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: The Selecter "Live at the Roundhouse"

DMF Records
CD+DVD/Double LP+DVD
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Various incarnations of The Selecter have released live albums over their 38+ year existence (in particular, check out 1992's scorching Out On The Streets with Neol Davies, Pauline Black, Nick Welsh, and Martin Stewart--or 2015's positively amazing Access All Areas, which was recorded in 1980 with all of the original members of The Selecter--read our review of it here) and Live at the Roundhouse captures the current (and really great) iteration of the band in top form, performing stellar tracks from their last few albums (String Theory, Subculture, Daylight), as well as their old 2 Tone chart hits and fan favorites.

Live at the Roundhouse is a real treat to listen to and watch, as it was expertly recorded and videotaped in London on October 6, 2017 before a packed house during a co-headling tour of the UK with The Beat featuring Ranking Roger (they've also released an album/DVD from that night). The Selecter's live versions of "Frontline," "Breakdown," "Daylight," "Remember Me," "The Big Badoof," and "The Avengers Theme" (one of the best TV show themes of all time--and a terrific choice to cover) are of primary interest here, as the other cuts have been recorded live many times over the years. All, of course, sound fantastic. ("Breakdown" expresses outrage at the extrajudicial police killings in the US and UK of unarmed black people, which are a horrific symptom of entrenched racism, societal dysfunction, and purposeful neglect--and "Frontline" calls for everyone to disengage a bit from social media and reconnect with the world in order to take action against injustice; both are extraordinarily powerful and catchy protest songs for our increasingly troubled times.)

In addition to documenting the entire concert, the Live at the Roundhouse DVD features a nice, if a bit scattershot, interview with Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson that also manages to highlight their charming, decades-long friendship and easy rapport with each other (Pauline: "I'll always make music until I drop off my perch, I think." Gaps: "I'm in, oh yeah, I'm in. You know, I can't see me doing anything else. You know, here I am. I'm free!" Pauline: "We're too old to go back to our day jobs!").

Having seen The Selecter during their past few visits through NYC, I can certainly attest to their superb, spirited, and all-out fun live shows--and Live at the Roundhouse certainly reflects all of that and more. This one's a must for Selecter fans.

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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: Sammy Buzz "The Buzzman Cometh"

Self-released
CD
2016

(Review by Steve Shafer)

King Hammond musical collaborator Sammy Buzz (nee Wilson), who should be familiar to devoted readers of The Duff Guide to Ska (I reviewed his I'm Buzzin' EP in late 2012--and two of those tracks, "Cigarettes" and "I'm Buzzin'" are reprised here), has just released his truly marvelous debut album, The Buzzman Cometh, which features some seriously fun and memorable tracks about himself, women, ska-related matters, and just trying to make your way through life with your body and spirit intact.

Buzz's modern ska reminds this reviewer of the brilliant sounds created in the late 80s UK ska scene (Laurel Aitken, Bad Manners, The Trojans, Potato 5, Maroon Town, The Loafers, King Hammond, The Riffs, The Deltones, etc.)--definitely post-2 Tone and greatly influenced by those bands (particularly The Beat and--even though they weren't 2 Tone--The Equators), but not quite classifiably Third Wave (or whatever has come to pass in the years since). However you categorize his ska, Sammy Buzz writes some exceptionally good tunes (which are expertly produced by Steve Crittal) that should not be missed.

The album begins ominously (a bell tolls for you) with the excellent, melodramatic, spaghetti Western-flavored "The Buzzman Cometh." "Maaga Gal" (maaga is Jamaican patois for skinny--I had to look it up) is the catchiest ska song you've ever heard about a singer's concern and love for his underweight (anorexic?) girlfriend ("She may be skin and bone/but she's my very own...She may be lacking in flesh/But she's the very best!"). "Ruff Ride Ruff" borrows Prince Buster's instantly recognizable "Rough Rider" bass line, but isn't the expected lewd track--it's about a good-for-nothing being thrown out of the house by his strict mom ("She's rougher that the carpet in me room/Tougher than the bristles pon the broom/She's rougher than my pet hedgehog/Rough like a flea-bitten dog...").

"Rude Boys and Rude Girls" is a fantastic earworm of ska tune that essentially asks that the ongoing battle of the sexes be left at the door--the gig is all about dancing and pleasure. "We 'ave Fe Flex" is another lovely catchy track that reiterates the perennial plea for love, peace, and understanding: "Love thy neighbor/And love thy enemy/Give thanks and blessings/that we were born free/Keep out of trouble/and live healthy/Just look at the world and see that/Time so hard/We have Fe Flex..." The gentle and hilarious tweak of the nose of ska record collectors who like to boast that, whatever the title, "I Got It On Vinyl" hits this vinyl-obsessive reviewer close to home, but it makes me love it all the more, since it's so on the money (the taunting "la, la, la, la, las" between all of the "I got it on vinyl" refrains is a nice touch!).

The singer is almost mowed down while trying to cross the street by a driver being chased by the police in the dubby "Mad Traffick." "I Need a Holiday," a frantic dancehall cut, describes the singer trying to soak up as much relaxation as possible on vacation, only to find it immediately dissipate upon return to reality. "Cigarettes" is a public service announcement with a ska beat, coughs, 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/and 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!"

"Boss Skinhead" is another great self-referential song in a musical genre full of them (Laurel Aitken, amongst others, is name-checked here), while "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"). It's a very nice slice of upbeat ska for when your troubles might be grinding you down. The future's not so bright in the cold, New Wave-ish, "1984"-type tale "Urban Citizen," which denounces governmental surveillance of its people.

In addition to the 12 songs on the album, there are two cool bonus tracks, the lost and broken-hearted "Standing Here Alone" (which says it all, really) and a sunny, unnamed instrumental track ("Nice It Up"?) that's guaranteed to improve your outlook, even on the darkest of days.

Sammy Buzz's The Buzzman Cometh is one of the best new ska albums I've listened to and enjoyed this year. You should make sure to hear it, too!

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.

Duff Review: "Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers"

Pledge Music
2014
CD/LP/digital download
(The CD is also available to purchase through the London International Ska Festival website.)

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Of all the 2 Tone-era bands, The Bodysnatchers (2 Tone's only all-female act--and the only women in the late 70s UK ska scene apart from Pauline Black) were the ones who were criminally under-documented on vinyl during their relatively brief--but brilliant--existence, from late 1979 to 1981. Apart from two fantastic singles (a cover of Dandy Livingstone's "Let's Do Rocksteady" b/w "Ruder Than You," co-written by The Bodysnatchers and the band's friend Gaz Mayall in 1980; and the band's "Easy Life" b/w a cover of Bob Andy's "Too Experienced," also released in 1980) and an amazing live version of "Easy Life" included on the Dance Craze soundtrack (1981), The Bodysnatchers weren't able to keep it together long enough to record their debut album before fragmenting over how to move forward. One faction of The Bodysnatchers wanted to go pop (the majority of the band): Sarah Jane Owen, Stella Barker, Penny Leyton, and Miranda Joyce formed The Belle Stars, releasing a pop version of The Bodysnatchers' original "Hiawatha" as their first single (later, they had a massive hit with their cover of The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko"--the song was originally written by James "Sugar Boy Crawford"--when it was featured on the 1988 "Rain Man" film soundtrack); after The Belle Stars' demise, Owen and Layton then joined The Deltones, another amazing all female UK ska act, in 1984. The remainder of The Bodysnatchers wanted to be more political--Ms. Dakar and Nicky Summers went on to work with The Special AKA, releasing the first Bodysnatcher song the band ever wrote, "The Boiler" (an extremely disturbing story of date rape, only meant to be listened to once, according to Jerry Dammers); Dakar then joined The Special AKA, singing and co-writing songs on their sole studio album (read my thoughts on that record here).

After two long, challenging, and apparently very unpleasant years recording The Special AKA's extraordinary In the Studio (in a recent interview with Reggae Steady Ska, Ms. Dakar stated that she's never listened to the finished album), Ms. Dakar took a long break from the ska scene (though she did occasionally sing and record in the 80s and 90s with non-ska acts like Happy House, Palm Skin Productions, Dr. Robert of the Blow Monkeys, and Apollo 440). However, according to Paul Williams' book "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion," in 2002 Jennie Matthias (Belle Stars/Big 5) contacted Dakar to see if she was interested in touring with her and Pauline Black of The Selecter as part of a "Ska Divas" supergroup, performing Bodysnatchers, Selecter, and Belle Stars songs--all backed by a band that included Nick Welsh (who, at the time, was the songwriter and bassist of that iteration of The Selecter, and had been a member of Bad Manners, as well as the man behind King Hammond).

These shows rekindled Dakar's love of ska music and later led to a series of fruitful collaborations between her and Welsh (that apparently had been initiated at the suggestion of Ms. Black). In 2006, Welsh left The Selecter and formed Skaville UK--and arranged for Dakar to sing vocals on several tracks on each of that act's two albums (1973 in 2006 and Decadent! in 2008) and she performed gigs with them, as well. Welsh also co-wrote several songs and played all of the instruments on Dakar's 2007 solo record, Cleaning in Another Woman's Kitchen, and the two released the more rock-oriented Back to the Garage in 2009. Dakar also was a featured guest vocalist on Madness' "On the Town," from their stunningly good 2009 album, The Liberty of Norton Folgate (read my thoughts on that record here).

After having been approached by a seemingly never-ending stream of Bodysnatchers and 2 Tone fans over the span of several decades about the possibility of her releasing an album of unrecorded Bodysnatchers' tunes (a full-on reunion was never in the cards; the split in 1981 wasn't amicable)--coupled with the 35th anniversary of the band's formation and an opportunity to perform Bodysnatchers' songs on Halloween at the Jazz Cafe in Camden--led Dakar to get in touch with Sean Flowerdew (Pama Intl/Phoenix City All-stars/London International Ska Festival) to see if he thought it was feasible to put together some sort of recording. Of course, he did--and with Dakar's suggestion that they crowd fund the album through PledgeMusic (full disclosure: I financially supported this project in exchange for a CD and LP!), they assembled an all-star ska backing band (featuring two Specials, Lynval Golding on guitar and Horace Panter on bass; Sean Flowerdew on keys and co-producing; Mark Claydon of The Get Up on drums; Lenny Bignell of the Sidewalk Doctors and Phoenix City All-stars on guitar and co-producing; and Karl Wirrmann from Intensified on sax) and recorded 10 tracks live in the studio in one day (including five original and unrecorded Bodysnatchers songs).

While some DGTS readers of a certain age may have been fortunate enough to have seen The Bodysnatchers perform many of these tracks live, this record will be the very first opportunity for many a 2 Tone/Bodysnatchers fan to experience much of this music (it was mine!) and they won't be disappointed, as the songs and performances are nothing short of stellar (Ms. Dakar is in extremely fine form)!

[Some may grouse about the inclusion of the three previously recorded cuts here, plus another cover that was captured in Dance Craze--"Easy Life," Too Experienced," "Let's Do Rocksteady," and Desmond Dekker's "007"--but they likely would have appeared on The Bodysnatchers album, had that come to pass back in 1981. The versions here compare very favorably with the original arrangements (these aren't radical updates--they're true to The Bodysnatchers' 2 Tone sound--and they're terrific) and they deserve inclusion on Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers, since they are the band's signature tunes.]

Much like The Slits' "Typical Girls" (and keeping with 2 Tone's mission to address social, political, and economic injustice within undeniably catchy songs that make one want to dance), The Bodysnatchers' "Easy Life"--the first track on Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers and certainly one of the band's finest moments--challenged 1970 British society's prevailing and very much entrenched attitude regarding the role of women (something we're still grappling with today) and acknowledged how difficult it was/is to defy these imposed expectations and fight for real equality--particularly for young women just reaching adulthood. It was also revolutionary in that they were women singing ska songs--in a scene dominated by young men--from a woman's point of view:

"I've been waiting so long
For this here time to come
I've been waiting ever so long
For this here time to come
But now it's here, do I want it?
Now it's here, I'm not sure if I want it
Why don't I plump for the easy option?
Yes, I could go for the easy option

It could be so easy
Life could be so easy
It could be so easy
Life could be so easy

We are near to our equality
Girls and boys with pay parity
We are near to our equality
The law says there is equal opportunity
But still it's a struggle
Yes, life is still a struggle
I could stay home and play houses
Care for my man and press his trousers

It could be so easy...

Hey girls, it's not too late
To stay home and vegetate
Just like mamma says you should do
Life society says you should do
Is this our natural fate?
I wasn't born to procreate
If I didn't have to use my brain
I know that I would go insane
I refuse, I want to say no
I don't care if it's hard, if it's slow

It could be so easy..."

(One much appreciated bonus to picking up this CD is that it contains song lyrics in the insert; before it arrived, I had been listening to the digital download tracks over and over in my attempt to discern the lyrics to the previously unreleased tracks! Note to bands: Please take the time, effort, and expense to print/post your lyrics somewhere so that fans can easily discern your songs' messages...)

"The Ghost of the Vox Continental" (the Vox Continental is a transistor-based combo organ that was used by Jerry Dammers and Madness' Mike Barson, amongst many other 2 Tone and new wave musicians) is an amusing ghost story about a keyboardist who is crushed by his organ during a load-in, but, even in death, is so devoted to the band that he continues to perform at gigs ("The ghostly keyboard player/Returned to haunt the band/The untouched keyboard moved to/The touch of a ghostly hand...They tried hard for a replacement/But no one stayed for very long/No need for them to learn the set/Vox Continental knew each song"). Of course, the song features a very prominent organ line that has slight echoes of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" (which has been associated with horror movies since its use in films like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1931 and the 1962 Hammer Production of "The Phantom of the Opera"; many ska fans will recognize that The Toasters used its opening measures as the introduction to "Frankenska," on their 1988 Thrill Me Up album).

The carousel-like organ line that opens "Happy Time Tune" belies the suffering and want contained within its lyrics. While enduring the cold and wet London morning, Ms. Dakar recalls a seemingly idyllic family holiday to visit relatives in Jamaica ("We played cricket on the soft grass/Picked Julie mango from the trees"). But these pleasant memories are tempered by the grinding poverty in Jamaica and the song suggests that one should always be aware and appreciate that some people don't have it as good as you do and will never have the chance to go on holiday from the day-to-day lives: "There is another side to Jamaica/Far away from your Orange Street/Where poor people live in iron shacks/No work, no shoes on them feet/For them, there is no happy time/For them, no sun a shine/For them, no bird a sing/You should know everything."

The brilliantly evocative and cinematic "Private Eye"--think Humphrey Bogart as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in "The Big Sleep"--so deftly captures the essence and spirit of film noir. For portions of the song, Ms. Dakar is a femme fatale ("Said he liked my bleach job, used to be a brunette/I looked at him sideways, he lit my cigarette") who has a history with Marlowe ("He saved my life a few years back/Some crazy meathead was on my track"). One of the great things about this song is how its point of view shifts--at first, Ms. Dakar is the omniscient narrator describing Marlowe on a stakeout on Sunset Boulevard in LA ("Check the drugstore across the street/Saw his suspect come out to meet/Tall man in black, fedora hat/Hailed a cab/That was that"), then she's the femme fatale, followed by the aforementioned, stalking "meathead" encountering the PI ("Marlowe smashed through the door/Stuck a Lugar in my face!"), and finally she's Marlowe, with his lament about his destiny to live on the seamier side of life, but how his profession (and ingrained moral code) keeps him from succumbing to the plethora of sin around him.

"I don't know why I'm a PI, it just doesn't make sense
Every day's a parking lot, the crowd of losers is dense
Wheeling with wasters, dealing with drunks
Whiskey for breakfast, coffee for lunch
High-class fluff, low-class hotels
Drugstore cowboys, nights spent in cells
Got no family, I got no home
All my romance takes place on the phone
Don't work too much, it don't really matter
If I didn't exist like this
I'd be with the rest, in the gutter"

The immensely catchy "The Loser" finds the singer giving dating and sartorial advice to an uncool guy whose approach toward women is painfully wrong. He heeds all of it and transforms himself into a popular ladies' man. To the dismay of the singer, she finds herself falling for him, too, even though she knows his front is more of a put-on than real:

"Time when by and I noticed the change
Acting still, but the role was new
You tried less, achieved and enigmatic pose
Taken in, girls surrounded you
Suddenly, when next we met
I realized I'd fallen for this drip
On each arm clung adoring girls
"By the way, thank you for the tip""

The take-away of the incredible, but sorrowful, rocksteady-ish "Mixed Feelings" is that one shouldn't settle for relationships that are conflicted, compromised, or fake: "So many people spend their days/Wondering if they like or hate/Too many people waste their time/Telling, telling the truth and wish they were lying/They are laughing, but crying/Just crying inside/Knowing their heart was broken..."

Apart from the strange notion that had the native peoples of North America only shared their lands with the white European invaders and not fought "with national pride," they wouldn't have been almost completely wiped out, "Hiawatha" is a welcome plea for rejecting nationalism and embracing multiculturalism (two prominent issues that England was beginning to grapple with in the late 70s/early 80s), as well as keeping in mind that we're all descended from common ancestors, if you go back far enough: "Integration, social changes/Different customs, faces/Stops us from getting in a rut." (It should be noted that in the Belle Stars' music video for "Hiawatha," the awful "native" costume touches and set--with totem poles!--trade on stereotypes and almost negate the positive message of the song!)

Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers is The Duff Guide to Ska's pick for album of the year. It's a superb album in its own right and an incredibly momentous development for the global ska scene--a "lost" 2 Tone record has been recovered, finally rendering the 2 Tone label discography complete. Get Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers now!

"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

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: Specialized II "Beat Teenage Cancer" 7" Vinyl Singles

Jump Up Records/Specialized
2013
Three red vinyl 7" singles

(Review by Steve Shafer)

This series of terrific singles have been spun off from the Specialized II Beat Teenage Cancer CD, which is both a tribute to the The (English) Beat and a fundraising vehicle to benefit the very worthy Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK (listen here to a BBC World interview with Dave Wakeling about the project). The Specialized benefit CDs--the first celebrated The Specials--are put together by The Specials' biographer Paul "Willo" Williams and typically feature UK and US ska bands.

Shockingly, Beat Teenage Cancer is the first Beat tribute album in existence (!). How can it be that a band as brilliant and beloved on both sides of the Atlantic as The Beat hasn't been honored like this before now? Fortunately, especially in light of how tribute albums can go south quite easily (see The Clash tribute album, Burning London), the covers on these three singles more than honor the originals, while refashioning them in fantastic new ways.

Nick Welsh "Save it for Later" and Rhoda Dakar "Too Nice To Talk To" b/w The Values featuring Neol Davies "All Out to Get You" and Lee Thompson "Madness (Acoustically Speaking)"

The great and prolific Nick Welsh (AKA King Hammond, also ex-Skaville UK, The Selecter, Bad Manners) strips down and downshifts the tempo of "Save It for Later," which must surely be The Beat's most famous song in the USA (ever since high school, I've tried to figure out what this song is really about--apart from the jokes about fellatio spelled out in the album lyric sheet--I've heard it suggested that it concerns holding off on sex in a relationship, but I've always thought it's more of a plea to consider keeping a messy, almost completely broken relationship going instead of ending it). Nick's incredible semi-acoustic version (with slide guitar by B.J. Cole) lives somewhere between African highlife, American country, and Hawaiian steel guitar music--and transforms the song into something stunningly beautiful and unique (Dave Wakeling even mentions how much he likes it in the linked BBC World interview linked above). Nick's good friend (and sometime collaborator) Rhoda Dakar (ex-Bodysnatchers, The Special AKA) turns in a fantastically haunting version of "Too Nice To Talk To" that's a cross between something you'd hear off the trippy/dubby Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor's No Protection and the discordant no wave jazz/pop/reggae of The Special AKA's In the Studio. 

The Values with Neol Davies (of The Selecter, of course) put a sweet jazzy/pop spin on one of my favorite tracks from Wha'ppen, "All Out to Get You" (though, sadly, they don't include these key lyrics that offer an escape from the paranoia and self-loathing: "Until you accept/that you’re just like the others/You’re a boy or a girl/Then a man or a woman/and your clothes never fit/and your skin’s the wrong colour/So, you make do with fear/you get more than you need/Yes, they’re all out to get you/All over nothing/They’re painting your life/in a permanent grey..."). While Lee Thompson (Madness' saxophonist, of course) doesn't contribute a Beat song--he does a weirdly wonderful spoken word (with jazz accompaniment) rendition of the Prince Buster's classic song (and his band's namesake) "Madness"--I guess the connection could be The Beat's love of Buster and their covers of his hits "Rough Rider" (actually written by Eddy Grant and his fellow members of The Four Gees!) and "Whine and Grine" on I Just Can't Stop It.

The Spritely Allstars featuring Ranking Roger "Two Swords (Majestic Mix)" b/w The Stiff Joints "Ackee 123"

While I miss the breakneck tempo of the original, I've really come to like The Spritely Allstars' (with toasting by Ranking Roger during the dub break!) mellow, reggay-ish cover of the anti-violence track "Two Swords" ("I’ve never been one for the punch-ups/But, look, I really hate them nazis/A certain something starts to wind me up/How could I hate them oh so violently/When two swords slashing at each other/Only sharpen one another/And, in the long run, even he’s your brother/Said even though that kid’s a nazi...Are you fighting the Front, or just fronting a fight?/Sometimes it’s hard to see/the left from the right/Are we angry, are we looking for peace?/Or just tryin’ to win the war/by killing all the enemy off?/Just to kill all the enemy off?"). We should note that The Spritely Allstars includes Hunt Emerson on guitar and melodica; he, of course, designed The Beat's dancing girl logo, as well as the iconic covers for I Just Can't Stop It and Wha'ppen.

The Stiff Joints nicely convert "Ackee 1-2-3" (a children's game that is like a combination of Hide and Seek and It) from its original calypso arrangement to ska and in the course of doing so retain the unrestrained joy, optimism, and exuberance of The Beat's version from Special Beat Service (my favorite lyrics here: "Forward where the knocks are hardest/Some to failure some to fame/Never mind the cheers or hooting/Keep your head and play the game/Try to keep your feet on the ground/Without getting them stuck in the mud/You will soon be over the moon/or twice as hot as the sun!").

Dave Wakeling "Mirror in the Bathroom" b/w Bigger Thomas "Sole Salvation" 

Dave Wakeling's new version of "Mirror in the Bathroom"--a club/jungle remix, really--has elements of it (namely, the vocals and sax) that sound so close to the original cut from I Just Can't Stop It, that I had to double-check the Specialized website to confirm that it is indeed a new recording of the song. There already are two remixes of this track in existence, found on the excellent B.P.M. ...Beats.Per.Minute compilation. So, while this isn't essential, it's another excellent versioning of this early Beat hit that's definitely worth owning (and so nice to have on vinyl!). This song is about narcissism that verges on mental illness, though the voice toasting on this remix celebrates the joys of smoking sinsemilla--which, interestingly enough, some people with mental illness use to self-medicate, in an attempt to alleviate their symptoms.

I have to disclose that I'm friends with members of Bigger Thomas--and I'm also in a group with few of them (Rude Boy George)--but that doesn't prevent me from digging (and praising!) their awesome version of The Beat's Jam-like "Sole Salvation" (key lyrics: "Make a cross/Make amends/Set the record straight/We’ve never said/the only things we should have ever/Bothered saying/Let's write out a list of things we need/Let's strike a brand new deal/That’s strong for any man/But has a woman's understanding in it/and then finish!/Just stop, when you feel like saying/“Have a heart, but don’t take mine”/Try a new dance “The Tolerance”/It just might be our sole salvation"). With guest vocalist Jenny Whiskey of the Hub City Stompers nicely augmenting their sound (appropriately so, since the song is about a man and a woman figuring out how to make their relationship work/last), Bigger Thomas brings this track fully into the ska fold, from The Beat album with the least amount of ska on it, and adds a spectacular New Wave-like outro.

+++++

The latest word from Paul Willo and the Specialized camp is that Madness will be the focus of the next benefit CD...

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 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.