As a follow-up to her incredible, fan-funded Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers album (read The Duff Guide to Ska review here), Rhoda Dakar (Bodysnatchers, The Special AKA) is recording a series of EPs (on vinyl and CD) that will be funded/released through Pledge Music. The first volume of this LoTek Four series will start to be recorded next week (!) and is planned for a December release.
Here's the concept behind the LoTek Four series, as well as info on Rhoda's all-star musical collaborators:
"Each volume of the LoTek Four series takes four beautifully crafted
songs and strips them back to their essence. From there, recorded in
the very best of surroundings, different versions can be engineered,
versioneered, if you will. It may be that a rocksteady version is
favoured, or perhaps an almost acoustic rendering.
The songs draw on Rhoda’s rich and personal musical influences, with Volume I embracing a fantastic array of story tellers and versioneers that include David Bowie, The Slits, Dolly Parton, Aretha, Gram and Emmylou, and her father, famed Jazz musician and entrepreneur Rudy Evans aka André Dakar.
Alongside Rhoda Dakar on lead vocals, The LoTek Four, Vol I features
Louis Vause and Paul Tadman (from Crunch aka the Nutty Boys/Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra), Lenny Bignell (Pama International, The Sidewalk Doctors), Mark Claydon (The
Get Up), and saxophonist Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, The Blockheads, Tom
Waits, Madness, Spiritualized, Siouxsie, Nick Cave, and his old 2 Tone
label mates The Higsons)."
You can support Rhoda Dakar's The LoTek Four, Vol I Pledge Music project here. (Being the music obsessive I am, I've already pledged for both the vinyl and CD versions of this EP!) As of this date, the project is 94% funded with 44 more days to go...
The Selecter with Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson will be performing in the USA--they haven't been here since 2013--and Mexico this November in support of their excellent 2015 album Subculture (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of Subculture here).
Here are The Selecter's dates for the rest of the summer and fall in the UK, USA, and Mexico:
Sat 6 Aug: Kaya Festival, Wales UK Fri 12 Aug: Farmer Phils Festival, Shropshire UK Sun 14 Aug: Boomtown Fair, Nr Winchester UK Sat 20 Aug: Great Northern Ska Festival, Manchester UK Sun 21 Aug: Beautiful Days, Devon UK Sat 27 Aug: Victorious Festival, Portsmouth UK Sat 3 Sept: Monkey's Music Club, Hamburg DE Fri 9 Sept: Undercover Festival, Brighton UK Sat 17 Sept: Ramsbottom Festival, Lancashire UK Thu 29 Sept :Old Fire Station, Carlisle UK Fri 30 Sept: Town Hall, Paisley UK Sat 1 Nov: Loopallu Festival, Ullapool UK Sun 2 Nov: Independent, Sunderland UK Thu 6 Nov: The Gramercy Theatre, New York USA Fri 7 Nov: Chop Shop, Chicago USA Sat 8 Nov: The Gothic, Denver USA Mon 10 Nov: The Independent, San Francisco USA Tue 11 Nov: The Regent, Los Angeles USA Wed 12 Nov: The Glasshouse, Pomana USA Thu 13 Nov: The Casbah, San Diego USA Sat 15 Nov: Global Ska Festival, Mexico City MX Sun 18 Dec: Copper Rooms, Coventry UK
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In other Selecter news, they headlined Billy Bragg’s Leftfield Stage @ Glastonbury, toured Australia in March, and Pauline and Gaps have done a slew of shows in the UK with Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra (and will be doing more with them in the fall). They urge everyone to "stay vigilant, resist all forms of racism and sexism if you see or hear it and enjoy ska/2-Tone music wherever you can find it."
The following is a statement from Die So Fluid in response to Fletcher's passing:
"Al contracted double pneumonia followed by sepsis in a rare reaction to an infection. This caused his immune system to wage a war on his body that he was unable to survive, despite the fight he put up and the best efforts of the doctors and nursing staff at Ealing Hospital. Kept sedated throughout this sudden and vicious affliction, we can only be grateful that he suffered no pain and passed peacefully. Al’s passing leaves a gaping hole in all our lives as we struggle to come to terms with the fact he has gone. No one plays the drums or can tell a joke quite like you Al, you will be missed so very much. You will live on in our hearts and in all the amazing music you made. We love you."
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We offer our deepest condolences to Fletcher's family, friends, and fans.
In response to the series of ongoing, completely unwarranted, high-profile police shootings/killings of American black men (there was just another terrible shooting last week in North Miami), Dunia Best and Aram Sinnreich of Dubistry (billed here as Empire of Two) wrote and recorded "Let Us Live" in July 2016 at the Institute for Popular Music in Bochum, Germany, with the help and contributions of Hans Nieswandt, Arno Kro, Fab Horn, and others including Best's and Sinnreich's own children. It's a terrific, stripped down reggae tune whose vocals are a passionate and forceful plea to society (and its agents) that we recognize black people's humanity and everyone's basic, elemental right to live (enshrined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."). "Let Us Live" is also a chant of sorts--to ward off this plague of violence and death that is inflicted on our fellow, non-white Americans.
"Everybody screams
At their laptops and TVs
But policeman ears, they hear no sound
Even when the father pleads
For his children on his knees
They don't see a man, they just see brown
Then they shoot him in the chest
And the shoot him in the legs
And they shoot him in the back
And they hear the voices beg
"Please don't kill my father
Let him live, let him live!
Please don't kill my father
He has so much to give!"
Everybody screams
At their laptops and TVs
But policeman ears, they hear no sound
Even when the daughter pleads
She did nothing on her knees
They don't see a girl they just see brown
Then they beat her on the chest
And they beat her on the legs
And they beat her on the head
And they hear the voices say
"Please don't kill our daughter
Let her live, let her live!
Please don't kill our daughter
She has so much to give!"
Everyone believes
What's on their laptops and TVs
And policeman ears they hear no sound
Even when our voices plead
We did nothing on our knees
They don't hear a world, they just hear brown
Then they beat us on the chest
And they beat us on the legs
And they beat us on the head
And they hear our voices say
"Please don't kill our mother
Let us live, let us live!
Please don't kill our mother
We have so much to give!"
Don't kill our mothers and
Fathers and
Sisters and
Brothers
Cousins, aunts, uncles
Grandfathers and 'mothers
Don't kill our neighbors and
Lovers and
Millions of others
Let us live
Let us live"
The AbruptorsBuffalo Ska (hot pink vinyl 7" single, Asian Man Records, 2016): Nope, it's not (spaghetti) Western Reggae (like Bad Manners' track of the same name), but three tracks of good old traditional style ska from this Buffalo, NY act (with an assist from Western Standard Time's fine horn section), including a cover of Justin Hinds and the Dominoes' durable classic "Save A Bread." The single is sold out at Asian Man, but the band still has copies to sell at gigs (and you can, of course, buy the digital download).
The DownsettersThe Asylum Hotel (CD, Liquidizer Records, 2016): This is a loosely structured concept album of sorts, where you enter The Downsetters' wonderfully twisted world of amped-up, knees-up modern ska (similar to what was produced in in the UK and Europe in the wake of 2 Tone in the late 80s/early 90s, prior to the rise of ska-punk), though it's not entirely clear if you're being offered refuge from the cruelties of daily life or have found yourself in the psychiatric ward. What is certain is that there are some really terrific tunes on this album, including "Mango Rock" (which contains a Rod Serling "Twilight Zone" intro), "Are You Reggae?" (with its nod to Don Drummond's "Man in the Street"), the struggle to get through the working week of "Who? What? Why?," the fact that oppression is oppression, no matter what the setting in "Another Day in Paradise" (and its instrumental version of sorts, "Skafusion"), the inspirational/carpe diem message of "No Burn No Shine," and a warning about backstabbers in "Fakes n Snakes." Based on what's captured here, I suspect The Downsetters must be top-notch live!
Natalie Wouldn'tNatalie Wouldn't(four-track, digital EP, 2016): Seattle's Natalie Wouldn't (made up of former members of the very much missed Easy Big Fella, The Crawdaddies, The Diablotones, and The Georgetown Orbits), which toured the UK this past June opening up for The Meow Meows (including a gig at Gaz's Rockin' Blues!), just released a fantastic, self-titled four-track digital EP (three stunning ska/rocksteady/soul originals--like the tongue-in-cheek ode to selfishness "Mine" and the lament of growing older and less cooler in "Obsolescence": "No place to hide/as the world passes by me"--and a sweet, inventive take on Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love"). If you liked EBF's high-quality, quirky, and fun (sometimes even melancholy) take on ska back in the day, you'll be sure to love this EP! This one deserves a proper, physical release on vinyl...
My friends in Rude Boy George are continuing their promotional push of releasing one new music video a month in support of their upcoming album, Love and Dancing. For July, they've sharing their fantastic ska take on Kim Wilde's "Kids in America," shot at Coney Island during the July 4th weekend...
Plus, there will be Duff Guide to Ska sponsored shows at Otto's Shrunken Head on Thursday, October 13 and Thursday, November 10. Bands to be announced soon.
Plus, there will be Duff Guide to Ska sponsored shows at Otto's Shrunken Head on Thursday, October 13 and Thursday, November 10. Bands to be announced soon.
The recent passing of The Untouchables' founding member, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Clyde Grimes, Jr. (pictured in an iconic publicity shot at right), led me to revisit all of their releases, as The Untouchables were unbelievably influential on a whole generation of ska fans and bands in the 1980s. For all of us in the USA who had fallen in love with 2 Tone at a distance (many of us even after it had flamed out), we finally had a ska band of our very own that had hit it big! (I was in my freshman year in college in Ohio when Wild Child was released and remember listening to Cleveland's top commercial rock station WMMS play the hell out of "Wild Child" and "What's Gone Wrong"--and my Wild Child cassette--which I still have and treasure over 30 years later!--was in heavy rotation in my personal playlist for the next several years.)
Since there's very little information about The Untouchables and their releases on the internet (with the exception of the Marco on the Bass blog, which has posted several great interviews with various members of the band), I thought it might be a good idea to put together an overview of their releases to honor Grimes' and The Untouchables' considerable musical legacy. So, below for your consideration, please find The Duff Guide to The Untouchables.
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Live and Let Dance (EP, Twist/Enigma Records, 1984): After releasing two DIY singles ("Dance Beat," b/w "Twist 'n Shake" in 1982 and "Tropical Bird" b/w "The General" in 1983), honing their chops and building up a massive LA-area following, and going through some personnel changes, The UTs borrowed $15k and recorded an EP's worth of material released on their own Twist imprint (which was picked up for distribution by Enigma). But things didn't take off until they scrounged up an additional $7k to make an incredibly creative and dynamic video for their could-have-been-a-2-Tone-hit "Free Yourself." This grabbed the attention of Stiff Records label head Dave Robinson in the UK, who flew in for one of their LA gigs and signed the band (which then garnered them a deal with a major label in the US, as MCA licensed Stiff releases at the time)--and won them a Billboard award for best independent music video of 1984. The EP also includes the first version of "What's Gone Wrong" and their phenomenal live cover of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone." Of note: "Free Yourself" wasn't re-recorded for their debut album Wild Child. There was no need to--it's perfect.
Wild Child(LP, Stiff/MCA Records, 1985): Even though there were two other domestic ska releases that year which would eventually prove to be as wildly influential on the development of the US ska scene--Fishbone's self-titled debut EP on Columbia (a few years earlier, members of that band were in the crowd at The UT's shows at the O.N. Klub in Silver Lake, Los Angeles), and The Toasters' self-titled debut EP on Moon Records (subsequently reissued as Recriminations)--it was The Untouchables' debut album Wild Childthat had the biggest and most immediate and significant impact. While The UTs had been heavily influenced by 2 Tone and everything mod after seeing Quadrophenia, they also had been blown away by the all-black Birmingham ska band The Equators (they formed before fellow Brummies The Beat!), who had performed in LA in 1981 (UT singer Jerry Miller said, "We were very big fans of 2 Tone, but with The Equators, that’s where it was at with us because it was so groovin’ and soulful. Their recordings were sacred to us."). So, whereas The Specials and Selecter injected their ska with punk fury and The Equators incorporated elements of rock and reggae to their sound, The Untouchables largely went for American '60s soul in their ska mix (perhaps best represented by The Specials' Jerry Dammers producing The UT's cover of Jamo Thomas' 1966 soul track, "I Spy (for the FBI)"--a big mod/Northern Soul hit in the UK in 1969), which certainly broadened their appeal far beyond the ska scene in the US and beyond. "Wild Child," "I Spy (for the FBI)," "What's Gone Wrong," and "Free Yourself" are unequivocal American ska classics and the rest of the album is pretty fantastic, too--not a bum track among them.
Dance Party (EP, MCA/Stiff Records, 1986): Not absolutely essential, but there are extended, remixed versions (ubiquitous in the 1980s!) of key tracks from Wild Child ("I Spy (for the FBI) National Security Mix-Up" and "What's Gone Wrong Lover's Rock Mix" are both excellent and hardcore UTs fans should have them) and live cuts from Spring Break at Daytona Beach (another take of their fantastic cover of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your") Stepping Stone"--also on Live and Let Dance--and the funky "Hey UTs"). Of course, the ska cuts are relegated to side two. One suspects that this is a bit of a stopgap release, as a follow-up to Wild Child wasn't immediately in the pipeline, but the quality control remains pretty high here.
Agent OO Soul(CD/LP, Twist/Restless Records, 1988): Like Fishbone's incredible Truth and Soul (also released that year), this album was seriously hobbled by poor sequencing that buried most of the really ace ska material on side two ("Cold City," "Shama Lama," "Sudden Attack") in favor of less compelling soul and funk up front (with the exception of "Airplay" and "World Gone Crazy," and maybe "Let's Get Together"). Having said that, I caught the UT's Agent OO Soul tour in NYC at Joey Ramone's Downtown Club in April of '89 and all of the songs they played off this album--including the title track--sounded completely amazing live (decades later, this gig still stands out as one of the best shows I've ever experienced). Fun facts: LP copies of this album came with a poster and UT comic/lyric book--and this was their first release on compact disc!
A Decade of Dance Live(CD, Restless Records, 1990): Recorded at the height of their powers before a hometown LA crowd at the Roxy in December 1989, The UTs ripped through a career-spanning set that documented just how incredible they were in performance (this is also one of the best sounding/produced concert albums I've ever heard). Great renditions of all their well-known hits are captured here--plus "Twist and Shake" (their 1982 debut single) and "The General" (from their second single in 1983)--as well as excellent previously unrecorded tracks like "Live and Let Dance," "Amateurs Ranking," and "Johnny." Of all The Untouchables releases, this one deserves the deluxe reissue treatment on vinyl! It's simply brilliant.
Cool Beginnings: Rare and Unreleased, 1981-1983 (CD, Stellar Records, 1992): A collection of studio and live recordings from when the band was finding their footing and figuring out their sound (they then considered themselves mods who played ska), which gains power as it moves forward in time. Some of the early material is a bit rough, but there are some really promising songs here, like the ska tracks "Gov't Don't Need Nobody" and "Overcrowded Hell," the moody reggae/dub cut "Who Do They Think They're Fooling?," and the cool mod throwbacks "Cuz She's Mine" and "Motion Like Hers." Best of all, of course, are the gems from their first two singles, "Dance Beat," b/w "Twist 'n Shake" and "Tropical Bird" b/w "The General." This comp was never widely released, so the few existing used copies are expensive, but it's a must for UT completists.
Greatest and Latest: Ghetto Stout(CD, Cleopatra, 2000): By the early '90s, The Untouchables had gone dark (missing out on the massive ska revival in the USA later that decade--d'oh!), so it was a shock when I stumbled upon this album at the Virgin Records store in Union Square in 2000 on a lunch break (was there any promotional push for this?). New songs like "Be Alright," "Jade," "Bond, "Keep on Pushing," and "Movin' 'N' Groovin'" are good to great additions to The UT's repertoire, but the rest of the album consists of fine, but unnecessary re-recordings of many of their popular tracks from the '80s. One wishes that they hadn't split the difference between forging ahead and the pull of nostalgia, but gone with all new tunes (or songs that were never recorded in the studio, but were part of their live set, like "Live and Let Dance"). Still, there's good stuff here for the diehard UT fan. Note: Cleopatra re-released this album on green vinyl and CD in 2015 as Free Yourself Ska Hits.
In the early 1970s, Vivien Goldman's first and incredibly auspicious job right out of university was serving as Bob Marley's public relations person at Island Records (years later, she was Marley's biographer), just as the label released Bob Marley and The Wailers' first major label album--Catch a Fire--which had been specifically crafted by Chris Blackwell to appeal to the white rock crowd (and obviously worked spectacularly well). Whether or not this cross pop-cultural mash-up (at a time when the British and American music scenes were still largely segregated) set Goldman on her path mining the intersections of frisson between diverse musical genres is a matter of conjecture, but it certainly serves as an apt illustration of what became her life's work and passion. By the middle of that decade in the UK, when punk, reggae, and dub ripped everything up and started again, Goldman already had departed Island to become a music journalist doing interviews and writing reviews for Sounds, New Musical Express, and Melody Maker, covering an omnivorous array of key punk, post-punk, and reggae artists (see this list of her many pieces).
Not surprisingly, it was a time when, according to Goldman, "there were no barriers between journalist and artist." She was living, socializing, and collaborating in the same Ladbroke Grove, London neighborhood as many of the punk and reggae acts she was writing about in the music weeklies (such as members of The Clash and Aswad; Chrissie Hynde was her roomie for a time). A gifted soprano, Goldman grew up in a musical family (she and her sisters sang, her father played violin--an instrument that appears on many of her songs) and apparently was always singing, which--along with her connections to some of the most talented and daring post-punk and reggae/dub musicians in the UK--led to her writing and performing songs with David Cunningham and The Flying Lizards in 1979, as well as singing (with Neneh Cherry and The Slits' Ari-Up) on Adrian Sherwood's productions for Prince Far-I in 1980 and the New Age Steppers in 1981. That year, she also recorded her debut solo single, "Launderette" b/w "Private Armies" ("Private Armies" also appeared in its dub version on the debut New Age Steppers LP). In 1982, she moved to Paris to write for Actuel magazine and became highly enamored with African pop music (which she played on her pirate Radio Nova show "Cherie Noire" with Eve Blouin), recording and releasing the "It's Only Money" 12" EP in 1982 with Blouin as the duo Chantage (which is French for blackmail).
While Goldman would go on to write and record with groups like Massive Attack ("Sly"), Ryuichi Sakamoto, Coldcut, and Luscious Jackson, as well as with several house music producers, Resolutionary focuses on her recordings from the late 70s/early 80s--an era brilliant for its great fluidity between musical genres and the easy exchange between artists from markedly divergent scenes that oftentimes resulted in extraordinarily innovative and challenging music, some prime examples of which can be found here (punk had, at least temporarily, freed a generation of young musicians from pop music's constructs).
The "Launderette" b/w "Private Armies" single (issued in the UK as a 7" by Window/Rough Trade and as the Dirty Washing 12"--which included "P.A. Dub"--via NYC's pioneering art/punk label 99 Records, home to Liquid Liquid, ESG, Bush Tetras, Maximum Joy, Glen Branca, and others) is reason enough to pick up this compilation of Goldman's work (and considering that the original 7" and 12" versions command very high prices, they're an absolute bargain here). These tracks are unequivocal (and somewhat shamefully obscure on this side of the pond) post-punk gems.
"Launderette," written by Goldman and Aswad's bassist George Oban (who came up with the song's distinctive and catchy bass line), was apparently surreptitiously recorded on Virgin's dime during Public Image Ltd.'s sessions for their Flowers of Romance album (but, considering how record deals are structured, it really was PIL's dime in the end, wasn't it now?), which is how John Lydon and Keith Levene ended up with producer's credit on the tracks. Goldman was backed by PIL's Keith Levene, Robert Wyatt, Vicki Aspinall of The Raincoats, Steve Beresford of The Slits and The Flying Lizards, and George Oban. It's a slightly uncomfortable, off-kilter, shambling track that feels a bit tentative and improvised in spots. The bass and drums are firmly planted in reggae territory--particularly the prominent, fluid, and continually unfolding bass line--but the dissonant, droning violin and slashes of guitar, the tinkly toy piano, and crazy collection of busy percussive instruments clash with and grate against the orderly rhythm section, threatening to derail everything (but don't). Floating above all of this tension is Goldman's lovely singing--her delivery is wonderfully conversational and free of any vocal mannerisms. It's almost as if she's recounting this short, unsatisfying affair in her head (particularly the lyric, "I had to learn to say no") as she encounters her ex in the very same ordinary place they met.
"I wanted tenpence for the dryer
Yes, that was how we met
My laundry bag was broken
My clothes were soaking wet
I felt I needed hugging
You needed board and lodging
I can't complain
We went down the drain
Seems like I can't get away from you
Even in the launderette
Now my socks to your socks in the dryer
And your jeans run into my shirt
You always were untidy
You wanted coffee round at my place
It all seemed just a lark
But you hadn't left there two weeks later
and your hair's all over the bath
It's good to get you to go
I had to learn to say no
I can't complain
We went down the drain
Seems like I can't get away from you
Even in the launderette
Now my socks to your socks in the dryer
And your jeans run into my shirt
I can't complain
We went down the drain
You always were untidy"
"Private Armies," written by Goldman and performed by many of the same musicians who backed her on "Launderette" (Shooz on drums, Keith Levene on guitar and bass, Steve Beresford on toy piano and bass, and Vicky Aspinall on violin) is another post-punk/reggae/dub cut--with an ominous, lurking bass line (which is more prominent in "P.A. Dub")--produced by Adrian Sherwood, who introduces Jungle-like percussion into the mix.
It's the harrowing tale of witnessing what one assumes is a racist attack, given the amount of racial violence in England at the time, that becomes a rumination on the capacity for violence in boys which is enabled/unleashed in men as they join groups, gangs or government/business sanctioned agents of violence (such as mercenary forces, counterintelligence agents, or the police) who attempt to enforce/impose a particular, often fascist, political agenda/viewpoint through brutality and murder. But at the end of the song, she completely takes the piss out of these men by mocking their macho obsession with violence and phallic-y guns in suggesting that it all may be because they're impotent (and unable to perform the most elemental male function--procreation). All of this obsession with power and might has to be compensating for something...
"Vernon and Norman, just sat in a Mini
While the skinheads beat shit out of person on the pavement
Blood everywhere
Sets of initials with licenses to kill
Brand name business footing the bill
Blood everywhere
Private armies
Private armies
Blood everywhere
Little boys like dressing up
Little boys like dressing up
Dressing up in uniform
Little boys' toys blow things up
Little boys' toys blow things up
If the heavy metal boys or the boys in blue
Don't like the look of you, you'd better watch out
Really out of order
Really out of order
If you can't get a hard-on, get a gun
If you can't get a hard-on, get a gun"
The two Flying Lizards tracks (with Viv Albertine of The Slits and David Toop on guitar, Steve Beresford on bass and piano, George Oban on bass, Dave Solomon on drums, Bruce Smith on hi-hat) actually chronologically precede Goldman's debut single, but they're in the same vein--offbeat, funky reggae-influenced post-punk tracks conveyed from a woman's perspective. "Her Story" (written by Dave Solomon, David Cunningham, General Strike, and Goldman) concerns the historic (and continuing) subjugation of women and their treatment as property throughout a great deal of recorded history--and how men even profit from recording love songs to/about women, while treating them so shabbily and considerably less than equals.
Vivien Goldman (sung):
"Knights in shiny armor
Always takes the key
History, history, hypocrisy
But you can still make money
By singing sweet songs of love"
David Toop (spoken in monotone):
"I own you
You don't own me
You are my territory
This is a love song
This is a love song"
Vivien Goldman (sung):
"I blame our books
I blame the TV
I blame Top 20 for my jealousy
But you can still make money
By singing sweet songs of love"
The truly disturbing song "The Window" (written by Goldman)--shades of The Special AKA's "The Boiler"--turns the supposed eroticism of "Dracula" and similar misogynistic myths (virginal women want to be dominated and forcibly seduced/taken) on its head in this stalker scenario--a man is trying to break into a woman's home and her thoughts on the matter are crystal clear:
"Can you hear him bang at the window?
(He's throwing things at the window)
I don't want to let him in
I wish he wasn't twice my size
Sometimes I think he's a vampire
(He's making holes to drain blood)"
The fact that Goldman sings these lyrics in an almost resigned, matter-of-fact way--she's been here before and previously physically suffered from his abuse--is all the more creepy. The song ends with the crappy choice before her: "Sometimes you fight for the world/Sometimes you fight for yourself/Should I sit and listen/Sit, wait, listen hoping that the door's shut tight?"
Things shift dramatically with Chantage's marvelous and giddily euphoric full-on reggae cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers' "Do It Nice," cheekily retitled "Same Thing Twice" to emphasize the come-on of the chorus: "Baby, you're so nice/I'd like to do the same thing twice!" It'd be hard to resist an offer that sounds this fun and good. Goldman's and Blouin's delightful, insouciant "It's Only Money" ("...and every day it's worth a little less") has a melodramatic musical theater vibe to it (and a cynicism towards commerce/capitalism that reminds one of Cabaret's "Money"), albeit one that is set in the fantastic crossroads of a several dozen cultures, where Roma violins meet African soukous guitar, Trinidadian steel pan drums, Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican dance rhythms, Broadway--even a smidgen of British music hall. (Indeed, all of Chantage's songs are concerned with some sort of transaction between people, whether it's financial, emotional, or physical). The musical portion of the compilation closes with the short-but-sweet, a cappella "Tu M'Fais Rire" ("You make me laugh"), which sounds like a '60s French pop song and where Goldman's and Blouin's voices complement each other beautifully (all of Chantage's tracks were produced by Adrian Sherwood, Alan Jakoby, Carroll Thompson, Chantage, and Chris Thomas--and feature a wonderfully international group of musicians, including George Oban on bass, Bruce Smith of The Pop Group/Slits/New Age Steppers and Style Scott on drums, Jerry Malenkani on guitar, Deadly Headly and Annie Whitehead on horns, Bubbles on steel pan drums, Steve Beresford on piano and euphonium, Jancsi Hosszu on violin, and Ann Howard, Archie Pool, Carroll Thompson, and Neneh Cherry on backup vocals).
The last track is an interesting time capsule of sorts--an interview with Goldman from 1981, after the release of the "Launderette"/"Private Armies" single, with audio zine "Morrocci Klung!" that was released/distributed on cassette. In it, Goldman discusses the meaning of these songs (and dispels some of the incorrect interpretations at that time), gender politics, men's tendency to express themselves through violence, and the assassination of John Lennon.
A long-overdue retrospective of (a good portion of) her musical work, Vivien Goldman's Resolutionary (Songs 1979-1982) is jammed full of very smart, oftentimes provocative, and always incredibly enjoyable songs--and is a vital post-punk document. As a diehard fan of that phenomenal era of music, attitude, and style, I almost can't express how happy I am to have this album in my collection...
The Frightnrs' forthcoming album, Nothing More To Say, will be released on September 2, 2016 through Daptone Records. You can pre-order the digital album now through The Frightnrs' Bandcamp page (you can't preview any tracks just yet there--but you can listen to samples at Amazon). There's no word as to when the LP and CD can be pre-ordered from Daptone (though you can pre-order both on Amazon now).
Obviously, this is a very bittersweet achievement/moment for the band, as their incredible singer, Dan "Brukky" Klein, recently passed away from ALS. But I expect that the music contained on this album will be a wonderful way to remember and celebrate Klein's music and life.
If The Frightnrs' previous releases are any indication, Nothing More To Say should be a brilliant album of rocksteady, reggae, early dancehall, and rub-a-dub.
The Untouchables "Free Yourself" picture disc featuring
Clyde Grimes, Jr. from my record collection.
I'm very sad to report that Clyde "the City Gent" Grimes, Jr., guitarist and vocalist for the massively influential L.A. ska band The Untouchables, passed away on July 5, 2016.
I offer my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates, friends, and fellow fans.
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Back in 2014, I wrote a bit about my personal experience of being a fan (and reviewer) of The Untouchables back the mid-to-late 1980s, and perhaps it can serve as a celebration of Grimes' life and music, as well as a testament to how great The Untouchables were in their prime. If you're interested, you can read my post about The Untouchables here.
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Note: This post was updated on 7/9/16, as I had incorrectly listed Grimes' cause of death. I sincerely apologize for making this mistake.
What They're Saying About My Book "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone"
“An essential read…Stephen's eye for detail is incredible and his love for 2 Tone oozes from each page.” — Kevin Flowerdew, Do the Dog Skazine
“Written with a personal touch and with great passion about the bands and releases while giving a lot of emphasis to the lyrics, Stephen’s book is a great guiding hand to navigating your way to some great new music.” — Peter Walsh, 2-Tone.info
“It's some of the finest Madness analysis I've ever read.” —Donald Trull, Stateside Madness
“Steve's own story would make a great book, but instead he's written The Duff Guide to 2 Tone, a 250+ page collection of 2 Tone-related pieces from his blog. There are reviews of original pieces, but the book's real purpose is to show how the 2 Tone sound and—more importantly its ideals—carry on today...Get this book right away!" — Charles Benoit, Reggae Steady Ska
"...Shafer has definitely not forgotten how socially conscious issues were at the root of Ska even from the beginning. He makes certain to thread the political issues that motivated the development of Ska throughout his narrative; painting a picture that took both the oppressive political environments and the often ecstatic musical content into account. And in that, he nails down for me what the enduring pull of Ska was to its many fans. Was there ever a more upbeat dance music that combined its boundless energy with a push for progressive social values and calling truth to power?" —Post-Punk Monk
"...[The Duff Guide to 2 Tone is a] chatty, informative and knowledgeable work, one that you can either sit down and read or use as a reference source..." —Nik Skeat, Scootering Magazine
"During the reading of the book it is dangerous to have a screen open next to you with Discogs. I have found lots of ‘new music’ via the stories in The Duff Guide to 2 Tone which I must have." -- Peter Vrakking, Blue Beat & Ska
In the mail today, I received the first copy of my new paperback book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone --and am thrilled to announce that it is now...
About Your Duff Guide
Steve Shafer/The Duff Guide to Ska For most of the 1990s, I was the promotions, marketing, production guy for Moon Records (RIP). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. Seriously, I miss it badly. During 1999/2000, I ran 7 Wonders of the World Music, the first digital download-only ska label that was too ahead of the curve for its own good (RIP).
I filmed and edited this Toasters video for $2,500, which made its debut on MTV's 120 Minutes. I also put together these compilations for Moon: the first three Skarmageddons; Ska United: A Global Ska Sampler; Skank Down Under; This Are Moon Ska I, II, and III; and Moonshot!
Here's an old interview with Adam Monkey from Read Magazine that covers my days at Moon and 7 Wonders. I also did a somewhat more recent interview with Read Junk.
I've been interviewed about ska music and Moon Records for The New York Times, Heather Augustyn's "Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation," Aaron Carnes' "In Defense of Ska," Kenneth Partridge's "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing," and Marc Wasserman's "Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History" (I also wrote the introductory chapter "1985: The Year American Ska Broke" for Wasserman's book).
And I'm the author of "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone," which can be ordered from Amazon--and is available in the US from Jump Up Records, and in Europe from the 2 Tone Village Shop (Coventry, UK), Champion Sound Records (Hull, UK), Aggroshop (Nijmegen, Netherlands), and Copasetic Mailorder (Hamburg, Germany). Plus, my book was on sale in the museum shop for the "2 Tone: Lives & Legacies" exhibition (May 28 - September 12, 2021), curated by Simon Reynolds, Cory Barrett, Pete Chambers, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike and Daniel Rachel, at the Herbert Art Gallery Museum in Coventry, UK.
I'm now working on my next book, "Calling All the Rude Boys: The Duff Guide to The Toasters, 1981-1992," to be published in 2023.
If you have a ska or reggae release that you'd like me to consider reviewing, please send an e-mail to Steve at duffguidetoska@gmail.com. You should know that I am old school and prefer music in tangible formats (plus I might use your music when I DJ ska events). I'd also appreciate any news or tips you may have about bands.
All reviews and interviews posted on The Duff Guide to Ska are copyrighted and are the sole property of Steve Shafer. Please contact me for permission to reproduce anything on this blog.
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See Live Ska Bands in NYC!
Check out the NYC ska shows I co-host and co-DJ with Ryan Midnight!
Black Butcher Classics/Mad Butcher Records 2013 7" vinyl singles Available in the U.S. through Jump Up Records (Review by Steve Sh...
Visit The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel!
Check out The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel for footage of ska bands in action in clubs around NYC, as well as unusual and rare ska videos from the 90s! Bands featured include The Toasters, The Bluebeats, The Forthrights, Across the Aisle, The Caroloregians, The Moon Invaders, The Rudie Crew, Tip the Van, Hey Stranger, Beat Brigade, Bigger Thomas, King Chango, The Scofflaws, UB40, The Hard Times, Jah Love and the Valentinians, The Shifters, Rudies Don't Care, Big Audio Dynamite, Stranger Cole and Patsy with Crazy Baldhead, Queen P of Ocean 11, King Hammond, The Snails, King Django, Doomsday! The Ultimate Tribute to Mephiskapheles Consisting of Former Members of Mephiskapheles, Destroy Babylon, The Frightnrs, The Pandemics, Los Skarroneros, The Bullbuckers, The Scofflaws, The Reggay Lords, The Copacetics, Rude Boy George, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, The Specials, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, The Ladrones, Chris Murray, Radio Riddler, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro, and Mickey Virtue, Barbicide, The Twilights, Bim Skala Bim featuring John Bunkley (Gangster Fun), The Pomps, and more!
