Striking Gold: Madness "Un Paso Adelante"

(Appreciation by Steve Shafer)

Here's another ska nugget that I unearthed in one of my recent lunchtime trips to a certain, unnamed used record shop near my workplace: the version of Madness' 1979 debut album One Step Beyond that Stiff Records released in Spain (as Un Paso Adelante; I'll let you figure out the translation), featuring Chas Smash's credible, Spanish-language spoken word intro to this classic Prince Buster cover. (I particularly love how in the album track listing on the back cover, it notes that "Un Paso Adelante" is the "Version Original"!)

Apart from the title track, everything else about the album is similar to the UK and US releases, but, obviously, this is a nice addition to any Madness or ska fan's collection (and since my 1980s-era domestic copy of this album is a bit tattered and torn, it's fantastic to have come across this practically mint copy--and for an extremely reasonable five bucks!).

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Here's the YouTube video of the Spanish-language version of "One Step Beyond" (featuring the cover of the Spanish 45):

Striking Gold: The Specials' "Mas Specials"

(Appreciation by Steve Shafer)

Over the summer, I came across The Specials' Mas Specials (the version of More Specials that Chrysalis released in Spain in 1980) while picking up a copy of the Spanish release of "Rat Race" b/w "Rude Boys Outa Jail" at a record shop in Greenwich Village that I had ordered through Discogs (it was near enough to walk to from work and I saved some cash on shipping). I had been so incredibly inspired by the recent Specials show in NYC this past July that I was in the process of tracking down the last few vinyl singles that I never had the opportunity to buy back in the 80s ("Gansters" b/w "The Selecter" and "A Message to You, Rudy" b/w "Nite Klub" were the other outstanding 45s).

Not knowing that this version of the album even existed--I half expected it to be a very good bootleg until I got home and confirmed its legitimacy via 2-tone.info--I bought it on the spot. While Mas Specials features the same cover photo as the US version, it sports the UK track list (meaning no appearance of "Rat Race") and the paper label is the standard UK Walt Jabsco, not the US version with him listening to a transistor radio. My copy of the US edition of More Specials (well, it's actually my brother's, but his ska-loving days are long finished), purchased in 1983 or so, has seen better days. So even though Mas Specials doesn't contain any alternate versions of tracks, it's in mint condition (and bought for less than most new LPs go for these days), so I'm more than happy to have it as part of my collection.

Striking Gold: Rico Rodriguez: "Jama Rico"!

(Review/Appreciation by Steve Shafer)

Last week during my lunch break, I made my weekly pilgrimage to a certain unnamed used record store about a 10-minute walk from my job and struck ska gold. Usually on these outings, I'm scouring the bins for New Wave and post-punk singles and albums that I didn't have the money to pick up--or didn't even know existed--back when I was in high school in the first half of the 1980s.

But on this day, the gods of vinyl were good to me. I snagged one of the rarest (at least, on this side of the pond) 2 Tone releases--a near mint copy of Rico Rodriguez's Jama Rico (1982), which is filled with mind-blowingly good vintage/authentic ska and reggae instrumental cuts. 2 Tone's parent label Chrysalis never opted to release this album in the US (and I wonder if any specialty shops here even bothered to import copies of it; in all my many years of digging through the crates, this is the first time I've ever seen it; and there is very little written about it, either on-line or in the reference books on ska and reggae in my bookshelves--even George Marshall's "The Two Tone Story" gives it short shrift). 2 Tone ska's flame-out in the UK, no doubt, had a lot to do with the album's scarcity and the dearth of info about it, but Rico and this brilliant album deserved much better.

Recorded both at Joe Gibbs Studio in Kingston, JA and in London, with various tracks produced by Dick Cuthell, and Jerry Dammers and Dick Cuthell, Jama Rico featured some of the finest Jamaican (and British) musicians around, including Tommy McCook (tenor sax), Felix "Deadly Headley" Bennett (alto sax), Ansell Collins (organ), Winston Wright (piano, guitar), Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar), Jah Jerry (guitar), Sly Dunbar (drums), Robbie Shakespeare (bass), and other top performers--plus several members of The Special AKA: Jerry Dammers (organ, piano), John Bradbury (drums), Sir Horace Gentleman (bass), and Dick Cuthell (cornet, flugel horns, funda drums).

Ska fans who love Rico and The Special AKA's "Jungle Music," will immediately take to the stunningly evocative ska and reggae of "We Want Peace," "Jam Rock," "Love and Justice," "Some Day," "Do the Reload" (which is a cover of Rico's dear friend and mentor Don Drummond's awesome "Green Island"), and "Easter Island" (written by Japanese saxophonist Sado Wattanobe)--all of which follow the expected song structures for this genre of music. Those open to more musical paths less traveled will enjoy the more jazzy, looser, experimental takes on Jamaican music on "Destroy Them," "Distant Drums" (with Rico on vibraphone and funda drums!), and "Java."

According to Paul "Willo" Williams in his fantastic biography of The Specials (and 2 Tone Records) "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion," notes that Rico's "Jungle Music" single and the Jama Rico album failed to gain any traction and climb the charts due to the rise of the New Romantics in the UK (Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, etc.). It was all a matter of unfortunate pop-culture timing (one can't blame the material or performances, as they're brilliant); the UK record-buying public's massive infatuation with ska music was over by 1982.

While Chrysalis, to their great shame, has never released Jama Rico on CD (though "Easter Island" and "Destroy Them" are on The 2 Tone Story CD), I was shocked to discover that the album currently is available digitally through iTunes in the USA (how long has it been for sale there?)--as is what looks like the entire 2 Tone catalogue (even the late, non-ska releases on the label from The Higsons, Swinging Cats, JB's Allstars, The Friday Club, and The Apollinaires). Still, nothing beats having these warm, organic sounds captured on a vinyl LP in my very own collection. Whoever decided to part with Jama Rico (after taking such good care of it all these years) and sell it to my favorite used record store has my sincere and undying gratitude!