Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Prizefighters!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

There sure are some mighty sweet vintage rocksteady and ska sounds on The Prizefighters' superb new album Firewalk (CD/digital/cassette/LP, Prizefighter Sound System/Jump Up Records, 2019), which are clearly influenced by rocksteady greats like Alton Ellis, The Gaylads, The Heptones, Slim Smith, Delroy Wilson, etc. and The Skatalites (though they're a bit more organically raw, like Japan's Ska Flames--see The Prizefighters' boss instrumentals "The Accolade," "Bebop Rocksteady"--an incredible cover of one of Yoko Kanno's soundtrack compositions for the Japanese animated sci-fi TV series "Cowboy Bebop"--"Kashmir Rock" or "Mars Rover," amongst others). But all of this bright music doesn't really mask The Prizefighters' white hot outrage at the increasingly dismal state of affairs in America (they hail from the heartland: Minneapolis, MN). "Temper Running Hot" comments on the police's disgracefully hostile and violent (at times deadly) treatment of black Americans--sung in manner close to a stage whisper, but seething at the injustice of it all: "They only want to chat/with the hammer back/Violence in the street/and the country road/Each breath could be your last/as the sirens flash." "Along for the Ride" calls out people who casually associate with those in racist or fascist groups, but may not be really committed to their twisted cause, with this warning: "Are you on board, or just along for the ride?/Life's too short to choose the wrong side...Oh, you keep such bad company/Either way, you'll have to pay for their crimes."

Then there's The Prizefighters' stellar anti-racist track "Stop Them," which was written in direct response to the white nationalism/supremacy unleashed and supported by the overtly racist policies and messaging of Trump and his wretched administration--and, as the band puts it, is "less a protest song and more a call to action" for all good people to unite and collectively counter this bigotry and hatred of everyone not white, Christian, right-wing, and male. "Stop Them" is the ideal fusion of relevant socio-political message with move-your-body music (and very much in the tradition of 2 Tone). This cut is super-sing along-catchy and rightfully uncompromising in its anti-racist/fascist stance, much like The Special AKA's "Racist Friend" or Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Fite Dem Back." Check out these lyrics (which ding both Trump and his daddy's beloved Klan):

Now the fascists are back in town
Marching through our streets
Now their jester wears the crown
They keep popping up like weeds
We've gotta put them back in the ground
And hang out their sheets
They will never never never stop
Until we stop-a stop-a stop-a stop-a stop them

On a more uplifting note, album opener "Just Let the Music Play" encourages unity--both racial and economic (as in trade unions)--and doing what you can to enjoy life, stay inspired, and survive in an unforgivingly dog-eat-dog, Ayn Rand-ian capitalist society ("We'll stand united, there's nothing we can't do/We'll keep on fighting and aways will stay true"). While the album closes with "Firewalk," whose lyrics--"When the ground gets too hot/You must do the firewalk--suggests that these dark days are a trial by fire of sorts, a test of one's faith, fortitude, and courage. How we behave towards our fellow human beings and the tough choices we make under duress will reveal our true moral character, forge bonds between people of good will, and shape how one's life will be evaluated come judgment day.

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Trojan Records in MOJO!

Apologies for no new posts over the past two weeks--I was on holiday with the family. On our last day in Dublin, I picked up a copy of the September 2018 issue of MOJO at Tower Records (!) for the airplane ride back to the USA. In it is a great feature on the rise and fall and rebirth of Trojan Records (in recognition of their 50th anniversary) by reggae journalist Dave Katz that provides more info on co-owner Lee Gopthal than I've previously encountered. Plus, the giveaway CD Reggae Nuggets sports both classic and lesser-known Trojan tracks by Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Prince Far I, Ricky and Bunny, Dennis Brown, Phyllis Dillon, Johnny Osbourne, The Ethiopians, The Inspirations, The Beltones, Val Bennett, Ken Boothe, Lee Perry, The Crystalites, and Lester Sterling and The Skatalites (MOJO also has a list of what they consider to be the 50 greatest reggae albums up on their website--discuss amongst yourselves). Also on my reading list for the journey home was Margo Jefferson's fascinating cultural history of Michael Jackson, On Michael Jackson--check out the Guardian's interview with her; and Mark Andersen and Ralph Heibutzki's incredible We Are The Clash, the now-definitive history of the post-Mick Jones/Topper Headon Clash (Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, Nick Sheppard, Vince White, and Pete Howard), which managed to achieve some legitimate triumphs--many blisteringly good live shows, like their 12/6/84 benefit show for striking union coal miners at the Brixton Academy (with a number a great new tracks in the set like "Are You Ready for War?," "Three Card Trick," "North and South," "Dirty Punk," "Jericho," and "This Is England") and their daft-but-brilliant, have-guitar-will-travel busking tour of the north of England--despite Strummer's struggle with depression/self-medication and Bernard Rhodes' absolutely ham-fisted hijacking of what could have been a pretty great album of new songs: Out of Control.

On our travels around Ireland, I managed to miss the chance to see Madness perform twice. They played Galway a day before we arrived and were in Dublin while we were in Galway! (I did catch a BT advert that uses their cover of "It Must Be Love" on TV a few times, but it's not the same.) And Jerry Dammers did a DJ set in Dublin while we were on a brief detour to the (brutally hot) continent. So it goes...

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Duff Review: Duke Reid "Judge Sympathy" b/w Roland Alphonso "Never To Be Mine" and Eek-A-Mouse "Ganja Smuggling" b/w "Smuggling Dub" (RSD 2018 Re-Issues)

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Duke Reid "Judge Sympathy" b/w Roland Alphonso "Never To Be Mine" (Orange vinyl 7" single, Trojan Records, 2018 re-issue): This was the first single Trojan released back on July 28, 1967 (the imprint had been created by Island Records specifically to release Duke Reid's productions in the UK). And as this year marks the label's 50th anniversary (a book and mega box set are forthcoming), it seems more than fitting that this would be re-issued for Record Store Day 2018 (this single was also part of the Judge Sympathy--Birth of Trojan 11 x 7" box set released in 2008).

On Duke Reid's "Judge Sympathy"--which capitalized upon/was an answer record of sorts to Prince Buster's rude boy crackdown "Judge Dread" trilogy (which included "The Appeal" and "Judge Dread Dance")--an uncredited Alton Ellis sings "I stand accused," while Judge Sympathy (Reid himself, one assumes), seeing a couple before him for "maintenance," instructs the husband to treat his wife better: "You must give her enough food to make her comfortable in her kitchen. You must also give her water until her child is old enough to carry her own water." Alphonso's track is a lush and lilting instrumental cover of Elvis Presley's 1960's hit "It's Now or Never" (based on Tony Martin's 1949 "There's No Tomorrow," which itself is based on the classic 1898 Neapolitan song "O solo mio" by Eduardo di Capua and Alfredo Mazzucchi). Both cuts are ace.

Eek-A-Mouse "Ganja Smuggling" b/w "Smuggling Dub" (Clear green vinyl 7" single, Greensleeves Records, 2018 re-issue): On this Henry "Junjo" Lawes-produced 1982 hit, one might have expected some sort of rebel posturing about dodging the police whilst drug running, but Eek-A-Mouse's tale (a spare, roots reggae lament, really) is about the extremes of capitalism (and results of racism and colonialism in Jamaica). Either one follows the rules and lives in desperate poverty or breaks the law and lives large: "Down dere in the ghetto I go, where sufferation I once know/Mummy and Daddy, all a' we so poor, we all had to sleep on the floor..." versus "One by one, load up de van, all of a ganja it a ram/Put it on a plane, the week gaan a Spain/Money jus' a pour like rain..." Roots Radics are featured on the b side with "Smuggling Dub." This release marks the first time the title cut has been issued on a 7" single outside of JA--and its dub previously was hard to track down, too. Pick it up, while you can.

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Record Store Day Black Friday 2017 Ska and Reggae Releases

There aren't many RSD Black Friday releases to temp the ska and reggae fan, but what is on offer is pretty enticing!

First up is the Disco Devil red vinyl 12" from Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Full Experience, featuring both the 12" and 7" mixes of the track (versions of Max Romeo's "Chase the Devil"--one of my absolute favorite songs of all time).

The other--and probably harder to track down--release is the double LP (plus bonus 7") Studio One compilation From the Vaults (Obscure Singles Compilation), which is being billed as a collection of 18 "lost" tracks from the late 1960s to the early 1980s by artists like Alton Ellis, Johnny Osbourne, the Gaylads, Roy Tomlinson, the Soulites, the Officials, Glen and Dave, and more.

Happy hunting (for the vinyl above) and Thanksgiving!

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Interview with Masaya Hayashi of Drum and Bass Records and Rock A Shacka!

There is a fantastic interview with Masaya Hayashi, the founder and owner of Japan's Drum & Bass Records (quite possibly the premier source for vintage Jamaican vinyl in the world) and the Rock A Shacka re-issue label, on PartyXtraz.com (a Jamaican entertainment scene blog). This is a must-read for anyone interested in the origins of this store and label--and/or wants some insight into the Japanese ska and reggae scene.

In 2003, I was lucky to pick up an import copy of Prince of Peace, the live CD featuring Prince Buster and The Determinations, as well as several other subsequent Rock A Shacka compilations of rare Prince Buster singles and productions (Voice of the People and Dance Cleopatra)--but these are hard to come by now.

Several recent Rock A Shacka releases (such as Orange Street Special, Fabulous Songs of Miss Sonia E. Pottinger Volume 2 and Alton Ellis Soul Train is Coming) have been available through Amazon and Dusty Groove America in the US, and Copasetic Mailorder in Germany. I haven't heard it yet, but Rock A Shacka just released Rock A Shacka Volume 19: You'll Never Know: Caribou Ska Selection, that contains some rare early ska from Laurel Aitken, Don Drummond, Rico, The Mighty Vikings, Lord Tanamo, and more.

Duff Review: Sharon Jones and Ticklah: "How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?" b/w "How Long Do I Have to Dub for You?"

Daptone Records
7" Single
2008

Soul music's powerful influence on ska, rocksteady, and reggae is readily manifest on numerous recordings throughout this genre's history, from the sixties (with artists like Laurel Aitken, Jimmy Cliff, Alton Ellis, Marcia Griffiths, Phyllis Dillon, Slim Smith, and Joe Higgs, to name a few) up to the present day (Babylove & the van Dangos, Green Room Rockers, The Bullets, and The Bluebeats, amongst many more). Yet rarely is there such a direct and potent intersection between practitioners of each style as there is in the versioning of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' funkified soul tune "How Long Do I Have to Wait For You?" (from their 2005 Naturally album) by ace dub/reggae keyboardist and producer Ticklah.

Ticklah (AKA Victor Axelrod, who is a member of Antibalas, the Easy Star All-Stars, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings) has taken Sharon Jones' luscious, pleading vocals from the original soul version of this track (a stunner in itself) and then re-recorded all of the instrumental tracks on his own in an early reggae manner--and the results are extraordinary. The song seems timeless, as most classic tunes do. It could have been recorded in the late 60s in Kingston or yesterday in the UK. The flip side features Ticklah's excellent keyboard-heavy dub of this cut. While this isn't a new release (I just happened to come across it at Ernie B's Reggae and ordered it--though it was released in 2008), it is a real treasure that shouldn't be missed by fans of soulful rocksteady and early reggae.

MOJO Does Gaz Mayall!

Yep, it's time again to report on MOJO's latest coverage of things ska and reggae. The October 2010 issue, with Macca on the cover, includes a feature on Gaz Mayall's forthcoming book "Gaz's Rockin' Blues: The First 30 Years" (out on September 16 from Trolley Books in the UK). A slew of incredible photos accompanies the piece, including shots of Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Alton Ellis, Joe Strummer, and Joey Ramone, amongst others, either performing or hanging out at Gaz's Rockin' Blues.

Elsewhere in this issue, you'll also find a four-star review of Gaz's book; an obituary for roots, lover's rock, and dancehall singer Sugar Minott, who was 54 when he died; a four-star review of Toots and the Maytals new album, Flip and Twist, which heavy on funk and soul; and some rare, but stunning photos of Bob Marley in his prime by Kim Gottlieb-Walker (which include Bob meeting "Ras Beatle" George Harrison--they were huge fans of each other--and a shot of Bob in front of an formidable pile of ganja with the photographer's three year-old son, who considered himself to be a Rasta at the time).

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Check out this clip of Gaz being interviewed about his Rockin' Blues...