
2000

(Review by Steve Shafer)

It is fitting that Lord Tanamo, the first singer to front the brilliant Skatalites in the early 60s (he is said to have dubbed them the “Satellites”--this was the era of Sputnik and the space race, after all--and that quickly evolved into The Skatalites), should make an album with Dr. Ring Ding and The Senior Allstars, who are arguably one of the best ska/rocksteady/reggae acts currently on the planet. Lord Tanamo knows a top-notch band when he hears it, and he’s always backed by the best.

Lord Tanamo (AKA Joseph Gordon) launched his musical career in the early 1950s (when he was singing mento, R and B, jazz and calypso tunes, and by the middle of that decade was working with pre-Skatalite members Lloyd Brevette and Lester Sterling); half a century later, his gruff, yet wonderfully versatile voice is still in amazing shape. It almost goes without saying that Dr. Ring Ding and The Senior Allstars are in top form here (and yet their style of playing is so understated and confidently relaxed--the best always make it seem so easy!).

Best Place in the World kicks off with Tanamo’s signature tune with The Skatalites, his cover of Jimmy McHugh's and Dorothy Fields' 1935 song “In the Mood for Love” (AKA “In the Mood for Ska”), and several of his best-known songs recording with them are represented in fine form here, such as “Come Dung” and the Don Drummond tribute “Big Trombone.” Tanamo scored a big hit in the 70s with a reggae cover of “Rainy Night in Georgia” (which Prince Buster also transformed into the semi-naughty “Big 5”), and this version is truly sublime. The stripped-down cover of Prince Buster’s “Hard Man Fe Dead” is a revelation, with its acoustic guitar, congas, and spiritual-like backing vocals (and dare I say that it is almost better than the original?).

Yet the real gems of this album are Tanamo’s lesser-known songs, as well as several brand new tunes.  From Lord Tanamo’s back catalogue comes the surprisingly smooth ‘n’ sexy “Keep Moving”; the admonishing and upbeat treat-your-mother-right “Mother’s Love” (“A mother’s love is from creation/it is truly the greatest association”); and the sing-along rude boy tale of crime in “Iron Bar,” among others. Tanamo’s new tunes easily measure up to the caliber of his previous work: the unabashedly romantic “Best Place in the World” (“…is the place that you were born”), the wonderful old-school calypso “Musso,” and the rhythmic love song “Out of this Big World.”

After listening to Best Place in the World, it strikes me that Dr. Ring Ding and The Senior Allstars’ style of composing and arranging ska and rocksteady songs is very much in the same vein as Lord Tanamo’s (listen to their stunning debut album “Dandimite” after Best Place in the World and you’d never know that there had been almost 40 years between the time each set of songs was written). Dr. Ring Ding and The Senior Allstars don’t imitate the old time ska sound, they inhabit it--and that’s what makes this album (and the band in general) work so well. (Having said all that, it is eerie how much Dr. Ring Ding sounds like Lord Tanamo.) The Best Place in the World is wherever you are when you listen to this album, because the music that will be pumping out of your speakers is awesome. Get it!

(Originally reviewed in October 2000 and published in Read Magazine.)


Friday, April 22, 2016

The Duff Guide to Ska NYC Spring/Summer 2016 Ska Calendar #28

The Bodysnatchers from back in the day...
Friday, April 22, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Brother Jerome, The Ladrones, Faith

The Bowery Electric
327 Bowery
New York, NY

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Saturday, April 23, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Lonely Atom Records presents The Oneness, The Screw-Ups, Love is a Fist, Bears Bears Bears (w/DJ Ryan Midnight)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street
New York, NY
21+/No cover

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Friday, April 29, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

NOFX, Direct Hit!, Mephiskapheles

Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
New York, NY
$27/16+

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Friday, April 29, 2016

Rent Party w/Rude Boy George

The Woodland
60 Woodland Road
Maplewood, NJ
$10

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Sunday, May 1, 2016 @ 9:00 AM


Rude Boy George

Five Boro Bike Tour
21st Street and 38th Avenue
Long Island City, Queens
Free

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Saturday, May 7, 2016 @ 3:00 pm

Barra Brava, (A)TRUTH, Boomshot, LAKRAS

Big Band
69-24 Queens Boulevard
Queens, NY
$15

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Friday, May 13, 2016

Mustard Plug, Rude Boy George

Bell's Eccentric Cafe Back Room
355 East Kalamazoo Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI

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Saturday, May 14, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

Dubistry

The Shrine
2271 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard
New York, NY
No cover!

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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Mustard Plug, Rude Boy George

Founders Brewing Co.
235 Grandville Avenue SW
Grand Rapids, MI

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Monday, May 16, 2016 @ 6:30 pm

Stacked Like Pancakes, Beat Brigade (featuring original BB sax man Nelson Rivera!), Whaleneck

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street
New York, NY
$10/18+

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Saturday, June 4, 2016 @ 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Rude Boy George

West Orange Street Fair
Edison National Historic Site
211 Main Street
West Orange, NJ
Free

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Thursday, June 16, 2016 @ 8:30 pm

The Duff Guide to Ska presents: The Rudie Crew All-Stars, Skarroñeros, and 1592 (from Detroit!) w/DJ Ryan Midnight

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (between Avenues A and B)
Alphabet City
New York
No cover/21+

(Bring some extra cash for when we pass the hat for each band!)

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Sunday, June 19, 2016--from Noon to 10:00 pm

*****The Well and The Duff Guide to Ska present Skamela: An All-Star NYC Ska Benefit for Roy Radics' Family*****

Pilfers, King Django, The Rudie Crew All-Stars, Reggay Lords, The Ladrones, Funkface, and many more bands and artists to be announced soon!

Outdoor/All-day festival!

The Well
272 Meserole Street
Brooklyn, NY

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Tuesday, June 28, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Toasters

Revolution Bar and Music Hall
140 Merrick Road
Amityville, NY

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Saturday, July 9, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Scofflaws, Lowhency Pierre, Atlantic Avenue, Thin Lear

Pianos NYC
158 Ludlow Street
New York, NY
$10/21+

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Friday, August 26, 2016 @ 7:00 pm (boat departs at 8:00 pm)

Rocks Off Booze Cruise with The Slackers

The Liberty Belle departs from Pier 36
299 South Street
Manhattan, NY
21+
$30 in advance/$35 day of show

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Friday, September 9, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Specials

Terminal 5
610 West 56th Street
Manhattan, NY
$45.00 (plus service fees)

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Thursday, April 21, 2016

The Duff Guide to Ska Remembers Prince

(by Steve Shafer)

Whether or not I realized it at the time, Prince's 1999--a double LP released in 1982--was one of the first massively popular albums that appealed to every teenager I encountered, no matter what their color, background, or scene. White New Wave/post-punk kids like me loved it, the black girls in my church youth choir whose tastes ran more toward rhythm and blues and early hip-hop loved it, the classic rock suburban white boys who hung out on the periphery of our church youth group loved it--even MTV, which at that point in time didn't broadcast videos by black artists, started being less racist and showed "Little Red Corvette" the love by placing it in heavy rotation. (One of the great things about the early 80s in NYC was how music started to become desegregated on the airwaves--The Clash's "Magnificent 7" and Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science" were played on the "urban"-oriented WBLS, while the suburban Long Island New Wave/modern rock WLIR played Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message" and Musical Youth's "Pass the Dutchie." We all felt that great music was great music--the color of the artists' skin shouldn't keep the music from being played...)

After picking up the album--and particularly loving the apocalyptic title track that reflected my fears of dying in a nuclear war--I went down to 8th Street in Greenwich Village and bought a purple 1999 t-shirt with the album artwork on the front and the lyrics to "1999" on the back (though I almost bought The Beat shirt that Sting wore in video for "Don't Stand So Close to Me"--I didn't have enough money for both). I wore it so much that my dad, a full-time college professor who also was a Presbyterian minister (though one without a congregation), took note of it. He innocently asked me if he could borrow the shirt for something that he was working on. That following Sunday, he was the guest preacher at our church in Riverdale and I realized I was in deep trouble--I actually slunk down in the pew where I was sitting with several of the girls I desperately wanted to date--when he unfurled the back of my t-shirt with the lyrics to "1999" from the pulpit and began to warn us off the end-of-the-world hedonism of Prince's song, since there was an afterlife to look forward to with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, etc. (I can still hear my dad slowly and dramatically reciting the chorus, "Yeah, they say two-thousand-zero-zero party over/Oops, out of time/So, tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999.") My friends were mostly kind, but it was a mortifying experience--and, in retaliation, I probably worked on my hedonism (as mild as it was) harder than usual in the following months.

I didn't actually see "Purple Rain" until years later, but really loved the film's soundtrack (as did all the kids from all the scenes and both the black and white radio stations), and listened to all the girls in the youth group rave about scenes from the movie at parties and our Sunday lunches at the pizza parlor or McDonald's. But I did see Prince and The Revolution at Madison Square Garden in August 1986--his first ever appearance there--from the last row in the uppermost deck. We used binoculars to actually see Prince on stage and I remember feeling the great distance between us and the action. My girlfriend at the time didn't hide her lusty enthusiasm for Prince and my (stupid) feelings of jealousy and inadequacy dampened my enjoyment of the show (though I probably wasn't the only boyfriend in the Garden feeling that way)!

Prince's music was a vital part of the crazy, multi-genre and multicultural soundtrack of my youth (all of which was housed under the New Wave label)--and I'll forever be grateful to him for sharing his extraordinary gifts with all of us.

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Prince Rogers Nelson will be very much missed. Rest in peace.

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Duff Review: Sammy Buzz "The Buzzman Cometh"

Self-released
CD
2016

(Review by Steve Shafer)

King Hammond musical collaborator Sammy Buzz (nee Wilson), who should be familiar to devoted readers of The Duff Guide to Ska (I reviewed his I'm Buzzin' EP in late 2012--and two of those tracks, "Cigarettes" and "I'm Buzzin'" are reprised here), has just released his truly marvelous debut album, The Buzzman Cometh, which features some seriously fun and memorable tracks about himself, women, ska-related matters, and just trying to make your way through life with your body and spirit intact.

Buzz's modern ska reminds this reviewer of the brilliant sounds created in the late 80s UK ska scene (Laurel Aitken, Bad Manners, The Trojans, Potato 5, Maroon Town, The Loafers, King Hammond, The Riffs, The Deltones, etc.)--definitely post-2 Tone and greatly influenced by those bands (particularly The Beat and--even though they weren't 2 Tone--The Equators), but not quite classifiably Third Wave (or whatever has come to pass in the years since). However you categorize his ska, Sammy Buzz writes some exceptionally good tunes (which are expertly produced by Steve Crittal) that should not be missed.

The album begins ominously (a bell tolls for you) with the excellent, melodramatic, spaghetti Western-flavored "The Buzzman Cometh." "Maaga Gal" (maaga is Jamaican patois for skinny--I had to look it up) is the catchiest ska song you've ever heard about a singer's concern and love for his underweight (anorexic?) girlfriend ("She may be skin and bone/but she's my very own...She may be lacking in flesh/But she's the very best!"). "Ruff Ride Ruff" borrows Prince Buster's instantly recognizable "Rough Rider" bass line, but isn't the expected lewd track--it's about a good-for-nothing being thrown out of the house by his strict mom ("She's rougher that the carpet in me room/Tougher than the bristles pon the broom/She's rougher than my pet hedgehog/Rough like a flea-bitten dog...").

"Rude Boys and Rude Girls" is a fantastic earworm of ska tune that essentially asks that the ongoing battle of the sexes be left at the door--the gig is all about dancing and pleasure. "We 'ave Fe Flex" is another lovely catchy track that reiterates the perennial plea for love, peace, and understanding: "Love thy neighbor/And love thy enemy/Give thanks and blessings/that we were born free/Keep out of trouble/and live healthy/Just look at the world and see that/Time so hard/We have Fe Flex..." The gentle and hilarious tweak of the nose of ska record collectors who like to boast that, whatever the title, "I Got It On Vinyl" hits this vinyl-obsessive reviewer close to home, but it makes me love it all the more, since it's so on the money (the taunting "la, la, la, la, las" between all of the "I got it on vinyl" refrains is a nice touch!).

The singer is almost mowed down while trying to cross the street by a driver being chased by the police in the dubby "Mad Traffick." "I Need a Holiday," a frantic dancehall cut, describes the singer trying to soak up as much relaxation as possible on vacation, only to find it immediately dissipate upon return to reality. "Cigarettes" is a public service announcement with a ska beat, coughs, and cheesy, 70s-sounding keyboard lines, urging listeners to quit this pernicious, addictive habit before it's too late ("Cigarette, cigarette/It can cause your death"), and Sammy offers a few hair-raising examples of why one should quit: "I had a friend called Bernadette/who was addicted to a cigarette/She smoked all day/and in bed at night/until her bedroom, it catch alight/She's not with us anymore/Now's she's knocking on Heaven's door/A big fat lesson to all of you/give up the cigarette, it's overdue!"

"Boss Skinhead" is another great self-referential song in a musical genre full of them (Laurel Aitken, amongst others, is name-checked here), while "I'm Buzzin'" spells out Sammy Buzz's let-the-good-times-roll, can't-change-fate approach to life ("I'm buzzing'/but I'm not out of my mind/Don't need no complication/An easy life for me/Don't work, no botheration/Yeah, what will be will be"). It's a very nice slice of upbeat ska for when your troubles might be grinding you down. The future's not so bright in the cold, New Wave-ish, "1984"-type tale "Urban Citizen," which denounces governmental surveillance of its people.

In addition to the 12 songs on the album, there are two cool bonus tracks, the lost and broken-hearted "Standing Here Alone" (which says it all, really) and a sunny, unnamed instrumental track ("Nice It Up"?) that's guaranteed to improve your outlook, even on the darkest of days.

Sammy Buzz's The Buzzman Cometh is one of the best new ska albums I've listened to and enjoyed this year. You should make sure to hear it, too!


Sunday, April 17, 2016

The First Duff Guide to Ska Show of the Year: The Rudie Crew All-Stars, Detroit's 1592, and Skarroñeros!

Hey, kids, we're putting on shows again!

The Duff Guide to Ska is producing it's first ska show of the year in June at one of our favorite places in New York: Otto's Shrunken Head tiki bar in Manhattan's still sort-of infamous Alphabet City.

All of the details are to the right, but we'd like you to note that this is going to be a pretty special night, with appearances by The Rudie Crew All-Stars, who are honoring their fallen comrade Roy Radics by keeping on making the music that he loved with all of his heart and soul; the fantastic Detroit rocksteady group 1592, who are making a stop in the Big Apple during their summer tour; and one of our favorite groups from the NYC Latino ska scene, the left-wing musical and political activists Skarroñeros! (Also on hand will be DJ Ryan Midnight, who will be selecting ska music for your pleasure.)

There's no cover for the night, but I ask that you please bring some extra cash (in addition to whatever you need for the bar--remember to tip the barkeep well!) for when we pass the hat for each band--to show your appreciation for each band's music and work!

A few other Duff Guide to Ska shows will be forthcoming later this year. Stay tuned for details!




Saturday, April 16, 2016

New Video for Heavensbee's "Bombs Away"!

Our friends in Heavensbee have just unleashed a truly excellent and funny video for their song "Bombs Away" that you should check out immediately (props to director Patricia Koo)! This reggae-pop trio (made up of members of Rude Boy George, Bigger Thomas, and Across the Aisle) recently had their debut album Soul Mates (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here) picked up for release on CD in the UK by Paul Willo's Specialized Records--and this video should help move some units, so to speak.

Soul Mates is available in the US through Heavensbee's Bandcamp page.




Stubborn Records' "Upsetter Fire Rescue Squad" Shirt and Patch to Raise Money for Lee "Scratch" Perry After Fire Destroys Studio

Stubborn Records has launched an “Upsetter Fire Rescue Squad” fundraising benefit t-shirt and embroidered patch as a means to provide financial and emotional support to 80-year old reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry AKA “The Upsetter.”

As you may remember from this Duff Guide to Ska post, Perry’s home studio was completely destroyed in a blaze in December 2015, after which Perry’s wife said, “he didn’t even have a pair of shoes to wear.” 100% of the profits from the sale of the t-shirt and patch will go directly to Lee Perry. The shirts and patches are available now for only $15 and $5.00 respectively at www.stubbornrecords.com.

Stubborn founder King Django, a long-time Perry devotee, came up with the fundraising idea and worked with Steve Kitchen of Vancouver, Canada’s combination13.com to develop the brand-new four-color design. Kitchen was kind enough to donate his artwork to the cause, while Jeremy Myers of Jumpstart Screenprinting in Southampton, PA came on board offering a generous manufacturing subsidy.

According to Django, “I met Lee and his wife by chance in the Zurich airport just as I had wrapped up a European tour. They were both so kind and warm, I will never forget it. When I heard about the fire, I was heartbroken and speechless, and I had to think of some way to help.”


Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Duff Guide to Ska NYC Winter/Spring/Summer 2016 Ska Calendar #27

Bring The Nutty Boys to NYC!
Tuesday, April 12, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Steel Pulse, Organically Good Trio, DJ Jah Culture

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$25 in advance/$30 day of show
21+

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Friday, April 15, 2016 @ 6:00 pm

Big D and the Kids Table, Counterpunch, The Doped Up Dollies, The Far East

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$13 in advance/$15 day of show
16+

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Saturday, April 16, 2016 @ 3:00 pm

Tribute to Roy Radics w/Dubistry, Honeychild Coleman, Rudites

Grand Victory
245 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY
21+

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Saturday, April 16, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Pietasters, Hub City Stompers, The Snails, Reggay Lords!

Sunnyvale Brooklyn
1031 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY
$17 in advance/$20 day of show

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Friday, April 22, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Brother Jerome, The Ladrones, Faith

The Bowery Electric
327 Bowery
New York, NY

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Saturday, April 23, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Lonely Atom Records presents The Oneness, The Screw-Ups, Love is a Fist, Bears Bears Bears (w/DJ Ryan Midnight)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street
New York, NY
21+/No cover

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Friday, April 29, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

NOFX, Direct Hit!, Mephiskapheles

Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
New York, NY
$27/16+

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Friday, April 29, 2016

Rent Party w/Rude Boy George

The Woodland
60 Woodland Road
Maplewood, NJ
$10

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Sunday, May 1, 2016 @ 9:00 AM

Rude Boy George

Five Boro Bike Tour
21st Street and 38th Avenue
Long Island City, Queens
Free

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Saturday, May 7, 2016 @ 3:00 pm

Barra Brava, (A)TRUTH, Boomshot, LAKRAS

Big Band
69-24 Queens Boulevard
Queens, NY
$15

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Friday, May 13, 2016


Mustard Plug, Rude Boy George

Bell's Eccentric Cafe Back Room
355 East Kalamazoo Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI

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Saturday, May 14, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

Dubistry

The Shrine
2271 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard
New York, NY
No cover!

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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Mustard Plug, Rude Boy George

Founders Brewing Co.
235 Grandville Avenue SW
Grand Rapids, MI

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Monday, May 16, 2016 @ 6:30 pm

Stacked Like Pancakes, Beat Brigade, Whaleneck

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street
New York, NY
$10/18+

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Saturday, June 4, 2016 @ 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Rude Boy George

West Orange Street Fair
Edison National Historic Site
211 Main Street
West Orange, NJ
Free

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Thursday, June 16, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

The Duff Guide to Ska presents: The Rudie Crew All-Stars, Skarroñeros, and 1592 (from Detroit!) w/DJ Ryan Midnight

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (between Avenues A and B)
Alphabet City
New York
No cover/21+
(Bring some extra cash for when we pass the hat for each band!)

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Sunday, June 19, 2016

*****The Well and The Duff Guide to Ska present Skamela: An All-Star NYC Ska Benefit for Roy Radics' Family*****

Details to be released soon!
Mark your calendars!
Outdoor/All-day festival!
Top ska acts/Top ska and reggae selectors!
Bushwick, NY

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Tuesday, June 28, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Toasters

Revolution Bar and Music Hall
140 Merrick Road
Amityville, NY

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Friday, August 26, 2016 @ 7:00 pm (boat departs at 8:00 pm)

Rocks Off Booze Cruise with The Slackers

The Liberty Belle departs from Pier 36
299 South Street
Manhattan, NY
21+
$30 in advance/$35 day of show

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Friday, September 9, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Specials

Terminal 5
610 West 56th Street
Manhattan, NY
$45.00 (plus service fees)

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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Rude Boy George Release First Track from their Forthcoming Album "Love and Dancing"!

Almost three years to the day since their debut live appearance, Rude Boy George unleash the first song from their second album, Love and Dancing--their fantastic ska cover of Soft Cell's version of Gloria Jones' 1964 Northern Soul stomper "Tainted Love." If you've ever had the pleasure of catching Rude Boy George live, you know that this track is a popular staple of their set that gets the crowd dancing and they do the song (both Jones' stunning original and Soft Cell's campy New Wave take on it) justice.

For the remainder of 2016, Rude Boy George intends to release one new track per month from Love and Dancing (named after the Human League's remixed instrumental version of the album Dare) on their Bandcamp page, so there's plenty more good music and surprises to come from the band!

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Head on over to Rude Boy George's YouTube channel to watch their brand new video for "Tainted Love."

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Sunday, April 3, 2016

Duff Review: Pyrotechnist "Dub Rocketry"

Jump Up Records
2016
CD/LP

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The mad genius behind Pyrotechnist is Nico Leonard of The Moon Invaders, Caroloregians, and Pum Pum Hotel studios notoriety (aided by David Loos on tenor sax and Pierre Haegeli on bass and guitars). With a title like Dub Rocketry, one might expect this album to be filled with the radically deconstructed and reassembled dub of Lee "Scratch" Perry or Adrian Sherwood--but a better comparison would be with the instrumental funky reggae of Jackie Mittoo alternating with Augustus Pablo's (with support from King Tubby) "Far East" dub sound. And like those different approaches, Dub Rocketry is split between moody, introspective dub cuts (such as "Croch'on," "Really Hot Summer," and "Split Second") and shimmeringly bright instrumentals (like "In a Copan Mood," "Groove In," "Sunny Tubby" and "Bye Bye Beach"--shades of The Pioneers' "Long Shot Kick de Bucket"). I find myself putting Dub Rocketry on over and over--and if you're into the aforementioned styles of reggae, you will, too. This is top notch reggae!