The Preschoolers (link updated September 13, 2009)

The Preschoolers were 5 young guys from Baltimore who played in a more mellow 2Tone style. The band never quite took off and, aside from the song "Huey Newton" from the first Roots, Branch, and Stem comp, this is the only recording they ever did.

01 Angela
02 Il N'ya Pas de Quoi
03 Scott Chester (Boy Next Door)

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The Hoovers - Skin and Blisters

Question: 2Tone records considered signing a U.S. band to their label and it was a band from California...who was it?
Answer: NOT The Untouchables. The only American band that Jerry Dammers thought was suitable for the 2Tone label was The Hoovers.
Not surprisingly The Hoovers were led by Paul Whiting who moved to the US from London England and carried his accent with him making them the only California ska band that sounded legitimately like the British ska bands of that time. Their entire career unfortunately produced only one L.P. - Skin and Blisters and one E.P. - Smut and Class.
Though they had no horn section I think that this endeavor will appeal to fans of any of the old 2Tone bands, but they are especially reminiscent of Madness.

1 The Good Life
2 Jimmy Jones
3 I Got You Babe
4 The Brighton Run
5 To Your Mother
6 The World Gone Mad
7 The Day They Made Him King
8 Roly Poly
9 She Want It
10 Pretty Little Blossom Song
11 Captain Scarlet

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The Hippos - Attack of the Killer Cheese demo

This is the rare Hippos demo from 1995. It was transferred from cassette to mp3 so the quality is a bit lacking, but, honestly the original cassette wasn't of the best quality either to convey the performance the band gives on this recording.

1 Get Away
2 Asleep at the Wheel
3 Rocky Ground
4 The Boss

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No Cash Value

No Cash Value was a Southern California 3 piece vanilla reggae band. They had one E.P. titled "Money Hungry Fool" available only on cassette as well and this one full-length. All of the songs on the E.P. were on the CD so this is pretty much every thing they recorded with this line up. This band is in no way affiliated with the Oregon rock/indie/metal band No Cash Value, nor the Florida ska/punk band No Cash. This is just laid back white boy reggae at its best. If you are a fan of Sublime and/or Pepper you must give these guys a listen.

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Dave's Big Deluxe - Live at the University High Prom

Dave's Big Deluxe was another short-lived band from the mid 90s hailing from Tucson Arizona. They only ever released 2 full lengths as well as this E.P. which is a sample of songs from both albums performed live. This rare E.P. will appeal to fans of Let's Go Bowling though it's style is more unique and, though it follows in the vein of the original 2Tone sound, it's a bit more intense.

1 Little L.A.
2 Old Pueblo Swing
3 It's O.K. to be Ska
4 Left & Right
5 Fat

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Low Pressure (LINK UPDATED JANUARY 2, 2012)

Some of you may remember Low Pressure from their minor hit "Child of Distinction" made 'famous' by the "Hey Brother Can You Spare Some Ska" comp in the midst of the 3rd wave heyday. If you ever liked that song and wondered what else this band had to offer - I'm afraid this is it. This album, which was released in limited numbers, recorded in 1997 contains all 9 songs the band ever recorded. (actually I do have another song from a live recording which the band said was untitled that I will eventually post (along with the rest of that show) if anybody is interested).
The lead vocals were handled by Jackie Ojeda who - if I'm not mistaken - now sings for the Long Beach California band Sexytime Explosion.

Some of you may find this a bit too poppy, but if you ever liked No Doubt or Save Ferris then this will be up your alley. There were a lot of bad bands in those days trying to play that 3rd wave sound but Low Pressure pulled it off nicely.

1 Just Another Day
2 Down
3 Secret
4 Riverside
5 Insane
6 Nowhere
7 Kids with Guns
8 Touch the Sky
9 Child of Distinction

"Down"


"Child of Distinction"


http://www.mediafire.com/?w096dg1jtxawxwi

The Mangy Dogs

I know nothing about this French band. This 7" was recorded in 1980 and features 2 cover songs - the A side is a cover of Bombalurina's "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", and the B side is a cover of the too-often-covered Lord Melody classic "Shame and Scandal" (first recorded by calypso legend Sir Lancelot in 1943).

side A - Itsy Bitsy
side B - Shame

http://www.zshare.net/download/568907203e1b5e/

Graduate - Elvis Should Play Ska

Graduate was not a ska band. They released only one album in 1980 before becoming Tears For Fears. This is the only ska song that either Graduate or Tears For Fears recorded. This single was in response to Elvis Costello complaining about how everybody seemed to be hopping on the ska bandwagon and nobody cared much for his sound at that time.

side A - Elvis Should Play Ska
side B - Julie Julie

http://www.zshare.net/download/568589687beb82/