Sunday, October 28, 2012

The RB's - The RB's LP (1981)


Scottish band The Rude Boys. Some members later went on to form Fiction Factory.

1 Explain
2 Careers Information
3 Let's Call it a Day
4 Let Me Feel It
5 Tonight
6 Deja Vu
7 Movie Theme (to Dance to)
8 Moving Pictures
9 Life in Exile
10 Waiting for a Dog Year

"Explain"

"Let's Call it a Day"
 

DOWNLOAD  -or, if that don't work - DOWNLOAD

THANKS TO RIKARD FOR THIS SUBMISSION!!

Easy Big Fella - Fruit Cup (1994)

1 Mom and Dad
2 Surfin the Trees
3 Las Vegas
4 Hells Kitchen Polka
5 Grey Day
6 The Astrolube Tango
7 Hit Me in My Head
8 Once More

"Mom and Dad"


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Heptones - Mr. T (1989)

1 Falling in Love Again
2 Honey You're All
3 Where Good Music Gone
4 Love My Girl
5 Long Long Time Ago
6 Wonderful World
7 Unfaithful Baby
8 Rasta Music
9 In My House
10 Allalackalama
11 Mr. T
12 Jumpy Me No Jumpy

"Falling in Love Again"
 

...and,hey, doesn't this song sound a bit familiar?
"Rasta Music"


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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Otitis - Take It Away EP (1981)

Otitis was a Swedish new wave band that had released a handful of singles and one full length self titled album in 1984 as well as this EP.
I have never heard any of their music before but I have seen this record labeled as 'ska' numerous times in the past and, even though their other releases are somewhat easy to find around the internet, I've never seen any of their other stuff labeled 'ska'.

That's okay though. I'm listening to them for the first time and I really like them - even their non-ska songs. I intend to have their full discography some day. I might not post it if it isn't ska unless you guys would like to hear more. Listen to this first, then let me know if they're in demand or not.

1 Take It Away
2 Same Old Story
3 Hiccups
4 Girls and Boys
5 That's the Reason Why
6 Try to Get It

"Take It Away"

"Try to Get It"


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This was donated to us by the ultra-awsome Rikard. More of his donations will be posted in the future...stay tuned.

va - Blue Beat Special (1968)


A1 - Soul Vendors - Something Special
A2 - The Termites - Do it Right Now
A3 - Jackie Mittoo - Midnight Special
A4 - Alton Ellis - Let Him Try
B1 - Soul Vendors - Get With It
B2 - Ken & Keith - Groove to the Beat
B3 - The Termites - My Last Love
B4 - Soul Vendors - Early Bird
B5 - Dudley Sibley - Run Boy Run

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Pick Pocket - Same Stories 7'' (1983) & You ain't Got Nobody But Me 7'' (1985)

Same Stories 7'' (1983)
A - Same Stories
 
B - Lovin' on the Line

 You ain't Got Nobody but Me 7'' (1985)
A - You ain't Got Nobody but Me
B - You ain't Got Nobody but Me (dub)
 

Pick Pocket was a Dutch band. I think they were from Holland but I'm not sure. They were on Dureco Benelux records which was a division of Dureco records. "Dureco" means "Dutch Record Company" and they specialized in soul music until later they went disco. I'm not sure where Pick Pocket fit into their demographic but they did have a traditional ska artist or two that they at least distributed records for. "Dureco Benelux" was a branch for bands in BElgium, NEtherlands and LUXembourg.

As far as I know these two offerings here are the only songs these guys ever got around to recording.
As usual, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.   


DOWNLOAD BOTH 7"s

Jaki Graham - What a Little Moonlight Can Do (2012)


"Jaki Graham has been one of the UK's leading female soul vocalists since the release of her first solo single ‘What's The Name Of Your Game’ in 1984. To date Jaki has scored six UK Top 10/20 singles and two Top 5 singles in the U.S. Dance charts including the monster No.1 ‘Ain't Nobody’."*

...and in all that time she has never done a straightforward ska/reggae song - until now. (Yes, I know she has touched upon a quasi reggae sound in the past - she did a reggae inspired version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with David Grant.)

Her latest album "For Sentimental Reasons" has a cover of the Jazz standard "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" that was made popular by Billie Holiday in 1935.
It was re-recorded by Billie Holiday in 1954 and that version was covered by Peggy Lee on her 1959 album "Jump For Joy". It was also a regular feature in Benny Goodman's set (probably where Peggy Lee got the idea) and was also recorded by Diana Ross, Nancy Wilson, Bing and Gary Crosby, Crystal Gayle, Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Anita O'Day,
...and countless others including Robert Palmer on his 1992 album Ridin' High

Robert Palmer did a lot of reggae inspired stuff, but his version of What a Little Moonlight Can Do was directly inspired by the 1935 Billie Holiday version. He did not make it a reggae song.
In fact, I can't find a reggae version of this song anywhere. This is the first as far as I know (and I'd love it if someone can prove me wrong.)

Jaki Graham - What a Little Moonlight Can Do (2012)



[I cannot post a download link - the album was just released on October 15th, 2012 but you can support the artist by buying this song HERE]


*quoted from Cherry Red

va - A Full English Breakfast (1998)

  1. Too Many Crooks / Kiss
  2. The Rough Kutz / Supergrass
  3. Eskalator / Wise Man
  4. Ska Gal & The Hands of Ra / Some Higher Ground
  5. Intensified / More Pressure
  6. Bibulous / Kebab
  7. Hotknives / I Wake Up Screaming
  8. Loonee Toons / Boys
  9. Rude Boys / The Gangsters
  10. One Step Behind / Market Trader
  11. Ska Boom / Party Good Time
  12. Mistakes / Sense Of Freedom
  13. Arthur Kay and The Orginals / Last Of The One Named Singers
  14. The Riffs / Murderation
  15. Freetown / Star
  16. Last Orders / Eyes
  17. Spithead / Call the Police
  18. Colonal Hathi / TV Girl
  19. The Skanksters / Just Another Nightmare
  20. The Bakesys / Confused
  21. The Write Offs / Big Issue
  22. The Xplosions / Snatched
 DOWNLOAD


*originally posted at Liquidator but no longer available

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Gangsters - Who's That Man? 7'' (1980)

This was posted before but this is a re-rip of my own vinyl with different sound quality.

A - Who's That Man
B - Games



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Ska-Boom [U.K.]

 The album in this download is the original 11 track from 1990 though the cover pictured here is from the 1991 re-release that included all 3 tracks from the "More Tea Vicar?" single. The cover of the original didn't have the yellow writing or the speech bubble.
(Thanks to Rikard for this submission)

Here they are performing "What Did I Do" in 1990. Rikard also posted this on Youtube.


 Lost in Ska LP (1990)
1 Classic Case
2 Hard Times
3 What Did I Do?
4 But My Love
5 So FarAway
6 Carry Go Bring Come
7 Lost in Ska
8 Sister
9 Romeo (live Abbey Park '89)
10 Today
11 Ska Summer (1990)

 DOWNLOAD Lost in Ska LP

 The Plan 7" (1989)
A - The Plan
B1 - Long Shot Kick de Bucket
B2 - Rukumbine

Romeo 7" (1989)
A - Romeo
B - Ska Summer

More Tea Vicar 7" (1990)
A - More Tea Vicar?
B1 - Runaway Girl
B2 - I Didn't Mean It

DOWNLOAD all 3 singles

Skunky Punky Monkey (1996)
1 Ska Summer
2 Last Train to Skaville
3 Romeo - Too Much
4 Jesse James (feat Laurel Aitken)
5 Classic Case
6 Coronation Ska
7 It's Not Unusual
8 More Tea Vicar
9 Al Capone
10 Rudy Medley
11 La Bamba
12 Monkey Man
13 La Bamba (Skanking John Major Mix)
14 Too Fat
15 Young Gal
16 Ska-Boom (Mr. Lee's Mean Fiddler Dublin, Sampler Mix)
17 Ska-Boom (Life of Brian Mr. Lee Mix)

DOWNLOAD Skunky Punky Monkey


 Traffic Warden Cassette (1992)

(...submitted by Ronan)
1 Traffic Warden
2 Baby Come Back
3 Baked Beanz
4 Jazzska
5 Street Victim
6 Black Night
7 I Know What You Want
8 What You Gonna Do?
9 Drowning

DOWNLOAD Traffic Warden cassette



Thursday, October 4, 2012

Mad Lighters - Ska Town (1995)


In the 1977 documentary Roots, Rock, Reggae there is a scene where Junior Murvin and the Heptones are rehearsing a song in the home studio of  Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Nobody has ever been able to find a recording of this song called "Play on Mr. Music" because it wasn't actually recorded. It was improvised on the spot for the filming and never became an actual song.

In 1995 the Swiss band Mad Lighters with Rico Rodriguez on trombone turned it into an actual song and released it on their album Ska Town.

1 Play On, Mr. Music
2 Skapone
3 Sunset
4 Sweet Blue Beat
5 Skatown
6 The Man Hurricane
7 New Age
8 Across the Valley
9 Averyska
10 Dubbit Mr. Music
11 Hurricane Dub
12 In Town Dub

"Play On, Mr. Music"
 
"Skatown"
 


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