Musical Flags - Showbag! (1981)

Post punk/new wave from Australia with two ska-influenced tunes.

The images were respectfully stolen from Discogs because I was just too lazy to scan everything myself.

Listen to "I CAN'T STOP"

1 In the Green Room
2 Sky Command
3 Short Change
4 Xmas
5 I Can't Stop

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Hipnoses - Stilrichtung (1995)

Another band that nobody knows anything about. I can tell from this cassette that they were from Germany. That's all the information I got. And I believe "stilrichtung" means "stylish".

The sound is unique indie rock but they do have one ska song and they had the foresight to begin the tape with the ska song.

Listen to "Pharoah".
Depending on your taste in music this may be the only song you listen to more than once but there are a couple other decent songs.

1 Pharoah
2 Peace, A Heat Wave*
3 Cheer Ali
4 Little Fagget**
5 Haribo
6 My Favourite Marsian

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*This song is mislabeled on Discogs as being two separate songs

**This is a double entendre. It's played off in the lyrics as though she's referring to a cigarette but you can tell she's mad and she's implying that he is gay for standing her up. What's offensive today was just clever wordplay back in the 1900s. 

Sheep's E-Band - Aks Aks (1993)

1 Chicken Ska
2 Bodo
3 Spending Money (for Naked Women)
4 The Very First Time
5 My Body Aches
6 Ska is Life
7 To be or Not to be
8 Car Stereo
9 I Wanna Wanna
10 Nowhere
11 (A Message to You) Rudi
12 No Fault of Mine
13 Coffee
14 Don't Wanna Lose Ya
15 Patchuko Hop
16 Aks Aks

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Name that Tune - SOLVED!

Last April I did a post (THIS ONE) asking if anybody knew what this song in this video is.



Not one person knew or even made a suggestion.

This was not my personal search. Someone had been looking for this song for 25 years and asked me for any leads. I had nothing to offer.

This past week the person who started the search finally found the artist and song title.

"Drowning in a Sea of Shit" by a band called Citizen X.
The song was from the 1990 Thrasher compilation cassette called "Pierced Ears".

Here's the full song:



Thanks to Matt for the follow up. I was pretty wrapped up in the hunt myself. This was relieving for me I can only imagine what he feels like after 25 years.
Also thanks to the person who was kind enough to rip their tape and send it to him and to the vocalist from Citizen X who allowed it to be posted on YouTube.

The Silence - Return of the Rude Boys (1985)

Remember in the late 90s/early 2000s when so many underground bands were naming themselves with the word "ska" as pun in their names? They used "Rude" and "Skank" in their song titles and everything they wore and owned had the black and white checkers but the actual ska beat was notably missing from their music.

This band pre-dates all of those bands by at least a generation.

Look at this cover. Look at the title. Look at the phrase "Give Me Some Ska". This has to be a ska band right? But it isn't.
You can tell that they are aiming for a ska beat but they really need some practice. The sound is very raw and amateur but there is something charming about their music, especially "The Boss Song".

This band was from Stoke. They recorded this demo at Star Trax Studios in October 1985.
The band consisted of
Dave (vocals/harmonica)
Benny (lead guitar)
Joker (bass/maracas)
Nick (drums/percussion)

Their debut show was at Chesterfield with The Threads in January 1986.

1 Dancing Thru' the 80's
2 James Bond
3 Stood Up
4 The Boss Song


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Too Hot [Devon, U.K.]

Too Hot - Kickin' Off EP (1993)
1 Agent 69
2 Fake
3 In Search of Harry
4 Grandad
5 Special Agent


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Too Hot - Big Time EP (1999)
1 It's a Shame
2 Kingston Town
3 Big Time


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Too Hot - Nice 'n' Easy (2000)
1 Round and Round
2 Ska Train
3 Catch My Eye
4 Sunshine Holiday
5 Dark City
6 I Don't Believe in You
7 Every Day
8 Charlie Says
9 Just a Woman
10 You Said
11 Lovely Day

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Too Hot - Wise Up (2002)
1 Too Hot in the City
2 Feelin' Happy
3 In the Sun
4 Victoria Way
5 Special Agent
6 Bad Day
7 The Two of Us
8 Without You
9 Wise Up!
10 Across the Sea
11 I Can't Wait


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Too Hot - Time Flies (2006)
1 A Certain Peace
2 If I Could
3 Back Then
4 Alcohol
5 First Sight
6 Time Flies
7 Skalloween
8 Life Won't Wait
9 Surrounded
10 Been a While
11 Where Have You Been?
12 You Said '05

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Big Dog Small Fence

Third wave ska-punk from California. I remember these guys being considered a Christian band because they always played with other Christian bands. They all thank God and Jesus Christ in the liner notes but all mention of anything religious is pleasantly absent from the lyrics.

Lot's of distorted guitars in some songs but also some 2Tone style instrumentals. 

1 Human
2 Finite
3 Joel's Song
4 Rikki Fake
5 Circus Mirage
6 Pass the Buck
7 Shrimp Gumbo
8 Circus Mirage (extended mix)
9 Impossible
10 Stand Tall
11 L.A.

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Bumble & the Beez

Bumble & the Beez was a German band that was started by two members of Headline. They were not a ska band but there was a bit of the ska sound left over from their days in Headline. In 2009 Marco on the Bass interviewed Winston Blisset who briefly mentioned why he left Headline to form Bumble & the Beez. Read the interview HERE.

Bumble & the Beez - Fools 7" (1981)
A - Fools
B - Working Class

Bumble & the Beez - My Life 7" (1982)
A - My Life
B - Signing On

Bumble & the Beez - The Room Above 7" (1982)
A - The Room Above
B - Blowsing

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State of Emergency [REPOST]

State of Emergency - State of Emergency (1989)
1 Stranger
2 Can't Compare
3 Understand
4 Someone Like You

State of Emergency - Ska-Terbrain (1990)
1 Another Day
2 Far Away
3 He'll be Back
4 Circumstance
5 Get There
6 Pinky

*Violence
*Police Chase
(*from the compilation Ska Takes the Great Lakes)

Key members of State of Emergency went on to form the 90s band Skapone.

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