The Duff Guide to Ska: Year in Ska Reviews - 2016 Edition

(All Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Here we are at that time of the year again when we all take stock of the twelve months that have just passed. I tend to look at my failings, instead of the accomplishments (I could have reviewed many more releases, seen more shows, etc.). Having said that, I am proud of and stand by everything I've written here and hope that these words have helped steer you/turn you on to some amazing ska bands and music.

Below, please find links to all of The Duff Guide to Ska reviews of 2016, in case you missed anything, want to reassess a particular release, or re-read a review or two.

I'd also be remiss not to mention all of the ska musicians that we lost in 2016, including Prince Buster, Lord Tanamo, Jimmy Riley, John Bradbury, Clyde Grimes, Jr. of The Untouchables, Al Fletcher of The Selecter/Skaville UK, Roy Radics of The Rudie Crew, Dan "Brukky" Klein of The Frightnrs, and we just learned of Rudy "Valentino" Jones--the tenor saxophonist for The Trojans--who passed away this week (12/21/16). All of you will be sorely missed by many.

Albums

1592: Family of Choice

The Amphetameanies: Last Chance Bordello

The Beat Featuring Ranking Roger: Bounce

The Bionic Rats: T.B.R.

Sammy Buzz: The Buzzman Cometh

Susan Cadogan: Take Me Back 

The Crombies: Dance Crazee

The Downsetters: The Asylum Hotel

The Frightnrs: Nothing More to Say (review TK)

The Frits: The Greatest Frits

Vivien Goldman: Resolutionary (Songs 1979-1982)

Arthur Kay and The Originals: Rare 'n' Tasty reissue

Madness: Can't Touch Us Now

Massive Attack v. Mad Professor: No Protection reissue

N.S.T. and The Soul Sauce: Heaven is Here/Song for Rico EP

J. Navarro and The Traitors: Criminals and Lions

Phoenix City All-stars: Searching for the Young Ska Rebels

Pyrotechnist: Dub Rocketry

Rhoda Dakar: The Lotek Four, Volume I (review TK)

Rico: Man from Wareika/Wareika Dub expanded reissue

Max Romeo: Horror Zone

Joe Scholes: Songbook, Volume II

Sonic Boom Six: The F-Bomb

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra: Bite the Bullet

The Toasters: Skaboom reissue

The Untouchables: The Duff Guide to The Untouchables

The Uptown Ska Collective: The Uptown EP

Various Artists: Money Maker

Various Artists: Skinhead Reggae 1969

Various Artists: Trembling Earth - A Scottish Ska Compilation


7" and 12" Singles 

The Abruptors: "Buffalo Ska"

Laurel Aitken and The Ruts: "The Peel Sessions"

The Bishops: "The Ol' 49R" b/w "The Black and Tan"

Dennis Bovell: "Heaven" 12" reissue

Dennis Bovell: "Row, Row, Row" b/w "River Dub"

Empire of Two: "Let Us Live"

Lynval Golding and Contra Coup: "Know Your Rights" 12"

Natalie Wouldn't: "Natalie Wouldn't"

The Ruts: "Psychic Attack" b/w "Vox Teardrop (Instrumental)"

Secret Affair: "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" b/w "Crumble Gunn"

The Selecter/The Beat: "Breakdown" b/w "Side To Side" split single

The Ska Flames: "Hoppin' Steppin'" b/w "Someday" and "El Camino" b/w "Hometown Waltz"

Yellowcap: "Around the World"

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Other Reviews and Pieces of Note

Review of The Selecter at The Gramercy Theatre on 10/6/16

The Duff Guide to Ska Remembers David Bowie

The Duff Guide to Ska Remembers Prince

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See what The Duff Guide to Ska reviewed during 2015 here!

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The Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: New Secret Affair Single, Dennis Bovell's "Heaven" 12", and the "Skinhead Reggae 1969" Comp!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Dennis Bovell "Heaven" (Four-track 12" vinyl EP, Optimo Music, 2016): The wonderful funky afro-beat title track of this EP comes from Dennis Bovell's 1981 genre-defying Brain Damage LP and concerns our elusive (and probably futile) struggle to live in peace and harmony ("On bombs and guns they spend their funds/Instead of investing in humanity... Tomorrow may one day too late/Now is the time to investigate/Heaven right here on Earth") and is accompanied by its club edit for your maximum dancing pleasure (both will remind anyone who was around in the early 1980s of the fantastic musical experimentation and hybrids of sounds that were a hallmark of the post-punk/New Wave era). The flip side of this EP contains Bovell's truly brilliant 1981 dub collaboration with American singer/songwriter Garland Jeffreys, "Escape Goat Dub"--a word play on "scapegoat"--which contains these toasts dropped in the mix: "I was walking down the road in the blistering heat/A bomb explode on a hot concrete/It can happen in the broad daylight...Separate a black from his rights/The like to separate a black from the white...I was walking down the road one afternoon/Feeling upset, no I'm not immune/What do you think of world like that? Think...think...think"). Epic had arranged for Bovell to produce several tracks for Jeffreys' new album (which would eventually become the Bob Clearmountain-produced Escape Artist), but since Jeffreys was a huge fan of reggae and dub, the duo ended up creating several dub tracks instead of the expected rock and reggae singer/songwriter cuts, much to Epic's displeasure. However, these dubs were released on the Escapades 7" EP that was included as a free single that came with the first pressing of Escape Artist. "Escape Goat Dub" (which is a version of Escapades' "Miami Beach" and featured Linton Kwesi Johnson) was relegated to the B side of Jeffreys' great cover of ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears"--though the version here comes from a 12" promo that was only released in France.  A sunshine-y bright reggae instrumental called "Smouche," also from Brain Damage, closes out this must-have Bovell set.

Secret Affair "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" b/w "Crumble Gunn" (7" vinyl single, I-Spy Records, 2016): Many in the US may not be aware of it, but Secret Affair--with original members Ian Page and guitarist David Cairns--have been pretty active in the new millennium (first reuniting in 2002 after their 1982 break-up), touring extensively and recording a surprisingly good new album Soho Dreams in 2012. Their latest release for the mod faithful is an absolutely scorching cover of Frank Wilson's 1965 Motown rarity "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)." Apparently Berry Gordy so disliked Wilson's vocals--and didn't want his producers to have recording careers--that he destroyed almost every promo copy of the single and nixed its release to the music-buying public. But, in one of those unusual twists of fate, years later Wilson's song became so popular at the famed Northern soul nightclub Wigan Casino whenever their very valuable copy was played that Tamla-Motown finally gave the people what they wanted and released the single in the UK in 1979. "Crumble Gunn" is an inspired organ-heavy instrumental mash-up of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" with The Quik's 1967 mod fave "Bert's Apple Crumble" that shows off the re-constituted Secret Affairs' formidable chops. Both of these tracks must be something to behold whenever Secret Affair plays them live.

Various Artists Skinhead Reggae 1969 (CD/LP, Kingston Sounds/Jamaican Recordings, 2016): While virtually all of the tracks on Skinhead Reggae 1969 can be found Trojan's impressive double-CD Dancehall '69: 40 Skinhead Reggae Rarities (issued back in 2003), this particular comp is really worth acquiring on vinyl, as you would be hard-pressed to find any used copies of most of these original singles. (I immediately picked up this record when I saw that it included Max Romeo and The Hippy Boys' phenomenal "Clap Clap," which isn't for sale anywhere on Discogs.) In addition to their common musical sub-genre, what connects the songs on Skinhead Reggae 1969 is that all of them were produced or financed by Bunny "Striker" Lee in the late 60s/early 70s and oftentimes these recordings involved many of the same musicians. (It's also worth remembering that Bunny Lee co-wrote and produced Judge Dread's massive skinhead/rude reggae hit "Big Seven"--#8 on the UK charts in 1972.) Skinhead Reggae 1969's highlights include the Bunny Lee Allstars' "Warfare," "Annie Pama" (an instrumental version of The Maytals' "Monkey Man"), and "Revenge of Eastwood" (which versions Prince Buster's incredible "Drunkard Psalm" and is one of many skinhead reggae tracks that falls into the spaghetti Western reggae category--see The Hippy Boys below); King Horror's "Cutting Blade" (King Horror was Laurel Aitken's musical alter ego); Max Romeo's "Melting Pot" (a cover of Blue Mink's song which, as good intentioned as it was, ironically manages to be racist in its promotion of racial integration); The Des All Stars' "Walk with Des"; The Hippy Boys' "Peace Maker" and "Death Rides a Horse"; and Lloyd Charmers' "In The Spirit." Since we're on the topic of skinhead reggae, if you ever come across Dawning of a New Era: The Roots of Skinhead Reggae don't hesitate to buy it--most of these cuts don't appear on any other skinhead reggae comps, Trojan or otherwise.

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Mad About You/Boogie in My Bones

Laurel Aitken at his home in Leicester, 1980 (photo by Janette Beckman)

(Editor's note: Last night, I got together with a bunch of terrific ex-Moon Records employees--some of whom I haven't seen in about a decade--just to re-connect, catch up on each other's lives, and relive some of the glory and agony of working for that label. I'll probably have much more to write about in coming weeks about our Moon Records dayz, but our conversation turned to some of the first generation ska greats that have died, including the great Laurel "Godfather of Ska" Aitken, whom I worked with for a short time in the late 90s. When he died, I posted several entries on another blog I used to do and I thought that you might enjoy reading them...)

(7/20/05)

The longer you live, the more people die.

I always read the obituaries, not that I'm looking for anyone in particular. Oftentimes, it's fascinating to learn about someone who made extraordinary or quirky contributions to the world -- people that I didn't even know existed, but whose lives touched mine in some strange way, like the inventor of the Slinky. And then there is the pain of coming across someone who you thought would have defied the odds and outlive you, like the gutter poet Charles Bukowski...(RIP).

Sadly, I don't think that many newspaper obit editors will remember Laurel Aitken. I learned that this great singer/musician passed away on July 17, 2005 from a heart attack (after a long illness) at age 78. Laurel, known as the "godfather of ska," was the first artist to release material (one of the first ska releases ever) on Island Records back in 1959, a new label founded by Chris Blackwell (who would later release albums from such superstars as Bob Marley and U2). Some consider Laurel to be Jamaica's first recording star, with his string of hit singles in the 60s and 70s in both JA and the UK. The 2-Tone revival in 1979 saw a great resurgence in his popularity, and he played with the English Beat, toured with the mod band Secret Affair (and was backed by the reggae- loving punks The Ruts!). He later sang with the brilliant British ska band the Potato 5 in the 80s, and collaborated with Japan's Ska Flames, Germany's Busters, and America's Toasters during the 1990s. He even appeared with David Bowie in the mod film "Absolute Beginners."

I met Laurel on his tour of the U.S. in 1998. He had released a best-of CD on the label I worked for, and I was overseeing the publicity for his tour. Offstage, he was a quiet, kind, almost reserved fellow -- a kindly grandfather. But on-stage with a mic in his hand, he was a master entertainer, his voice sounding better than it had in his youth. He signed autographs at our record store in the Village, and was kind enough to pose for dozens of pictures with fans young enough to be his great-grandchildren (I have my photo with him in my family picture album, though I was young enough to be his grandson). Apart from managing the publicity team that was arranging for press, radio interviews, and in-store appearances during his tour, I also became his haberdasher...fans kept on swiping his signature pork pie hat (that topped off his two-tone suit, skinny tie, and shades). So, I'd head up to 99X, buy another hat and FedEx it to whatever club he was appearing at the next day. From then on, he always remembered me as the guy who bought his hats for him.

In 1999, when I started my own, ill-fated digital download label, 7 Wonders of the World Music, Laurel and I had many transatlantic phone calls, as I tried to persuade him to license some tracks to my label. Nothing ever came of it...Laurel wanted to release CDs and I was trying out what was a new model for distribution at the time...but he was always charming over the phone and I loved talking to him about things going on in the ska world.

I last saw Laurel on NYC's Central Park Summerstage in 1999 (and brought my toddler son to meet him backstage). He was simply incredible that day, and had the huge crowd on their feet, dancing for his entire set. No doubt, that's what's happening wherever he is now.

(A good deal of Laurel's music is still available from Grover Records in Germany -- I highly recommend "Rise and Fall," "Rudi Got Married," "The Long Hot Summer," and "The Pama Years".)

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(7/21/05)

Finally, a little recognition for the Godfather of Ska...the BBC (God bless the Beeb!) is running a short obit for Laurel, and he even has a blurb on MTV's website (scroll down). I'm still waiting for the New York Times to do their thing (they did one for Coxsone Dodd when he died last year...).

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(7/22/05)

A few more Laurel Aitken obituaries have appeared that flesh out his life a bit more. Check out the articles from the Jamaica Observer and the Telegraph. The piece in the Observer claims that he was bitter over not receiving much recognition in Jamaica for his pioneering musical legacy. This may be true, but it casts a pall over a man who really seemed to enjoy life and performing...