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.

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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!

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Duff Guide to Ska Bullet Points: The Bakesys, No Sports

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

• The Bakesys are back with a new song that was recorded during the sessions for their great More Bakeseys album (for a refresher, here's my review of it from back in 2017). In case there's any question about who "Rich Boy Rude Boy" (digital, Do the Dog Music, 2020) is really about, there's a snippet from a Congressional hearing featuring Donald Trump's former lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen--Question: "Did the president or his company ever inflate his assets or revenue?" Michael Cohen: "Yes." Like its related cuts on More Bakesys, "Rich Boy Rude Boy" mines the latter day Specials sound (found on More Specials and the Ghost Town EP), and is explicitly left-wing protest music--with a socialist message at the end--calling out the despicable, if not outright evil, things many of the rich do to attain and maintain their wealth. Despite its somewhat dour tone, it's an immensely winning, well-done reggae track. And did I mention it's free?

• Back in the day, if you were lucky to be following the extraordinary late '80s/early '90s UK/European ska scene--most of which was captured for posterity via a string of amazing releases on Unicorn Records (their owner had an impeccable taste in bands, but--fatal flaw here--failed to pay them their royalties!)--you undoubtably loved Germany's No Sports. Massively influenced by The Specials and Selecter, No Sports revved up the beat and supercharged their 2 Tone sound on their stellar 1989 debut album King Ska (recently reissued by Black Butcher Classics/Mad Butcher Records and available in the US via Jump Up)--one of the best records of that era--adding a bit of lyrical (and vocal) zaniness to very relatable, everyday songs about work, rest, and play (I'll write this album up at some point in the near future). No Sports' 1990 follow-up was their stunning Stay Rude, Stay Rebel EP. The fantastic anti-racist/anti-fascist title cut was particularly meaningful at a time in Germany soon after reunification (the Berlin Wall fell in '89), when newly-found patriotism for a unified Germany gave far-right hate groups the cover to actively recruit new legions of goons, and led to attacks on Germans of color and non-white immigrants. (No Sports' peers The Frits' 1991 album Little Idiots is practically a concept album about this era that both mourns for a Germany filled with so much hate and pushes fiercely back against it, with songs like "Searching for Another Place in Town," "The Most I Hate is You," "Little Idiots," and "Bonehead.") No Sports' "Stay Rude, Stay Rebel" is an immensely catchy track that, like other powerful 2 Tone songs written in response to dark times, effortlessly moves both body and mind: "Stay rude against the fascist regimes/Stay rebel against politicians' dreams/Stay rude and fight back against injustice/Stay rebel against racial prejudice." And the chorus--in a very RAR move--is aimed squarely at on-the-fence skinheads: "Stay rebel--stay S.H.A.R.P. [Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice]" (a spoken word bit adds: "Skinheads remember your roots/Think with your brain and not with your fucking boots"). The other great cuts rounding out the EP are the jaunty "Tour de France" (an original, not a Kraftwerk cover) sung in French; the demented "Love Song"; and the magnificent Madness-y pop-ska epic "Girl (Tango)" ("She was not very pretty/She had no class or style/She was just a girl/But she had that love of I"). This reissue of Stay Rude, Stay Rebel is a 7" picture sleeve single (as opposed to the original's 12") and brought to us by Black Butcher Classics/Mad Butcher Records (and also available in the US via Jump Up); props to whomever redesigned the background on the paper label from the original blue unicorn silhouette to the cartoon butcher. (Related reading: I wrote about many of Unicorn's releases for a 1998 issue of The People's Ska Annual.)

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Duff Guide to Ska: 2018 Year-End Roundup, Part 3

Editor's note: I'm still playing catch-up with several 2018 releases that I didn't get a chance to review before December 31...

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Buford O'Sullivan and the Robots "Rico Beat" b/w "Stolen Soul (The Exhumation Ska)" (digital single, Sullico Music, 2019): These are two new and very welcome sides of top-notch traditional '60s-styled instrumental ska from trombonist Buford O'Sullivan (Easy Star All-stars, The Scofflaws, Brooklyn Attractors, NYC Ska Orchestra, The Huffers, and more). "Rico Beat" is, of course, a bright and bubbly tribute to the beloved Skatalites/Specials trombone legend (the doubled trombones are a lovely touch), while the mysterious/dark arts track "Stolen Soul (The Exhumation Ska)" sounds like a primo Scofflaws track, back when Drance and Rice were among their number. Rumor has it that these tunes may be pressed on vinyl some day--and they're more than worthy of a physical release.

The Crombies Wee Beasties (3" mini CD, Jump Up Records, 2018): This collectable throwback to the 1980s (yes, these odd mini CDs were actually a thing back then -- I.R.S. Records made them for The Beat's "I Confess" and "Save It for Later" singles) features Chicago's kick-ass 2 Tone band on a mix of seven previously unavailable live cuts and harder to find tracks (like their great version of Bob Marley's "Hooligans" for the Specialized One Heart charity album and related single, which also found its way onto the Pressure Hop Jump Up/Ska Brewing sampler given away at the 2017 Supernova International Ska Fest). Of the live recordings, their rendition of Madness' "The Prince" is pretty spectacular and it's kind of funny to hear them play a bit of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" while fruitlessly waiting for beer to make its way to the stage before launching into The Specials' "Hey Little Rich Girl." Technical note: You'll need a CD player with a tray to play this; forget about sticking it into a computer disc drive! And for those still sporting flight jackets, there a nice Crombies patch included with each mini CD.

Yellow Cap Too Fucked To Go (CD, Pork Pie Records, 2018): First off, if you're a fan of the fantastic late '80s/early '90s German ska scene/sound (think The Busters, No Sports, The Frits, Skaos, The Butlers, El Bosso und die Ping Pongs, The Braces, Blechreiz, etc.), then you're pretty much guaranteed to love Yellow Cap's supercharged, good times 2 Tone/modern ska. The cover illustration of Too Fucked To Go depicts a rude boy splayed on his back, his brew in hand pouring out onto the ground, and, most alarmingly, his body is literally breaking up -- but there's a look of utter bliss on his face. And this image pretty much sums up the themes of many of the superb songs on the record (all in English): Enjoying life to the fullest (maybe too much--see the catchy title cut) and pursuing relationships, even if everyone is very flawed and everything is in shambles around you. Songs of indulgence and excess (gotta get it all in before your time's up) include "One More Night in Rio" ("It's that marvelous city, where I lost myself/Can't sleep a minute, I fear being left on the shelf") and the magnificent mini-epic of never-ending partying in "God Knows" ("Where are the pills that kill the pain?/Why do I smell like a dog?"). The sweetly sincere trad ska tune "Ain't Enough Flowers" ("...to show how much I care") is countered by the more sour (but musically cheery) I-can't-do-anything-to-please-you "Rain Is Falling," and the stomping album opener "Better Man," about opposites attracting, but not enough for them to go the distance ("If I am Russia, you're the CIA/If you're the mountain, I'm the beach holiday"). Other notable tracks are the wonderful deejay clash-like boasting in "Rookie," a moody cover of the "Theme de Fantômas" (from the 1960s French TV and film series about a blue-masked criminal mastermind), and an incredible plea for empathy for migrants/refugees/less-fortunate fellow human beings told from the points of view of the human trafficker, refugee, and town resident in "Safe and Sound": "Should I be afraid that my paradise might change?/Better take the first step that strangers are no longer strange/'Cause I know there are other people running after a dream/Just need to know there's somebody to listen/And I hope you will be safe and sound on the other side of the street/And I hope that this never happens to you." In short, live your life to the extreme, but never lose your humanity.

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Read Part 1 of The Duff Guide to Ska 2018 Year-End Roundup

Read Part 2 of The Duff Guide to Ska 2018 Year-End Roundup

And more reviews are TK.

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Duff Review: The Busters "Straight Ahead"!

Ska Revolution Records
CD (Available in the US through Jump Up Records.)
2017

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Germany's Busters (whom I once described as The Specials crossed with The Skatalites on speed) have been chugging along in various permutations since their fantastic debut album Ruder Than Rude way back in 1988 (when they were one of the leaders of the late '80s/early '90s Germany ska scene that included El Bosso und die Ping Pongs, No Sports, The Frits, Skaos, The Braces, The Butlers, Blechreiz, and more). In addition to a slew of live recordings over the years, Straight Ahead is their 15th studio album and features the great Dr. Ring Ding, AKA Richie Alexander, as a full member of the band (he was also in El Bosso und die Ping Pongs back in the day). This development is sort of a mixed blessing for the band--Dr. Ring Ding's songwriting and performing skills significantly enhance the quality of the album, but several of these tracks end up sounding less like Busters songs and more like unadulterated Dr. Ring Ding cuts ("Hunky Dory" in particular), which certainly isn't a bad thing (and in all fairness, some of his tunes are bona fide Busters songs, like "Straight Ahead"). Perhaps this album should have been conceived and presented as Dr. Ring Ding Meets The Busters?

Apart from the split-personality of this album, The Busters' Straight Ahead is another excellent release in a long string of them from this unstoppable band. Amongst these 17 tracks, there is a lot to like here. Some of the top tunes composed by Dr. Ring Ding include the nostalgia for the 2 Tone era in "The Best of Times" ("I was a three minute hero/On a night boat to Cairo/I went one step beyond/with Pauline and James Bond"); the fiercely anti-racist/pro-immigrant "Chase Them Away" ("Some people walk around the streets of Germany/Mess up everybody's mind with their imbecility/With nothing to to be proud of but their nationality/And denying needy folks help and hospitality"); the fantastically funky, trying to change my bad ways "Ain't Gonna Do It Again" ("Used to do my dance and fake romance/Ain't gonna do it again..."); and "The Devil Made Me Do It" (a blistering track condemning priests who molest underage boys--and the first time I've heard a reference to St. Pancras in a ska song!). Other terrific songs by other members of The Busters are the pro-science "Love and Prayer Mania" ("Worship is their cure to save the earth/I'd feel much safer with some good engineers/To turn down the heating right now, right here/And some psychiatrists to soothe everybody's nerves"); the encouraging, roll with the punches of life "Rope-a-Dope"; the Ayn Randian, dog-eat-dog lusting for the good life of "Famine or Feast"; the creepy stalker of a celebrity in "No. 1 Fan" ("When you act like you don't know me/I still know that we are homies"); and the absurdly hilarious Chuck Berry-ish "T.I.N.A. to Ska" ("Some choices are quite awful/The devil or the deep blue sea/But then again in a deli/You will pick quite happily/It's clear from here to Srinagar/There's no alternative to ska!").

If you don't already know The Busters or lost their thread over the years, Straight Ahead is a great (re)entry point--and up-to-date fans will, of course, need this record in their collection.

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[Ich spreche/schreibe kein Deutsch, also hoffe ich, dass Google Übersetzer gut funktioniert!]

Deutschlands Busters (die ich einmal als die Specials bezeichnet habe, die sich mit den Skatalites auf Speed ​​kreuzten) tuckern seit ihrem fantastischen Debütalbum Ruder Than Rude im Jahr 1988 in verschiedenen Permutationen mit (als sie eine der führenden Bands der späten 80er/Anfang der 90er Jahre Deutschland Ska-Szene, die El Bosso und sterben Ping Pongs, No Sports, Die Frits, Skaos, The Braces, The Butlers, Blechreiz, und mehr). Neben zahlreichen Live-Aufnahmen ist Straight Ahead im Laufe der Jahre ihr 15. Studioalbum mit dem großen Dr. Ring Ding, AKA Richie Alexander, als Vollmitglied der Band (er war auch in El Bosso und die Ping Pong Zurück in den Tag). Diese Entwicklung ist für die Band ein zweischneidiges Glück - Dr. Ring Ding's Songwriting und Performing Fähigkeiten verbessern die Qualität des Albums erheblich, aber einige dieser Tracks klingen weniger nach Busters Songs und eher nach unverfälschten Dr. Ring Ding Kürzungen ("Hunky Dory" im Besonderen), was sicherlich kein schlechte Sache (und in aller Fairness, einige seiner Songs sind echte Busters Songs, wie "Straight Ahead"). Vielleicht sollte dieses Album als Dr. Ring Ding Meets The Busters konzipiert und präsentiert worden sein?

Abgesehen von der Split-Persönlichkeit dieses Albums ist The Busters' Straight Ahead eine weitere exzellente Veröffentlichung in einer langen Reihe von ihnen aus dieser unaufhaltsamen Band. Unter diesen 17 Tracks gibt es hier viel zu sehen. Einige der Top-Tunes von Dr. Ring Ding enthalten die Nostalgie für die 2-Ton-Ära in "The Best of Times" ("Ich war ein Drei-Minuten-Held/Auf einem Nachtboot nach Kairo/Ich ging einen Schritt weiter/mit Pauline und James Bond"); der heftig anti-rassistische/pro-immigrant "Chase Them Away" ("Manche Menschen laufen durch die Straßen Deutschlands/Versammeln jeden mit seiner Schwachsinnigkeit/Mit nichts, worauf man stolz sein kann, aber ihre Nationalität/Und bedürftigen Menschen zu helfen und zu helfen Gastfreundschaft"); der fantastisch funky, versuchend, meine schlechten Weisen zu ändern "wird nicht es wieder tun" ("verwendete, um meinen Tanz zu tun und gefälschte Romanze/wird es nicht wieder tun..."); und "Der Teufel ließ mich es tun" (ein glühender Track, der Priester verurteilte, die minderjährige Jungs belästigten - und das erste Mal, dass ich in einem Ska-Lied einen Hinweis auf St. Pancras hörte!). Andere großartige Songs von anderen Mitgliedern von The Busters sind die pro-Wissenschaft "Love and Prayer Mania" ("Anbetung ist ihre Heilung, um die Erde zu retten/Ich würde mich mit einigen guten Ingenieuren viel sicherer fühlen/Um die Heizung jetzt abzulehnen, genau hier/Und einige Psychiater, die alle nerven sollen"); das Aufmuntern, Rollen mit den Schlägen des Lebens "Rope-a-Dope"; der Ayn Randian, Hund, der nach dem guten Leben von "Hungersnot oder Schmaus" lechzt; der gruselige Stalker einer Berühmtheit in "No. 1 Fan" ("Wenn du dich benimmst wie du, kennst du mich nicht/ich weiß immer noch, dass wir Homies sind"); und die absurd urkomische Chuck Berry-ish "T.I.N.A to Ska" ("Einige Entscheidungen sind ziemlich schrecklich/Der Teufel oder das tiefblaue Meer/Aber dann wieder in einem Deli/Sie werden ganz glücklich/Es ist klar von hier nach Srinagar /There's keine Alternative zu Ska!").

Wenn du The Busters noch nicht kennst oder im Laufe der Jahre den Faden verloren hast, ist Straight Ahead ein großartiger (Re-) Einstiegspunkt - und aktuelle Fans werden diese Platte natürlich in ihrer Sammlung brauchen.

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Duff Review: The Frits "The Greatest Frits"

Pork Pie Records
2016
CD

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I can't quite remember how I first learned about The Frits--it may have been a review in George Marshall's essential Zoot! skazine--but I know I mail-ordered their releases through Unicorn Records and managed to buy their entire catalogue in the early 1990s (I just checked The Frits' Discogs entry for confirmation--I even have their CD single "Ebbies Bluff," which has their cover of Guns N' Roses' "November Rain"!). Fortunately, you don't have to go to the lengths that I did (going to the bank, exchanging dollars for pounds, and mailing them off with fingers crossed to the UK) to enjoy some of the best tracks from the band dubbed "the German Specials"--they're all collected on the aptly titled The Greatest Frits.

Like the post-2 Tone UK ska scene, which featured the likes of Laurel Aitken, Bad Manners, The Trojans, Potato 5, Maroon Town, The Loafers, King Hammond, The Riffs, The Deltones, and more, the late 80s/early 90s German ska scene had fostered an equally impressive roster of bands, including The Busters, No Sports, El Bosso und die Ping Pongs, The Braces, Skaos, The Butlers, Blechreiz, and, of course, The Frits. What first attracted me to the band was their hyper-charged 2-Tone ska, but what made keep coming back for each subsequent release was their fantastic songwriting and performances, all of which still sound great and vital twenty-five years on.

The Greatest Frits opens with "Life of Brian" (from The Frits' 1988 single of the same name), their inspired cover of Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," which, like The Specials' cover of "Enjoy Yourself" (released at a time when things were becoming increasingly dire for working class youth and non-white Britons under Thatcher's rule), is cheerfully positive on the surface ("If life seems jolly rotten [I always thought it was, "If life seems Johnny Rotten"!]/There's something you've forgotten/and that's to that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing/When you're feeling in the dumps/Don't be silly chumps/Just purse your lips and whistle/That's the thing/And...always look on the bright side of life"), but is really meant to be taken ironically, since it masks a much more ominous message. (In the movie "Life of Brian," the protagonist has been sentenced to death and is surrounded by fellow condemned prisoners who try to cheer him up by singing "always look on the bright side of life," while they're all slowly dying on crucifixes--it's interesting to note that The Busters covered Bobby McFerrin's similarly-themed "Don't Worry, Be Happy" a year later; and, like The Busters, The Frits sing in English, which sometimes results in awkwardly phrased lyrics, but their meaning is always clear.)

While The Frits' material from their first two albums, Die Erste in 1988 and The Rude Message in 1989, is very strong and is concerned with work, women, and generally not being a dope, the band really hit their stride in 1991 with Little Idiots. After the unexpected fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of (communist and very poor) East and (democratic and prosperous) West Germany, there was a horrific increase in the number of fascist/neo-Nazi groups and hate crimes, primarily in the former East Germany, which had seen an influx of Eastern European refugees (who were being blamed by the hate groups for the high unemployment and economic hardship prevalent at that time). The Frits' 2 Tone-like response to this worsening situation was to write some of the most powerful and catchiest anti-racist/anti-fascist songs of that era (which, maddeningly enough, are still very relevant in many parts of the world today, including the USA).

The absolutely searing "The Most I Hate Is You" expresses The Frits' equivocal feelings about fascist youth and their neo-Nazi leaders who've lured and trapped them in their twisted, dead-end ideology:

"You walk in every morning
The same old naked way
Your head is much too heavy
Your thoughts are full of hate

You think of what you've talked about
Last night with your friends
But now you're on the run again
There is no other chance

The most I hate is you
The most I hate is you
The most I hate is you
What you gonna say?
What you gonna do?
The most I hate is you

They will make you smaller
Smaller than you seem
Tell you, "What is all the work for?"
Tell you, "What do you mean?"

You're sitting in a big cage
But you haven't got the key
The key has got your big balls
There is no way to live"



With its irresistible, sing-along chorus, "Bonehead" tries to reach the very misguided--but not irredeemable--knucklehead, to persuade them to stop their violent, racist behavior:

"You are so proud
Of what you've done
Now I see you standing there
With all your friends
You've had a lot of fun
They show you how to go "right" ways

Can't you feel so tall?
You know every trick
To hide your little weakness now
But I tell you
(I tell you)
You are so wrong
Everyone can see your little sign
Saying...

Bonehead, you are going wrong
Listen to the message
The message of this song, yeah
The black man is all right
There is no reason for a fight, see?
Only stupid reasons are for you, all right?"

[There is only one fan-created video of "Bonehead" out there; it uses footage of neo-Nazi and white power skinheads in an attempt to shame them with the sharp lyrics of this song, but I'm not posting it here, as they don't deserve any kind of exposure that could be misinterpreted as endorsing or glorifying their hateful ways.]

"Searching for Another Place in Town" perfectly captures the loneliness and despair of finding oneself an outcast in one's own neighborhood (because of your anti-racist beliefs) and having no other choice but to leave everything you've known behind:

"I'm searching for another place in town
All the people try to treat me down
I'm searching for another place in town
Without my life, with all the things I do right here

Walking up my home run street I feel so down
Recognize these stupid guys, make me so frown
They never try to understand what is going all wrong
Going on their stupid ways, I never go
'Cause I am strong, yeah

That I'm searching for another place in town
Is because of all the stupid talk of youth
I want you to respect me and all my dreams
And I won't wait while you try to understand..."



It's such an incredibly sorrowful--but ultimately triumphant--track that will haunt you for days after hearing it (I wake up in the night with this one running through my head).

The Frits' following album Not Enough for You (1993), produced by Roger Lomas (The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers, Bad Manners), didn't burn quite as white hot, but they still delivered the goods (see "It's Not Enough for You" and "I Don't Want To Live Alone") and contained some fiercely political songs: "We Fight For You" ("We saw them kill an innocent/We saw them bomb some families and kids/We won't just sit home and wait/We won't just close our eyes and walk away/We fight for you/We'll fight for your rights!"); a cover of Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "The Snake," a jazz/Northern Soul cautionary tale of an act of compassion and charity repaid with betrayal and violence; and The Specials' "Concrete Jungle" with Sir Horace Gentleman making an appearance on bass. The Frits' final (?), live album Always Look on the Bright Side of Live (1994), also recorded by Lomas, showcased the band's considerable live chops (represented here by covers of Specials and Selecter tracks, as well as two Frits originals).

Lastly, there is one terrific newly recorded Frits cut, the defiant "Still Alive," which gives us hope that there may be much more new music to come as long as they're, "On the street/With something to say/Kicking the blues away..."

The Greatest Frits is a fantastic compilation for people new to the band (if you're a fan of 2 Tone, you're likely to be a Frits fan) and will remind long-time followers just how good The Frits were back then--and still are today!

+ + + +

Here's a German translation of this review (courtesy of Google):

Ich kann mich nicht mehr genau erinnern, wie ich zum ersten Mal über die Fritten gelernt - es kann eine Überprüfung in George Marshall wesentlich Zoot gewesen! skazine - aber ich weiß, dass ich für E-Mail aufgefordert, ihre Veröffentlichungen durch Unicorn Aufzeichnungen und verwaltet den gesamten Katalog in den frühen 1990er Jahren zu kaufen (Ich habe gerade den Discogs Eintrag 'Frits zur Bestätigung - ich habe sogar ihre CD-Single "ebbies Bluff" die hat ihre Abdeckung von Guns N 'Roses' "November Regen"!). Glücklicherweise müssen Sie nicht auf die Längen gehen, die ich habe (zur Bank gehen, Dollar für Pfund Austausch und Mailing sie mit Daumen nach Großbritannien aus) einige der besten Tracks aus dem Band zu genießen genannt "die Deutsch Specials "- sie sind alle auf dem passenden Titel The Greatest Frits gesammelt.

Wie die Post-2 Tone UK Ska-Szene, die die Gleichen von Laurel Aitken gekennzeichnet, Bad Manners, die Trojaner, Kartoffel 5, Maroon Town, die Loafers, König Hammond, die Riffs, die Deltones und mehr, die Ende der 80er / Anfang 90s deutschen Ska-Szene hatte eine ebenso beeindruckende Liste von Bands gefördert, darunter The Busters, No Sports, El Bosso und sterben Ping Pongs, die geschweiften Klammern, Skaos, The Butlers, Blechreiz, und, natürlich, die Fritten. Was mich zuerst an die Band war ihre hyper geladen 2-Tone Ska, aber was immer wieder für jede weitere Veröffentlichung kommen würde ihre fantastische Songwriting und Aufführungen, von denen alle immer noch groß und vital 25 Jahre klingen auf.

Die größten Frits öffnet mit "Life of Brian" (aus dem Frits 1988 Single mit dem gleichen Namen), ihre inspirierten Cover von Monty Pythons "Always Schauen Sie auf der Sonnenseite des Lebens", die, wie die Specials "Cover von" Genießen Yourself "(zu einem Zeitpunkt freigegeben, wenn die Dinge immer mehr dire immer für Jugend arbeiten und nicht-weiße Briten unter Thatcher-Regel), ist fröhlich positiv auf der Oberfläche (" Wenn das Leben scheint lustig faul [ich dachte immer, es war "Wenn das Leben scheint Johnny Rotten "!] / Es gibt etwas, das Sie vergessen haben / und das ist zu, dass zu lachen und lächeln und Tanz ist und singen / Wenn Sie das Gefühl nicht dumm chumps sein in den Deponien / Do / So Portemonnaie Ihre Lippen und Pfeife / das ist die Sache / Und ... schauen immer auf der Sonnenseite des Lebens "), aber ist wirklich ironisch gemeint genommen werden, da es Masken eine viel ominösen Nachricht. (In dem Film "Das Leben des Brian", der Protagonist wurde zum Tode verurteilt und ist umgeben von Mitgefangenen verurteilt, die versuchen, ihn durch das Singen aufzumuntern "immer auf der Sonnenseite des Lebens aussehen", während sie alle langsam sterben auf Kruzifixe - es ist interessant, dass The Busters Bobby McFerrin "Sorge dich nicht glücklich sein" bedeckt zu beachten, ähnlich dem Motto des ein Jahr später, und wie The Busters, The Frits singen in englischer Sprache, die manchmal in ungeschickt formulierte Texte ergibt, aber ihre Bedeutung ist immer klar.)

Während die Fritten "Material aus ihren ersten beiden Alben, 1988 Erste sterben und die Rude Nachricht im Jahr 1989, ist sehr stark und mit Arbeit, Frauen betrifft, und in der Regel nicht eine Schmiere zu sein, traf die Band wirklich ihren Schritt 1991 mit wenig Idiots. Nach dem unerwarteten Fall der Berliner Mauer 1989 und die Wiedervereinigung (kommunistischen und sehr schlecht) Ost und (Demokratie und Wohlstand) der Bundesrepublik Deutschland gab es eine schreckliche Zunahme der Zahl der faschistischen / Neonazi-Gruppen und Hassverbrechen, in erster Linie im ehemaligen Ost-Deutschland, die einen Zustrom osteuropäischer Flüchtlinge gesehen hatte (die von den Hassgruppen für die hohe Arbeitslosigkeit und wirtschaftliche Not weit verbreitet zu dieser Zeit verantwortlich gemacht wurden). Die Frits '2 Tone ähnliche Reaktion auf diese Verschlechterung der Lage war heute einige der mächtigsten und eingängigsten antirassistischen / antifaschistische Lieder jener Zeit (die aufreizend genug, sind immer noch sehr relevant in vielen Teilen der Welt zu schreiben einschließlich der USA).

Die absolut Anbraten "The Most I Hate Is You" die Fritten "zweideutig Gefühle über faschistische Jugend zum Ausdruck bringt und ihre Neonazi-Führer, die gelockt haben und gefangen sie in ihren verdrehten, Sackgasse Ideologie:

"Sie gehen in jeden Morgen
Die gleiche alte nackte Weg
Ihr Kopf ist viel zu schwer
Ihre Gedanken sind voller Hass

Sie denken an, was Sie gesprochen haben
Letzte Nacht mit deinen Freunden
Aber jetzt bist du wieder auf der Flucht
Es gibt keine andere Möglichkeit,

Die meisten, die ich hasse, ist, Sie
Die meisten, die ich hasse, ist, Sie
Die meisten, die ich hasse, ist, Sie
Was sagen Sie gonna?
Was wirst du machen?
Die meisten, die ich hasse, ist, Sie

Sie werden machen Sie kleinere
Kleiner als Sie scheinen
Sagen Sie: "Was ist die ganze Arbeit für?"
Sagen Sie: "Was meinst du damit?"

Du bist in einem großen Käfig sitzen
Aber Sie haben nicht den Schlüssel bekam
Der Schlüssel ist Ihre große Bälle bekam
Es gibt keine Möglichkeit zu leben "

Mit seinem unwiderstehlich, Mitsingen Chor, "Dummkopf" versucht, die sehr fehlgeleitet zu erreichen - aber nicht unkündbar - knucklehead, sie zu überzeugen, ihre gewalttätigen, rassistischen Verhalten zu stoppen:

"Sie sind so stolz
Von dem, was du getan hast
Jetzt sehe ich dich dort stehen
Mit all deinen Freunden
Sie haben viel Spaß gehabt
Sie zeigen Ihnen, wie "richtige" Wege zu gehen

Können Sie sich nicht so groß fühlen?
Sie kennen jeden Trick
So blenden Sie jetzt Ihre kleine Schwäche
Aber ich sage Ihnen
(Ich sage dir)
Sie sind so falsch
Jeder kann Ihr kleines Schild
Sprichwort...

Bonehead, du gehst falsch
Hören Sie die Nachricht
Die Botschaft dieses Liedes, ja
Der schwarze Mann ist alles in Ordnung
Es gibt keinen Grund für einen Kampf, sehen Sie?
Nur dumme Gründe sind für Sie, alles in Ordnung? "

[Es gibt nur ein Fan erstellte Video von "Dummkopf" da draußen; es nutzt Aufnahmen von Neonazis und Nazi-Skinheads in einem Versuch zu beschämen sie mit den scharfen Text dieses Liedes, aber ich bin es nicht hier veröffentlichen, da sie keine Art der Exposition verdienen, die als Billigung falsch interpretiert werden könnte oder verherrlichen ihre verhasste Weise.]

"Nach einem anderen Ort in der Stadt Suche" perfekt erfasst die Einsamkeit und Verzweiflung, sich ein Außenseiter zu finden, in der eigenen Nachbarschaft (wegen Ihrer antirassistische Überzeugungen) und keine andere Wahl haben, aber alles zu verlassen Sie hinter gekannt habe:

"Ich bin auf der Suche nach einem anderen Ort in der Stadt
Alle Leute versuchen, mich zu behandeln unten
Ich bin für einen anderen Ort in der Stadt suchen
Ohne mein Leben, mit all den Dingen zu tun ich hier richtig

Gehen meine Home-Run Straße bis ich fühle mich so nach unten
Erkennen Sie diese dummen Jungs, machen mich so Stirnrunzeln
Sie niemals versuchen, zu verstehen, was alles falsch läuft
Gehen auf ihren dummen Wege, ich gehe nie
Denn ich bin stark, ja

Dass ich für einen anderen Ort in der Stadt bin auf der Suche
Ist wegen all dem dummen Gerede von Jugend
Ich möchte Sie mich und alle meine Träume zu respektieren
Und ich werde nicht warten, während Sie versuchen zu verstehen ... "

Es ist so ein unglaublich traurig - aber letztlich triumphierenden - Spur, die Sie für Tage nach der mündlichen Verhandlung hat sie verfolgen wird (wache ich mit diesem einen in der Nacht laufen durch meinen Kopf).

Die Frits folgende Album nicht genug für Sie (1993), produziert von Roger Lomas (The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers, Bad Manners), brannte nicht ganz so weiß heiß, aber sie lieferte noch die Ware (siehe "Es ist nicht genug für Sie "und" I Do not To Live Alone "einige heftig politische Lieder) und enthielt:" Wollen wir kämpfen für Sie "(" Wir sahen sie einen unschuldigen töten / Wir sahen sie einige Familien bombardieren und Kinder / Wir werden nicht nur sitzen zu Hause und warten / Wir werden nicht nur die Augen zu schließen und gehen weg / Wir kämpfen für dich / Wir werden für Ihre Rechte kämpfen! "); eine Abdeckung von Oscar Brown Jr. "The Snake", ein Jazz / Northern Soul warnende Geschichte von einem Akt des Mitgefühls und der Liebe mit Verrat und Gewalt zurückgezahlt; und The Specials ' "Concrete Jungle" mit Sir Horace Gentleman einen Auftritt am Bass. Die Frits 'letzte (?), Live-Album auf der hellen Seite der Live-Schauen Sie immer (1994), die ebenfalls von Lomas aufgenommen, präsentiert die erhebliche Live Koteletts Band (hier vertreten durch Abdeckungen von Specials und Selecter Spuren sowie zwei Frits Originale ).

Schließlich gibt es einen tollen neu aufgenommenen Frits Schnitt, der trotzige "Still Alive", die uns Hoffnung gibt, dass es auf der Straße viel mehr neue Musik zu kommen, solange sie sind ", kann sein / mit etwas zu sagen / Kicking den Blues weg ... "

Der größte Frits ist eine fantastische Zusammenstellung für neue Leute in die Band (wenn Sie ein Fan von 2 Tone sind, sind Sie wahrscheinlich ein Frits Fan zu sein) und wird seit langer Zeit Anhänger, wie gut die Fritten waren wieder erinnern dann- -und noch heute!