It has just been announced that legendary Jamaican singer, Ken Boothe (AKA Mr. Rocksteady), will be performing at the 2011 London International Ska Festival next April. Mr. Boothe is the first of five old-school Jamaican artists to be announced that will be performing at the ska fest. Here are some highlights of his career, provided by festival organizer Sean Flowerdew:
Best known for his No.1 UK hit 'Everything I Own', Ken started his musical career by winning a singing competition at the age of 8, in his birthplace of Kingston, Jamaica. His debut recording came in the ska-era when he teamed up with Winston 'Stranger' Cole in the duo Stranger And Ken, releasing classic cuts including 'World's Fair', 'Hush' and 'Artibella', before moving onto Clement Dodd’s Studio One label. A series of classic cuts followed including 'The Train Is Coming' (on which he was backed by Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer & BB Seaton of The Gaylads) and 'Moving Away'. In 1967 he toured the UK for the first time with fellow rocksteady legend Alton Ellis. The tour was hugely successful, with Boothe being promoted as "Mr.Rock Steady". The title was also used for his superb debut album the following year, which contained the unlikely but huge selling rocksteady version of 'Puppet On A String'.
Upon leaving Studio One he was in demand with Jamaica's top producers: Sonia Pottinger, Phil Pratt, Leslie Kong, Bunny Lee, B.B. Seaton, Keith Hudson, Randy's, Niney the Observer, releasing many island hits including 'Freedom Street'. In 1974 Ken Boothe teamed up with producer Lloyd Charmers, a pairing and subsequent releases on Trojan Records, that spawned his two biggest UK hits. The aforementioned 'Everything I Own' top the charts for 4 weeks and the follow-up 'Crying Over You' reached number 11. The pair also issued other superb versions of 'Who Gets Your Love', 'Let's Get It On', 'Silver Words' and Ain't No Sunshine'
To this day Ken Boothe tours all over the world and remains one of Jamaica's most loved vocalists with his uniquely emotive and soulful style. In 2003 this fact was recognised by the Jamaican government awarding him the Order Of Distinction for his contribution to Jamaican music.
Also of note, the LISF has launched its own website.
With a name that couldn't be more relevant if they tried, NYC's awesome practitioners of Upsetters-inspired boss skinhead reggae, The Hard Times, have dropped an EP of buoyant tracks to temporarily distract us from the swelling ranks of the unemployed among us and the disintegrating social safety net in tatters at our feet. The three stellar instrumental cuts you'll find on the digital-only Two Bucks for Bob EP are on par with those from other early reggae heavyweights on the scene like The Caroloregians, King Hammond, and The Bullets. Truly, this is some sweet stuff.
The high-quality of The Hard Times' songwriting and musicianship really shouldn't come as a shock when you consider the band's lineage--most of them are veterans of the NYC ska scene. Drummer Bob Timm previously was in 90s-era bands The DeFactos and Orange Street (and did a boffo job covering ska for About.com from 1997 to 2005); keyboardist Jerica Rosenblum was a member of The Scofflaws, Mephiskapheles, and The Defactos; now ex-bassist Juan Cardenas was in The Duppies; and guitarist Jacob Wake-Up used to be in Across the Aisle and is still in Hey Stranger.
"Two Bucks for Bob" (what's the story behind that title?) is a moody, reggay-ish cut that introduces you to the band's amazing chops. You might think "Bender of Steel" is a groovy mash note to that irascible, cigar-chomping, beer-chugging, fire-belching, foul-mouthed, thieving (but orphan-loving) robot from 31st century New New York, Bender Bending Rodríguez (from Futurama)--but it's actually an ode to Coney Island strongman Mighty Joe Rollino (RIP). Put "Ricochet Rocker" on the sound system and it's guaranteed to pack the dancefloor with its jerky, propulsive riddims, looping bass lines, and killer melody that's passed back and forth between the guitar and keys like a steaming hot potato. You'll be hard-pressed not to shake your booty to this cut. (Listen to samples of all of these tracks here.)
Two Bucks for Bob is a smashing debut for The Hard Times--this is exactly the kind of music we all need in our lives: tunes to help us to get through the bad times and celebrate the good.
One of Detroit's most enduring nicknames--the Motor City--underscores how synonymous this city was with great feats of industrial manufacturing, unprecedented economic success, and the American dream; it's permanently linked to the nation's obsession with big, fast cars. Detroit made 'em and we bought 'em. Good jobs with decent union wages and benefits provided by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler (AKA the Big Three) once allowed hundreds of thousands of poor and working class Americans to become middle class and realize the promise of the American dream (in the 1950s, Detroit had the highest median income and the highest rates of home ownership in the US). But the Big Three's industry dominance was its downfall--the companies that were once innovative became lazy and complacent (leaving expensive but forward-thinking investment in new technological developments to the Europeans and Japanese) and the oil crisis of the late 70s drove it all home. Japanese auto companies in particular were able to capitalize on the new reality, with their inexpensive, highly fuel-efficient, and extremely well-designed and reliable cars (everything the US-made cars were not). Faced with fierce competition (and unable to design and build cars that could compete) and following the trend of other manufacturing industries that placed profits over the people in the communities that had contributed to their success, the Big Three shuttered factories, laid off tens of thousands of people, and exported their jobs overseas (where they could pay rock bottom wages and not worry about providing benefits). This wholesale and permanent elimination of jobs (and Ronald Reagan's anti-urban policies didn't help) caused Detroit's middle class to move elsewhere in search of jobs; the rich to flee for exclusive enclaves in the suburbs; and all this white flight left the permanent underclass (Detroit proper is now a largely African American city with nearly a third of its population living under the poverty line) to eke out an existence in the decaying ruins of a once magnificent city.
From the context of this dying metropolis comes 1592, which has forged a new sub-genre of this familiar Jamaican sound: Detroit Rocksteady--a mash-up of funky Motown, old school garage-rock, and early reggae. Dark, dread-filled, bitter, defiant, yet ultimately hopeful--it's music to help keep your chin up in an ever meaner and bleaker America--where our great diversity is used to divide us, and concern for the common good and empathy for anyone else (forget about the poor and downtrodden, they're not even on the radar!) seems to be in very short supply.
It should hardly be a surprise that This One's for You All is steeped in history--how else can you know where you're going unless you know where you've been? And how can you avoid repeating the same mistakes if you're unaware of the past? The great heavy title track hoists a pint in tribute to many of extraordinary Jamaican musicians who created/defined the ska and reggae that 1592 play so well ("For Alton, Coxsone, Tubby/Perry and the Dragonnaires/Skatalites, Soul Brothers/backing everywhere"). The angry funkified rock-reggae of "Old Crew" bemoans how the values of previous generations that served us all so well seem to have been lost or abandoned over time: "They fought in all the wars/They built all the cars/and left behind a way/for us to live with pride...Whatever happened to the old crew/the ones our father looked up to?/Whatever happened to the old crew?/I sure don't see it in you."
"Detroit Why"--with its Prince-like guitar lines that seemingly squeal in pain--recognizes all the wasted potential, missed opportunities, broken promises, and dashed hopes contained within the city limits, but posits that the people and place are worth saving ("Why must you break so many hearts/and tear us apart/Detroit why?/Let's stand up to fight/and walk into the light"). Amidst all the rubble and despair also come several wonderful love songs, the almost shockingly bright, sing-along-with-the-chorus "Tomorrow is Another Day," which wants to capture the "everything's perfect" feeling people have when they first fall in love, and the sweet salvation found when love makes all our burdens a bit lighter in "Midnight."
Several other key cuts on This One's for You All are concerned with protecting others from pain and suffering (the Skinnerbox-like "Stepping on a Stone"); the importance of persevering, even if you're confused and your destination's unknown ("That's It"); and a declaration that the status quo just isn't working for us anymore ("It's Time," which has a great heavy metal-like riff, and lyrics like: "The way we construct the notion of self/keeps pushing the boundaries/and destroying all the wealth"--this is not about a loss of material riches, but probably each person's creative potential and ability to make the world a better place for all of us).
The album closes with the slinky and rhythmic "What's Left for Me," which accepts the responsibility that comes with knowing that we are both the cause and solution to our problems: "The more we keep this up/The more we lag behind/The more we keep this up/The more we have to fight/It keeps impressing me/that all hope is not lost/as we try to deal with the path/of the few, that no one takes."
1592's This One's for You All is a complex album full of deep grooves and deeper thoughts for our difficult and sometimes desperate times. But it also offers hope and inspiration--wrapped in stellar songs--to anyone willing to listen.
The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A
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Here is a live video of 1592 performing "Tomorrow is Another Day" and "That's It":
Fans in the UK were lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch Kid British opening a slew of fall dates for UB40 on their Signing Off 30th Anniversary Tour. I wish Kid British had been along when UB40 played NYC recently.
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And here is Kid British's pretty amazing cover of New Order's "Blue Monday" (surely, one of the greatest New Wave-era songs ever, along with The Smiths' "How Soon is Now?"), which we assume is on their forthcoming album...(KB split with Mercury, who wanted them to go more pop than ska--and are now signed with Manchester digital label Modern English).
Word comes from Suggs via an interview with Wales Online that Madness will debut "six or seven" new songs on their "Do Not Adjust Your Nut" UK tour this November and December. Their forthcoming new album, title still unbeknownst to us, will be released in spring 2011. Here's Suggs in his own words:
“We’re hoping to play six or seven new songs on the tour, and the album will be out in the spring. With Norton Folgate, we recorded 40 songs, but with the next one, we’re concentrating on the 12 or so that’ll make the record, and trying to make something more fun and uplifting too. I think we can do that quite quickly.”
Also interesting to note that Suggs will hit the half century mark on January 13. He looks fantastic, so he must be doing something right!
Madness "Do Not Adjust Your Nut" UK tour dates may be found here. While we're on the topic of gigs, how about coming over to the USA for some dates, Nutty Boys?!?
When I first listened to the new Bigger Thomas CD Steal My Sound, my immediate reaction--and I'm carbon dating myself here--was how welcome it was to hear a band keeping the late'80s NYC ska sound alive! (What is the definition of this style of ska? Short answer: put on a copy of Moon Records' NYC Ska Live LP or cassette on the ster-ee-erio and listen! Awkward longer answer: it's heavily 2 Tone-influenced, aggressive modern ska, with strong new wave tendencies and some incursions into vintage ska sounds--and with the exception of The NY Citizens, free of ska-punk).
From the start, it's been clear that Bigger Thomas are fanatic devotees of The (English) Beat. You can find all sorts of melodic and rhythmic Wakeling/Cox/Steele DNA strands in Bigger Thomas' music, from their first fan favorite, "Ska in My Pocket" off their wonderful (Wha'ppen-inspired) debut "Red" album, to several tunes on Steal My Sound (most notably, "Kings of the Klub" and "Radics and Roger A Chat"). However, anyone who has followed the band is well aware that Bigger Thomas are much more than Beat imitators.
Apart from the light-hearted lyrical boasting and toasting on a few tracks, Steal My Sound is a serious album filled with tales of crushed hopes and diminished expectations. It mirrors the ugly reality of adult life, when you realize that things aren't going to turn out as you imagined they would when you were younger. But amidst the reconfigured world of middle-age, the band has found a gritty determination to follow their path and find satisfaction and happiness on their own terms. And they make some incredible music in the process.
The fantastically upbeat "I Can't Remember My Name," one of the best cuts on the album, is ostensibly about stumbling around on a summer day so hot that your brain can't function properly. But it's also a metaphor--we're fallible beings making all kinds of missteps as we try to move forward in the blazing heat of everyday life. Yet, the band also is keenly aware that life is a great adventure to be enjoyed: "I never get lost/but I try to every day!"
"Kings of the Klub" (a great versioning of their own "King for a Day" off We Wear the Mask) is a manic DJ clash between Roger Apollon, Jr. and Roy Radics (from The Rudie Crew) for toasting and boasting supremacy that reminds one of "Pato and Roger a Go Talk," with a little Untouchables thrown in the mix ("Make room, make room when they play the rub-a-dub/We rule the dance, we are kings of the club"). It's fantastic. However, if you want to screw with their music, Roger and Roy turn deadly serious on the spare (love the haunting melodica line in there played by King Django, who did a stellar job recording and mixing the album at his Version City Studio) and menacing "Steal My Sound" ("When we come to town/You know we don't mess around/Like a king who holds the crown/Don't steal my sound").
The band's don't-give-a-damn underdog and outsider status is reflected in songs like "Matinee Idol," where Roger sings about pursuing a girl who's "running with the 'A' crowd/My 'C' plus is not allowed/But I've got the nerve/and I hope you're grading on the curve." He pictures himself as an overseas movie star (as opposed to the standard Hollywood leading man) in the "foreign films you do adore/Well, I could be a matinee idol/with the yellow subtitles/But when the subject turns to a date/it does not translate." "Crown Victoria" is a tongue-in-cheek, laid-back ska tribute to trombonist Chris Malone's late model American car that, despite its regal connotation, is not a mode of luxurious transport for the band ("The Crown Victoria/You are my joy and pride/The longer the trip, the rougher the ride/Is that smoke beneath the hood?/You know that can't be good...). In life, sometimes function has to trump style, no? "Permanent Error" is a soulful, reggae-ish lament about e-mailing under the influence, and realizing that there is nothing in the world you can do to patch things up. Just move on.
"Shamokin" recounts how one night on tour the band played a sold-out show in front of thousands on a bill with The English Beat; the next, they were performing for a handful of punk rock kids in this poverty-stricken, no future ghost town of a coal town near Scranton, PA (even though the mines have been closed for years, a funeral pyre-like fire still rages in one of them a mile underground). "Shamokin" is the post-WWII 1950s American dream/teenage rockstar fantasy gone bust. The American manufacturing industries that once employed millions and allowed them to provide a decent and secure middle-class way of life for their families abandonded them in favor of cheap, benefits-free Third-world labor--devastating countless communities in the US its wake (how un-patriotic can you get?). Likewise, the music business, indie or major, essentially has been rendered obsolete by the terrible advent of file sharing--how can you earn a living as a full-time musician if your fans expect to download your music for free and can't tear themselves away from their computer, smartphone, or TV screens to pay a couple of bucks see you play a gig? "Shamokin" is the heart, soul, and conscience of Bigger Thomas wrapped up in one tune: what do you do when you can't do what you love to live?
For Bigger Thomas, the only possible response is to keep on making music, even if they have to "kiss their dreams goodbye": "The good old days we try to chase/they disappear without a trace/I hear the sound that we all make/its joyful noise cures my heartache."
For the forgotten kids and families across the USA stuck in dead-end towns and cities like Shamokin, the answer is far less clear.
The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A
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Below is a video I shot of Bigger Thomas performing "I Can't Remember My Name"; the others were produced by the band.
News from Kendo and the RiceRokit camp is that their second album will finally drop around Xmas on Megalith Records (first the holiday-themed free track and Jacuzzi from King Hammond and now this!?).
While RiceRokit's phenomenally good debut album Hang Loose (read The Duff Guide to Ska review here) was full of modern ska/rock/reggae songs referencing "The Shining" (you've got to check out the incredible "Dull Boy" on their MySpace page!), werewolves, "Saturday Night Fever," Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes," and the horror of death and decay, Pidgin English will be expanding their sound to include what they consider "electro-pop" (listen to the new "Strawberries & Cream" or their take on Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead"), which seems appropriate, as this album will include several 80s rock and New Wave favorites of Kendo's.
If you're a ska fan whose musical tastes are omnivorous, you'll definitely want to pick up these records! Stay tuned for more details soon...
Despite what the calendar may read, the Xmas (or whatever you celebrate/observe) season is here! Gather around, kids! The good King Hammond has bestowed a magnificent gift upon us in the form of "Rudie's in Jail for Christmas"--a new free track that can be downloaded from King Hammond's website.
Here's a video from KH featuring the cut, plus it also serves as a retrospective of all that King Hammond has been up to over the past year...(hint: a lot!):
While you are visiting KH's site, you also might want to pre-order his new Jacuzzi album, which should be dropping any day now.
The Hard Times are playing a gig this Saturday night (11/13/10) at Porkey's Sports Bar in Floral Park, NY (details on how to find your way there are listed below). Also on hand will be The Small Axes (reggae and ukuleles!) and The Frighteners (roots reggae and dub).
This will be the last time bass player Juan Cardenas performs with The Hard Times, as he's moving to L.A. in December. Also, the band will be announcing details of our their official EP, Two Bucks for Bob, available very soon on Whatevski Records (check out some of the new tracks on their MySpace page).
The show starts at 8:30 pm, with The Small Axes up first, followed by The Hard Times, and then The Frighteners.
Porkey's Sports Bar 144 Tulip Avenue Floral Park, NY (About 30 minutes from Manhattan by car, or 40 minutes by train)
By Car: Take Grand Central or the LIE to Cross-Island Parkway South. Take Cross-Island to exit 27E Jamaica Avenue/Jericho Turnpike. Go about four or five traffic lights to Tulip Ave (just after the KFC on the right--King Hammond would be happy!). Right on Tulip (fork to the left) then take Tulip down and "Main Street" strip is just after you go under the train tracks. Porkey's will be halfway down on your left.
LIRR: Take the Hempstead line to Floral Park station. Tulip Avenue runs underneath the station. Come down steps and walk a block or two south on Tulip (toward the retail- Main Street strip.
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Here are The Hard Times performing original tunes "Forward March," "Boss a Go Go," and "Samba Skank":
This Are The Small Axes...
Here are The Frighteners covering "Feel Like Jumping":
What They're Saying About My Book "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone"
“An essential read…Stephen's eye for detail is incredible and his love for 2 Tone oozes from each page.” — Kevin Flowerdew, Do the Dog Skazine
“Written with a personal touch and with great passion about the bands and releases while giving a lot of emphasis to the lyrics, Stephen’s book is a great guiding hand to navigating your way to some great new music.” — Peter Walsh, 2-Tone.info
“It's some of the finest Madness analysis I've ever read.” —Donald Trull, Stateside Madness
“Steve's own story would make a great book, but instead he's written The Duff Guide to 2 Tone, a 250+ page collection of 2 Tone-related pieces from his blog. There are reviews of original pieces, but the book's real purpose is to show how the 2 Tone sound and—more importantly its ideals—carry on today...Get this book right away!" — Charles Benoit, Reggae Steady Ska
"...Shafer has definitely not forgotten how socially conscious issues were at the root of Ska even from the beginning. He makes certain to thread the political issues that motivated the development of Ska throughout his narrative; painting a picture that took both the oppressive political environments and the often ecstatic musical content into account. And in that, he nails down for me what the enduring pull of Ska was to its many fans. Was there ever a more upbeat dance music that combined its boundless energy with a push for progressive social values and calling truth to power?" —Post-Punk Monk
"...[The Duff Guide to 2 Tone is a] chatty, informative and knowledgeable work, one that you can either sit down and read or use as a reference source..." —Nik Skeat, Scootering Magazine
"During the reading of the book it is dangerous to have a screen open next to you with Discogs. I have found lots of ‘new music’ via the stories in The Duff Guide to 2 Tone which I must have." -- Peter Vrakking, Blue Beat & Ska
In the mail today, I received the first copy of my new paperback book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone --and am thrilled to announce that it is now...
About Your Duff Guide
Steve Shafer/The Duff Guide to Ska For most of the 1990s, I was the promotions, marketing, production guy for Moon Records (RIP). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. Seriously, I miss it badly. During 1999/2000, I ran 7 Wonders of the World Music, the first digital download-only ska label that was too ahead of the curve for its own good (RIP).
I filmed and edited this Toasters video for $2,500, which made its debut on MTV's 120 Minutes. I also put together these compilations for Moon: the first three Skarmageddons; Ska United: A Global Ska Sampler; Skank Down Under; This Are Moon Ska I, II, and III; and Moonshot!
Here's an old interview with Adam Monkey from Read Magazine that covers my days at Moon and 7 Wonders. I also did a somewhat more recent interview with Read Junk.
I've been interviewed about ska music and Moon Records for The New York Times, Heather Augustyn's "Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation," Aaron Carnes' "In Defense of Ska," Kenneth Partridge's "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing," and Marc Wasserman's "Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History" (I also wrote the introductory chapter "1985: The Year American Ska Broke" for Wasserman's book).
And I'm the author of "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone," which can be ordered from Amazon--and is available in the US from Jump Up Records, and in Europe from the 2 Tone Village Shop (Coventry, UK), Champion Sound Records (Hull, UK), Aggroshop (Nijmegen, Netherlands), and Copasetic Mailorder (Hamburg, Germany). Plus, my book was on sale in the museum shop for the "2 Tone: Lives & Legacies" exhibition (May 28 - September 12, 2021), curated by Simon Reynolds, Cory Barrett, Pete Chambers, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike and Daniel Rachel, at the Herbert Art Gallery Museum in Coventry, UK.
I'm now working on my next book, "Calling All the Rude Boys: The Duff Guide to The Toasters, 1981-1992," to be published in 2023.
If you have a ska or reggae release that you'd like me to consider reviewing, please send an e-mail to Steve at duffguidetoska@gmail.com. You should know that I am old school and prefer music in tangible formats (plus I might use your music when I DJ ska events). I'd also appreciate any news or tips you may have about bands.
All reviews and interviews posted on The Duff Guide to Ska are copyrighted and are the sole property of Steve Shafer. Please contact me for permission to reproduce anything on this blog.
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Check out The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel for footage of ska bands in action in clubs around NYC, as well as unusual and rare ska videos from the 90s! Bands featured include The Toasters, The Bluebeats, The Forthrights, Across the Aisle, The Caroloregians, The Moon Invaders, The Rudie Crew, Tip the Van, Hey Stranger, Beat Brigade, Bigger Thomas, King Chango, The Scofflaws, UB40, The Hard Times, Jah Love and the Valentinians, The Shifters, Rudies Don't Care, Big Audio Dynamite, Stranger Cole and Patsy with Crazy Baldhead, Queen P of Ocean 11, King Hammond, The Snails, King Django, Doomsday! The Ultimate Tribute to Mephiskapheles Consisting of Former Members of Mephiskapheles, Destroy Babylon, The Frightnrs, The Pandemics, Los Skarroneros, The Bullbuckers, The Scofflaws, The Reggay Lords, The Copacetics, Rude Boy George, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, The Specials, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, The Ladrones, Chris Murray, Radio Riddler, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro, and Mickey Virtue, Barbicide, The Twilights, Bim Skala Bim featuring John Bunkley (Gangster Fun), The Pomps, and more!
It has just been announced that legendary Jamaican singer, Ken Boothe (AKA Mr. Rocksteady), will be performing at the 2011 London International Ska Festival next April. Mr. Boothe is the first of five old-school Jamaican artists to be announced that will be performing at the ska fest. Here are some highlights of his career, provided by festival organizer Sean Flowerdew: 
