Duff Review: Dr. Ring Ding and Kingston Rudieska "Ska'n Seoul" EP

Rudie System
2014
CD EP/digital download

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The great Dr. Ring Ding has been a fervent fan of Kingston Rudieska--South Korea's top vintage ska act in the mold and of the calibre of The Skatalites--since he first encountered their track "Oscar Wilde" in 2007 on Pork Pie's Benetton-inspired United Colors of Ska 4.0 compilation.

So when Dr. Ring Ding's Ska-Vaganza was scheduled to appear alongside Kingston Rudieska at the 2013 Jisan World Rock Festival in South Korea, he and Kingston Rudieska--both great admirers of each other's music and musicianship--took advantage of this opportunity to enter the studio to record an EP's worth of material. This brilliant collaboration yielded the cheekily-titled, five-track Ska'n Seoul, which is mostly likely one of the finest traditional ska releases of 2014.

Ska'n Seoul is bookended by the terrifically smooth--but no less desperate, urgent, and tragic--ska-jazz version of Fine Young Cannibals' (ex-Beat members Andy Cox and David Steele with ex-Akrylykz Roland Gift) dark family drama "Johnny Come Home" (originally released in 1985) and its slick deconstruction in "Johnny Come Home (Worried Dub)." Kingston Rudieska shows the love to the good Doctor with a half-English, half-Korean cover of Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior Allstars' "Bad Company" (off the essential Ram di Dance), retitled here as "Discovery of Life," which Kingston Rudieska has included in their live set for for some time now. The traditional African-American spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (which is not just about being shepherded into heaven, but escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad to free states or Canada) is presented as if the musicians were part of a revved-up, ecstatic ska tent revival and Dr. Ring Ding as an Elmer Gantry-like charismatic preacher. The one new tune here, written especially for this occasion, is Dr. Ring Ding's delightful "Your Sweet Kiss" (about how the only thing the singer would miss when he's dead and buried), which is reminiscent of an ace Lord Tanamo or Laurel Aitken collaboration with The Skatalites from back in the day.

If you can get your hands on this CD, do it now (a digital version is available through iTunes and you can mail order the CD through Dr. Ring Ding's website)! You'll want it and even more from this ska supergroup. May we be lucky enough for their paths cross again very soon in the future.

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Duff Review: Babayaga Funky Drop

Skanky 'Lil Records
2010
CD

For the unfamiliar, the German ska band Babayaga is like the very gifted but hyperactive love child that would result if it were possible to mate The Toasters with The Busters. (For the non-Russians, Poles, and Hellboy fans out there, Baba Yaga is a witch-like character from Slavic folklore, who is sometimes depicted as a reluctant source of wisdom for those on quests, but in other tales is a kidnapper--and possible eater--of children.) Babayaga's brass-heavy, super-charged modern ska sound (with dashes of reggae, jazz, and Latin upping the amperage) is supremely infectious, highly-danceable, and all-out good fun. On their splendid third album Funky Drop, you'll find a mix of fine instrumentals (like "I Am A Train" and "Sweet") and a slew of cuts that will have you singing along loudly to their choruses.

Despite their country's often harsh and dreary climate--and like so many of their German ska predecessors (No Sports, Dr. Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars, El Bosso und die Ping Pongs, Blechreiz, The Frits, The Braces, The Butlers, etc.)--Babayaga write what seems like a surprising number of upbeat, carefree, good times songs (don't they have seasonal affective disorder there?). A prime example of this is the sunshine-y and catchy "Mellow Mood" ("I'm in a mellow mood/that I can dance and touch your face"), with its lovely three-part harmonies. "Funky Drop" isn't funky reggae, but a great ska tune, nonetheless ("You don't have to do anything/except dance and sing to the Funky Drop"). "Yesterday Night" is a driving ska-soul tune that has the singer urging his girlfriend not to ruin the good thing they have going--and to "forget what happened yesterday night." Babayaga's jazzier roots show on the smooth, non-Sicilian sounding instrumental "Mafia."

The tone of the album shifts a little with the more aggro, frenzied, and insistent kiss off "You Better Go" (the object of their scorn is even ejected from their gig!), as well as their public disdain for flower children in "Hippie." The mournful reggae cut "Motherless Child" references Joe Higgs' extraordinary "There's a Reward" (found on Life of Contradiction--read The Duff Guide to Ska review here); this is the original lyric: "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child/You know no one cares for me/I've never known sympathy." While most of the tracks on Funky Drop are in English, there is the salsa tune "Dos Alemanes Muertos" (Spanish for "Two Dead Germans") and two ska songs in German, "Der Traurige Clown" ("The Sad Clown") and "Sommawaso."

Those seeking ska's musical enlightenment should definitely stop by Babayaga's chicken leg cabin for the fantastic sounds found on their Funky Drop.

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

Duff Review: Mr. Symarip - The Skinheads Dem a Come

Jump Up Records (US) 2008
Liquidator Music (Spain) 2006
CD/Double LP

Editor's note: Since Roy Ellis recently played several high profile gigs in the U.S., we thought it might be good to give a review to his most recent release (even if it is a few years old)...

While Mr. Symarip (AKA Roy Ellis) will forever be associated with his stellar, ultra-popular skinhead reggae group Symarip, it comes as a bit of shock to discover that The Skinheads Dem a Come is a flat-out Skatalites-style vintage ska album--there's not a lick of early/"dirty" reggae to be found here. (Indeed, one album that I'm immediately reminded of in terms of its sound and quality is Lord Tanamo's incredible collaboration with Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior Allstars, Best Place in the World.) Skinhead reggae fans pining for the sounds of '69 might be disappointed by this news, but they should definitely not despair. Mr. Symarip is in top form on The Skinheads Dem a Come, performing fourteen terrific original ska tunes, all backed by spot-on session men.

Dubbed the "Pied Piper of skinheads" by a certain well-known ska insider who has witnessed the extraordinary loyalty exhibited by Roy Ellis' fans (on the red album cover, the skins are not trying to beat him, but chasing him down to sign their copies of Skinhead Moonstomp--they're showing him the love!), The Skinheads Dem a Come largely celebrates and/or name checks reggae skinhead style and culture. For proof, check out songs like "Wang Yu," which mines the skinhead reggae obsession with martial arts (championed vigorously by Lee "Scratch" Perry back in the day) by envisioning Buddhist skinheads in China ("Some people says you find skinheads in the east of Nepal/But I man saw skinheads in the Shaolin Temple/Wang Yu, your boss is asking you/Can you do the kung-fu, Wang Yu?"); the title track ("With the Dr. Marten boots a-stomp the floor a bum bum/The found out I'm the boss, they say forever I'll last/So them rush the stage, and they started to dance/Ska music starts to play, them jump up and prance"); and the sartorially-focused follow-up to "Skinhead Moonstomp," "The Skinheads Them Crash the Moon" ("I've my shirts, my Ben Sherman shirts/When we storm into the rocket/Put on them shirt we gonna stomp all over the moon").

The Skinheads Dem a Come also features a number of sweet love songs for that special someone, including the seductive rocksteady of "Come on and Dance with Me," "My Sugar Dumpline," and the sultry "My Caravan Queen." The broken-hearted can commiserate with "I'm Gonna Knock, I'm Gonna Knock" ("Do you remember, night in September/The stars was shining for me and you/And now you tell me to go away/"I think I never see another day"), the swinging, jaunty "I Don't Want You, I Don't Need You Anymore," and Ellis' versioning of the traditional African American spiritual "Amen Amen," which becomes "Say When, Say When" ("Say when we have this fuss and fight/Say when I'm never home at night/Say when I didn't hold you tight...I give you everything you need in life/And now you want to tell me I should pay the price...").

One of the more unusual tracks is the wonderfully confessional "I was Busted" that continues the Prince Buster "Judge Dread"-type tales of running afoul of the law: "I was busted in the bar last night/I was busted because I started a fight...a hungry man is an angry man/And a flirty woman give jealous man/That's why I was busted, busted last night"). The song opens with some great spoken dialogue between the singer and a bobby ("But wea di babylon a hold me up? I didn't do nothing man! Just get your black ass up against the wall..."). There is also an urgent, driving plea for peace in "I'm Talking About Love," and what is perhaps the greatest tune on the record: the joyfully optimistic "Take It As It Comes" ("You don't need to worry about money/as long as that life is happy and funny"). The album concludes with the very Potato 5-ish "Eastern Star" instrumental.

The ska world has been particularly fortunate to have had so many first generation Jamaican artists composing superb new music and performing well into their later years--someone's got to show the kids how it's done properly, right? Mr. Symarip continues to school us all with his musical mastery.

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

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Check out videos for "I Was Busted,""Eastern Star," and "Wang Yu" below:

Duff Review: The Simmertones - Presenting The Simmertones, Vol. 1

Self-released EP
2009

Based in Devon, England, The Simmertones are an ace trad ska act that has been playing out in that part of the world for around two years now. Their style of Skatalites-inspired vintage ska, as captured on the seven-track EP "Presenting The Simmertones, Volume 1" (recorded and co-produced by Richard Digby Smith, who as an Island Records engineer worked with the likes of Bob Marley, Led Zep, and Sparks), reminds one of NYC's Scofflaws in their fantastic prime (when Mike Drance and Victor Rice were in the band) or Germany's unstoppable ska powerhouse Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior All Stars. Like both of those bands, The Simmertones' performances are full of verve and creativity that underscore a keen understanding of and deep respect for the musical genre they are operating within.

The Simmertones completely nail several covers of 60s ska classics here: Justin Hines' "Over the River," The Skatalites' "Ball of Fire," and the traditional "Sammy Dead"; and--as The Scofflaws did on their debut album--they throw in an incredibly inspired choice of non-ska cover: the "Dr. Who" theme song. Every time I hear it, I have flashbacks of watching the show in the early 80s with Tom Baker dashing around in his super long scarf--I had no idea what was going on half the time, but it was compelling and freaky and I couldn't look away! (While I'm on the subject of British TV theme songs, somebody out there has to do a ska cover of Laurie Johnson's kick-ass theme for "The Avengers"--Diana Rigg in leather catsuits, yo!)

More significantly, The Simmertones' original cuts measure up in quality to the classics: the proudly strutting love song "One Time Soon" (which they note borrows a Skatalites horn riff from "African Beat"); the longing, reggae-ish "Warm My Bones" (one's lover as the metaphorical shelter from the storm of life); and an encouraging ode to self-reliance "Do What You Got To Do" ("Don't live your life in another man's shoes/Do what you got to do/and it will see you through"). All very good stuff.

Be sure to keep The Simmertones on your radar--this is a terrific debut and we can only hope that there's much more to come.

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A-

(Update: Thanks to John at Hoi Polloi Skazine for getting in touch and pointing out that The Avengers theme has received at least one ska treatment: The Butlers covered it on their "Time Tunnel" album in 1994. Any others?)

Duff Review: The Dendrites - Mountain Standard Time

Megalith Records
2009

God save The Dendrites! What with the music industry in shambles (thanks, in large part, to illegal file sharing), a fragmented American ska scene (still licking its wounds from the crash of the late 90s), and scattershot coverage of the music by bloggers and podcasters, they decide to drop this superb album of instrumental ska on the world now? In a different time (say 1997, when they would have been compared to The Scofflaws, New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, Skavoovie and the Epitones, and Dr. Ring Ding & the Senior Allstars) or place (Europe, Japan, South America, where they are not as rigid in their tastes--anywhere but here), The Dendrites' Mountain Standard Time would be hailed and celebrated by the ska masses--it's that good.

Ostensibly a vintage ska band in The Skatalites mold, The Dendrites (based in Denver, CO) take it all to the next plane, in a manner that reminds one of an act like the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, as The Dendrites' music is influenced by a wide array of genres (surf, latin jazz, soul, reggae/dub, 2 Tone, 1960s movie soundtracks). And there is a wonderful fluidity between these musical styles that brings a complex texture to The Dendrites' songs, as they often take many unexpected turns (see the Dick Dale surf guitar break in "Murder Mystery Weekend," the Eric Dolphy-ish jazz flute riff in "MMGF Dub," or the funky soul intro to "Street Walkin'"). There is also a surprising dreadness--not typically found in the ska-jazz genre--to some of their bass-heavy and dub cuts, like "Head Game" and "Interplanetary Space Sex," that are in a similar vein as those on Dub is a Weapon's powerful Armed and Dangerous EP.

The songwriting, performances, and production captured on Mountain Standard Time are uniformly excellent--there isn't a bum cut on this album (make sure to catch the bonus track at the end, the gorgeously melancholy "Trouble," that features vocals!). While a record brimming with instrumental songs may not to be every ska fan's tastes (I'm looking at you ska-punkers), those who are open to this style of ska will find much to love here.

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A-

Moon Ska Records Vinyl Discography

Yours truly recently received a request for a complete Moon Records vinyl discography to help him out with tracking down some of the label's releases. Fortunately, I was able to pull a complete Moon discography with notes out of my archives (I don't have this electronically, just a paper copy--otherwise I would be tempted to post the whole thing).

Please note that the first eight releases on Moon have two TOAST matrix numbers, rather than one MR (Moon Records) release number. This was due to the fact that these were all released on vinyl and each side needed its own number at the pressing plant (in those glorious analog days). In addition, since Moon was originally established in the early 80s as a label to release The Toasters' recordings (in true DIY fashion), it made sense to have such a reference. However, as the label and scene grew, it became a matter of pride to change the release numbers to MR.

Needless to say, since many of these vinyl releases had limited print runs, some of them are very hard, if not impossible, to find.

The Toasters
"The Beat" b/w "Brixton Beat"
TOAST 1/TOAST 2
7"
1983
Technically, this release is on Ice Bear Records--in deference to a band member's father who fronted the money for the single. Only 1,000 were pressed. I've never seen a copy of the single (I have the picture sleeve), though you can hear the tracks on the 1995 expanded CD re-release of Thrill Me Up.

East of Eden
"Mystic Mood" b/w "Sea of Happiness"
TOAST 3/TOAST 4
7"
1984
The first release with a proper Moon paper label, but it's not a ska record (d'oh!). East of Eden's sound was a downtown 80s blend of funk/disco/reggae/rock.

The Toasters
Recriminations EP
"Recriminations"/"Razor Cut" b/w "Run Rudy Run"/"Radiation Skank"
TOAST 5/TOAST 6
12"
1985
Also re-released in 1988 with new cover (not the one with cartoon versions of the band members in front of CBGBs) as MR005.

Kill Me
s/t
TOAST 7/TOAST 8
LP
1985
Funk rock band comprised of Buck's friends from Forbidden Planet, as well as a few of The Toasters.

Various Artists
NY Beat: Hit & Run
TOAST 9/TOAST 10
LP
1986

East of Eden
s/t
TOAST 11/TOAST 12
LP
1986

The Toasters/Beat Brigade
"Talk is Cheap" b/w "Try and Try"
TOAST 13/TOAST 14
split 7"
1987

Legal Gender/The Scene
"Overcast" b/w "Bruise Me"
TOAST 15/TOAST 16
split 7"
1987
Legal Gender changed their name to The NY Citizens soon after this single was released.

Second Step
"Do You Know This Man?" b/w "2 Men in Suits"
TOAST 17 b/w TOAST 18
7"
1987

The Toasters
Skaboom
MT11
LP
1988
Not a Moon Records release--at the time, the label didn't have the funds to press it--so Skaboom was picked up and released by Moving Target, a subsidiary of Celluloid.

The NY Citizens
On the Move
MR017
LP
1988

The Boilers
Tap It
MR018
LP
1988
Tap It never saw the light of day in the US, as the masters were lost when Ska Records (UK), which licensed and released Tap It as Rockin' Steady in England, went belly up.

Various Artists
Ska Face: An All American Ska Compilation
MR019
LP
1988

The Toasters
Thrill Me Up
SKL8001
LP
1988
This is another non-Moon release that is vital to the Moon discography. For Thrill Me Up, Celluloid created a new ska imprint titled "Skaloid," which also released the first volume of Unicorn's Skankin' Around the World ska compilations.

Various Artists
NYC Ska Live
MR022
LP
1991

The Toasters
This Gun for Hire
MR023
LP
1990

The Fiascos/Otis Reem
"Goodfellas" b/w "The Sophomore"
MR049
split 7"
1994

The Scofflaws
"Spider on My Bed" and "Parish" b/w "Nude Beach Version"
MR051
7"
1995
Issued on blue vinyl at 33 1/3 rpm.

NY Ska Jazz Ensemble
"Jive Samba" b/w "Blow Wind Blow"
MR060
7"
1996

The Toasters
"Chuck Berry" b/w "Maxwell Smart"
MR063
7"
1996

The Bluebeats
"Hardest Working Man" b/w "Why Not?"
MR064
7"
1996

The Slackers
"Tonight" b/w "2-Face"
MR073
7"
1996

Let's Go Bowling
"You Take Me" b/w "Uncomfortable Sidekick"
MR074
7"
1996

The Pietasters
"Ocean" b/w "Crazy Monkey Lady"
MR075
7"
1996

Inspecter 7
"Agent 86" b/w "See Ya!"
MR089
7"
1996

Buford O'Sullivan
"I Can't Decide" b/w "I'll Do It Someday" and "Decade Revival Song"
MR095
7" EP (33 1/3 rpm not 45!)
1996

MU330
"Now" b/w "Jason"
MR096
7"
1997

Skavoovie & The Epitones
"Riverboat" b/w "Beardman Ska"
MR098
7"
1996

Dr. Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars
"No Reason for Season" b/w "Your Sympathy"
MR146
7"
1998

If you have anything to add or correct, please let me know...

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Jeremy Patton at Megalith has a fairly complete Moon Records discography that may be found here.

(Thanks for sharing this Jeremy!)

From the Duff Archives: Lord Tanamo with Dr. Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars - Best Place in the World

Editor's note: With the recent news of Lord Tanamo's poor health, I thought it might be good to revisit one of his last recordings, which I originally reviewed for the print version of Read Magazine back in 2000. (Thanks to Adam Coozer for allowing me to reprint it here.) Best Place in the World is still in print and available from Grover Records, Amazon, and other music retailers. If you are unfamiliar with this album, Amazon features sound clips of each track on Best Place in the World for your listening pleasure.

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

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 & 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&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 & 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 “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 & 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 & 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: October 2000)