Interview: Buford O'Sullivan

Buford O'Sullivan is one of the NYC ska scene's best trombonists and has probaby guest performed in the studio or on stage with every ska band of note in our fair city. He was a member of The Scofflaws during the 90s, penning such tongue-in-cheek ska classics as "Nude Beach," "In the Basement," "Back Door Open," and "William Shatner," and joined The Toasters for a few years in the early 00s. Currently, he is the full-time trombonist for the Easy Star All Stars (along with another ex-Scofflaw, Victor Rice) and was kind enough to take the time to answer a few of our questions...

The Duff Guide to Ska: The Easy Star All Stars have achieved an extraordinary amount of success with both Dub Side of the Moon and Radiodread. Apart from regularly having the cash to pay the rent, what’s it like to be in a band that has hit the big time?

Buford O'Sullivan: Ah, cash for rent…New York City is a tough call for that. Really, being a part of a band like ESAS is a sacrifice to the gods, in that it is not really lucrative so much as it is enough to justify the dream. I think the “big time” is a couple of rungs up the ladder… I’d say we’re some steps above the ground level, but we still share rooms. It pays well, and the people in the band are immensely talented, so sharing the stage with them is an honor. It is a road band, like a “road show” where the producers and creators of the project stay home as the artists go out. We are taken care of, we have per-diems, decent hotels, and all that. I’m racking up some frequent flier miles! I get to see places in the world that I’d never get to see otherwise. It isn’t easy, though. Playing music rarely is--it just looks that way.

DGTS: On tour, what are the ESAS crowds like, mostly alternative rock or reggae fans?

BOS: Reggae fans, some hippies, some alt fans, and some rudies thrown in for good measure. It always makes me happy to see a few pork pies out there.

DGTS: Your My Space page has a picture of you in front of the Pyramids at Giza; are there a lot of Radiohead and Pink Floyd fans in Egypt?

BOS: Well, that one was kind of a bust--we were supposed to play that cool stage under the Pyramids, but that fell through, so we played the hotel where we were staying. It was fun, by the HUGE pool, I had my own room that time. We had a guide take us around Cairo. The show wasn’t that well attended, but I mean, hey, it was Cairo. That is a crazy place with donkey carts on the freeways.

DGTS: Apart from Egypt, what are some of the more unusual places you have toured with the Easy Star All Stars? Any favorite moments that you’d like to share?

BOS: Playing Istanbul is great, because that is a combo between Cairo and Milan, kind of. We’ve played a lot of great festivals--we got to watch the Beastie Boys from back stage in Ireland. We played an outdoor arena in Rio de Janairo at 2am. We had a rock star crowd at Luna Park in Buenos Aires. We played Red Rocks in Colorado, just like Bono!

I think my favorite moment was a high-end wedding we played in Antigua. Our hotel was on the beach with Montserrat smoldering on the horizon. I went sailing in a hobycat in the lagoon. It was my birthday, so the band threw me a party… I mean, that was the best birthday EVER!

DGTS: What’s on deck for the Easy Star All Stars this year? Will there be a release of original material or a reggae version of another classic album?

BOS: Until That Day is a digital release, with a limited pressing. All original tunes by the band, and you can get it at www.easystar.com. The next project is a secret while the label gets the rights. We’ll know soon, hopefully. Just more touring, back to Turkey, Israel, Portugal, Baltimore…

DGTS: Are you still working on your own side projects (a la the Buford O’Sullivan Experience or Buford O’Sullivan and the Roosters, etc.)?

BOS: I am always writing. I am kind of in-between bands right now, the Roosters have a lot on their own plates, wives, kids, jobs…and they all live out on the [Long] Island, so it is hard to get them together. There’s another band coming around later this year, hopefully.

DGTS: Are you scheduled to make any guest appearances with any ska or reggae bands on tour or in the studio in the coming months?

BOS: I guest with Dub is a Weapon from time to time. I also play with The Ideas, a funk band with Roger Benson and Maria from DIAW. I also play with Courtney Lee Adams Jr, where I play country trombone.

DGTS: What was your first introduction to ska, and what are some of your all-time favorite ska releases?

BOS: First intro to ska was in 1980, when I heard Madness, The Specials, Bad Manners, the Skatalites, all before the ‘Third Wave’ ever came up. My first band, Big Noise, was a post-punk dance band, and we played a covers of “Nite Club" and "Ball of Fire."

Favorite releases…I think “Mirror in the Bathroom” is the coolest one, but that opinion changes from time to time. I always like the songs with Rico on them, so count the Specials in. Don Drummond wrote some beautiful stuff that transcended just a “dance beat” sound, it really had soul and identity and demanded respect.

DGTS: Which ska/reggae releases are you listening to these days?

BOS: Well, I play so much of that kind of music that I have been listening to other things in my spare time. I’ve been checking out some Duke Ellington. I always have WFMU on my internet radio, and that station plays all kinds of things, like Chinese pop songs from the seventies. Some Lou Donaldson. I was into Morphine for a while... I liked the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 arena…got me back into that stuff.

DGTS: What’s your take on the current NYC ska scene versus ska scenes elsewhere?

BOS: I just went out to LA with Dave Hillyard. I thought the scene out there was massive! New York is too, so don’t get me wrong-- the "Three Floors of Ska" shows at the Knitting Factory are always sold out.

The healthiest scene seems to be the UK. Last summer, ESAS did two consecutive tours of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and I saw all of the heros. Lynval Golding was playing with Pama International, which was completely great. We played with Neville Staple and his band, and Ranking Roger with HIS band at the same festival (cold, cold northern England festival, brrrrrr). Terry Hall was playing with The Dub Pistols, but I didn’t see them because I was being rocked by Iggy and the Stooges. I heard him from across the field, though. I watched Madness from backstage at a festival on The Isle of Wight, and it was like they were The Beatles! They played the songs verbatim, note for note, all original members. Bad Manners still play, the Selecter still play, ALL of them still have bands that play. There are also a lot of new bands who are great! Ska is tradition in England, while here in the States, it is kind of an import. The Toasters have trouble crossing the Midwest for lack of crowds and venues, though they still pack ‘em in in the major cities. You know, I think the USA is a tough place to play right now--not to insult any fans, of course, because they are still there and they have my full respect--but with the economy failing, and the way things are in the music scene lately, it is just hard to get people to come out. The UK is definitely the place to be as far as ska is concerned.

The Specials on the Cover of Mojo

Even though their story has been told many times, it's still a pretty big deal that The Specials command the cover of a major British music magazine like Mojo more than 25 years after they broke up (downer: the US cover sports Neil Young, with the Specials stuck up in the corner). Of note, when you purchase the mag, you receive a free CD with the mag that contains ska and punk cuts by Bob Marley & the Wailers, Neville Stape, Desmond Dekker, Symarip, Belle Stars, Toots & the Maytals, The Ruts, Rico, The Untouchables, Laurel Aitken, and more. They don't have this issue at the newstand near my job yet, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for it. Also on the Mojo site, they have links to all of The Specials' videos that are lurking out there on the web (in the UK, Chrysalis has released a Specials "best of" collection that includes a DVD of all their videos).

In related Specials news, according to BBC Radio 6, the band is going into rehearsals this summer in order to prepare for a tour in the fall. The article does not mention if every original member is participating (Jerry Dammers?)--only Terry Hall and Lynval Golding are named. Stay tuned.

The Toasters: Live at CBGBs

MVD Audio
2008

Ah, the live record...such a tricky proposition. On one hand, a band isn't worth its salt unless it can put on a good live show--a host of shortcomings can be hidden in the studio. Yet no concert performance is without its warts (despite our adulation, the musicians are only human), and capturing and conveying the vibe of a particular night in a club is difficult: you, the listener, are not in the crowd hearing, seeing, and feeling the same things everyone else is at the show. Let's be honest, listening to a concert CD can be a sterile, almost alienating experience (you're not soused, sweaty, and packed sardine-like in front of the stage, you're just probably doing something mundane at home or in your car or at work). And when we listen to a CD or LP, we kind of expect to be hearing something close to perfection from a band, whether it is a concert or studio recording, right? (Hell, the only time I'm really excited by a live recording is when the band's performance is freakin' sublime and they have altered the song in some way that greatly improves upon the original studio cut.) When you are at a gig, you're more forgiving of the band's mistakes, especially after you've had a beer or two.

The Toasters have released a number of live recordings over the years, most of them pretty good, though I'd always pick the experience of seeing them in person over Memorex. They always put on a good show. Simple as that. This brings us to The Toasters: CBGB Omfug Masters: Live June 28, 2002, The Bowery Collection. What makes this a notable recording in their extensive catalogue is that it was the last time The Toasters ever played CBs (before it closed in 2006) and the band hadn't played there since ska and hardcore were banned from the club around 1990 due to too much violence at gigs (going to a ska show in the early nineties was sometimes risky business--batteries were thrown at the band on stage, fights broke out on the dancefloor--stupid, depressing stuff). The performances here are mostly good--though there are a few bum notes (ahem, horn section) and botched lyrics (Buck totally flubs "2Tone Army" and then asks the band if they can do a song he knows the words to!). Also, the crowd that night sounds pretty lame (Sledge even asks them if they have ever heard "Run Rudy Run" before), but The Toasters make the best of it.

Since this was 2002, the band was road testing tunes in support of Enemy of the System ("Sitting on Top of the World" and "Modern World America") that sound good and the rest of the set list is made of up of a string of hits: "Shocker," "Shebeen," "Mona," "Run Rudy Run," "I'm Running Right Through the World," and one of my all-time favorites, the first Gulf War-era "Ploughshares into Guns." Trombonist Buford O'Sullivan even squeezes in his drinker's lament, "Can I Get Another?"

The CD packaging is pretty sad--mostly pictures of the skanky interior of CBGBs and a tribute to Hilly Kristal by Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators--nothing about The Toasters (this recording is part of a series of live performances at CBs by various bands, so the label is saving some cash on the booklet and tray card). Also, a major complaint: the CD ends before the last song is finished; it simply fades out before they are done. Not cool.

All in all, this is not an essential Toasters recording to own, but it sounds like it was a fun night to see 'em. Obviously it's a must for Toasters completists; and if they never tour near where you live, it's the next best thing to being there. Just turn the stereo up loud. (B/B+)

Hot (Ska) or Not (Ska)?

Back in the day, when there was an active ska bulletin board at About.com, I always got a kick out of the postings by people wondering if such and such a band’s song was really ska, even if it wasn’t by a ska band (typical title: “Is Blur ska?”). So, in keeping with this once illustrious tradition, here are some genuine ska songs by decidedly non-ska bands (and I’m not including the more obvious groups like The Clash or Rancid that incorporated a lot of ska and reggae into their music):

1) Murphy’s Law, “Ska Song” (from Back with a Bong, 1989): Kind of a spazzy ska spoof at first (“Skankin’ to the rhythm/skankin’ to the beat/Skankin’ to the rhythm of the Murphy beat, oh yeah”), but then the Fishbone horn section comes in and it’s all of a sudden elevated to a new level of greatness. Definitely not what you expect from this fearsome NYC thrash/hardcore act, but this was at a time when the city's ska and hardcore scenes overlapped (before both were banned from CBGBs in 1990 due to violence at shows) and the late 80s ska scene was kickin’ with acts like The Toasters, Urban Blight, NY Citizens and Skinnerbox.

2) Blur, “Fade Away” (from The Great Escape, 1995): Very much in the vein of some of The Specials’ more biting—and seething—social commentaries (like “Blank Expression,” and “Friday Night, Saturday Morning”), this track chillingly portrays a bland, passionless couple going through the motions, never once seizing the day (“They stumbled into their lives/In a vague way became man and wife”). Plus, with its Dick Cuthell-sounding horn arrangements, you’d think it could have come off the “Ghost Town” EP (and is cheekily followed by the Fun Boy Three-sounding “TOPMAN,” which has the great lyric: “He’s Hugo and he’s Boss”).

3) The Fall, “Why Are People Grudgeful?” (from The Infotainment Scan, 1993): Whoever thought up having bitter ol’ curmudgeon Mark E. Smith half-singing, half-ranting his way through this Lee Perry cut truly earned their pay that day. It’s simply brilliant, both conceptually and in its execution.

4) Grand National, “Boner” (from Kicking the National Habit, 2004): Don’t really know what the song is about (though it ain’t about what’s in your pants, slick—it's got something to do with grinding bones), but this Skatalites-esque tune has a wicked edge. And you really want to dance to it.

5) Mekons, “Johnny Miner” (from So Good It Hurts, 1988): British post-punks explore the Caribbean on this album, though they end up sounding a bit like Sandanista-era Clash on this cover of a folk tune about the hard, crappy life of a coal miner: "You've battled with the sliding scale/Lungs turned black & faces pale/Now your body's up for sale/
Farewell Johnny Miner!" Billy Bragg is happy with this one.

6) Joe Jackson, "Pretty Boys" (from Beat Crazy, 1980): See my previous posts.

That's what I've got for now. Suggestions from the audience?

Duff Review: DJ Spooky "Creation Rebel"

Trojan/Sanctuary
CD
2007

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Even if DJ Spooky’s most excellent romp through Trojan Record's vaults wasn’t so damn good, Creation Rebel would be notable just for the fact that it’s not a rehash of the same classic reggae and skinhead reggae tracks that seem to appear on reshuffled Trojan compilations every few years. (Seriously, how many times can “Young, Gifted and Black” appear and re-appear on their comps?) And unlike the recent Trojan compilations of cuts selected by DJ Spooky (DJ Spooky Presents - In Fine Style: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records), Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood (Johnny Greenwood is the Controller), and Super Furry Animals (Furry Selection: Luxury Cuts Of Trojan Chosen By A Super Furry Animal) which were interesting for what they revealed about their individual tastes, Creation Rebel features truly new material of sorts: DJ Spooky's top-shelf re-mixes and mash-ups (vocals from one song married to music from another) of songs by Lee “Scratch” Perry, Augustus Pablo, Bob Marley, Tapper Zukie, Wayne Smith, Dawn Penn, and more.

If you are a ska and reggae purist, this ain’t for you. Stop reading now. Scroll down to the next post. However, if you’re musically open-minded (and I’m not condemning you if you’re not), Creation Rebel is a compelling mix of roots reggae, dub, dee-jay/toasting, dancehall, and hip-hop (which, if you didn't know, was created by DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican who moved to the Bronx when he was 12 and built rap/hip-hop on such reggae traditions as toasting over a rhythm track blasting on a sound system), as processed through the mind (and computer) of the master turntablist. In many ways, this record perfectly illustrates the evolution of Jamaican music and culture—how it constantly “versions” itself (re-using rhythm tracks from popular songs behind new vocals, or remixing just the rhythm tracks to create a dub version), mining its incredibly rich musical past to create a new sound for the future.

While there is not a bum cut on Creation Rebel (of course, the source material is spectacular, but in a lesser DJ’s hands this album could have turned out very poorly), some cuts are truly inspired, such as the brilliant mash-up of Mutabaruka’s spoken word poem with a sample of the Lee Perry produced “I Killed the Barber” by Dr. Alimantado (which itself uses the rhythm of John Holt’s “Ali Baba”) on “Dis Poem Burns Babylon v2”; the re-mixing and roughing up of the instrumental track of "No, No, No" (where the bass is distorted to the point where it’s lost its tone and become a percussive instrument) under Dawn Penn’s silky vocals; and Augustus Pablo’s "Far East sound" classic “East of the River Nile” is partially transformed into a track you would expect to hear booming out of a hip-hopper’s Escalade. Bob Marley’s “Soul Rebel” is given an upbeat percussive underpinning, while the Lee Perry/Tapper Zukie “Revolution Dub” has a chugging Eurotrash disco beat prodding you on to dance on the way to smash the barricades (sounds much better coming out of your speakers/earbuds than it does in print). And the choice sampling throughout this album (particularly on the awesomely dense title cut) will send you scrambling through your record collection to identify the original cuts.

The spirit—and in many cases the songs or productions—of Lee Perry flows throughout this record, which makes sense: both Scratch and DJ Spooky are sonic innovators—madly tinkering in the studio as they completely deconstruct and reassemble music in order to capture the version of a track they hear in their heads and lay it down on tape or a hard drive. Like many of Scratch's best creations, you need to approach Creation Rebel with a mind open to new possibilities. If you do, the rewards to the listener are great. (A)

* * * *

If you like this, check out:

Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior All-Stars: Diggin' Up Dirt
Dr. Ring Ding & H.P. Setter: Big T'ings
The Adjusters: Otis Redding Will Save America

Joe Jackson: Pretty Boys Part II

I remember back in 1985 when I first picked up The Toasters' Recriminations EP and NY Beat comp at Sounds on St. Marks--a fairly clueless suburban kid having had no prior exposure to the NYC ska scene--but being a huge fan of The Specials and The Beat, I fully expected these records to be quite similar to 2-Tone. When I listened to them, I liked them, but I just didn't get how the dots were connected between More Specials and Recriminations. The ska sound/paradigm had changed that drastically to my ears/mind.

But Joe Jackson's "Pretty Boys" is a major link that I was missing (along with cuts from other new wave bands that dabbled in ska/reggae) which helped shape the transition from 2-Tone to 3rd wave ska.

Speaking of not "getting" a sound or a record, my brother, who for years had been way more ahead of the musical curve than I was, couldn't wrap his head around Operation Ivy's Energy when I played it for him back in 1989. (It's interesting to note that that year marked the birth of not only ska-punk, but with the release of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Devil's Night Out, ska-core.) I thought Energy was an incredible, groundbreaking album (and was pleased that I had finally made this musical discovery that he had missed), but he was revelling in the hard rock kitsch of Kiss at the time and completely dismissed it.

This leads to another interesting aside (which I heard first hand from both parties). Tim Armstrong (aka Lint of OPIV) originally sent a demo of Energy to Bucket in the hopes that Moon Records would release it. Unfortunately, in the late 80s, Moon was struggling financially--Bucket told me that his bed was propped up on boxes of unsold Recriminations and NY Beat LPs (which is the reason why both Skaboom! and Thrill Me Up were first released on Celluloid Records imprints Moving Target and Skaloid)--so he didn't have the cash to press and distribute it (Bay Area punk label Lookout Records did). He also admitted that even if Moon had the money at the time, he probably wouldn't have released it. He just wasn't into the ska-punk sound...

Mikey Dread, RIP

The great Jamaican DJ/producer Mikey Dread passed away over the weekend from a brain tumour. He was the host of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation's groundbreaking "Dread at the Controls" radio show in the mid to late 70s (notable for playing only music recorded by Jamaican artists--up till then, the JBC played mostly imports from the UK and US); produced The Clash's great "Bankrobber" single (as well as recordings for a host of reggae and dancehall artists); performed on and wrote songs for The Clash's wonderfully messy Sandinista triple LP; and released a string of his own critically-acclaimed albums.

Detailed biographical info may be found here (written by Jo-Ann Green for the All Music Guide), while his obituary from the Telegraph (UK) may be read here.

Check out The Clash's "Bankrobber" video with Mikey Dread at the Controls here.

He will be greatly missed.

Interview: Bucket of The Toasters

Much like The Ramones--an iconic band that soldiered on over the years despite numerous personnel changes--The Toasters have been keeping faith with ska music ever since 2-Tone flamed out in the early 80s. (For the uninitiated, background on The Toasters may be found here.) Since they have a new live album recorded in 2002 at CBGBs coming out on CBGBs Records, we though it might be a good time to check in with guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/ founding member Bucket, who was gracious enough to take the time to do the following e-mail interview...

Duff Guide to Ska: After 25+ years of leading The Toasters through numerous cycles of feast and famine, what keeps you going?

Bucket: My mortgage! Seriously, I am still having a lot of fun doing what I do. I have the good fortune to be surrounded by some very talented people and that helps greatly. Once you get bitten by the ska bug, it is definitely in you for life. The music and the genre have a lot to say socially and politically, and I am very proud to be a part of that continuum.

DGTS: Why did you move your base of operations to Spain, and what else are you doing apart from The Toasters and Megalith?

Bucket: Mostly personal reasons, but in part also a rejection of the politics. For me the city had lost its edge. NYC had ceased being a place which encouraged an indie music scene. This was in no way more greatly epitomized than by the closure of CBGBs, which for me said it all about the increasing cultural void. You have to be a millionaire to live in the East Village these days. Having moved to Spain, I have the double advantage of being able to focus more on developing European operations for the band and label, as well as broadening my kids' horizons. For example, they now all speak three languages.

Aside from the band and the label, I also started a consulting company (Cubo Consulting - shameless plug!), mainly helping bands and labels in the European theatre of operations with booking. Tour management and logistics, you name it. Right now, I am working for Meg & Dia for example. Other clients include bands like Easy Star Allstars and Skatalites and I have also organized European tours for the likes of The Pietasters, Westbound Train, Go Jimmy Go, etc.

DGTS: What do you have planned for The Toasters in 2008 and beyond?

Bucket: More gigging. It's impossible to make a living from selling recorded music these days. (It's all a conspiracy by the major labels to destroy the independents hahaha.) We have tours in America and Europe lined up through December 2008. We will also play in South America to support the release of the new record on Enemy One Records in Brazil.

DGTS: How is Megalith doing these days--and what is your strategy for navigating the ongoing implosion of the music industry? Can bands ever hope to make a living in the iPod age?

Bucket: Megalith is building slowly but surely. Our aim was to grow the label organically. Running a record label is difficult in the face of limited CD sales and the chronic underfunding that perennially plagues the indie scenario. Digital distro is slowly picking up, but it is nowhere near replacing the lost sales of physical product. Unfortunately, putting product into record stores is increasingly the preserve of the major labels, as no-one else can really afford to join that playing field. The market forces you to be creative and so the model that Megalith is pursuing is now more of a joint venture with artists that includes live concerts as a vital component. For me, that was always the most fun part of the business anyway and without that idiom it's very hard to promote artists as there is such a tremendous glut of bands these days competing for an ever decreasing share of the pie. I get hundreds of MySpace links every week from bands looking for deals, gigs or just plain advice. The glass ceiling has been lowered with deleterious effect to the aspirations of start-up bands.

DGTS: I've rediscovered my love of vinyl--what releases are planned for Drastic Plastic this year?

Bucket: Yes, the vinyl revival is quite a phenomenon. I think that it is in large part collector driven, but people like the tangibility of the product. Plus you can't download it for free! Drastic Plastic is in the negotiating phase to license quite a bit of punk and glam 70's product. The two releases so far are from The Briggs and The Toasters.

DGTS: As the band continues to tour all over the world, which local/regional ska scenes appear to be thriving?

Bucket: It's always interesting to see that the epicentre of regional support shifts from place to place. Right now there are emerging hotspots in Eastern Europe and South America, but also the scene in the USA has become more defined with grassroots outfits in most major cities. I would cite groups like Phillyska and CTska as being perfect examples of how such operations help the ska scene tremendously.

DGTS: In general, how would you assess the state of the US ska scene, 10 years after the dramatic rise and fall of ska in the late 90s?

Bucket: Well, it's certainly different, but in large part the faces are the same in the sense that the scene has shed the band-wagon jumpers and now is once again comprised of hardcore fans, and that's a good thing. Say what you want about the 90s ska explosion (or implosion more like), but it had the effect of introducing ska music to the nation and now there are more people than ever who are familiar with the genre. On the other hand, I think that we are in a rebuilding phase and I would point to the development of some excellent new bands like Westbound Train, the Aggrolites and even Big D as an indicator of where we are heading. There are new bands and new scenes sprouting all over the country, so in my view the curve is now upwards.

DGTS: I read a bit on the Toasters/Megalith forum about your tour through what used to be Yugoslavia republic before the war--it sounded kind of harrowing. What was it like to be a band treading though a world still very much affected by war, widespread genocide, and a history of ethnic hatred spanning several centuries?

Bucket: It's no picnic over there for sure. But I would point out that in the 80s it was still a political statement for The Toasters to take the stage with a mixed race band in some parts of the USA, so we are talking about a global issue there. Seeing the reality of Kosovo was an eye opener and it is true to say that they are still locked in a holy war there with roots in the 16th century. That is all about to kick off again with the unilateral declaration of independence of that province from Serbia. We had to alter our tour routing for May to avoid that road through Mitrovica. Unfortunate, because it has been very emotionally uplifitng to have been able to take the music to places like Mostar (Bosnia) and Dubrovnik - where we played in a bombed out hospital.

DGTS: On a much lighter topic, which ska and non-ska bands are you listening to right now?

Bucket: Red Soul Community from Granada, Spain. Raimundo Amador--great flamenco guitarist from a gypsy family.

DGTS: When do The Toasters hit the US again--including NYC?

Bucket: We won't be back in the states until Hallowe'en, as the upcoming calendar is all European through October. Having said that, we are just coming off a big run primarily in the western states and Hawaii (thanks for the poke recipe, Shon!).

Joe Jackson: "Pretty Boys" (from Beat Crazy)

Someone gave me a portable turntable for Christmas to play all of the ska and new wave albums that have been taking up space in my apartment for years (my high school/college-era turntable gave up the ghost a while back—and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but vinyl is making a welcome comeback, and I've been buying releases in this format again). So one recent Saturday afternoon, I broke out a bunch a LPs and decided to play the soundtrack to the movie Times Square that I picked up on eBay, which came out when I was around 12 or 13. It features a slew of great punk and new wave groups like the Ramones, XTC, the Pretenders, Gary Numan, Talking Heads, the Ruts, and Roxy Music, among others. Never saw the movie, but the Ramones’ track, “I Wanna Be Sedated,” was popular at the time because of the flick and was played about eight times (along with the B-52’s’ “Rock Lobster”) at the first dance I ever attended at this all-girls school (I was at a boys middle school at the time, so this event was momentous). I never got a girl’s phone number that night, but I found the Ramones (this is way pre-internet, people—you sometimes had to leave your room to be exposed to new things).

Anyway, this soundtrack has some nostalgic value to me, so I’m looking at the album’s gatefold sleeve and the needle hits Joe Jackson’s “Pretty Boys,” a tune I'd somehow missed growing up, but one that was immediately familiar, as it is almost a blueprint for the sound of the early to mid-80s New York City ska scene (along with Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives")—a potent mix of new wave and 2-Tone, notable for its prominent, fluid basslines; nervous, choppy guitar; and (an almost) complete lack of horns.

You can hear “Pretty Boys’” impact most clearly on The Toasters’ excellent 1985 Recriminations EP (the most new wavey release in their catalogue), which makes sense, since Joe Jackson produced it and even performs the melodica solo on “Run Rudy Run.” (Speaking of “Run Rudy Run,” compare it to the Ruts’ “Love in Vain” and tell me that Bucket didn’t nick a thing or two on the way out of the store.) You can also hear this new wave/ska mash-up influence on a whole slew of NYC ska bands on the 1985 NY Beat compilation (see The Daybreakers’ “Preying Man,” Urban Blight's “Escape from Reality,” Cryin’ Out Loud's “The Distance,” and Floor Kiss' “Why is the Boat So Small?”). Listening to it today, you’d think that a slew of the bands off this comp aren’t really ska at all (there are even tracks from an oi and a mod band)—just ska influenced. All in all, it's really a record that captures a very specific place in time—especially since the new wave tendencies in American ska would soon be shed as the scene evolved (for proof, check out these 1988/1989 releases: the NY Citizens' On the Move, The Toasters' Thrill Me Up, Bim Skala Bim's Tuba City, and the great US ska comp, Ska Face).

I find this whole business kind of fascinating, particularly since The Specials and English Beat made such huge inroads into the American new wave/college rock scene (both bands received regular airplay on WLIR, the NYC-area “modern rock” radio station), but their influence is not as immediately evident on New York or US ska bands at that time (think Fishbone’s debut EP and The Untouchables’ Wild Child, both of which were released the same year as Recriminations and NY Beat). Bands on the nascent US ska scene didn’t merely ape the 2-Tone era ska sound; they were inspired as hell by it, taking it and creating something of their own out of it.

* * * *

“Pretty Boys,” which is Joe Jackson’s mad rant against the pop music industry’s (and life’s) bias towards looks over talent, includes these great lyrics:

I wanna see a human being on my TV set
Want some action for the fat and thin man
They’re getting closer, but they ain’t got robots yet
Just a hero with a smile like a tin man—no brains and no heart!

Junior Murvin: Muggers in the Streets

Greensleeves (www.greensleeves.net)
(orginal release: 1984; reissue: 2008)

While not as infused with apocalyptic dread as Police and Thieves, Junior Murvin’s Muggers in the Streets is an overlooked minor gem of roots reggae (somewhat unfashionable in Jamaica in 1984, when dancehall was ruling the sound systems and airwaves). Here he’s ably backed by the Roots Radics Band and expertly produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes (considered to be the creator of dancehall and one of the genre's most successful producers). Murvin’s achingly sweet falsetto sounds terrific on this set of mostly winning tunes, including “Jahovah’s Children,” “Strikes and Demonstrations” (this album’s “Police and Thieves” and its standout track), and “I’ll Follow You” (not Jah or Jesus, but a woman). The weakest track here is the remake of “Police and Thieves,” the title song “Muggers in the Street.” It pales—both lyrically and production-wise—in comparison with the classic, Lee Perry produced original. A very bad move—there’s no reason to mess with perfection.

It’s almost as if Armageddon’s failure to transpire in the year the two sevens clashed doused some of the fire in reggae’s belly (though, lord knows that there was wasn’t any less injustice and evil in the world in 1984). Instead of running riots in the ghettos of London and Kingston, Murvin worries about being robbed in the street—listeners are urged to “Stop the Crime” and to “Think Twice” to avoid landing in jail. Not bad advice, but not exactly the fire and brimstone of most reggae classics. When not dodging thugs, there is time for “Jamaican Girls” and “Champagne and Wine” (“I’ve got the money/you’ve got the time/C’mon let’s drink champagne and wine”)—enjoyable enough tunes, we all need some happiness in the face of day-to-day adversity, right?

All the above quibbling aside, Muggers in the Streets is a really good listen. If you’re a fan of Junior Murvin or roots reggae, you won’t be disappointed. (B+)