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According to George Marshall's unauthorized 1993 biography of the band (legally contested and, I believe, forcibly withdrawn), while on tour in the USA in 1985 after parting ways with Magnet Records (leaving in their wake a good run of terrific hit singles--"Lip Up Fatty," "Special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: The Crombies "Dance Crazee"

Jump Up Records
2016
Deluxe CD Box/CD/Cassette
Artwork by CHema Skandal

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I've been hearing about how great The Crombies are--and waiting for this album to come out--for what's seemed like an eternity. So, it's a thrill/relief to report just how fantastic and enjoyable their debut Dance Crazee is! The Crombies' single-minded mission is to make rollicking, good-time 2 Tone music, whether they're covering vintage JA and late 70s UK ska, versioning songs that are a bit further afield, or creating new 2 Tone-like classics. And they succeed brilliantly! (Based on what they've captured in these recordings, The Crombies must be one hell of a good night out--come to NYC whenever you can!) So, put it on, crank it up, and be ready to sing along and move your feet!

Dance Crazee opens with a nod to The Toasters' "Frankenska," employing the same maniacal laughter over the first few measures of J.S. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" during the intro to The Crombies' boss version of The Munsters' theme, which they've re-titled "Monster Ska." (The Forest Hillbillies also recorded a ska version of this song back in 1986 for Gaz's Rockin' Records.) This is followed by a rabble-rousing, knees-up take on Niney the Observer's dread vision of "Blood and Fire," re-recorded for Dance Crazee (this song also appeared on The Crombies' 2011 debut single along with "Mad at the World").

The lurking menace always present in Mike Park's vocals really comes through on the one Crombies original on the album, the bitter "It's Not You" ("Now as I walk along this place/I used to walk along with you/I smell the scent of your perfume...I double-take, but it's not you/It's not you"). The Crombies' take on Prince Buster's "Wash Wash" (which itself is a cover of Beasley Smith's and Haven Gillespie's 1949 pop-spiritual "That Lucky Old Sun"; fun fact--mod rhythm and blues fave Georgie Fame played keys on the 1964 Prince Buster recording of "Wash Wash") veers fantastically into blissful jump blues territory and sounds like something that wouldn't be out of place on More Specials (it's similar in vibe and spirit to "Enjoy Yourself"). "Mad at the World" is a repurposed 1998 Deal's Gone Bad fave (several Crombies were in DGB) about, if I can paraphrase Homer Simpson, alcohol being the cause of and solution to all of life's problems: "Can't drink enough to get my head right/Know what they say/Some win, some lose/Finish up to a brand new surprise/Movin' sidewalks, street lamps whirl/Spitting fire till I see your eyes/I'm mad at the world!"

The Crombies' defiant cover of The Clash's "English Civil War" (where Joe Strummer borrowed the American Civil War-era song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" to issue an anti-fascist warning in reaction to the rise of the National Front in the UK in the late 70s) was previously featured on the excellent and very essential The Clash Goes Jamaican double LP/digital compilation (Golden Singles Records, 2013), as well as a split single with the Green Room Rockers (who covered "Clampdown"). In The Crombies' hands, "The Prince" becomes a full-fledged ska song with a serious, danceable groove--that may top Madness' awkward, herky-jerky original! The Specials' Roddy Radiation adds his distinctive rockabilly ska guitar sound to his own composition of a fallen young woman, "Hey Little Rich Girl" (Roddy's also featured on "It's Not You").

Things shift dramatically with The Crombies' stellar reading of Billy Bragg's  "Levi Stubbs' Tears," a despondent tale of a woman perpetually down on her luck who sort of makes it through life with the music of The Four Tops giving her a measure of comfort (it's from Bragg's 1986 album Talking to the Taxman About Poetry). Their choice of this cover and their interpretation of it are the highlight of the album--and suggest many more great things to come. I wasn't that familiar with Toots and the Maytals' "It's You" before hearing it on this album; this great rendering is something you might expect from The Specials, circa 1979. The Crombies' party finishes with a sweet cover of Prince Buster's "Dance Cleopatra" that sounds like Gaz Mayall's Trojans with Dick Dale on lead guitar.

While The Crombies' Dance Crazee may not be revolutionary (it doesn't aim to be), it is filled with irresistibly fun and expertly (and lovingly) crafted 2 Tone ska that you'll want to listen to over and over. And, these days, everyone could use a little more upbeat, smile-inducing, "more life!" music in their lives.

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The Return of Gaz's Rockin Records?!

Since I'm a massive fan of the late 80s UK and Euro ska scenes, I sometimes find myself searching eBay for releases that I kick myself for not picking up back in the day (well, it often boiled down to not having that much spare cash back then to mail-order all I wanted through Unicorn Records--during that time I was in my last years of college and then endeavoring to pay rent anyway I could).

While I have a fair number of the CDs, LPs, and singles released on Gaz Mayall's brilliant Gaz's Rockin Records (which featured his band, The Trojans; Laurel Aitken and the Potato 5; The Ska Flames; and The Forest Hillbillies)--I actually won an almost pristine 7" single of The Forest Hillbillies "The Munsters" a few weeks ago (and had no idea that it even existed in this format)--every now and then I'll plug the label's name into the eBay search field. Most of the time, whatever comes up I already have, but today was markedly different. In a very good way.

Gaz has pressed a new single on his label (!) featuring Lighta Secret--and he recently found about 100 mint copies of Prince Buster & The Trojans' "Stack-o-Lee" 12" (released in 1989) that had been forgotten in a storage locker (both can be ordered here). Needless to say, I've bought a copy of each.

Here's the scoop on the Lighta Secret single from Gaz himself:

Brand New on Gaz's Rockin' Records

7” GAZ 024 – Lighta Secret – "Elinor All Night Long" b/w "Gaz Dangerous"

Recorded on my recent trip to Jamaica with my partner and club DJ Elinor Fahrman, alias Baby Soul. We stayed in a small coastal village, Cousins Cove, situated between Montego Bay and Negril, where we met the illustrious singer Lighta Secret, somewhat of a local legend. A real character and top entertainer from nearby Green Island. He’d been performing at a local showcase supporting Richie Spice.

Lighta Secret’s name is due to the fact that every time he performs his music live at a dance the audience all take out their cigarette lighters and raise them in the air aflame. One of his many gimmicks is to make symbols with his one complete hand in the form of unusual handshakes. The fingers on the other were lost in a machete attack while climbing out of a bedroom window at a girlfriend’s house on the sudden return of her husband.

On both sides of this record Lighta Secret raves about and praises Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues – London’s number one blues dance – bigging up the DJs, myself Gaz, Baby Soul and Natty Bo.

Even though I've never heard of Lighta Secret, Gaz has impeccable taste in music--so I'm very much looking forward to putting the needle on this record. And I'm thrilled that Gaz's label is back in business after far too many years of being dormant.

Here's hoping that this is the first of many more records to come...