Duff Review: Out of Control Army "From Mexico to the World"

Black or white vinyl LP
Jump Up Records
2022

(Review by Steve Shafer)

By all indications, the Mexican ska scene is massive, and the reason you've seen top name ska acts (like Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Madness, The Selecter, and Bad Manners) bypass much of the US in favor of playing festivals there. With this in mind, Jump Up's Chuck Wren, who seems to have his finger on the pulse of every ska scene, has just released a killer new compilation from Mexico City's Out of Control Army (led by Deals Olan, who's played with The Toasters and Bad Manners) titled From Mexico to the World. 

For this release, Wren selected some of the best cuts from Out of Control Army's three most recent albums (Cat Nation (2018), The Spooky Ska Orchestra (2019), and Una Noche En Las Piramides (2021)) that reflect the band's love of--and great proficiency in---British 2 Tone and '60s Jamaican ska. Highlights include brass-heavy, Scofflaws-like original instrumentals like "El Chulo" (which features a beautiful piano intro; its title translates to 'bad-ass,' among other meanings), "One Note Samba," and "Tenor Madness"--and the pumped-up, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra ska-jazz of "Lilith." 

Out of Control Army also ratchets things up with raucous, knees-up 2 Tone ska tracks, such as "Unity" (with King Hammond--who declares, "we are living in troubled times, what the world needs now is love, love and unity!"--and Los Furios), "We Do The Ska" (with Neville and Sugary Staple, and members of Oreskaband and Kingston Rudieska), and "Global Ska." There's even some lounge-y, Rat Pack ska with their cover of "Just a Gigolo" and the big band-sounding "My Darling."

All in all, Out of Control Army's From Mexico to the World is a blast and shouldn't be missed!

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Bonus cut: Check out Checkerphil, the host of the long-running Manhattan cable access music show Checkerboard Kids, along with Deals Olan and Daniela from Inspecter 7, in the new Out of Control Army video for "Dance Jerico!" that was shot on various locations in NYC.

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Duff Review: Bim Skala Bim "Sonic Tonic"

 (Review by Steve Shafer)

Bim Skala Bim's new record Sonic Tonic (Vinyl LP/digital, Jump Up Records/Specialized Records, 2021)--their 10th studio album since 1986 (!)--promises the listener an aural cure for whatever ails 'em and then delivers a collection of fantastic, upbeat songs (done in Bim's signature style: post-2 Tone ska influenced by '60s rock and '70s roots reggae) that'll put a smile on your mug, make you want to move and groove, and lend you some relief from your troubles for a spell (indeed, Bim has donated this album to Specialized Records and some of the proceeds will go to support mental health orgs in the UK). Sonic Tonic is full of exceptionally crafted and catchy songs about longing to revisit past experiences and get a charge from their emotional punch; the "soft power" of food to bring us together; the thrill of being young and rebellious; and making sure to take the time to enjoy life (it passes by quickly) and tend to your own mental/emotional health. As someone who's been following Bim Skala Bim since the late '80s (Tuba City was my intro to the band and I first saw them at NYC's Ritz in support of that terrific album on a bill with The Toasters and NY Citizens), it's particularly striking and satisfying to realize how consistently good they've been all these years (read my review of their previous album Chet's Last Call). Sonic Tonic is among Bim's finest and definitely one of the best ska albums you'll hear all year.

While the feelings expressed in album opener "Go Back" are universal--the desire to relive specific moments in our lives that were particularly pleasurable, satisfying, or momentous--I suspect its relevance and unsettling sting are stronger for the tail-end Boomers and Gen Xers who are grappling with aging bodies, lives that haven't turn out the way we'd hoped/planned (and have worn us down), the loss of family and friends, and knowing that their expiration date is closer in the rearview mirror than one would like. ("Go Back's" thematic twin is "Too Sentimental"; the singer has a hoard of images and sounds on magnetic tape in storage that remind him of what is lost and can't ever be reclaimed.) Having said all that, it's still a joyful song, since the memories are so good:

Well, I met a girl from the Ocean State
With ocean eyes, didn't hesitate
The way she smiles
The sun it shines
Forget about the rest of time
'Cause it goes so fast
Making your head spin
Remembering every place we've been

I wanna go back now
I wanna feel something, somehow
C'mon and take be back now

"Cuz a You" is about a different kind of longing, the wanderlust that drives the road warrior musician ever forward to the next destination on their itinerary:

Sinking in a couch
And felt those ants in my pants
It's true
Keep it moving

Every day moving on
Any old way
Moving on
We don't stay

Up all night and half the day
When you get me I'll be ready to go

While "Lightning" tells a tale of running moonshine, it's really about being young and daring and getting off on the thrill of driving fast and evading the law (and the music and tempo make it feel like our tires are barely gripping the road as we careen at hair-raising speeds along twisty back roads):

When they put the lightning in the jar
And it's ready for delivery
Put the bottle in the box in the back of my car
Drive it away, yeah

Let me know when you get it right
It's a fine night for delivery
I can keep it to the right in the bright moonlight
Hauling it away and

Staying off the interstate
Getting late and dark
Heart is at a higher rate
Feeling great, acting straight

No, it ain't too hard to mix it up
Do it in the back yard
Do it in the graveyard
Do it in the school yard
I don't care
I just get it there

Up to date and in your face
That's the way they are
Shoot me with your radar gun
"Thank you, son
Let's have some fun"

Staying off the interstate
It's getting late and dark
Heart pumping at a higher rate
Starting to hallucinate

Sailing through the knotty pines
Moony white and pale
Way too fast to read the signs
Drive across the county line...

The answer/cure to some of this unease, restlessness, dissatisfaction, and tension is offered in the superb track "Letting Go (The Loon)" (and its version "It's a Mix of Things (The Tinkerman)"), which serves as the thesis of the album and features guest vocals from King Hammond. For some Native American tribes in the Northwest, the loon is symbolic of harmony, generosity, and peace, and this song suggests one way to achieve it is to get together with a friend, share a bottle, talk through things/embrace those feelings, and then consciously free yourself of them.

Brain is getting thirsty
Mouth is kinda dry
I don't need no glasses
Pass the bottle, give me a try...

...Give me sense and balance
Go with what you know
Here's to getting to it
Here's to letting go

The follow-up to this advice is found in Bim's cover of Bob Marley's "Easy Skanking" (from 1978's Kaya, an album full of songs about love and love of herb) that the band contributed to Specialized Records' 2016 One Heart compilation:

Excuse me while I light my spliff
Good God, I gotta' take a lift
From reality I just can't drift
That's why I am staying with this riff
Take it easy, easy skanking
Got to take it easy, easy skanking

"Gumbo" is a fantastic, New Orleans jazz-infused, anti-racist ska track that posits that the simple act of people of all races and backgrounds coming together to share food and companionship can help allay the fears and anxieties over difference and otherness: "No us and them/Just me and you/and some tasty stew."

The final track on the album is the stellar instrumental "Last Boat to Monkville"--Madness' "Night Boat to Cairo" meets a Thelonious Monk riff--that starts off in familiar 2 Tone territory and then takes you on an unexpectedly marvelous trip (and that's Chris Rhodes of Spring Heeled Jack, The Bossones, and Toasters on those great t-bone solos). Play this one and watch the dance floor fill instantly!

For all the hype of "ska is back" lately, Bim Skala Bim's Sonic Tonic is yet more proof to add to an already stratospheric pile of evidence that it never left. It's still being practiced by one of the foremost pioneers of American ska and they're even better than ever.

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Mato and Mr. Kingpin!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

At first glance, it might seem like a kind of a tired and gimmicky concept--a dub cover album of horror and sci-fi movie and TV theme songs--but Mato (French producer Thomas Blanchot--I reviewed his awesome 2020 single "Also sprach Zarathustra" b/w "Maiden Voyage" here) pulls it off brilliantly with his Scary Dub collection (LP/digital, Stix Records/Favorite Recordings, 2021; available through Juno Records in the UK). These are imaginative, evocative, and fun re-workings of embedded-in-our-brains theme songs (plus three fantastic originals!) that convey the dread, mystery, and menace of their corresponding films/shows quite effectively. Mato's impeccable work here may remind the listener of Henry "Junjo" Lawes' crisp, warm, and minimalist productions--it turns out he's one of Mato's fave producers--and surely the Lawes horror-themed dub album he created with Scientist back in 1981 was an inspiration for Scary Dub.

The album starts with "The Exorcist," whose unrelenting keyboard line creates an almost unbearable tension with the track's reggae underpinnings (a similar result is achieved with an excellent version of John Carpenter's "Halloween," which also has that maddening repeated keyboard line)--and Mato has added a short vocal part: "Sweet exorcist here guard little girl in danger..." (in addition to the cellos working overtime, there's also a vocal line in "Jaws Dub": Young shark, your teeth are gonna break next time you bite!"). "Dracula's Dub," a terrific Upsetters-sounding Mato original (Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy films have have no universally recognized theme songs, but are essential to the genre, so Mato wrote his own), opens with J.S. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" (which long has been associated with horror films from its use in 1931's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and 1962's The Phantom of the Opera) and has a great early '70s Hammer horror vibe to it (the scream sound sample seems like the same one that was used for WLIR's "Screamer of the Week" back in the 1980s!). There also are killer versions of the Nightmare on Elm Street, The Twilight Zone, and X-Files themes.

I absolutely love "Return of the Living Dead Dub" (it's my favorite gut-churning, freak-out zombie film--the re-animated cadaver on a hook in the medical supply walk-in fridge, "Send more cops!," Tarman!) that lends the cheesy but effective original cut some dramatic majesty with the use of great synth horn lines and makes you feel the movie's terrifying inevitability that we're all gonna be zombified, have our brains eaten (the only thing that stops the pain of being dead!), or end up sliding ourselves into the crematory oven. Another awesome Mato original, "Frankenstein's Dub" employs mad scientist sound effects, such as bubbling test tubes, zaps of electricity, a grunting monster ("I'm alive!"), and theremin-ish keyboard melody. Plus it borrows some knowing dialogue between the blind hermit and the Monster from the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein: 

Hermit: "We are friends you and I! Friends!"
Monster: "Friends!"
Hermit: "Before you came, I was all alone. It is bad to be alone."
Monster: "Alone. Bad."
Hermit: "And now for a smoke!"
Monster: "No, no!"
Hermit: "No, no, this is good. Smoke! You try!"

Perhaps the greatest track on the album is "The Thing Dub" (I never realized this was written by Ennio Morricone), which sports incredible synth washes and sounds like it could have come off Mad Professor vs. Massive Attack's apocalyptic No Protection. Scary Dub is an album you'll want to listen to any day of any week, not just around Halloween. (Do yourself a favor and make sure to watch the mindblowingly good animated videos for "Dracula's Dub,"  "Return of the Living Dub," and "Halloween Dub"!)

Released as a teaser for his forthcoming album Introducing...Mr. Kingpin on Jump Up Records, Mr. Kingpin's incredible new skinhead reggae single "Think Again" (Digital, self-released, 2021) opens with the cool and deadly warning, "What were you drinking/If you were thinking/That you could roll the dice and fool me twice/It won't work anymore...So now it's my turn/To watch your world burn...You thought that this was over/You'd better think again!" He makes it crystal clear that the payback/blowback for messing around will be dire. Guest musician Roger Rivas' Hammond organ playing on this track is nothing short of stellar and makes the cut sound like it could have come off King Hammond's classic Revolution '70 (Nick Welsh's stellar tribute to the keyboard greats Harry J, Jackie Mittoo, Winston Wright, Glen Adams, Ansel Collins, et al). If the rest of the album is anything like this track, Introducing...Mr. Kingpin is going to be on a lot of top 10 albums of 2021 (make sure to check out the video for the song).

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Duff Review: Various Artists "Gifted: A Ska Tribute to The Jam"

Specialized UK/Jump Up Records
Red or white vinyl LP
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Gifted is the latest in a series of excellent ska tribute/Teenage Cancer Trust benefit CD compilations from Specialized UK, which have been released in part on vinyl by Jump Up in the USA; previous efforts have focused on The Specials, The Beat, Madness, Bob Marley, and The Clash. The selection of cuts on the abridged, vinyl version of Gifted (in its original form, this is a 4 x CD release!) are a mix of The Jam's hit singles (in the UK, at least), b-sides, and album cuts (many from Setting Sons; all of them brilliant)--and the vast majority of the covers here bring something different and compelling to each version of these songs. In sum, Gifted is a powerful and winning set of tracks that do The Jam proud.

Of particular note are the Meow Meows' "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" (which takes on a whole new level of dread with a woman singing about being brutally mugged/assaulted by right wing goons...and worrying about her wife back at home, since the thugs have the singer's house keys); my old bandmates Rude Boy George's "Town Called Malice" (which decries the meager quality of life and dashed dreams of the masses in Thatcher's England); King Hammond's swinging "I Got By In Time" (with life experience comes wisdom); the Pressure Tenants "Strange Town" (about being alienated in one's own gray and unwelcoming land); Erin Bardwell Collective's very Beatles-y "English Rose"; The Amphetameanies' "Funeral Pyre" (with its allusions to fascist book-burnings--and a chart hit for The Jam just a few weeks before The Specials' "Ghost Town" went #1, when riots tore through many of England's cities, mainly due to high youth unemployment and the police's outrageous and despicable use of the Sus law to harass black people); Los Chicklet's Spanish-sung "Saturday's Kids" ("These are the real creatures that time has forgot/Not given a thought, it's the system/Hate the system, what's the system?"); The Crombies' Joe Jackson-like (think the New Wave ska of his "Pretty Boys") "Girl on the Phone" (concerning the bizarre experience of losing all privacy in the face of fame); The Skapone's "Smithers-Jones" (Bruce Foxton's warning of how workers who play the game and conform to capitalism's rules and societal expectations are ground up and spit out in the end; by the way, Paul Willo shines here!); and Lynval Golding and Contra Coup's wild, dancehall DJ-effects filled "Tales of the Riverbank" (an admittedly nostalgic longing for the innocence and freedom that comes with being very young).

The Jam's songs (and Paul Weller's and Foxton's enormous empathy for their songs' protagonists) continue to be surprisingly immediate and relevant three decades on (and oftentimes they're more accessible, as you can much more easily discern the lyrics in these versions!). Most of all, Gifted reminds the listener that being young and/or powerless in your own cruel and unjust country--when all you want to do is have fun, pursue your dreams, and earn enough to get by--is the same as it ever was...

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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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Duff Review: H.R. and The Scotch Bonnets "Quest" EP

Morphius Records
2014
CD

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Ska and reggae fans willing to venture just a tiny bit beyond the safe and tried-and-true traditional musical confines of these genres will want to be sure to take a listen to the fantastic new five-track Quest EP from ace Baltimore/DC rocksteady crew The Scotch Bonnets in collaboration with the Bad Brain's singer H.R. (Human Rights, AKA Paul Hudson). This meeting of musical minds and formidable talents yields a recording that is a brilliant blend of The Scotch Bonnets' ska/rocksteady/soul with H.R.'s otherworldly and very spiritual reggae.

The lead-off title track, a minor-key rocksteady duet of sorts between singer, songwriter, guitarist Lady Hatchet (AKA Kristen Forbes) and HR (co-written by the two and keyboardist Pablo Fiasco), offers words of encouragement--tempered with a dose of not-so-happy reality--for every human being trying to give some meaning to and derive some happiness from their existence:

"It's all so beautiful, magical, marvelous
It's also terrible, frightening, bittersweet
There's no rehearsing and you learn as you go
It's all pretending, running around and around in the game of life...

As you go, baby don't feel defeated
'Cause on this road, some will come and some will slip away
Just keep your head, give your aimless wandering a higher love
And then your quest will bring you peace of mind"

Lady Hatchet's "Cheyenne" is a sprightly and wonderfully bright knees-up ska tune that to these ears sounds like something that could have come off of Bad Manners' 1989 Return of the Ugly album (their best record and a highlight of the mid-to-late '80s UK ska scene)--a cut that Nick Welsh might have written (think "Memory Train," "Since You've Gone Away," or "Rosemary"--ska songs with pop hearts beating within). It's written from the point of view of a "traveling man" who has fallen for a woman, much to the displeasure of her mother--who's doing all she can to put a stop to things. The track sports a terrific everybody-sing-along chorus (and check out the King Hammond-y organ solo): "Cheyenne, I don't care what your mother thinks/She don't know what the future brings/When you and I will still be friends." If there was such a thing as a Billboard ska top ten ska in some alternate universe, this would be all over it.

The extraordinarily confident and smoking hot rocksteady-soul-rocker "Just a Kid" (another amazing Hatchet tune) is an unapologetic tune about searching for physical and emotional satisfaction on the road:

"I'm not sorry
I'm not ashamed
I never even knew your name
But now I will shout it
Shout it like the loudest sound

Hey, Bobby Miller
Where you've been out running around?

I'm not embarrassed
I'm not to blame
I never even knew your name
But now I will scream out
Scream out at the top of my lungs

Hey, Bobby Miller
Can hear you hear the howl of the dogs?

You could have been just a kid with a smile like that
How could I've known that you've been around a while
So you had to learn a thing or two

I have been roughed
Feeling so beat up
Did the mess around, mess around, mess around with my heart and soul
I couldn't take any more

Keeping to myself
Moving a straight shooting course

Another round in another dirty town
No, I never know whose chit chat is going to grip me in an eloquent voice
or have me reach for the door
Hey buttercup, you've really got that thing I adore

But when I looked out at you
You were smiling back
That's when I knew the one way to escape was getting back in the van

I'm not sorry
I'm not ashamed
It's all the same, it's just a game
Yeah, we're playing till the dark hits the sun
I feel like having some fun

You got me rolling so high--I can't describe it
And I don't want to come down--no!

(Spoken:)
No, no, don't talk
Why ruin the magic of action with conversation?
Loose lips sink pirate ships
And I just want to...walk the plank"

H.R.'s and Pablo Fiasco's "Universal Love" is a trippy/dubby rocksteady cut that features H.R. professing his unwavering and boundless love and devotion to his woman: "I'll never let you down/I'll never break your heart/I'll never let you down/I'm only yours from the start/No matter what they say/I'm always here for you/Just remember every day, I love you, I love/My universal love..."

Lastly, "H.R. Psalm" features H.R. reciting Psalm 45 from the King James version of the Bible over a mesmerizing reggae track (that conjures visions of wandering through the Judean desert). This particular psalm is a wedding song, written to the king on the day of his marriage to a foreign woman--but it is also interpreted as a Messianic prophecy, with Jesus as the king and Israel as the bride.

Don't let this gem of an EP slip past you in the white noise of your life! Attention must be paid to The Scotch Bonnet's and H.R.'s Quest, since it's some of the best music the US ska scene has to offer!

Duff Review: Hotknives "Razor Blade Alley" and Crabs Corporation "The Opium Eaters" b/w The Values featuring Neil Innes and Bedders "Madness" and Rude Boy George "Driving In My Car"

Jump Up Records/Specialized

2014

Yellow vinyl 7" single

(Review by Steve Shafer)

This sweet slab of wax is the second single spun off of Specialized 3: Mad Not Cancer, the four-CD collection of Madness covers released in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK. The first excellent single featured King Hammond and Bim Skala Bim covering "Bed and Breakfast Man" and "Nightboat to Cairo" respectively--The Duff Guide to Ska review of it can be checked out here.

On the A side, Third-wave UK stars The Hotknives tackle Lee Thompson's "Razor Blade Alley," a precautionary story of unsafe sex with a prostitute that results in case of venereal disease ("I'm just too shy to check in, but this pain of pissing razors is cutting in"), keeping the jazzy vibe of the tune in the keys, but adjusting the guitar and rhythm section so that their terrific version is much more of an urgent ska tune. Argentina's Crabs Corporation transform Mike Barson's jazzy instrumental The Opium Eaters (from Madness' 1981 album 7) into an fantastically trippy and dubby early reggae cut.

On the B side, The Values featuring Neil Innes (of Monty Python and Rutles fame) and Bedders (Mark Bedford of Madness, of course) serve up a jaunty and slightly sardonic version of Madness' signature tune (Prince Buster's original "Madness") that's a cross between something you might expect to hear off "Life of Brian" and Benny Hill. Great stuff. I'm a member of Rude Boy George, so I can't objectively review our version of "Driving in My Car," but we've heard from many people that they like how we've successfully transformed what was essentially a quirky novelty track into (what we think is) a pretty great all-out ska song.

Duff Review: King Hammond "Bed and Breakfast Man" b/w Bim Skala Bim (featuring Dave Hillyard) "Nightboat to Cairo" (from Specialized 3)

Jump Up Records/Specialized
2014
White vinyl 7" single

(Review by Steve Shafer)

This is the first single spun off of Specialized 3: Mad Not Cancer, which is a four-CD collection of Madness covers released in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK (for the record, the first Specialized benefit CD was a tribute to The Specials; the second one to The Beat; and the planned four release is focused on The Clash).

Side A features the always terrific King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh) with a sweet arrangement of "Bed and Breakfast Man" that, to me, sounds like something Laurel Aitken would have done in the 1980s. It irons out the quirkiness of the original, replacing it with a more straightforward, traditional ska vibe that works really well here (I also love KH's intro: "This is an old London folk song...").

Bim Skala Bim, with The Slackers' Dave Hillyard along for the ride, turn in a more faithful version of the beloved and classic "Nightboat to Cairo" (though the bubbly Bim organ is instantly recognizable as theirs!). Of course, this track sounds terrific in their more-than-capable hands and is probably simply brilliant live.

"Clash of the Ska Legends" Tour w/Bim Skala Bim and King Hammond!

If you're in or near New England in mid-to-late August, you MUST make sure to catch the "Clash of Ska Legends" tour featuring Bim Skala Bim and King Hammond!

For the past several summers, members of Bim have come together from their far-flung homes to play some always-popular gigs in and around Boston and Cape Cod (and for this tour, they're supporting their excellent new album Chet's Last Call--read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here). But this year, Bim is accompanied by the truly great King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh, ex-Bad Manners, The Selecter, Big 5, Skaville UK, and more), who has released a slew of amazing early 70s-inspired skinhead reggae releases recently, including 22 Bullets from a Rude Boy Gun, the reissue of his classic albums Revolution '70 and Tank Tops and Hot Pants, the 7" single "Skaville Ole," and a series of very limited-edition CDs.

Needless to say, both acts are phenomenally good and have been creating and playing some of the best ska and reggae around since the 1980s! See these legends while you still can!

Bim Skala Bim and King Hammond "Clash of the Ska Legends Tour"

August 14th: Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA (w/Mr. Kowalsky, Malabar, and The New Limits)
August 15th: The Wellfleet Beachcomber, Wellfleet/Cape Cod, MA
August 16th: Hookfest, Portsmouth, NH (w/Lettuce, The Nth Power, Michael Bernier and the Freevolt, and The Spittin' Vinnies)
August 17th: Manchester 65, Warwick RI (w/The Copacetics, Panoramic View, Sweet Babylon)
August 21st: Pelham East, Newport RI
August 22nd: Grumpy, Falmouth, MA
August 23rd: Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME (w/The Beat Horizon, El Grande, Roots Rhythm and Dub)
August 24th: Mine Oysters, Boothbay Harbor, ME

The "Cuban Missile" from King Hammond!

I love both Laurel Aitken and King Hammond, so this one is a no-brainer for me (the Godfather of Ska was actually born in Cuba and the title of this track refers to the Cuban Missile Crisis)! But I'm asking you to please consider supporting the amazing Specialized/Teenage Cancer Trust cause by buying this track (which will be released on iTunes, CD Baby, and other digital download sites tomorrow)--and be on the lookout for the Madness-themed Specialized 3 Mad Not Cancer benefit CD this summer (which just happens to include a track from Rude Boy George--the band I'm in--which covers "Driving in My Car").

King Hammond with the Sound Syndicate "Skaville Ole" b/w "Gimme Some Soul"

Liquidator
2013
7" vinyl single

(Review by Steve Shafer)

With the typical cheekiness and aplomb that I absolutely love and expect from the great King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh) comes his latest single "Skaville Ole," recorded with the Sound Syndicate. This cut reclaims the first big hit he wrote for Bad Manners way back in 1989 ("Skaville UK") and refashions it (a bit) for the Spanish ska market (Liquidator is based in Madrid; the Sound Syndicate are KH's backing band whenever he tours Spain). While this version contains little actual Spanish language, it does sport all sorts of signature King Hammond touches (the space-age keyboard sounds and Hammond organ found on his 1989 debut, Revolution '70)--with his irrepressible vocals riding atop the musical stampede (at the end of the track you hear Nick say, "Man, you guys just nailed the late '80s King Hammond sound!"). It's all pretty fantastic!

In keeping with 80s ska sounds, "Gimme Some Soul" is a sweet new 2 Tone-ish ska track credited both to King Hammond and the Sound Syndicate. As might be expected, KH needs something real and true along with a piece of her heart. King Hammond obsessives must have this single--but ska fans of every stripe should support the King and Co. and pick up this great piece of wax.

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King Hammond fans take note: The word from our friends Bim Skala Bim is that King Hammond will be doing a bunch of dates with them this coming August (8/14: Middle East in Cambridge, MA; 8/15: Wellfleet Beachcomber, Wellfleet, Cape Cod, MA; August 17: Manchester 65 in Providence, RI; and more!). So, if you're going to be anywhere in the Northeast USA this summer, make sure to catch two of the best ska acts around!

King Hammond "Revolution '70" and "Tank Tops and Hot Pants" CD

Limited edition CD

2014

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Back in the late 80s, Bad Manners' bassist and prolific songwriter Nick Welsh followed up on his stellar work for their 1989 Return of the Ugly album (Nick wrote "Skaville UK," "Since You've Gone Away" and "Memory Train"--and co-penned "Rosemary" and "Return of the Ugly"; this album remains one of Bad Manners' best) with a persona and record that celebrated the late 60s/early 70s skinhead reggae explosion in the UK: King Hammond's Revolution '70 (released on Buster Bloodvessel's then newly-revived and licensed Blue Beat label). At first, almost on a lark, Nick promoted King Hammond's debut album as a long-lost Jamaican gem of the skinhead reggae era, but he quickly fessed up about the charade in order to lay claim to all of the accolades the album was (deservedly) receiving.

After reading George Marshall's review in his essential (and very much missed) "Zoot" skazine (see the scans below from my personal copy), I mail-ordered the Revolution '70 LP from Unicorn Records and when my needle hit the record was immediately struck by Welsh's fully-realized sound and vision for King Hammond. The organ-centric music (in more ways than one!) pays loving homage to the skinhead reggae keyboard greats like Harry J, Jackie Mittoo, Winston Wright, Glen Adams, Ansel Collins, et al, while sounding thoroughly original (which it is--the cuts here are all Nick's). In fact, two of the vocal tracks on Revolution '70--"Stay with Me Baby" and "Oh Lorna!" are really pop-hits disguised in boots 'n' braces (Nick revisited "Stay with Me Baby" on his terrific Soho Sessions album, where he re-worked many of his greatest ska songs from the 80s and 90s on acoustic guitar).

George Marshall's review in Issue 13 of "Zoot" (1989)

Thematically, these songs cover skinhead reggae appropriate pop culture topics--which Nick clearly relishes--such as Sergio Leone spaghetti Westerns ("One Dollar Hotel" and "Hammond's Showdown"); Bruce Lee/martial arts films ("Enter the Dragon"); gothic horror movies, no doubt, of the Hammer Horror variety featuring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing ("The Satantic Rites of King Hammond" and "King Hammond vs. The Exorcist"), the soft-porn pop songs (with lots of sexually suggestive moaning) of Serge Gainsbourg (did you know that in 1979 he released a decent album of French reggae songs with Sly and Robbie called Aux Armes et Caetera?), and the hilarious rude records (for those of us with dirty minds to read into all of the double-entendres) of Lloyd Charmers (AKA Lloydie and the Lowbites), Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Judge Dread, et al (sample lyric from King Hammond's, ahem, "Pussy Power": "You must succumb-ah to my cucumb-ah").

From "Zoot" Issue 13, 1989

All of these keyboard-heavy tracks (most which include all sorts of wonderfully over-the-top spoken, shouted, or sung exhortations--many sublime in their outrageousness) are top-notch and were particularly unique back in 1989, when most bands were in the vein of either The Specials or The Skatalites. No one was doing skinhead reggae (with the exception of the now late, but always great, Laurel Aitken--though even his recordings at this time with the Potato 5 and the Pressure Tenants were typically 60s-style Jamaican ska, even if the arrangements sometimes took on more contemporary elements). While I love all of the tracks here, the two that are my favorite are probably "The Satanic Rites of King Hammond" ("Take off your hot pants and suck...This is the Hammond House of Horror, dig the beat, kids...Let me take you to a deserted graveyard, where the bones lay rotting...I will lay you down on a grave and I will raise...raise with me baby! You may be Dracula, you may be Frankenstein, but nothing can save you from King Hammond! I'm coming to get you!") and "The March of the Skinheads," which opens with an air raid siren and briefly salutes The Ethiopians' skinhead reggae anthem "Train to Skaville" before heading off on its own course (Nick was also honoring his father here, who co-wrote a song for the Artie Scott Orchestra with the same title--and I can only describe it as the type of quirky instrumental pop song you'd hear on a light Doris Day-type movie soundtrack from the 1960s).

King Hammond's follow-up, Tank Tops and Hot Pants, didn't see a proper release (mostly due to the demise of Buster's Blue Beat label and Nick's split with Bad Manners for the reformed Selecter with Neol Davies and Pauline Black), but one of Trojan Records' subsidiary labels Receiver Records (which released the excellent live Selecter Out in the Streets CD) issued the mega 25-track CD Blow Your Mind in 1992, which contained both the LP-only Revolution 70 and the newer cuts, though the track order jumbled up songs from each album (interestingly enough, this reissue drops a few cuts--"King Hammond's Magic Roundabout," "Crossroads," "Kinky Version," "Baby Version," "King Hammond Shuffle," and "Right On King Hammond," the last two were featured on Skank Records ska compilations). I really wish Tank Tops had come out on its own on vinyl--look at that cover art by Steven Friel (who provided ska-themed comic strips for "Zoot!," illustrated many of Unicorn Records' album covers, as well as Bad Manners' Return of the Ugly and King Hammond's Revolution '70)!

Tank Tops picks up right where Revolution left off, with more stellar skinhead reggae songs about sex ("Psychedelic Pum Pum" and "Pussy Got Nine Lives"), Westerns ("Hammond Rides Again" and "Spaced Out Cowboy"), blood suckers ("Dracula AD 72"), and simply great tracks with suggestive names ("Confessions of an Organist," "Suck/Lick It Up," and "Soul Up"). The album ends with the only sung song--"Skinhead Revolution"--a brilliant, funky and soulful, power-to-the people early reggae track with a great "nah, nah, nah" chorus right out of early 70s ("Skinhead on a violent street/dances to a different beat/Get ready, get ready!/Revolution on the floor/To the sound of '74/Get ready, get ready!/Nah, nah, nah/Skinhead revolution/Tank tops and hot pants everywhere/Sexy skin chicks with skin cut hair/Get ready, get ready... "). After hearing this, you'll be eager to sign up for King Hammond's musical movement, too.

The Blow Your Mind is a hard CD to find and fetches a high price on the collector's market (as does the Revolution '70 LP). One expects that this limited-edition version of Revolution '70 and Tank Tops and Hot Pants will be similarly valued and very much treasured by ska and skinhead reggae fans, too.

Duff Review: Crabs Corporation "The Many Faces of The Crabs Corporation" EP!

Jump Up Records
2013
Red or white 10" vinyl EP

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Crabs Corporation needs no introduction if you've been following the international ska scene and been smart enough to pick up one of their three fine 45s on Record Kicks: the King Hammond-produced "Bring Down the Birds (Flying High Mix)"; "Let It Go" b/w "Reggae Power" with Jennie Matthias and Dave Barker; or their recent "Day After Day" track with Susan Cadogan (they also do a cool reggae cover of The Clash's "Ghetto Defendant" on Golden Singles Records' jaw-dropping amazing The Clash Goes Jamaican compilation, which we'll be reviewing soon).

The latest release from this stellar Argentinian band is the six-track vinyl EP The Many Faces of The Crabs Corporation, which is an fitting title, since they like to mix up their soulful, organ-centric skinhead reggae sound with elements of 60s R'n'B/funk and 80s acid jazz (exemplified here on the vigorous instrumental workouts "The Sort," "Breakdown," and "Do It!"). Ska and reggae fans should go crazy for the standout track "Hush It!," featuring one of my favorite singers, the magnificent Jennie "Bellestar" Matthias.  The song's about someone struggling with haters who just won't let a past dispute go: "On my knees/I'm begging please/For someone to listen to this story/You can never make amends/They'll make ya a criminal/until the very end/You hush it/You hush it up/Shut it/You're told to shut your mouth/Why don't you listen to the truth/When you're presented with the groove?/What does it take to make you see?/Why are you disputing me?...You refuse to give in/and the scars you left behind run so deep/Call the doctor/I'm feeling bad/Was it my fault?/Am I the one to blame?" On paper, it looks like this is an angry, bitter song, but it's very upbeat and defiant--a great cut (check out a sample of "Hush It!" in the video below)!

As for the other straight-up early reggae cuts on The Many Faces of..., "The Hard Mod Beat" is actually a peppy Dave and Ansel Collins-type instrumental with various spoken exhortations running on top ("The hard mod beat is reggae!" and "From 1969 to the end of times, is coming from the past, but is going to the future..."); while "Le Secrete" is a repurposed/versioned Jackie Mittoo cut (the fantastically slow-burning "Drum Song") mashed up with a Serge Gainsbourg-ish voiceover. Ignorant American that I am, I wish my French was much better, so I knew what exactly what was being said. But it all sounds deliciously lewd and illicit...

New Album from Nick Welsh: "The Life and Times of a Ska Man!"

Fans of King Hammond--and we proudly count ourselves amongst that crowd--will want to be in on the pre-order of the new album from Nick Welsh, titled The Life and Times of a Ska Man, which contains new acoustic versions of Nick's songs from his vast catalogue of stellar songs from the past 20 plus years.

Here are all of the details from the man himself:

"My album The Life and Times of a Ska Man is now finished and I am now taking pre-orders for it. The price is £10 (including p + p) in the UK or £12 for the rest of the universe. You can pay via the King Hammond webpage. The first 100 people who order will receive a free N.1. Records album and a lovely badge. All the money made from this release will go into funding the next N.1. album, which will be Hot Skin Music by King Hammond."

Nick has had an extraordinary musical career, spanning from the post-2 Tone days of the mid-80s to the present day (the cover of his new album is a collage of many of the fantastic records he's released over the years--some of which are my all time favorites). He's served as the bass player and songwriter for Bad Manners (Return of the Ugly), Buster's All Stars (Skinhead Luv-a-fair), The Selecter (The Happy Album, Hairspray, Cruel Britannia), and Big 5 (In Yer Face, Popskatic), as well as his own groups, Skaville UK (1973, Decadent, Devil Beat) and his skinhead reggae alter-ego King Hammond (Revolution '70, Blow Your Mind, The King and I, Jacuzzi, Showbiz!, Dancing in the Garden of Evil). Plus, he's worked with ska stars like Lee "Scratch" Perry (picking up a Grammy in the process), Dave Barker, Judge Dread, Prince Buster, and Laurel Aitken.

(In addition, Nick is in the midst of writing his autobiography with Paul "Willo" Williams, which is also titled "The Life and Times of a Ska Man"--read an exclusive excerpt here.)

We've pre-ordered our copy of The Life and Times of a Ska Man...now it's your turn!

New King Hammond Video: "Reggae Mantra"

This excellent new video by Paul Willo just dropped today in support of the new King Hammond track "Reggae Mantra," which will be on the forthcoming 2013 KH album, Hot Skin Music...



A new KH album is something else to look forward to this year, right?

New King Hammond Album for 2013: "Hot Skin Music"!

One thing we definitely have to look forward to in 2013 is the next album from King Hammond! Titled Hot Skin Music, this 20-track record ("a mix of bluebeat, skinhead reggae, country, and comedy") will be largely autobiographical and include the acoustic "The Life and Times of a Ska Man" (which is also the name of King Hammond's autobiography being written with Paul Willo, who wrote The Specials' biography, "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion").

Of note, the title track ("Hot Skin Music") will be released in two parts, with 7" and 12" mixes (what, are we in the 80s again?!). King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh) describes is as "a kind of Donna Summer, Japan, funk, skinhead, Afro-rock track." With a description like that, I can't wait to hear it!

In other news, King Hammond's new live band is called The Spirit of '69, in a nod to the King's skinhead reggae roots (his previous backing band, Rude Boy Mafia, broke up when bassist Nick Welsh, Jr. moved to Canada).

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(BTW, do you need to brush up on some of King Hammond's music? Check out his YouTube channel, King Hammond World, for dozens upon dozens of videos--most of them done by Paul Willo.)

Duff Review: King Hammond "Rude Boy Rock" b/w Sammy Buzz "Ruff Ride Ruff"

N.1. Records
2012
7" single

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Frustration over how illegal music file sharing has eaten away at the sales of his recent batch of really superb CDs (The King and I, Jacuzzi, Showbiz, and Dancing in the Garden of Evil), coupled with his deep rooted love of vinyl records, has led King Hammond (AKA Nick Welsh) to focus his next batch of releases on limited-edition, white label singles that are signed and personalized for each purchaser (mine reads, "To The King of New York! From your pal, King Hammond"). This release also happens to include a "Rude Boy Rock" badge designed by Paul Willo (which is a nice touch and something very much appreciated by those of us who grew up sporting band buttons on our overcoats, parkas, and flight jackets). While this approach definitely appeals to the old school ska fan, I hope that it helps shape the behaviors of the new ones (I buy CDs and LPs for my son as birthday/Xmas gifts, etc. and he has begun to like going with me to new and used record stores to make his own purchases). So if you don't already have one, it's probably time to go scour the thrift shops or eBay for a turntable, because it's looking more and more like ska musicians are going to be releasing a good portion of their recorded music exclusively on vinyl (for the latest example, see the two Dr. Ring Ding Ska-Vaganza singles on Jump Up Records).

As of late, Nick (with help from Paul "You're Wondering Now" Willo) has been working on penning his autobiography "The Life and Times of a Ska Man," chronicling his fascinating and oftentimes amusing experiences as a musician/songwriter/producer (with Bad Manners, The Selecter, Big 5, 3 Men and a Black, Skaville UK, King Hammond, Prince Buster, Lee Perry, and Laurel Aitken)--and it appears that this look back is probably the inspiration for this fantastic cut, "Rude Boy Rock." The track opens with a long spoken-word introduction over a wicked, funky skinhead reggae rhythm: "When I was a teenager growing up in North London in the early 70s, I loved my reggae. You know, a bit of Trojan, Island, all that gear. But at the same time, I was banging on what the media would call glam rock. Although to me, it was just pop music: T. Rex, Slade, Sweet. And even way back then, I thought one day I'll have a band of my own and I'd mix these two kinds of music together and call it "Rude Boy Rock." Well, it's taken a little bit longer than I'd thought, but here we go..." The music then shifts into glam/punk power chords for the "Rude Boy Rock" chorus and back to dirty reggae for the subsequent verses that recount his discovery of "that beautiful, amphetamine-fueled sound of punk rock," while simultaneously maintaining his all-out obsession with ska and reggae.

Having hit the mid-century mark, King Hammond is one of the few still active second generation of ska musicians producing high-quality new music. In this role, he seems to relish being a part Homer-like epic poet of ska (the keeper of ska history, which is retold for the benefit of younger fans) and part pub stool raconteur eager to give you the straight skinny behind all the myths. And that's what is so appealing about this track--KH is a stellar storyteller and in recounting/revealing his personal history directly for his most fervent fans, he forges an even closer relationship between himself and his supporters ("...did he just essentially tell us that he thought up ska-punk years before it actually came into being?!"). In this age when pop culture is increasingly decentralized and sliced up into millions of micro channels catering to tiny audiences, giving your people what they want is more vital than ever to a professional musician's survival.

On the flip side, King Hammond collaborator Sammy Buzz delivers the rude record "Ruff Ride Ruff," which expands upon the theme of--and appropriates some of the music from--Prince Buster's perennial favorite "Rough Rider." Sammy sings and toasts: "She's rough in the morning/She's rough in the evening...She rougher than the carpet in my room/Tougher than the bristles pon a broom/Rougher than the pet hedgehog/Rough like a flea bitten dog..." The painfully absurd imagery/humor here takes some of the bite out of the slack lyrics--but they're still kind of lewd! Yet, you get the feeling that this track is really about honoring the tradition of the rude sides by musicians like The Prince and Lloyd Charmers (AKA Lloydie and the Lowbites) than really titillating the dirty 14 year-old lurking inside all of us.

If you're a King Hammond fan, this record is a must--and for those of you who aren't on board the King Hammond train to Reggae City, what are waiting for? You're missing out on some of the best ska out there!

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Duff Review: Sammy Buzz and The Rudeboy Mafia "I'm Buzzin'"

Self-released (available through the King Hammond website)
3-track EP CD
2012

(Review by Steve Shafer)

If you've been following the great King Hammond, you're aware that Sammy Buzz of the Rudeboy Mafia (who back Sammy here and King Hammond whenever he plays live) is one of KH's musical collaborators and has been featured on KH tracks like "Rocking on Ridley Road" (from Showbiz). As King Hammond produced and co-wrote two of the three songs with Mr. Buzz on this EP, it won't surprise you to find that the brand of ska here is reminiscent of the catchy, lively late 80s tracks that KH--as his alter ego Nick Welsh--was composing for Bad Manners (see any of the stellar cuts Nick wrote on the magnificent Return of the Ugly album, such as "Skaville UK," "Memory Train," "Since You've Gone Away"). So, if you're a fan of Nick's work with the Fat Bastard or as King Hammond, you're going to be predisposed to liking what Sammy Buzz has got going here. The charming, semi-autobiographical, and very catchy songs collected on the I'm Buzzin' EP give Sammy Buzz his sweet moment in the sun--and he takes complete advantage of this opportunity to show off his talents and shine.

"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"). A very nice slice of upbeat ska for when your troubles might be grinding you down.

"Licks" isn't about trying to figure out how many it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop (or anything risqué), but suffering repeated beatings as a kid (it's kind of horrifying to think about now, but I guess that it was a different time, place, and mindset). This skinhead reggay tune lays out Sammy's youthful experiences in corporal punishment inflicted upon him by his parents, peers, and teachers ("Remember back a school yard/the bicycle shed/the teacher saw me kiss you/and sent me to the Head/He gave me licks..."). It's not a mournful tune (the music is quite sprightly, actually)--but it is steadfastly defiant in its matter of fact-ness: he survived and can sing about it with a bit of humor all these years later.

"Cigarettes" is a public service announcement with a ska beat (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/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!"

In many ways, this EP reminds me of the glory days of the UK ska scene in the mid to late 80--and the joy and delight the top bands of that era (Potato 5, The Trojans, Laurel Aitken, The Deltones, The Loafers, etc.) took in following their post-2 Tone ska musical vision, even if was out of step with, or contrary to, the larger, contemporary musical scene. It simply was brilliant musicians playing the music they fiercely loved. And they had one hell of a fun time doing it. That's the essence of I'm Buzzin'.

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Preview the New King Hammond Single "Rude Boy Rock"

Here's the skinny on the excellent new and very limited-editon King Hammond 7" single, "Rude Boy Rock," which is coming out this October:

"The disc is a white label, 100 only that will be individually signed to the buyer. It will also come with a "Rude Boy Rock" badge.The flip side is a song by Sammy Buzz, "I Got it on Vinyl." N.1. Records is now concentrating on just vinyl releases now mainly due to the increase of people downloading or 'burning' discs. Being of an age, I'm old school. I like my vinyl and in the coming months will be releasing more white label singles. I know in some ways it's cutting my own throat a bit, but for a while King Hammond and CDs are having a trial separation, but you can still get the four albums I have released in the last two years from www.king hammond.co.uk.

Anyone who is interested in picking up one of these singles should get in touch with King Hammond via his Facebook page.

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Regular readers of The Duff Guide to Ska know that we are very much anti-music file sharing, so we can't blame KH for going the analog route for now.

Duff Review: The Soulsteppers "The Return of..."

Jump Up! Records

CD 2008

10" vinyl record 2012

Editor's note: Jump Up just released a 10" vinyl version of this incredible gem of an album, so we thought it would be a service to The Duff Guide to Ska readers to re-post this review of "The Return of the Soulsteppers" that we ran a few years ago...

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Ever since 2 Tone was tagged as a "ska revival" movement in the late 70s, each subsequent wave of ska has been burdened with this albatross around its neck. While it probably didn't help that so many of the 2 Tone acts expressed their sincere love of their influences so prominently in their set lists and on their LPs, people like Jerry Dammers, Mike Barson, and Dave Wakeling heard Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, and many more extraordinary JA musicians as they grew up along side the sons and daughters of Jamaican immigrants. Ska and reggae had become an integral part of the empire of British pop culture, as England absorbed the music and styles of the peoples of its former colonies--so questions of legitimacy or cultural appropriation were never an issue (particularly when many of the 2 Tone bands were multi-racial and The Beat could boast of Saxa in their ranks).

Respect was due to the originators, even as their songs were being transformed by the fury of the times and the power of punk. Yet an over-reliance on (admittedly brilliant) ska covers on all of their debut LPs--which helped launch the bands to the Top of the Pops--left the 2 Tone bands open to accusations of creative shortcoming in the songwriting department (something that certainly was not an issue on follow-up albums by The Specials, The Beat, and Madness). So, yes, 2 Tone may have started out as as a ska revival, but a lot of distance was covered from "A Message to You, Rudy" to "Ghost Town"--and at by end, the sound and style was all their own.

But this informed and nuanced view of 2 Tone never made it across the Atlantic whole. Most mainstream music critics in the US have been all too willing to sneeringly dismiss the scene as somehow illegitimate--failing to see that 2 Tone, the third wave of the late 80s and 90s, and whatever we want to call what is going on today as the organic evolution of this genre of music, developing in new ways as it is re-interpreted by successive generations of musicians around the world. Interestingly enough, the questions of musical authenticity or musical/cultural appropriation generally don't dog rock bands using/exploring/recycling blues riffs or punk bands doing the Class of '77 ad nauseum. But ska is shunted off to its own musical ghetto--and maybe its better this way. Most people don't know what to do with it.

Perhaps because those in the current ska scene are somewhat touchy about questions of ska's lineage (though their affection and respect are never in doubt), many traditional bands are almost fanatical about authentically re-creating the particular style of Jamaican music they love. While I'm generally more intrigued by acts which bring something new to a specific musical form, the groups with the talent and skills to faithfully realize a specific vintage ska sound and compose new songs in that style--without succumbing to shoddy imitation or parody--are really worth hearing.

A fairly recent album by a band in this category (that seemed to slip under the radar) is Return of the Soulsteppers by Bakersfield, California's The Soulsteppers, who are remarkably similar in sound and quality to the cream of the skinhead reggae crop: The Upsetters, Laurel Aitken, Harry J All Stars, Dave Barker and Ansell Collins, Clancy Eccles, Lloyd Charmers, Symarip, and The Pioneers, among others. After first listening to The Return of the Soulsteppers, I was also reminded of the two King Hammond records that Bad Manners' Nicky Welsh lovingly created (if, at times, a bit tongue in cheek), Revolution 70 and Blow Your Mind, in the late 80s/early 90s (the story goes that when the debut King Hammond album was released, they actually passed some of them off to unsuspecting record store owners as a long-lost skinhead reggae classic--it's that good). Indeed, The Soulsteppers are in good company.

While this mostly instrumental album is simply excellent from start to finish, highlights include (and note the extraordinary attention to detail in the production of the album--the instruments used, the recording process--it sounds like a 60s-era gem) "Warhead," with its choppy, propulsive Hammond organ and human-made groans and roars; the bass-heavy, orgasmic (le petit mort?) "Death Comes"; the ethereal flute melody floating through "Soul Step"; the soulfully sung love song "The Feeling is Real"; the jaunty "On That Evening"; "Last Laugh's" lazy, dubby trombone line contrasting with its frenetic guitar and melodica; the amazing steel drums featured in "Basson"; "Mars Invasion's" updating of "Skinhead Moonstomp"--"Cause they've already gone to the Moon/So the skinheads are going to Mars"; the sweet, romantic-sounding sax of "The Park"; and the electric piano melody leading the rhythm section forward on a march through "Death Valley"--with a reverb-y sound effect that's the aural equivalent of the sun baking your brain in your skull. Cool stuff!

The album's sparse liner notes indicate that the tunes here were composed between 2002-2008 (and several tracks were previously released on 7" singles on the European Lava and Conquering Ruler labels) and from what is captured on The Return of the Soulsteppers, it was clearly worth the wait! The rest of the world might not know what to make of The Soulsteppers--or skinhead reggae, for that matter--but if you're in the know, you'll definitely want this record.