Duff Review: The Selecter "Deepwater" (Single Version) from the 40th-Anniversary Deluxe CD Reissue of "Celebrate the Bullet" (Chrysalis Records)

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I've written a fair amount about The Selecter's brilliant but unfairly maligned second record, Celebrate the Bullet (read my appreciation of the album and my interview about it with Selecter guitarist/songwriter Neol Davies first published in my book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone). So, I didn't expect to have too much more to add to the (late to the game) 40th-anniversary release of Celebrate the Bullet, which has been remastered and issued on heavyweight, clear vinyl and as an expanded triple-CD deluxe version (which contains a 20-page booklet with new liner notes from the band; the unreleased "Deepwater" single and its version; the Celebrate the Bullet BBC sessions from 1980; and an unreleased live concert recorded at Birmingham's NEC in 1980).

Both editions sound fantastic and are worth picking up--particularly if your old LP or cassette copy of Celebrate the Bullet has seen better days (or some misguided review put you off buying it in the first place). But the Rarities disk in the CD box set features a real gem--a previously unreleased take on Pauline Black's track "Deepwater" recorded with The Jam's producer Pete Wilson in April 1981. The intent was to issue it as the record's second single, but Radio 1's ludicrous ban on the "Celebrate the Bullet" single obliterated sales of the album, which quashed any thoughts of releasing a second single. ("Celebrate the Bullet" is an anti-gun/violence song, for Pete's sake--shouldn't Radio 1 have played that in the wake of John Lennon's murder and the shooting of President Reagan?)

As Neol Davies explains in the liner notes: "Even though disco had become unfashionable, I felt that dance music was about to re-emerge in a different form. We tried a new arrangement, keeping a mix of rapidly changing styles of pop music at the time in mind." And in 1981, that new style of pop music in the UK was driven by the New Romantics and synthpop. While it seems shocking to characterize it this way, the re-recorded take of "Deepwater" sounds like Selecter-meets-Duran Duran (whose sound at that time was deeply indebted to Japan and their Quiet Life album and associated single "Life in Tokyo," produced by Giorgio Moroder). But when you consider the timing of Duran Duran's debut single--"Planet Earth" was released on February 2, 1981, and skyrocketed to the #12 spot on the British charts by the end of that month--it all makes sense.

In an audacious move, the single version of "Deepwater" was refashioned with atmospheric synths, a disco bass line, Nile Rogers' Chic-era guitar work, and a Scary Monsters-influenced distorted/processed guitar solo (Davies was listening to Bowie's latest album at that time). As preposterous as this seems typed out on the screen, the results are super catchy and shimmeringly brilliant (and the altered chord progression and Black's vocal line during the "I never wanted to be in Deepwater again" lyric that leads into the chorus--is phenomenal!).

If you're listening Chrysalis Records, please consider releasing the single version of "Deepwater" and its instrumental remix on a vinyl 45 for an upcoming Record Store Day.

For a band attempting to figure out how to stay relevant in an ever-shifting pop landscape (and spark sales for a superb album that was tanking commercially), this radical departure might have worked had it been released--and permitted The Selecter to live on for a bit longer.  It would have been fascinating to see what they might have done next, had they survived. Many diehard 2 Tone fans surely would have cried "sell-outs," but consider the musical paths most of The Selecter's peers went down within a year or two. Later in '81, Fun Boy Three split from The Specials (right after the triumph of "Ghost Town"!) to make minimalist African rhythm-driven new wave pop. Madness were releasing increasingly pop-filled albums (with hit singles like "It Must Be Love" and "Our House"), and The Beat died so Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger could play Motown new wave pop.

In her notes for this song, Pauline Black explains her motivation for writing "Deepwater": "Once we had been the big fish in a small pond, now we were an international band with four hit singles. I felt as if we were drowning in the big pond of the music industry, unable to set a course and direction in the wake of an onboard mutiny [the departure of Desmond Brown and Charley Anderson just as the band was starting to record Celebrate the Bullet]." How ironic it would have been if the "Deepwater" single had been released back in 1981 and turned the commercial tides for the better for Celebrate the Bullet...

+ + + +

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!

+ + + +

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.

+ + + +

Record Store Day 2022: Ska & Reggae Releases

As Chuck Wren told me--and you'll see below--this year's crop of ska and reggae RSD releases are pretty "sparse" (and some of them are not being released on Saturday, April 23, but on June 18). If you want to avoid the RSD price gouging (which is likely to be even more outrageous as there are shortages of PVC and other LP supplies) and boycott the majors for bullying their way to front of the lines at the vinyl pressing plants, keep your eye out for Jump Up's surprise, non-official RSD ska releases to be announced/for sale that same day.

+ + + +

US 2022 RSD Ska & Reggae Releases

Jimmy Cliff: Follow My Mind LP (LAW Records)
Madness: Baggy Trousers 12” (BMG)
Various Artists: 100% DYNAMITE! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk in Jamaica 2 x LP (Soul Jazz)
Various Artists: Greensleeves Ganja Anthems LP (VP Records)
Various Artists: Love Is All I Bring 2 xLP (Trojan) (6/18/22 release)
Various Artists: Soul Power ’68 LP (Trojan)
Various Artists: Studio One Classics 2 x LP (Soul Jazz)

UK 2022 RSD Ska & Reggae Releases

Alpha & Omega: Tree of Life, Volumes 1 & 2 LPs (Mania Dub)
Joseph Cotton: Zoom Zoom Shaka Tacka LP (Room in the Sky)
Fun Boy Three: The Best of Fun Boy Three LP (Chrysalis) (6/18/22 release)
Madness: Baggy Trousers 12” (BMG) (6/18/22 release)
Mikey Dread: “The Gun” b/w "Jah Jah Style" 10” (Music on Vinyl)
Peter Tosh: Complete Captured Live 2 x LP (Rhino)
Various Artists: 100% DYNAMITE! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk in Jamaica 2 x LP (Soul Jazz)
Various Artists: Greensleeves Ganja Anthems LP (VP Records)
Various Artists: Love Is All I Bring 2 xLP (Trojan) (6/18/22 release)
Various Artists: Soul Power ’68 LP (Trojan)
Various Artists: Studio One Classics 2 x LP (Soul Jazz)

+ + + +

Duff Review: No Sports "Twang!"

Black Butcher Records
(Available in the US through Jump Up)
CD/LP
2021

(Review by Steve Shafer)

For the few, proud, and brave (and ska-starved) American ska fans keeping the faith in the late '80s/early '90s, the German ska scene was a marvel to behold, even at a distance. The records from The Busters, No Sports, The Frits, El Bosso und die Ping Pongs (which yielded Dr. Ring Ding when they were done), Skaos, The Braces, The Butlers, Blechreiz (sound it out), and more (see the comp It's a Skandal) that managed to find their way to the US via Unicorn Records mailorder or specialist record shop import bins (like Bleeker Bob's) were extraordinarily good. 

No Sports' 1989 debut album King Ska--crammed full of hyper-charged, slightly demented 2 Tone ska songs about trying to get by in a mad world--was one of the finest releases of that era, and its follow-up 1990 EP Stay Rude Stay Rebel (the title track is an anti-racist/anti-fascist anthem for the ages--still applicable today!) was equally as essential (read my review of its recent reissue here; Black Butcher also reissued King Ska, too). 1992's $uccessfools had some amazing songs on it ("Summer," "Five," "Radio," and "Crazy Girl"), but overall, the album wasn't as much of a knock-out as their debut (maybe there were too many downbeat songs?).

I lost No Sports' thread for the remainder of the '90s (apparently they expanded their sonic palate to include non-ska sounds and released No Rules in 1994 and Riddim Roots An' Culture in 1998)--and they broke up in 2002. A version of the band reformed in 2005 as Nu Sports, but then officially reformed as No Sports in 2015. Twang! is No Sports' first new album since the late '90s and it's a very good one.

Like much of King Ska, there is a strong contrarian and absurdist streak running through Twang! The super catchy "Looting" is silly take on the 1960s rude boy record ("We're looting and we're shooting/We're hooting and we're footing/We're faking and we're taking...In shanty town it's all okay/You'd better stand out of my way/And call the police!"). The single off the album should be "Maybe," which swipes The Ethiopians' "Train to Skaville" riff plus a Madness lyric, and is about not caring what anyone thinks about you or what you do, since we don't have enough time in our lives to waste on all that. King Kong returns for a cameo in "The Sacrifice," a dream (or is it?) about the animal world passing judgment on humanity for its tremendous cruelty and abuse of all things great and small--and someone has to answer for all our crimes. 

Several of these tracks were clearly written in response to the pandemic. The upbeat and encouraging "No Coincidence" speaks to the "Groundhog Day"-like malaise everyone's feeling stuck in ("Don't give in to your sorrow/Don't give in to you pain/You think there is no tomorrow/And everything is in vain/See the world keeps on turning/Turns around just for you/Keep your passion burning/And I keep burning for you"). And there's nothing like a deadly worldwide plague to make you realize that "Tempus Fugit" (Latin for 'time flies'), we all have an expiration date: "Every minute, every hour/Kronos offers us the chance/So we better use the power/Live life bright and full of prance."

If you loved No Sports back in the day, Twang! doesn't disappoint. And if you like 2 Tone/modern ska but don't know the band, you should grab a copy of this and King Ska as well.

+ + + +

NYC Ska Calendar #8 Winter 2021/2022

Sunday, December 12, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

Desorden Publico and King Chango
S.O.B.'s
204 Varick Street
New York, NY
Tickets: $50
21+

+ + + +

Friday, December 17, 2021 @ 8:00 pm

Subway to Skaville & Electric Avenue present a Ska Holiday Party with Hub City Stompers, Barbicide, The End Times (plus DJ Ryan Midnight and DJ Duff Guy spinning ska vinyl all night!)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (between Avenues A & B)
Manhattan, NY
No cover (but bring cash to tip bands when the bucket goes round and to buy band merch)
21+

+ + + +

Saturday, December 18, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

The Slackers and The Aggrolites

Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
Manhattan, NY
Tickets: $22.50
16+

+ + + +

Saturday, January 8, 2022 (doors @ 7:00 pm)

Cabite, JER, Teenage Halloween, Common Sage, Ian Fidance

St. Vitus Bar
1120 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
Tix: $18.79
18+

+ + + +

Saturday, June 4, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

Madness and The English Beat

Manhattan Center--Hammerstein Ballroom
311 West 34th Street
Manhattan, NY
Tickets: $55 and up

+ + + +

NYC Ska Calendar #5/Fall 2021

Editor's note: I'll be sharing the decks with DJ Ryan Midnight (spinning nothing but vinyl!) at two upcoming ska shows at Otto's Shrunken Head in November and December. Stay tuned for details--watch this space! Also, don't forget to bring proof of vaccination and photo ID for entry to all of these shows.

Friday, October 15, 2021 7:00 pm to 12:00 am

DJ Ryan Midnight Spins 100% Ska
Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street, between Avenues A & B
New York, NY
No cover!/21+

Saturday, October 16, 2021 @ 9:00 pm

Beat Brigade
The Bitter End
147 Bleeker Street
New York, NY
Tickets: $10
All ages

Saturday, October 16, 2021

The Pietasters Booze Cruise (SOLD OUT)
The Lucille--Rocks Off Concert Cruise
23rd Street and the FDR Drive
Manhattan, NY
$45/21+
Doors at 6:00 pm, boat departs at 7:00 pm

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

The Pilfers, Be Like Max, Bright Ugly
Kingsland
269 Norman Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$17.95 in advance/$20 day of show/16+

Sunday, December 12, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

Desorden Publico and King Chango
S.O.B.'s
204 Varick Street
New York, NY
Tickets: $50
21+

Saturday, December 18, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

The Slackers and The Aggrolites
Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
Manhattan, NY
$22.50/16+

+ + + +

Saturday, June 4, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

Madness and The English Beat
Manhattan Center--Hammerstein Ballroom
311 West 34th Street
Manhattan, NY
$55 and up

+ + + +

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.

+ + + +

Duff Book Review: Lee Morris "2 Tone: Before, During & After"

(Review by Steve Shafer)

After several decades marred by a dearth of tomes about 2 Tone apart from George Marshall's foundational and wonderfully opinionated The Two Tone Story (1990) and an extraordinary chapter about 2 Tone in Dick Hebdige's Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music (1987), we're finally in a golden age of plenty. The spigot began to open in the late 2000s, with autobiographies from Horace Panter and Pauline Black, plus Paul Williams' superb biography of The Specials, You're Wondering Now. And more recently, we've seen coverage of 2 Tone in Heather Augustyn's terrific surveys of the genre, Ska: An Oral History and Ska: The Music of Liberation; amazing autobiographies from Ranking Roger (read my review) and Madness (read my review); and the best oral history of 2 Tone one could hope for in Daniel Rachel's Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge. (Oh, and I published The Duff Guide to 2 Tone in 2020, as well!) 

To this crowded bookshelf, the discerning 2 Tone fan absolutely should add Lee Morris' book 2 Tone: Before, During & After (Paperback, Media House Books, 2020). Morris provides a comprehensive overview of every band that released music on the 2 Tone label (including the lesser-known, non-ska acts that were signed on the tail end of 2 Tone's existence, like Friday Club, The Higsons, and The Apollinaires), from their origins in the '70s up till the present day--and includes biographical sketches of all band members and key collaborators. (Plus there's a chapter on 2 Tone related bands, and if you ever make the pilgrimage to Coventry, info on the 2 Tone Trail.) Morris' book is crammed with details (and some welcome commentary) that help flesh out the entire 2 Tone story--and American fans, most of whom didn't have easy access to the British music publications breathlessly covering 2 Tone's rapid rise and prolonged flame out, will find it especially enlightening. I was particularly grateful for Morris' chapter on The Special AKA, since I knew too little of this band's history other than it's Phoenix-like rise from the post-Ghost Town ashes of The Specials; and that Jerry Dammers' perfectionism in crafting the magnificent In the Studio cost an ungodly sum, took forever to complete, and was so miserable an experience that Rhoda Dakar to this day has never listened to it.

2 Tone: Before, During & After is an essential and handy reference guide to the label--one that you'll be thumbing through for years to come (I certainly will be).

+ + + +

Dawning of a New Era: Live Ska Music (Slowly) Returns to NYC!

It's been a very long time since I last posted a NYC Ska Calendar, so it's kind of a thrill to list these few upcoming ska shows, even though we're several months out from all of them (well, with the exception of the Madness date which is a year out).

First up, The Toasters are playing in Brooklyn on the way to the Supernova Ska Festival in Hampton, VA (and rumor has it that Bim Skala Bim will be making a rare New York appearance around the same time).

Friday, September 17, 2021

The Toasters
Kingsland
269 Norman Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$17.95/16+
Doors open at 6:00 pm

Saturday, October 16, 2021

The Pietasters Booze Cruise
The Lucille--Rocks Off Concert Cruise
23rd Street and the FDR Drive
Manhattan, NY
$45/21+
Doors at 6:00 pm, boat departs at 7:00 pm

Saturday, December 18, 2021

The Slackers and The Aggrolites
Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
Manhattan, NY
$22.50/16+
Doors open at 7:00 pm

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Madness and The English Beat
Manhattan Center--Hammerstein Ballroom
311 West 34th Street
Manhattan, NY
$55 and up
Doors at 8:00 pm

+ + + +

Update(s):

Friday, June 11, 2021--8:00 pm to Midnight

100% Ska with DJ Ryan Midnight
Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (Between Aves A & B)
Manhattan, NY

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Barbicide, Homebodies, plus DJs Selector Peralta, DJ Shabbakano, Comandr3 Selecta
Arrogant Swine
173 Morgan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
FREE
All Ages
Early show: 3:00 pm
"NO Racism - NO Sexism - NO Bullshit"

Saturday, June 26, 2021--4:00 pm

Stop the Presses
Queens Night Market @ NY Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Corona, NY
FREE

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Mighty Ramon, The Bluebeats, The Naughty Cubists
American Legion Huntington Post 360
1 Mill Dam Road
Huntington, NY
$15
Doors at 5:00 pm

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Ska Punk Bash w/The Scofflaws, Jones Crusher, The Knottie Boys, Bad Mary, Skappository, plus DJ Treblemakazz
Bartini Bar
124 North Carll Ave
Babylon, NY
$15 day of show/$10 in advance

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Hub City Stompers, The Take, Murderer's Row, Violent Way
Kingsland
269 Norman Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$15/All ages, 21 w/ID to drink
Doors at 7:00 pm

+ + + +

Duff Review: The Selecter "Too Much Pressure" Deluxe 40th Anniversary Reissue!

(Review by Steve Shafer)

During their intense, year-long association with 2 Tone,* The Selecter always seemed to have been unfairly overshadowed in the press by their label co-directors and mates The Specials, despite that fact that The Selecter' original songs were as good (if not better) and relevant (addressing racism, street violence, alienation, and the "no future"/"nothing to do, nowhere to go" of Thatcher's England)--and their live performances just as incendiary. So, it's wonderfully fitting that of all the recent 2 Tone 40th anniversary releases, the deluxe reissue of The Selecter's debut 1980 album Too Much Pressure is by far the best. 

The triple-CD deluxe edition of Too Much Pressure features the remastered version of the original album; a second disc of related singles, their 1979 John Peel session, and several previously unreleased recordings; a third disc of previously unreleased live tracks from two hometown concerts in Coventry from '79 and '80; and excellent, copious liner notes by Daniel Rachel (read my interview with him about this project), as well as track-by-track commentary by several members of the band (it should be noted that none of the other recent 2 Tone 40th Anniversary reissues were expanded and included unreleased material from the vaults). The heavyweight LP version of Too Much Pressure (mine is clear vinyl!) features a half-speed master, plus a copy of The Selecter's debut single "On My Radio" b/w "Too Much Pressure" (in the 2 Tone sleeve)--and if you ordered a copy from the 2 Tone store like I did, they included a 7" EP containing the four aforementioned live tracks from 1980 (the '79 concert will be released on vinyl during the second Record Store Day drop this summer). Die-hard Selecter/2 Tone fans will want--and be very pleased with--both editions. 

The pairing of the Roger Lomas-produced "On My Radio" b/w "Too Much Pressure" single with the Too Much Pressure LP inadvertently underscores just how perfectly suited he was as The Selecter's producer. (First listen to the single and then the LP.) While Errol Ross did a very good job with producing the album, the tracks don't quite capture the power and punch of anything The Selecter recorded with Lomas (and there are many more examples of Lomas' work with them on the second disc of the triple-CD). At the time, according to Rachel's liner notes (and Neol Davies told me in an interview published in The Duff Guide to 2 Tone), the choice of Ross as producer was controversial within the band (Davies wanted Lomas, but more members of the band voted for Charley Anderson's friend Ross) and none of the band members were completely satisfied with the end results. So, Lomas was recruited again for "The Whisper" single and the band's sophomore LP Celebrate the Bullet--a very under appreciated album--read my write-up of it here. (The Specials had a similar issue with Elvis Costello's production for their debut album; he didn't quite capture the band's sound in the studio as well as Dave Jordan (More Specials) or John Collins (Ghost Town EP), which was evident when the bootleg Live at the Moonlight Club hit the streets prior to The Specials and the former made for a much better debut album--read my review of official 2 Tone/Chrysalis 2014 release of Live at the Moonlight Club here.)

Disc two of the CD set ("Singles, B-Sides & Rarities") contains a fantastic, previously unreleased, alternate (and more urgent) take of "Three Minute Hero" produced my Lomas for the band's lip-synched 1980 appearance on "Top of the Pops" (Errol produced the version released on the single). There's also an awesome, unreleased synth-washed version of "Cool Blue Lady" which was recorded by Lomas during "The Whisper" sessions (a second version of the track appeared on Celebrate). I learned from the liner notes that the superior version of "Street Feeling" on this disc that was included on the 12" of "The Whisper" was actually from the "On My Radio" b/w "Too Much Pressure" sessions (as Gaps said, "We recorded three songs and let the record company choose [what was on their first single]"). And rounding out the unreleased material on this CD is a brilliant medley/mash-up of Lee Perry's "A Live Injection," a bit of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Mony Mony," and "Too Much Pressure" recorded during a soundcheck in 1980. Plus, if you never got your hands on a copy of the "Ready Mix Radio" version of "On My Radio" done by Lomas and released as a freebie on flexi-disc for the first issue of Flexipop magazine in November of 1980, here's your chance to hear it (I have the flexi, but the track sounds loads better on CD). 

The majority of live material on disc 3 of the CD set is from The Selecter's November 1979 concert at Tiffany's in Coventry, which was part of the UK 2 Tone Tour with The Specials and Madness. The Selecter had only been together for about six months at this point (and they were slated to start recording their debut album the next month), but their songs and performance are absolutely magnificent. Of course, it helped that most of the members of The Selecter previously had played together in other Coventry bands like Hard Top 22 and Neol Davies already had ace material that he written and performed ("On My Radio," "Out in the Streets," and "Street Feeling") with The Transposed Men (which included The Specials' John Bradbury and Desmond Brown). But still, it's extraordinary how good and confident and entertaining the band were so early in their existence. 

One of the greatest stories revealed in Rachel's liner notes comes from their first recording session with Roger Lomas. The producer had seen them opening for The Ruts and knew that "On My Radio" was perfect for their debut single, but he didn't know the name of the track. When The Selecter played their set for him, but he didn't hear that hit song. So, Lomas asked if there was anything else and they responded "On My Radio," but they were reluctant to play it, because they thought it was like "a bloody Eurovision Contest song"! 

This definitive edition of Too Much Pressure brilliantly documents The Selecter's enduring 2 Tone legacy. Get it! 

+ + + +

(*They left 2 Tone for Chrysalis proper for "The Whisper" and Celebrate the Bullet releases.)

+ + + + +

Ska and Reggae Record Store Day 2021 Releases of Note: Jerry Dammers, Desmond Dekker, LKJ, Madness, The Selecter, Blue Beat, Jump Up, Studio One, and More!

As always, the Record Store Day offerings for ska and reggae fans in the UK are simply better and more plentiful that they are in the US. And with the insane cost of shipping LPs from the UK to the US these days, even if you are able to track down a UK-only RSD release you want for more that you want to spend, you're going to get absolutely killed by postage.

The only bright spots for US fans are domestic releases from The Selecter, Desmond Dekker, and two Soul Jazz Studio One compilations.

Please note that Drop 1 is on June 12 and Drop 2 is on July 17.

Blackbeard (Dennis Bovell): I Wah Dub (LP, PLG, UK only, Drop 1)

Joseph Cotton, Winston Reedy, Barry Isaacs, Vin Gordon: Kiki Kiki EP (7" single, Room in the Sky Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Jerry Dammers: At The Home Organ: Demos 1980-82 "Ghost Town (Original Demo) b/w "Theme from The Boiler" (10" single, 2 Tone/Chrysalis, UK only, Drop 2) These two previously unreleased tracks are Jerry’s home recordings made on cassette in 1980/1982. This is a rare glimpse into his working practice, including The Specials' most famous recording "Ghost Town," which celebrates its 40th Anniversary in July this year (and is being reissued by 2 Tone in both 7" and 12" formats).

Desmond Dekker: The King of Ska Live at Dingwalls (2xLP, Burning Sound, UK only, Drop 1)

Desmond Dekker: King Of Ska - The Ska Singles Collection (10 x 7” box set, BMG/Trojan, US & UK, Drop 1)

George Dekker: "Run Dem" b/w "Foey Man" (7" single, G.D. Records, UK only, Drop 1)

George Dekker & The Inn House Crew: "Nana" (7" single, Room In The Sky Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Jah Floyd: "20 Years Inna Leaky Boat" (7" single, Jamaican Recordings, UK only, Drop 1)

Owen Gray: Sings (LP, Burning Sound, UK only, Drop 1)

Linton Kwesi Johnson: Making History (Color vinyl LP, UMC, UK only, Drop 1)

Jump Up Records: Chuck Wren is releasing four LPs for RSD: Bim Skala Bim's new album Sonic Tonic; a reissue of The Skatalites' Bashaka; an anthology from Skanking Lizard; and the first-ever vinyl edition of The Scofflaws' fantastic debut album originally released on Moon Records in 1991!

Madness: I Do Like To Be B-Side The A-Side Vol 2 (LP, BMG, UK only, Drop 1)

Freddie McGregor: "Never Run Away" (12", Greensleeves, UK only, Drop 1)

Mungo's Hi Fi: Antidote (LP, Scotch Bonnet Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread (LP, VP Records, US & UK, Drop 1)

The Selecter: Live In Coventry ’79 (Clear vinyl LP, 2 Tone/Chrysalis, US & UK, Drop 1) This is the vinyl version of the live concert included in the forthcoming 3xCD reissue of Too Much Pressure. Read about this concert and this reissue here.

Millie Small: "My Boy Lollipop"/"Something's Gotta Be Done"/"Don't You Know It"/"Until You're Mine" (7" Island/UMC, UK only, Drop 2)

Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston (LP, Get On Down, US & UK, Drop 1)

Various Artists: Legends of Blue Beat: The Blue Beat Label (LP, Blue Beat Records, UK, Drop 2)

Various Artists: Soul Jazz Records Presents Studio One Ska Fire! (5 x 7" box set, Soul Jazz Records, US & UK, Drop 2)

A: Bob Marley and The Wailers – "Rude Boy"
AA: Derrick Morgan – "It’s Alright"

A: Don Drummond – "Don D Special"
AA: The Maytals – "A Man Who Knows"

A: The Skatalites – "Something Special"
AA: Lee Perry – "Open Up (aka Cook Book)"

A: The Regals – "Shammy Back"
AA: Bob Marley and The Wailers – "Diamond Baby"

A: Jackie Opel – "The Mill Man"
AA: Ethiopians – "I Am Free"

Various Artists: Studio One Soul (2 x LP, Soul Jazz Records, US & UK, Drop 2)

Wailers & U-ROY: My Cup Runneth Over (LP, Tsosume Records, UK only Drop 2)

Wailing Souls: Wailing (2 x LP, 17 North Parade, US & UK, Drop 2)

+ + + +

Updated 4/8/2021.

+ + + +

Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Madness and T-Killas!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

As my friends at Stateside Madness recently pointed out, even though there have been loads of Madness compilations released in the UK over the years, only four have been issued in the USA--and none of them have included tracks past 1986! So, the release of the twelve song Our House: The Very Best of Madness (CD/LP, Union Square Music, 2021) is more than overdue and will help the casual Yankee Madness fan catch up on what they've been missing as of late. There are cuts from 2009's outstanding The Liberty of Norton Folgate (read my review of the album and film) and 2016's Can't Touch Us Now (read my review of it here)--wot, nothing from 2012's Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da?--plus the 2019 digital single "Bullingdon Boys" (read my review here), which has never previously received a physical release! Even though I have all of their albums, I'll sheepishly admit that I picked up this comp just to have "Bullingdon Boys." Such is the life of an obsessive vinyl collector. (Also make sure to check out Stateside Madness' brilliant interview with Madness guitarist Chris Foreman!)

I'm not exactly sure why Germans have such a knack for making really great ska. But if you like The Busters, No Sports, The Frits, The Butlers, El Bosso und Die Ping Pongs, Bleichreiz, Skaos, The Braces, Dr. Ring Ding, The Senior Allstars, Bluekilla, Masons Arms, Yellow Cap, etc. as much as I do, make sure to add T-Killas to the list. Their incredible new album Awareness (CD/LP, Fire and Flames Music/Grover Records, 2020; and available in the USA through Jump Up Records) is a mash up of melodic 2 Tone/early '90s Krautska (particularly The Busters/No Sports/The Frits), and The Clash, The Jam, and The Adjusters (and note that those last three bands were fiercely leftist). In the midst of seemingly everyday songs about going out and having fun, pursing women or men, and just trying to earn enough to get by in life, T-Killas pointedly include messages that are anti-fascist, and pro-socialist and gender equity. Ska fans longing for new protest songs to address some of the many injustices and evils out there have another album for their arsenal!

In what is clearly the single of the album (that I first heard through the Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3 comp), the irresistible knees-up singalong "Dandy and Rude" gleefully trades in bad-ass myth-making while celebrating rudies/workers' unity and purpose:

'Cause tonight I'm out with the most special one
When he's out he spills entire bars and more
He burns whole blocks dancing to the rebel sound
He roars like a lion until he sleeps on the ground

He's so dandy and rude--you will never get this fool!

'Cause tonight I'm out with the most special one
When she starts to rumble, the jungle is gone
She drinks the enemy's blood out of her red bowl
Who says you got to be tall to kick the shit out of an asshole?

Fight, drinking all night long
Chanting beloved workers' songs
Crew love, AFA skinheads
Nothing to prove--black and red

"Rudie's Struggle" challenges gender stereotypes--particularly rude boy/skinhead machismo: "'She's so soft and she's so sweet'/You think she's not a street warrior, oh please...He or she/Poor categories/Do you want to preserve the classic roles?/Or a counterculture without sexual harm for all?" Maybe a little is lost in translation, but you get the gist. "Gonna Go" is a sweet reggae love song about that special someone you can always rely on. "Riot Ground" sounds like a Billy Bragg/Joe Strummer punk rock collaboration sending up a flare to the powers that be to take note that not all is hunky dory with the masses: "You give 'em hope, you give 'em peace, education and disease/But is going on--if there's a fucking wake up call?" And perhaps the most powerful track on the album is the anti-capitalist/pro-socialist and shout out of solidarity with the workers of the world mod cut "Calling for Stars":

I don't get no money for my rent
I just keep on slaving till the end

This is another good goodbye
To our empty life
It's another calling for the black, black star
And it's another calling for the red shine
It's another calling for the red, red star
And it's another calling for the black light

As someone living in a country plagued by white supremacy and enormous income inequality--and where far too many people fear and don't understand--and don't care to understand--what socialism and antifa actually mean, it's both striking and heartening to hear catchy, positive songs about both. We really need them, so keep 'em coming!

+ + + +

Review of "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone" in March 2021 Issue of Scootering Magazine!

Huge thanks to Nik Skeat for his amazing review of my book in the March 2021 issue of Scootering Magazine! I'm both thrilled and humbled!

(The Duff Guide to 2 Tone is available to purchase from Jump Up Records (USA), Copasetic Mail-order (Germany), 2 Tone Village Museum Shop (UK), and Amazon worldwide.)

+ + + +

+ + + +

Duff Guide to Ska: Year of Reviews 2020

(Apologies to John "Teflon" Sims)

Despite the fact that 2020 has been a truly awful year for humanity, one small silver lining is that it turned out to be a pretty great year for recorded ska music. As proof, I offer the links below to all of the fantastic singles, EPs, albums, books, and films I managed to review over the past year (and I still have a good number of releases still to write up, and will be adding them here over the next few weeks as they become available). Thanks to everyone who's followed The Duff Guide to Ska over the past year, and picked up a copy of my book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone (I'm working on a new Duff Guide tome in 2021). I wish everyone Happy Holidays and hope we all have a better year in 2021. Stay safe out there. -- Steve Shafer 

Los Aggrios: "Alcohol" b/w "Manten La Fe" (7" vinyl single/digital, Steady Beat Recordings, 2020)

Laurel Aitken: En Español (LP reissue, Liquidator Music, 2019)

The Archives: Carry Me Home: A Reggae Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson (2xLP/CD, Montserrat House, 2020)

The Attractors: Love Bombs (LP/CD/cassette, Jump Up Records, 2020)

The Bakesys: "Rainy Day Dub" (Digital single, Do the Dog Music, 2020)

The Bakesys: "Rich Boy Rude Boy" (Digital single, Do the Dog Music, 2020)

Erin Bardwell: Interval (CD/digital, Pop-A-Top Records, 2020)

The Bartenders: "Tańcz I Klaszcz" b/w "Cebron" (7" vinyl single, Bad Look Records, 2020)

The Big Sound: "Have Mercy" b/w "Jerk Chicken Dub" (7" vinyl single, Smack It Flat, 2020)

The Bionic Rats: Alive in Dublin (Digital, self-released, 2020)

The Blackstones and The Officinalis: "Change of Plan" b/w The Officinalis "Santantonio Special" (7" vinyl single/digital, Aloe Vera Records, 2020)

Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards: "Mercy" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards: "Take You Away" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

Dennis Bovell Dub Band: "Get Up Stand Up" (featuring I-Roy) b/w "Stand Tall" and "Versatile Violin" (featuring Johnny T) b/w "Dangerous" (Digital singles, Old School, 2020)

Brixton Sounds: "Sonidos de Brixton" b/w "Me Perdi" (7" vinyl single/digital, Steady Beat Recordings, 2020)

Capitol 1212 featuring Earl 16: "Love Will Tear Us Apart" b/w "Version" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

The Caroloregians: "From the Congo Square" b/w "You Got to Be a Man" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

Rhoda Dakar and The Dub Pistols: "Stand Together" (7" vinyl single/digital, Sunday Best Recordings, 2020)

The Dendrites: Lunchin' with The Dendrites (CD EP/digital, self-released, 2020)

Detroit Riddim Crew: "Fight for Your Rights" b/w "Fallen Down" (7" vinyl single/digital, Abbey Productions, 2020)

Detroit Riddim Crew/The Skapones: "Do Something" b/w "The Girl Inside" (7" vinyl single/digital, 2020)

Detroit Riddim Crew and Friends: Detroit Riddim Crew and Friends (LP/digital, Abbey Productions/Jump Up Records, 2019)

Dr. Ring Ding: The Remedy (LP, Jump Up Records, 2020)

The Dreamlets: "Sunny" b/w "My Heart is Crying" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

The Equators: "Nice to Be Nice" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

The Far East: New York Is For Lovers (12" vinyl EP/digital, Names You Can Trust, 2020)

Flying Vipers: Cuttings (LP/cassette/digital, Music A.D.D./Jump Up Records, 2020)

Flying Vipers: Dub Fader Cuts (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

Flying Vipers: "Nervous Breakdub (Pandemic Version)" b/w "PMA Calling" (Digital single , Music A.D.D., 2020)

Flying Vipers: "Two Twenties Clash" (Digital single, Music ADD Records, 2020)

The Georgetown Orbits: "The Ska-Jazz Single" (Digital single, self-released 2020) 

Girls Go Ska: "Quédate" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

The Go-Go's: The Go-Go's (Documentary film, Polygram Entertainment, 2020)

Vin Gordon: Way Over Yonder (LP reissue, Studio 16, 2020)

Green Torrejas: "Green Torrejas" b/w "The Prisoners" (7" vinyl single, Canana Records, 2020)

Jah Jazz Orchestra: Introducing Jah Jazz Orchestra (LP/CD/digital, Brixton Records, 2020)

The Juks: Way Back (LP/digital, J-Beat Records, 2020)

King Kong 4: Punch It! (LP, Jump Up Records, 2020)

The Lions: "The Loser" (7" vinyl single/digital, Names You Can Trust, 2020)

Madness: Before We Was We: Madness by Madness (book, Virgin Books, 2019)

The Man on the Bridge: Million Miles Away (CD/digital, Pop-A-Top Records, 2020)

Mato: "Also sprach Zarathustra" b/w "Maiden Voyage" (7" vinyl single, Stix Records, 2020)

Me, Mom, and Morgentaler: "Racist Friend" b/w "Racist Friend 2020 Dubmatix Dub" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

Mento Buru: East Bakersfield Christmas (Digital EP, self-released, 2020)

The New Normal Collaboration: Quarantined on Easy Street (LP/digital, self-released, 2020)

Night Owls: "Gossip" b/w "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" (7" vinyl single, F-Spot Records, 2020)

No Sports: Stay Rude, Stay Rebel (7" vinyl EP reissue, Black Butcher Classics/Mad Butcher Records, 2020)

Pama International: "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" b/w "Feel Like Jumping" (7" heavyweight vinyl, Happy People Records, 2020)

Park Rangers: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" b/w "Summer Madness" (7" vinyl single, Parktone Records, 2020) 

Perkie and The Co-operators: "Concrete, Steel and Stone" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

Lee Perry: Black Ark Days: Play On Mr. Music (CD/LP, Rock A Shacka, 2020)

The Players Band: SKAMÖRGÅSBORD (CD/LP/digital, self-released, 2020)

Prince Buster: Africa - Islam - Revolution (CD, Earth Sound Records, 2019)

Prince Buster: Roll On Charles Street (CD/2xLP, Rocka Shaka, 2020)

Prince Fatty featuring Shniece Mcmenamin: "Black Rabbit" b/w "Black Rabbit Dub" (7" vinyl single/digital, Evergreen Recordings, 2020)

Prince Fatty featuring Shniece Mcmenamin: Disco Deception (7" vinyl EP/digital, Evergreen Recordings, 2020)

Prince Fatty featuring Shniece Mcmenamin: "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" (Digital single, Evergreen Recordings, 2020)

Prince Fatty featuring Shniece Mcmenamin and Horseman: "The Model" b/w "The Model Dub" (7" vinyl single/digital, Evergreen Recordings, 2020)

The Prizefighters: "The Prizefighter Beat" b/w "A Fistful of Credits" (Digital, self-released, 2020)

Pyrotechnist: Fire Crackers (LP, Badasonic Records, 2020)

Danny Rebel and the KGB: For Babylon's Head (Digital EP, self-released, and lathe cut single, Revolution Vintage; both 2020)

The Red Stripes: The Live Sessions (Digital, Mod Sounds Records, 2020)

The Red Stripes: Made in Hong Kong (CD/LP/digital, Mod Sound Records, 2020)

Victor Rice: Drink (LP, Easy Star Records, 2020)

Roger Rivas: "Heavier Rock" b/w "Cold Damage" (7" vinyl single, Happy People Records, 2020)

Rocker T with Maddie Ruthless/Banda Rebel: "Fiyah Pan Racism" b/w "You've Got to Learn" (7" vinyl single/digital, Channel Tubes, 2020)

Max Romeo: Revelation Time (CD/LP reissue, VP Records/17 North Parade, 2020)

Rudebeard: "20-20" (Digital single, F&J Records, 2020)

Rudebeard: As You Walk Away (Digital EP, F&J Records, 2020)

Rudebeard: Disgrace (Digital EP, F&J Records, 2020)

Rude Boy George: Lies and Alibis (Digital, self-released, 2020)

Sir Jay & the Skatanauts featuring Lorraine: "Joy to the World" (Digital single, Tip-A-Top Records, 2020)

The Ska Contenders: "What Does It Take" b/w "Siempre Conmigo" (7" vinyl single, Canana Records, 2020)

Ska Jazz Messengers: Introspección (LP/digital, Liquidator Music, 2020)

The Skapones: "Rude Boy Rude Girl" b/w "Skapones A Go Go (Live)" (7" vinyl single/CD single/digital, Cosa Nostra Records, 2020)

Smiley and The Underclass: The Way to the Bomb (Vinyl EP/digital, Timeless Records, 2020)

Some Ska Band: "American Dublines" b/w "Forty Dubs" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

The Soul Sauce meets Kim Yulhee: "(Who Knows) Swallow Knows" b/w "Swallow Dub" (Digital single, Eastern Standard Sounds, 2020)

The Specials: "Gangsters ('Clangsters' Dub)" b/w "Too Much Too Young (Piano Instrumental)" and "Why (Dub)" (10" vinyl EP, 2 Tone/Chrysalis Records, 2020)

Steady Social Club: Take One (LP/digital, self-released, 2020)

Stop the Presses: "Dub the Presses" b/w "Hugo Dub" (Digital, self-released and lathe cut single, Revolution Vintage; both 2020)

Carroll Thompson: "Feel the Magic" b/w "Feel the Magic Instrumental" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra: Skapara's Intro (LP reissue, Great Tracks/Sony Music Direct, 2019)

Top Shotta Band featuring Screechy Dan: Spread Love (LP, Liquidator Music, 2020)

The Upsetters featuring Vin Gordon: Musical Bones (LP reissue, Studio 16, 2020)

The Uptones: Get Out of My Way (CD, Liberation Hall Records, 2020)

Various Artists: 007 Licensed to Ska: James Bond and Other Film Soundtracks and TV Themes (5x7" vinyl single box set, Soul Jazz Records, 2020)

Various Artists: 2 Tone: The Albums (8xCD box set, 2 Tone/Chrysalis Records, 2020)

Various Artists: 415 Records: Still Disturbing the Peace (CD, Liberation Hall Records, 2020)

Various Artists: Blue Beat Is Back in Town: The Sixty Year Celebration Album (LP, Blue Beat Records, 2020)

Various Artists: Mashin' Up the Nation (LP, Razorbeat Records/Harvard Square Records, 1989)

Various Artists: Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Styles from the Street, 1967-1973 (10x7" singles, Trojan Records/BMG, 2020)

Various Artists: Ska Against Racism (2xLP/digital, Bad Time Records, 2020)

Various Artists: This Is Jamaica Ska (LP/CD reissue, Rock A Shacka/Studio One, 2020)

Western Standard Time Orchestra: "Bedouin Ska" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

Western Standard Time Orchestra: "Tunnel Vision" (Digital single, self-released, 2020)

Joe Yorke and The Eastonian Singers/Eeyun Perkins: "Judgement Tree" b/w "Drayman's Special" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020)

Kim Yul-hee and The Soul Sauce: "(Who Knows) Swallow Knows" b/w "Swallow Dub" (Digital single, Eastern Standard Sounds, 2020)

Zen Baseballbat: You Won't Get Paid (CD EP/digital, self-released, 2020); "Place Like This" (digital single, self-released, 2020)

Duff Review: Various Artists "Blue Beat Is Back in Town: The Sixty Year Celebration Album"

Blue Beat Records

Blue vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Blue Beat Records--a subsidiary of Emil Shallit's Melodisc, which was founded in 1947 in London and specialized in licensing African highlife, Caribbean calypso and mento, and American jazz for release in the UK, and was one of Britain's first independent labels--was established in 1960 by Sigimund "Siggy" Jackson, a former music publisher who had been recruited in 1953 to join Melodisc as an A&R man and run the London office. Blue Beat was created in response to the success of Laurel Aitken's 1960 Melodisc single "Lonesome Lover" b/w "Marylee" to capitalize on the explosion of new Jamaican R&B that was being produced in JA (their take on the Black American R&B they were hearing broadcast from New Orleans, and on singles brought back by travelers to the US for play on sound systems)--and a style that would soon evolve into ska. Jackson's inspiration for the label's name was quite simple: "Because it had a good beat and was bluesy, I decided to call it Blue Beat."

The debut Blue Beat single was Laurel Aitken's "Boogie Rock" b/w "Little Sheila," followed by dozens of tracks licensed from top Jamaican producers such as Duke Reid, Prince Buster, and Coxsone Dodd, as well as Jackson's own productions with UK-based artists like Rico Rodriquez, The Marvels, and Laurel Aitken. (It's worth noting that the 1960 debut single from Chris Blackwell's then JA-based Island Records--which would become Blue Beat's main rival when Blackwell relocated the label in London in 1962--was Laurel Aitken's "Boogie in My Bones" b/w "Little Sheila.") During its initial run (1960-1967), Blue Beat released over 400 singles and about a dozen albums (introducing the world to JA artists like Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray, Alton Ellis, Derrick Harriott, Toots and the Maytals, and many others in the process) that were enormously popular with both the ex-pat Jamaican community and British mods (so much so that Blue Beat became synonymous with ska music in the UK). Having said that, few of these releases climbed to the top of the charts, as the music was sold through specialized shops whose sales often weren't reported and included in music industry figures (and ska was largely consumed by marginalized/underground groups of people), though Prince Buster's 1964 single "Al Capone" b/w "One Step Beyond" made it to number 18 in the UK charts...in February of 1967! (Side note: Melodisc launched the FAB imprint in 1966, which was primarily devoted to licensing and releasing rocksteady sides, many of them from Prince Buster.)

In 1967, Shallit and Jackson split (the latter moved to EMI, where he created the Columbia Blue Beat imprint that released several skinhead reggae sides from Laurel Aitken, the Bees, the Mopeds, and others), and the Blue Beat imprint ceased releasing new material--though it was revived twice in the '70s to reissue several of Prince Buster's classic Blue Beat singles (unsurprisingly, demand was particularly great during the 2 Tone era, and Shallit was more than happy to meet it). Shallit passed away in 1983 and the imprint went dormant until 1989, when Buster Bloodvessel (AKA Doug Trendle) licensed the Blue Beat name from Jackson (who must have retained or reacquired rights to the imprint) and issued what is unquestionably Bad Manners' best album, Return of the Ugly, as well as superb records from Buster's Allstars, King Hammond, Napoleon Solo, and the excellent Live in London - The London International Ska Festival comp (I've written about many of these releases previously). Unfortunately, Buster's touring schedule kept him from the office and tending to business, and record sales did not keep pace with Blue Beat's aggressive new release schedule. Buster's version of Blue Beat went belly up in 1990.

Blue Beat's story might have ended there, but for Marcus Upbeat (née Downie) of the traditional ska band No.1 Station (which released a really great album for Rockers Revolt), who contacted Siggy Jackson in 2001 with the idea of reviving the label with a series of new but vintage-sounding releases. This partnership eventually yielded 13 Blue Beat singles released from 2004 through 2011--among them seven from No.1 Station, one each from Intensified and The Pyramids, and reissues of sides from Laurel Aitken and The Mopeds. In the midst of this, Jackson retired in 2009 after 50 years in the music business, and Marcus Upbeat acquired ownership of the label and focused on issuing Blue Beat's more recent releases digitally.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Blue Beat and its incredibly significant role in the history of ska music, Marcus Upbeat has released the Blue Beat Is Back in Town: The Sixty Year Celebration Album. This compilation provides a compelling overview of the label from all of its permutations. There are superb and essential 1960s Siggy Jackson-era releases from Laurel Aitken ("Boogie Rock"), The Folkes Brothers with The Count Ossie Afro-Combo ("Oh Carolina"), Derrick Morgan ("Miss Lulu"), Owen Gray ("Call Me My Pet"), Ewan and Jerry with The Carib Beats ("Oh Babe"), John Holt ("Help Me Make It Through the Night"), and Stranger Cole ("Rough and Smooth"). Blue Beat's enormous influence on the 2 Tone groups is acknowledged by the inclusion of Madness' cover of Prince Buster's "One Step Beyond" and The Beat's version of Prince Buster's take on Eddy Grant's "Rough Rider." The Buster Bloodvessel years are represented by Bad Manners Featuring Verona's excellent "Get Along Without You Now." And the Siggy Jackson/Marcus Upbeat revival is recognized by Marcus Upbeat's terrific new track "Blue Beat Is Back in Town" (also just issued as a double A-sided Blue Beat 60th anniversary single with Laurel Aitken's "Boogie Rock"), No.1 Station's awesome tribute to The Godfather of Ska "Laurel's Boogie," and Marcus & The Microdots "She's So Sweet" and The Marvels Featuring Donna Hinds' "We'll Have a Ball"--both of which are great old school style tracks.

The one shortcoming of the comp (and it's also the present-day label's Achilles heel) is that since the majority of Blue Beat's releases were licensed from JA producers in the 1960s, going about reissuing material that appeared on the Blue Beat imprint involves re-licensing the tracks from whomever now owns that producer's or artist's catalogue (for instance, several cuts here were licensed from various BMG labels like Sanctuary and Union Square, as well as Warner Brothers, and Cherry Red Records). Prince Buster, the label's greatest asset/artist in the '60s and '70, isn't represented by any of his classic recordings on this compilation (presumably due to licensing issues); his only appearance is a 2003 recording of "Enjoy Yourself" with Jools Holland (which, of course, bookended The Specials' More Specials). And given the sheer volume of key ska singles issued by the label in the 1960s, an additional LP of vintage tracks would have been welcome--and further emphasized Blue Beat's crucial role in the promotion and growth of ska music over the decades.

All criticism aside, Blue Beat Is Back in Town: The Sixty Year Celebration Album is a wonderful tribute to the label and its affiliated acts. Now that this milestone has been reached and commemorated, I'm eager and curious to see where Blue Beat goes from here...