Labi Siffre - It Must be Love

Get the song HERE.

Labi is in the video that Madness made for their cover of this song:



Labi Siffre also did the song "I got the (Blues)" that was sampled by Eminem in his song "My Name is" or whatever the hell it was called.

Bette Bright and the Illuminations [LINK UPDATED OCT. 21st, 2012]

Bette Bright was married to Suggs from Madness. She was formerly in a band called Deaf School before she teamed up with Glen Matlock of Sex Pistols and members of Clive Langer and the Boxes to form The Illuminations. Clive Langer produced Madness' early albums, and the Illuminations keyboardist Ben Barson is brother of Madness' keyboardist Mike Barson.

Bette was also sang for the Dutch post-punk/pop band Gruppo Sportivo and she appeared in The Great Rock and Roll Swindle as well as Madness' video for "One Better Day"



Here are all 5 of her singles:

My Boyfriend's Back (1978)
A - My Boyfriend's Back
B - Hold on, I'm Coming

The Captain of Your Ship (1979)
A - The Captain of Your Ship
B - Those Greedy Eyes

Hello, I am Your Heart (1980)
A - Hello, I am Your Heart
B - All Girls Lie

Some Girls Have All the Luck (1981)
A - Some Girls Have All the Luck
B - Tender Touch

When You Were Mine (1981)
A - When You Were Mine
B - Soulful Dress


DOWNLOAD ALL 5 SINGLES




"Rhythm Breaks the Ice" (1981) - her only album.

1 When You Were Mine
2 On a Night Like This
3 Hello, I Am Your Heart
4 All Girls Lie
5 Take What You Find
6 Talking Whispers
7 Thunder and Lightning
8 Shoorah Shoorah
9 Some Girls Have All the Luck
10 Tender Touch
11 Hold On

DOWNLOAD RHYTHM BREAKS THE ICE

Yeah, the 2 singles "Hello, I am Your Heart" and "Some Girls Have All the Luck"
are on the full-length - both A and B sides...same versions, but damnit, I'm a collector so I have the singles and therefore I feel more 'complete'. I trust you understand.
There is a bit of a ska influence in the later recordings, but she was not exactly a ska artist. Even still, her version of "Hold on, I'm Coming" is sexy and worth the listen.

The Same - Movements 7"

The Same was a mod/ska band in Brighton. They recorded this single in 1980.
Side A is a good slow punk-reggae song. Side B is a mod song.

A - Movements

B - Wild About You

DOWNLOAD

(Yes, I uploaded it to zShare, but they finally got their shit together and it is working.)

live shows by The Toasters, The Slackers, The Pietasters, and more

For those of you who aren't aware there is a site called INTERNET ARCHIVE that is hosting live shows by some ska bands: The Toasters, The Slackers, The Pietasters, Fishbone, The Allstonians, Ruder Than You, Conehead Buddha, Fighting Gravity, Slightly Stoopid, and a band called Moniska Lewinsky and the Clintones.

The site is full of hippie type jam bands so it takes a while to browse everything but there are lots of treasures to be found for those with varied interests. 29 Shows by Southern Culture on the Skids, 50 by The Decemberists as well as the Mekons, The Minutemen, The Supersuckers, Gin Blossoms, Camper Van Beethoven, and all kinds of others.
Everything is free and posted with the bands' permission and you don't need to sign up to anything.

HERE'S the complete archive

The Allsorts

Here's some random Allsorts stuff. Loose songs, articles, etc...

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Stretsch Armstrong - Lollygag

1 Gladly Pay You Tuesday
2 Drool
3 Cinderblock Shack
4 Dirty Slag
5 Home
6 Sue Happy
7 Scratch the Ear
8 Classic Hoagie
9 Downfall
10 Jailbreak
11 Cruising for a Bruising
12 Crackhouse


DOWNLOAD

Rettore - Donatella

I'm only doing this post for three really good reasons:

#1 I'm a little bit drunk.

#2 ZShare seems to be working again and I need some way of testing it.

#3 Reason #1 is a lie and I am in fact REALLY drunk right now.

Donatella Rettore was a slightly interesting pop performer in Italy in the early 80s, and, just like everybody else in those days, she did a 'ska' song.

Here's the video for it, but the actual recording is a slight bit better.


DOWNLOAD THIS ONE SONG

This song was released as a single in 1980 with the b-side "Clamoroso" which I did not include because...well, - though the kazoo work is amazing - you don't actually want it.

...see:

The Boxboys

Here are both singles recorded by one of California's earliest ska bands.

"Uptown Yankee Ska"


A - American Masquerade (1979)
B - Come See About Me (1980)





"Skaletons From the Closet" (1980)


A - Seperate Rooms
B1 - Busy Boy
B2 - Go Go

DOWNLOAD BOTH

Trenchtown article

(thanks again to Rikard!)

Cryin' Out Loud - Live It Up EP

This is the only release by Cryin' Out Loud.
Don Brody later formed an acoustic folk type duo called The Marys. They made only one recording before he died in his sleep 2 days after Christmas in 1997.

You can read more about Don Brody HERE.

They had a video on MTV for "Live It Up" in 1986. Youtube won't allow it to be embedded, but it's HERE


1 The Distance
2 Live It Up
3 Fire
4 Pounding Heart

DOWNLOAD

There is word that the band has other material that they may put out on cd at some point.

The Uptones - K.U.S.A.

I've been putting this one off for a while because Tone and Wave is supposed to stick to an all-ska format. After time The Uptones became a great ska band, but they weren't always. This is their first release from '85 that shows them as trying to be more of a 'soul' band. There are a couple of songs that show their 2Tone leanings, but, for the most part, they focused on other avenues. This isn't to say this is a bad thing. I personally really like this record.
I hope you do too.
You can see how they went into a more ska mode in their later years on their official site HERE.

1 K.U.S.A.
2 Sounds from the Sidelines
3 Outside the Inn
4 The End
5 Remember
6 Out to Sea

DOWNLOAD


(I apologize for the quality of this download. The vinyl I have seems to be in good condition but the overall recordings don't seem to be coming out very well.)

Trenchtown - A Visit to Trenchtown

"Trenchtown were a 5 piece combo of huge potential from Drogheda in Ireland. They formed in 1988 and during their time together, built up quite a big following nationwide, gaining a lot of media interest along the way. They came 2nd in a prestigious Battle of the Bands competition in 1989 but unfortunately never seemed to build on this. There was constant talk of an album release but it never materialised, many of these recordings were earmarked for the proposed LP. Their final gig was in Dublin in 1991 at the International Irish Music Seminar which showcased 8 of Ireland’s top young bands. But word had got out beforehand that this would be their last hurrah, they’d already decided that they’d be splitting up which seemed like a strange decision as they were just about to play this important showcase gig to various record labels and a wide audience. Over the years, they’ve reformed for low key one-off gigs."

According to their Myspace they have recently recorded a new demo.


DOWNLOAD

Skapa article

Here's an interesting interview with Skapa from an old magazine.

Much thanks to Rikard for this contribution.

The Burial - A Day on the Town

The Burial was formed in Yorkshire in 1981. They broke up in 1988 after recording this one and only album. They did release 4 other songs on comps which I just might have.

I can't be bothered to look for them right now but you can expect that I will post them when I can.

Read more about them HERE



1 Never Too Late
2 Gift
3 Wrong Impression
4 Sheila
5 Holding On
6 A Day on the Town
7 40 Years
8 P.S. Slightly Confused
9 Changes
10 Just Above My Head

DOWNLOAD

The Suspects - 99 Paid

This post is by request.

1 Thanks Johnny
2 Caffeine
3 Freedom
4 The Dance
5 A Minor Hell
6 Another Day Another Dollar
7 The Nod
8 Sizzle
9 Lies are Free
10 Right on Time
11 The Dub
12 The Bad One
13 Charlie's Creepy Song
14 Big Truth

DOWNLOAD