Duff Review: The Bakesys "Sentences I'd Like to Hear the End Of"

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I'd been holding off on reviewing The Bakesys' terrific Sentences I'd Like to Hear the End Of (CD/digital, Do the Dog Music, 2021) as I thought its physical vinyl release on Jump Up Records would be soon forthcoming. However, since that label seems to have taken a bit of a detour as of late to capitalize on the 2021 resurgence of ska-punk, it feels like a disservice to the band to wait any longer. 

Like their single "Leaving the American Sector" (about the Cold War-era Berlin Wall, which I reviewed earlier this year), the songs on The Bakesys' Sentences I'd Like to Hear the End Of are concerned with significant figures and events from 1960s world history, while employing a late 1980s UK traditional ska sound crossed with electro/dance beats and toasting/rapping that was practiced by Maroon Town, Potato 5 (on True Fact), House of Rhythm, and others (it was a cousin to the brief 1989 ska-acid fad--see Longsy D et al--but better, with the exception of Buster Bloodvessel's killer mix of "This is Ska").

Most of Sentences I'd Like to Hear the End Of's uniformly excellent tracks judiciously incorporate offbeat found sound clips from contemporary '60s TV/radio news reports that hint at the event/figure being referenced without being obviously direct--and work exceptionally well (though some of their added spoken word/rapping bits play better than others).

The title track is about the model/showgirl Christine Keeler, who was sexually involved with both a married British cabinet member and a Soviet naval attaché, which, when came to light, became tabloid fodder and sparked all sorts of embarrassing national security concerns (The Skatalites, of course, recorded an instrumental named after her, and Keeler also was the subject of the 1989 movie Scandal, whose 1960s ska soundtrack was selected by The Trojans' Gaz Mayall). "638 Ways They Tried" comments on the number of times the CIA attempted to assassinate Cuba's communist dictator Fidel Castro; and the Clash-referencing "Atomic Invasion" ("When Ivan meets GI Joe/Well, we all know how this is going to go/The talking stops and the missiles flow...Well, if the blast don't kill ya/Then the fallout's gonna get ya") conveys the almost universal Cold War dread of nuclear war, which, of course, came very close to happening in '61 with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The horror show of both JFK and Bobby Kennedy's assassinations are captured in the tense and mournful "We Don't Need Another Oswald," where we hear snippets of Bobby's last speech and then the immediate, awful aftermath of his murder. We hear people urging others to secure the gun and to keep people away from Sirhan Sirhan; they don't want him killed by vigilantes before he is brought to trial, as in the case of JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, who was killed by Jack Ruby.

The three dubs--"Go Dub Go," "Bernauer Strasse Dub," and "Desolation Dub" (a version of "Get Your Moon Boots On")--are exceptionally good. Buzz Aldrin, the second human to step foot on the Moon, described the moonscape as "magnificent desolation." One of the major--and ironic--discoveries of the Apollo Moon program was the realization of how precious our own life-sustaining planet is (William Shatner said of his suborbital experience that after leaving Earth's blue atmosphere, the black of space was like "death"). Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took the famous "Earthrise" photo remarked, "We set out to explore the Moon and instead discovered the Earth."

I wonder if The Bakesys will take on the '70s next--there's lots of good material (Watergate, Vietnam War, Iranian Hostages, Jonestown, Camp David Accords, Three Mile Island, Reagan and Thatcher, and so much more!)...

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Duff Review: Reissues of Buster's All Stars "Skinhead Luv-a-fair"/Bad Manners "Return of the Ugly"

Skinhead Luv-a-fair LP
Blue Beat Records, 1989; Black Butcher Classics, 2014 (reissue)

Return of the Ugly LP
Blue Beat Records, 1989; Black Butcher Classics, 2017 (reissue)

Both records are available in the USA through Jump Up Records.

(Review by Steve Shafer)

According to George Marshall's unauthorized 1993 biography of the band (legally contested and, I believe, forcibly withdrawn), while on tour in the USA in 1985 after parting ways with Magnet Records (leaving in their wake a good run of terrific hit singles--"Lip Up Fatty," "Special Brew," "Lorraine," "Can Can," "Walking in the Sunshine"--and several fairly successful albums, including Ska'n'B and Loonee Tunes, all of which contained both truly great and disappointingly meh material), Bad Manners snagged a deal with CBS/Portrait, which led to the recording of the mostly dreadful Mental Notes. Despite the enormous amount of cash lavished on the album, the lackluster songs and mismatched pop production geared specifically for American radio (look no further than their cover of Todd Rundgren's "Bang the Drum All Day") doomed Mental Notes to the discount bins to be purchased by the clueless fan.

Marshall (of Zoot! Skazine renown) recounted that it eventually became apparent to Bad Manners that they were being used as a tax write-off for CBS (against the earnings of the label's profitable releases) when they were playing a show with Fishbone in Los Angeles in 1986 and Buster Bloodvessel (AKA Doug Trendle) called Portrait's LA office to inquire/complain about the non-existent tour support. To his horror, he discovered that no one there had even heard of Bad Manners, let alone knew they were signed to CBS/Portrait! Reportedly, on the way back to the UK, Buster stopped at Portrait's headquarters in New York and "tore up" their contract. But since this dramatic (and no doubt satisfying) act didn't actually dissolve their legal obligations, Bad Manners had several years to wait out the remainder of their contract before they could release another album.

While running down the clock with their label, Bad Manners continued to gig in the UK and even formed a side project with some of the Bad Manners crew (Buster, Martin Stewart, Louis "Alphonso" Cook, and Winston Bazoomies) and other London-based ska musicians (notably a former schoolmate of Buster's from Woodberry Down, Nick Welsh, and members of The Forest Hillbillies and Welsh's King Hammond band) called Buster's All Stars, in order to play smaller venues (without decreasing the guarantees that Bad Manners could demand) and keep the opportunities to perform coming. Eventually, the Buster's All Stars personnel became the new iteration of Bad Manners, recording the limited edition Eat the Beat LP--issued on Buster's own newly created/licensed Blue Beat imprint in 1988--which contained a slew of covers, as well as some fantastic new songs (mostly provided by Welsh) that would form the core of Bad Manners' triumphant Return of the Ugly album (while several other cuts reemerged on Buster's All Stars' Skinhead Luv-a-fair).

For all intents and purposes, Buster's All Stars' Skinhead Luv-a-fair is a Bad Manners album and quite a good one at that. Released the same year as Return of the Ugly (1989), it allowed Buster and company to simultaneously promote/sell two releases to the ska public, as well as beef up Blue Beat's catalogue (other key Blue Beat releases in 1989 were King Hammond's Revolution '70, reviewed by us here; Napoleon Solo's Shot; and the Live in London--The London International Ska Festival comp, also reviewed by us here--all of which are completely worth tracking down if you don't already own them). Skinhead Luv-a-fair is a mix of amped-up, crowd-pleasing covers (including Prince Buster's "Big Five," Symarip's "Skinhead Girl," and a rollicking version of Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk") and striking Trendle/Welsh originals ("Viva La Ska Revolution" and the King Hammond-sounding "Rocksteady Breakfast" in particular are top-notch; bizarrely, the awesome "Skinhead Love Affair" wasn't included on the album, but only appeared on the Skank Licensed to Ska comp and the b side of a Bad Manners/Buster's All Stars Christmas single!). If this had been the only album that Buster's All Stars/Bad Manners had put out that year, it would have been hailed as their comeback. But that accolade would be associated with their other effort that year--and deservedly so.

Return of the Ugly just might be the best album Bad Manners ever made. Every song is a winner and there's a cohesiveness in their spaghetti Western reggae theme ("Buffalo Ska" and "Bonanza Ska"!) and sound (dig all the judicious use of violin and harmonica!) that eluded practically all of their other records. Nick Welsh is the gunslinging hero here, writing "Skaville UK" (also released as a 12" single), "Since You've Gone Away," "Memory Train" (a personal favorite of mine), as well as collaborating with Buster on "Rosemary" and "Return of the Ugly" (borrowing the title of the lead track off of Lee Perry and The Upsetters' Clint Eastwood). Recognizing Laurel Aitken's considerable songwriting prowess, Bad Manners covered two (!) of the "Godfather of Ska's" then recent songs--"Sally Brown" and "Hey Little Girl." According to Mark Brennan's liner notes for the 2013 Pressure Drop reissue of Return of the Ugly on CD, Aitken himself played keys on "Hey Little Girl" for this recording! (I have to note how wild it was that so many versions of Aitken's "Sally Brown" were circulating in the late '80s--first there was the original Laurel Aitken/Potato 5 song released in 1987 on the Floyd Lloyd and The Potato 5 Meet Laurel Aitken LP and "Sahara" single (both on Gaz's Rockin' Records); Laurel recorded another version with the Pressure Tenants for the 1989 "Sally Brown" 12" (Unicorn Records); and it was released again on Aitken's mind-blowingly good Ringo the Gringo LP in 1990 (Unicorn Records); plus Skankin' Pickle released a live version on their "Hi, My Name is Erik Yee. My Favorite Band is Green Day!" single in 1995 (Dill Records)). The last cut on Return of the Ugly is something of an oddity, since it's actually a skacid cut (yes, in the UK in the late '80s this was a thing) from a 12" produced by Longsy D that Buster appeared on--yet somehow this trad ska/house beats mash-up works quite well here.

In 1988, I had no idea Bad Manners were still around until I picked up the first Skankin' 'Round the World comp licensed from Unicorn in the USA by Skaloid--The Toasters' ska imprint through Celluloid that released their Thrill Me Up album and Bim Skala Bim's Tuba City (and was slated to issue something from The Potato 5, but Celluloid soon went belly up and the Spuds called it quits after their difficult 1989 US tour, so that never transpired). Strangely, Bad Manners' contribution to Skankin' 'Round the World was Buster's All Stars' "Baby Elephant Walk" instrumental (with no vocals from Buster!). At the now long gone Bleecker Bob's in Greenwich Village, I later came across Return of the Ugly, which was one of many late '80s UK/Euro ska imports that I bought or mail-ordered through Unicorn Records to feed my increasing appetite for all things ska. During the summer (or early fall) of 1989, Bad Manners played Wetlands in NYC with The Donkey Show and my memories of that show--I'm embarrassed to say--are clouded by excessive drink that night, but what I do remember was pretty fantastic (like the incredibly rousing, sing-along rendition of "Sally Brown").

By 1990, Buster's robust touring schedule had kept him from tending business at Blue Beat's home office and their aggressive issuing of so many admittedly great (but not best-selling) records in 1989 left the label's finances in dire straights, so it was shuttered. But an even bigger blow was delivered as the result of the 1991 reformation of The Selecter. Neol Davies and Pauline Black borrowed Martin Stewart and Nick Welsh for The Selecter's first batch of live dates--and this soon became a permanent arrangement, leaving Buster without two of his key performers and his main songwriter/collaborator. According to an interview I did with Welsh in 2010, Buster hasn't spoken to him since.

Despite the acrimonious end of the late '80s incarnation of Bad Manners/Busters' All Stars, the two albums they produced are some of the finest of that era--and amongst the best that Bad Manners ever released.

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2011 London International Ska Festival: A Yank's Perspective

While I was bummed that I wasn't able to attend the 2011 London International Ska Festival (for a whole host of reasons), I am really happy to be able to include this review from an American ska fan who made the journey. NYC ska fan Andrew Rundle, a regular Duff Guide to Ska reader, was kind enough to write up his impressions of the festival and share them via this blog.

All in all, the London International Ska Festival was a huge success--hats off to the organizers. For me the high point was The Trojans’ performance during which they brought out Rico to lead the band for about two-thirds of their set (see them all in action above), and had Lynval [Golding of The Specials] out singing and dancing for part of the set. Another personal high point was seeing Bim Skala Bim performing again; the last time was as one of the opening acts for The Bosstones’ Hometown Throwdown. The announcement that Bim was going to be on the bill basically sealed the deal that I was going to fly to London for the festival. For the audience in general, I think Dave Wakeling’s version of The English Beat was the most eagerly anticipated act--in the pubs around the venue the buzz was all about Dave. He performed a killer set, much better than recent outings in New York City, and stuck to The English Beat material rather than doing The English Beat/General Public mash-up I have seen several times in the US. He also had Rhoda Dakar and Jennie Bellestar as backup singers and my only critique of the set would be that they were under-utilized. It was also a thrill to see Ken Boothe, whom--up until the Festival was announced--I had given up hopes on seeing; great voice, great performance.

Probably the weakest act at the festival was Dave and Ansel Collins backed by The Caroloregians. It took them several songs to get in sync, with all Caroloregian eyes focused on Ansel, who sort of conducted the band. There also seemed to be some tension as to when Dave was actually going to take the stage--"Monkey Man" came and went before the vocalist actually appeared. It didn’t help that they were preceded by The Hotknives and The Loafers, who had both reformed for the show and turned in excellent sets to large fan bases. In many ways Friday night peaked with The Loafers. James Hunter on Thursday gave a strong performance, but his soul sound seemed like an odd choice for the festival. One hiccup was a misprint in the show schedule, which, combined with my decision to see the Chelsea game, caused me to miss The Amphetameanies.

The Clapham Grand is an old theater/dance hall with great sound and sight lines--and handy proximity to several pubs, a Cornish pastie store, and a kebab shop claiming to have “probably the best kebabs in London.” The crowd was there to dance and enjoy the music; there was one minor scuffle on the dance floor that was quickly shut down by the staff. A large portion of the audience had clearly been fans of skinhead reggae and 2 Tone back in the day when they were teens. Usually in NYC, I am one of the older people in the crowd, but at the Clapham Grand I was on the younger side of the age spectrum. It was cool to meet fans from across the world and hear about various ska scenes--people were there from Japan, the US, Australia, and South America. Also on Thursday night, Buster Bloodvessel was in the audience enjoying the music and dispensing hugs to fans.

I hope the festival proved to be as big a success for the organizers as it was for the audience. I would love to see this become a continuing festival.

Thanks, again, to Andrew for the LISF report!

Stranger Things Have Happened

Just before the Thanksgiving break (and here I offer my apologies for not posting much last week--between getting together with extended family and painting our kitchen, I just didn't have the time or energy left over to write anything coherent or relevant), I went to a "publishing party" at my daughter's second grade classroom (where all the parents come to read their child's big writing project) wearing a Toasters "Night Train to Moscow" t-shirt. The assistant teacher, whom I really like and respect, comes up to me and says, "The Toasters--I used to see them all the time back when I as 13 and hanging out at The Wetlands every weekend." Despite feeling kind of old and awkward at this, I tell him that I used to work with the band at their label, etc. and had just seen Bucket a few weeks earlier, etc. at a gig in Brooklyn. Not sure if he was surprised or impressed by this (neither was intended), but what a weird connection--my ska past haunts me wherever I go!

Thanks to John at HP Skazine for the holiday illustration! The choice of food here might not really be Thanksgiving-y, but the sentiment sure is right. And continued respect to Mr. Doug Trendle for having the longest tongue in ska.

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Several Duff Guide readers have been kind enough to alert me that I'm on somebody's naughty list...(and here we are just a few weeks away from Xmas!):



The irony is that as I am a Verizon Wireless customer...have been for years.

English Beat/Bad Manners '09 US Tour

I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to try to catch the English Beat/Bad Manners show at Irving Plaza this coming Friday (I may have a family event that evening which will make the whole matter moot). Neither of them is touring in support of a new release, so they're working the nostalgia tip, which certainly isn't the worst thing in the world (but it's nice to see bands continue to move forward musically, i.e.: write and record some new material!). And I've seen excellent shows by past incarnations of each of these acts.

Having said all that, a review like this in the Miami New Times makes me want to go...

(Side rant: I've seen a fair amount of press for the "Ska is Dead" and English Beat/Bad Manners tours and it depresses me how many mainstream music writers still feel the need to define ska and its history. Ska became big enough in the US in the late 90s--even if the ska label was incorrectly associated with bands like Sugar Ray or Smashmouth--that we shouldn't have to rehash the ska-came-before-reggae-Skatalites-Prince Buster-2 Tone-Specials-Madness-Selecter-English Beat thing...I know Americans can be slow on the cultural uptake, but this is ridiculous. Don't spoon feed them--make 'em work for it! If they don't know what something is, they should freaking look it up on the web or in a book! Knowledge is power!)

Ska News from Around the World: Back to the Future with Bad Manners and The Beat

Editor's note: this feature highlights some of what the mainstream press is writing about ska music these days.

The Edinburgh Journal has a great overview of Buster Bloodvessel's career with Bad Manners. Fatty always has a good turn of a phrase to offer, too:

One of the most extravagant stage performers of recent decades, Buster’s frequently lunatic antics will be forgotten by few who have witnessed them. All publicity is good publicity, I suggest. “So they say,” he [Buster] muses. “But you wouldn’t say that to Gary Glitter, would ya?”

(If you don't get the reference, kiddo, Google him.)

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London's Metro tries to sort out (in a rather snarky way) whether it's worth one's time to see The Beat; this incarnation sports only Ranking Roger.

From the article, it looks like the 'cons' win the day.

Ska News From Around the Globe: The Specials, LGB, Bad Manners, and Derrick Morgan

Editor's note: this here is a round-up of recent articles generally from the mainstream press that relate to ska music. Read on, rudies!

A posting on Virtual Festivals wonders whether the original line-up of The Specials will perform as the surprise act at Bestival on the Isle of Wight on September 6th (Madness filled this slot last year and Terry Hall is likely to perform with the Dub Pistols, so he'll be there anyway... ). I guess we'll soon find out. (Also, when is that new Madness album being released? I can't seem to find much about it on-line...)

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The Fresno Bee reports that Let's Go Bowling will be playing a show this weekend in celebration of their 22 years together. The article also notes that the band is considering entering the studio to lay down new tracks.

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The Essex Echo (UK) has a great feature on Buster Bloodvessel, who is turning 50 on September 6 (Happy Birthday Fatty!); recently dropped a mess of pounds (via gastric bypass surgery--they cut out 2/3 of his stomach!); and, as the accompanying photo proves, he sports the, ahem, longest tongue in show business (suck on that Gene Simmons!).

There is a similar article on Fatty in the Manchester Evening News.

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The Boston Globe recently published an article about ska DJ Generoso Fierro who is producing a documentary on ska/rocksteady great Derrick Morgan. Over the summer, Fierro arranged to fly in Morgan to perform at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA (backed by Void Union) in order to capture him in action and interview him afterwards. Fierro previously has made a doc about the rocksteady guitarist Lynn Taitt, which was screened in Jamaica at the first Reggae Film Festival in February.