Tone and Wave

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Name that tune!

Does anybody have any idea what song this is?
It's possibly from a California band. It was taken from a tape of a recording of a ska radio show from San Diego in the mid-90s.

MYSTERY SONG

Voodoo Glow Skulls - singles (part 1)

Who do voodoo? We do...
Here are their first four singles. They didn't start out as a ska band but you can see how they progressed from a unique punk band to a unique ska band in these early records.

(This is part 1. There will be a part 2 and maybe a part 3 of their non-album stuff.)

The Old of Tomorrow (1990)
1 Change of Face
2 Ugly Stick
3 Jocks From Hell
4 Freak Show
5 The Clash
6 Nicotine Fit

Rasta Mis Huevos (1992)
1 Matter of Time
2 Mr. Bossman
3 Here Comes the Sun
4 You're the Problem
5 Trouble Walkin
6 Empty Bottles

We're Coloring Fun (1993)
1 Method to this Madness
2 Closet Monster
3 You Don't Have a Clue
4 Thrift Shop Junkie
5 Jive Psycho
6 This ain't No Disco
7 Wife & Kid

Dogpile 7" (1993)
1 Dog Pile!
2 Can't Happen Here
3 C-School

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Sunday, February 25, 2018

va Ska Spelled Backward (1997)

1 Skinnerbox - You Rascal You
2 Mad Butchers - Cause and Effect
3 Slow Children - Big Fat Women
4 Offbeats - By Myself
5 Umbrella Bed - I'm a Veg
6 Dr. Manette - Fifteen Labels (Don't Mean a Thing)
7 Liberator - Flee
8 Skallops - Americana
9 Telegraph - Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight
10 Peapod Jr. - Rudy at the Mall
11 Jesters - What's Real
12 Fitzgeralds - Midnight Hour
13 Greenhouse - Agua
14 Chickenpox - Anything You Say
15 Dr. Raju - Just Want to Sing
16 Skavenjah - Skafari
17 Before 20 - Start Again
18 Roscoe P. Soultrain - New Day
19 Gangster Fun - A Date with Destiny
20 The Executives - Robb Ska
21 Youth in Asia - Party at Ground Zero
22 Sluggo & Dave with The Demanders - Cocaine
23 Skinnerbox - Paint it Black

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

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Reggae Cooper - She Loves You 7'' (1978)

A - She Loves You
B - I Need Your Loving

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Saturday, February 24, 2018

Trio - Tutti Frutti 7'' (1983)

My fellow Americans who watched MTV in the mid-90s might remember that Volkswagen commercial where the two guys are driving around in a Volkswagen and they pick up a chair that somebody left by the curb but then they realize the chair doesn't smell so good so they drop it back off on the street. In the background the German band Trio's song "Da Da Da" from 1982 was playing and, even though Da Da Da was a pretty big hit in Europe and was pretty much well known everywhere throughout the eighties, this commercial introduced this song to a whole new audience.

Oh shit, the commercial is actually on YouTube:

And here is the original video for the song from 1982:

Trio put out a few albums and lots of singles but their cover of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" was their only ska song.

A - Tutti Frutti
B - Ich Lieb den Rock 'n' Roll

I included the Da Da Da 7" and 12" in this download because that's what you really want.

Incidentally there was an actual ska/reggae band called Trio + 1 that has nothing to do with this band.

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

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Sunday, February 18, 2018

Two Tonne Bowlers - Mantifiluss (1994)

Very rare demo(?) from this Canadian band that I know nothing about. All tracks are uptempo 2 Tone inspired ska. No punk/distorted guitars.

1 Status
2 Styles
3 Luvin' in the Oven Train
4 Guys Like Us
5 Vassili Town
6 8's Enough
7 Fallopian Tube Fandango
8 Lion Tamer
9 untitled

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Saturday, February 10, 2018

Take 5 - demo tape (1998)

This band was from Lexington, Massachusetts and I know nothing about them. If they ever put out anything besides this cassette I'd like to know. This tape starts off weak with a cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" - don't get me wrong, they did a good job of it, but it's the least interesting song on the tape. Then it gets good, really good with a few original ska tunes and then they end with Baba Brooks' "Country Town". The sound is low quality and a bit hard to listen to but the talent is high quality and I hope these guys recorded more than this.

1 Knock on Wood
2 Hour Glass
3 El Sol
4 Mars Invasion
5 Country Town (The Mood)

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Sunday, February 4, 2018

The Turned Around Turtles

The Turned Around Turtles were an unsung band from Germany that started in 1989. They put out 1 full length album in 1992 called "Ask" (an anagram for "Ska", obviously) with all tracks being sung in English. They were able to release a 2-song 7" in 1993 before breaking up with core members going on to form the band Frau Doktor.

This 7" rip is my own but the LP was graciously donated to us by Rude Rich.

The Turned Around Turtles - Ask (1992)
1 Rocksteady Beat
2 Hope My Friends
3 Betty
4 If You Wanna
5 K.K.K.
6 Live for Today
7 Popkings
8 Zummernight
9 A Little Bit of Soap
10 The Promise
11 One Drink Too Many
12 Fat Man
13 General Truth
14 Rude Boy Reggae

The Turned Around Turtles - De Working Monkey 7" (1993)
A - De Working Monkey
B - Bahama Drama

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¡Gracious Rude Rich!

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power

Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power - also known as MB Hi-Power - was a British militant punk/dub band. Not reggae or ska as much as raw folk punk with a heavy dub element. They were very political and put on a great live show.

They only released two EPs in their career. This download includes both as well as some unreleased songs that were recorded live (that I nicked off of YouTube, I'll admit it).

Here Come the Blues (1985)
1 Here Come the Blues
2 4 Million on the Dole
3 No Justice for the Poor
4 Privilege
5 Franco's Fleet Street
6 New Face in Hell

Matchless Triple A EP (1986)
1 Ghost Train
2 Spring Heel Jack
3 Black Gold

Unreleased & Live Tracks
1 Black Gold (alt. version)
2 Woman of Straw
3 Under Pressure
4 Ambulance Chaser
5 Wordamouth
6 Gentlemen & Players
7 Teeth - Skin

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

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Sunday, January 21, 2018

Nutty Skanker - Definitely Rude (1997)

I posted Nutty Skanker's first album "Who Am I?" which was a cassette-only release from 1994. I mentioned in that post that they have one other album (this time on CD) but I was never able to find a copy of it. An alert Tone-andWaver named Jean-François had the album and decided to share it with us.

1 Sound System
2 Tribute to Kraftwerk
3 Gospel Skank
4 Life is Too Short
5 Smart Drinks
6 Atomic (Blondie)
7 Definitely Rude
8 Mexicanos
9 Naturally Born Black
10 Billy the Kid
11 Nutty Ragga Mix
12 Quadrophenia
13 Who Am I?
14 Les Cadavres
15 Dogs of War
16 All Right

DOWNLOAD from Zippyshare

DOWNLOAD From MEGA

Thank you Jean-François!!

Monday, January 15, 2018

X-Legz - New (1983)

Very 80s sounding and very mellow. All ten tracks have a ska/reggae sound but each song is slower than the last. I'm a drinker, not a smoker, so I like things a little more hyper but I think you who appreciates the "powerful narcotic marijuana" will enjoy it.

This band was from Switzerland and they do have at least one other release - a 7" which has 2 songs that are not on the album. I do not have the 7" yet but it's in my wantlist. I'm in no hurry to buy it just yet. No hurry at all. Keepin' it mellow.

1 Fast Dogs
2 You'll be With Me
3 Because the Rain is Falling
4 A Bunch of Roses
5 Gagaf (Black Ivy)
6 Frankenstein's Bride
7 Sun, Wind and Music
8 Little Thieves Live Dangerous
9 Security
10 Sometimes

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Re-Ups

Reluctant Stereotypes

K & the Sauce Pan

va Stonehenge

Vital Disorders - Zombie

Ngobo Ngobo demos

Bette Bright

Deemus Mint

Local Operator

Heavy Manners - Say It 12"

I can't find Strange Tenants - Live at Pharoahs but I know I still have it somewhere. I'll re-post it as a proper post of its own when I find it.

Did I miss anything? Have you requested anything that hasn't been re-posted yet?

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Soft Touch - It's My Life 7" (1980)

This is being posted by request. It is not very known but there is a copy currently for sale on eBay (possibly the only time it's ever been on eBay) so my guess is that it was requested so people can hear what it sounds like before buying it.

It sounds like slower British mod/ska. The a-side is more rockin' but it has that punky-reggae sound and, no, it is not a cover of Talk Talk's song - this was released three years before theirs. The
b-side is the better of the two if you appreciate mellow punk-reggae with out of place synth.
There were lots of different bands with this same name but I'm not sure if these guys had any other releases.

A - It's My Life
B - The Sus Song

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

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Incidentally I will be selling my copy on eBay in the next few weeks along with a lot of other stuff.

Also, I have quite a few re-up requests that I plan on getting to next weekend. I apologize ahead of time if I don't get to it but I have a 4-day weekend and not much else to do. So, unless an airplane crashes into my house or I get abducted by aliens or something, next weekend is all about re-ups. I'll post at least one new thing too.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Best ska of 2017

This past year wasn't really a great year for ska as far as the number of releases but there were some great ones. It seems everybody slowed down and, instead of playing ska, they switched it up to reggae. Not that I don't like reggae but there was just too much of it. My list here is mostly reggae-free.

There are some notable exceptions I left off of the list because of the aforementioned "no reggae" but I want to add that I think King Kong 4 is an incredible band. They put out lots of great music in 2017.
So did Susan Cadogan.

The Phonosonics, The Erin Bardwell Collective, and New Limits also put out some awesome releases and I really loved The Stiff Joints debut album.

The veterans The Selecter, Save Ferris, and the Busters also had new releases but I like to to draw attention to bands you may not know as well as these. You'll buy their stuff anyway.

And you know how I like it when bands with older rare music make those releases available. 2017 saw old material from the Bakesys as well as the first two demos from Napoleon Solo re-released - available at Jump Up Records. The Napoleon Solo record is limited to 100 copies so you might want to jump on that one.

In 2017 The Kingpins re-released their classic album "Let's Go to Work" entitled "Let's Go Back to Work". It is a re-imagining of the album which includes some remixes and alternate versions with some additional previously unreleased tracks.

A band I posted a lot about over the years was the 80s Swedish band T-Shirts. They had several EPs and singles and one full-length throughout 1980, 1981, and 1982 and then they broke up. There was nothing else from them until 2017. They recorded a 2-track 7" called "To My Love/Legal Rights" and it's actually really good.

When these old bands get together again after all these years and try to record new material it doesn't always work out too well but this one does. It sounds like the same band from 35 years ago.

There were two debut full-length albums that I was really looking forward to. One was a really good album - Heavyball's "When Can You Start?". The other one was terrible. I try not so say anything bad about bands on this blog so I won't say their name. I can't imagine what possesses a talented band to compose an album's worth of songs, then take the time and expense to record an incredible ska album, then, before releasing it to the fans, they put an electronic beat over every song. Not one or even a few songs, but every damn song. My most anticipated release of 2017 was the absolute worst "ska" album I heard all year. How is it that not one person in that band stopped and said "this isn't really what the fans want"?

But here's the stuff I do like:

1. Last Edition - Last Orders