Sunday, March 3, 2019

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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Sunday, February 17, 2019

Mistakes [U.K.]

Mistakes - Out of Time 7" (1995)
A - Stand in Line
B1 - Out of Time
B2 - All Over This Land

Mistakes - Shut Up and Dance 7" (1996)
A - Shut Up and Dance
B1 - Fortune Teller
B2 - Plastic Gangsters

Mistakes - Out Now CD (1998)
1 Make No Mistake
2 Ordinary Day
3 Stand in Line
4 Can't You See
5 I'm in Front Now
6 Looking for a Way

*Sense of Freedom (from A Full English Breakfast compilation)

They made videos for all three songs from the first 7"


They had a demo tape from 1998 that was released as a CD called "Shot in the Dark" but I have never found the cassette demo, or the CD.  

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Sunday, February 3, 2019

The Touch - Come Feel 7" (1983)

I have posted a lot of rare stuff on this blog over the years but this is definitely in the top 5 rarest things I've posted.

I think The Touch was from Texas but I'm not sure.

I have been looking for this record for a long time and I have heard that there are about three copies known to exist. The reality is that the band members probably each have crates of these records in their basements and that two years from now there will be 15 copies available on Discogs for $5 each. But I wasn't so lucky to score one for cheap. The copy I found is in amazing shape so I'm lucky for that, but the seller knew what he was selling.

I tell people that when they go to record conventions you need to go against your instinct. If you're looking for ska, go to the guys selling rap. If you're looking for punk, go to the guys selling country. Most vendors at conventions sell things outside of their scope of interest and they don't know the value of some of what they're selling but let me tell you...the guy who specializes in ska knows what he's selling and what it's worth. The guy who sold me this record...I respect him and hate him at the same time.

Rare doesn't always mean good, but in this case it does. This is one of the best rare records you'll ever hear.

A1 No Guarantees
A2 Don't Touch Me There
B1 Trouble on My Street
B2 Agent 109
B3 Jungle & Such

Listen to "Trouble on My Street"

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Sunday, January 27, 2019

The Squids - Don't be Afraid...The Squids are Here (1985)

Calypso/ska band from Los Angeles. This record was also released on CD with a different cover as seen in this YouTube video for the song "Bottle Cap".

1 The Squids are Coming
2 But I Don't
3 Se Maiageo
4 She Just Doesn't Drink It
5 Bottle Cap
6 Sammy's Song
7 Island Cafe
8 The Squids are Coming Again

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Monday, January 21, 2019

I-Tal [Ohio]

I-Tal - Brown-Eye Girl 7" (1979)
A - Brown-Eye Girl
B - Close to the Wire

I-Tal - Rockers 7" (1980)
A - Rockers
B - Better Dread

I-Tal - I-Tal LP (1981)
1 King's Peace
2 Na True
3 Nobody Else
4 Dub it inna U.S.A.
5 Who Seh
6 Fight Down Babylon
7 Babylon Na Control
8 Beautiful Lion

The LP starts out with a song about Martin Luther King Jr. - a fitting tune on this MLK day.
The record ends with a ska song:



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Id and the Superegoes - Gumshoe (1996)

Fast third wave from Utah that leans way more toward ska than punk.

1 Why Em See Eh
2 Vietnam
3 Firestation
4 Rosa
5 Pro
6 Seventeen
7 The Can Opener
8 Halloween
9 A Team
10 Driving Me Crazy
11 Captain Glen
12 The Russian Limbo Kungfu Fight Theme (Work)
13 Jazz Song

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently Utah had quite a ska scene in the 90s. Check out the Utah Ska Preservation Project for a list of bands from Utah from the 80s through current.

They have a Bandcamp page that posts rare releases from these bands. They have ten releases posted so far for "name-your-price". It looks like an ongoing project.

And a Facebook.

More people should be doing this. What state do you live in? Why haven't you started a similar project to raise awareness of your state's ska scene?  (Not necessarily the Bandcamp part - of course that would be nice - but the preservation part.)


 

Crazy Kids - House Music 7" (1979)

This is a funny one. Way back in the days this used to sell for no less than $30.00 and I was intrigued. For being such a rare and expensive record it had to be a great lost ska record, right. Well, not so much. The song "Achmed" is ska but just barely. It sounds like the Happy Tree Friends theme song. Not great but it sounds like they had fun making the record.

Even though it sells for way less now, you may want to move it down on your list of "must-have" ska records. 

A - House Music
B - Achmed

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Sunday, January 6, 2019

Tone and Wave's Favorite Ska of 2018

2018 was an incredible year for music in general but, by far, the greatest year for ska releases since I've been doing this blog.

A lot of the old bands we used to listen to (by "we" I probably mean "I") released new music in 2018 like Reverend Horton Heat, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Southern Culture on the Skids, They Might be Giants (they released three albums in 2018), Mudhoney, Suicidal Tendencies, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Belly, Gin Blossoms, Pennywise, Suede, Nine Inch Nails, and a lot more.

But the ska scene was so prolific that it was hard to keep up with it all.
The Specials released their first new recording with Terry Hall on vocals in decades.
The Beat (The English Beat to some) with Dave Wakeling released their last album in 1982 but Here We Go Love was finally released in 2018 and if you ask me I'd say it's half Beat and half General Public.
Bad Manners and The Selecter both put out a live album as did The Papers (remember them?).

Dick Lucas (Subhumans, Citizen Fish) revamped his pre-CF band Culture Shock and they put out a new EP.
Roddy Radiation has two new EPs (1) (2), the Slackers, Rhoda Dakar, The Toasters, Bluekilla and The Porkers all released EPs/singles.
There were albums by
Reel Big Fish
Monkey
Maroon Town
Stranger Cole (with the Steadytones)
Rude Boy George
Neville and Sugary Staple
Barstool Preachers
Mad Caddies
Ska-P
2 Tone Lizard Kings
Yellow Cap
Two Tone Club
SkaparĂ pid
Talco
Les SkartOi!
Beer Beer Orchestra
Kemuri
Lollypop Lorry
Cartoon Violence
The Offenders
Strange Tenants
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Hub City Stompers
Capone and the Bullets 


The pre-Let's Go Bowling California band Khyber Rifles finally released their treasure trove of recordings from 1984

and Napoleon Solo has some new material that I will say is one of my top five albums of 2018.

Whenever I make a "Top Five" or "Top Ten" list I almost always go back and wonder what I was thinking so I try not to do that. I'll put it like this: "These are the five albums that I listened to the most in 2018:"

5. 2 Tone Lizard Kings - Robert Faceplant

4. Hub City Stompers - Hater's Dozen

3. The Sporadics - Hear It Is

2. Napoleon Solo - Open Channel D

1. The Skapones - Cradle to Grave


And of course the Interrupters "Fight the Good Fight" is a landmark album that I played a million times. They put ska back in pop culture when they played "Kerosene" on Jimmy Kimmel Live

 As you can imagine with all this wonderful new ska music I can make one hell of a playlist but I'm going to take a different approach. I'll try to not use any of these records on the list. These are established bands that you already know and love. I'd like to introduce you to some new bands. There will be a few of the aforementioned bands on the playlist but the focus will be on the up-and-coming bands. Let's give these artists some attention. They are the future of ska:

Part 1
1 Boomtown United - Love Like Fire

2 Oddrob - Rat Race
3 The Fuss - It's a Shame
4 Sporadics - Freaks
5 Brewfish - Pain
6 Cartoon Violence - Serpico

7 Filthy Militia - Storm Warning
8 Pick It Up - Gypsy
9 General Chaos - Tick Tock
10 King Kong Girio - When the Music Stops
11 The Bees Trees - Ska Tune
12 NR&D - Chipballs
13 Hub City Stompers - Hard Place to Be

(The girl dancing in the video is Aranivah who is not a member of the band and also not a girl she's 29 in this video. She's originally from El Salvador but she lives in New York. She plays accordion in a band called "Ratas En Zelo" but she is most known for her YouTube videos where she dances to ska, and other, music.)
14 Shandon - Wrong Note
15 Well Charged - Family Tree
16 Ancestree - So Nice
17 Dirty Notion - Devils and Demons
18 Skapones - From Cradle to Grave

19 Napoleon Solo - House Conflict
20 Neville and Sugary Staple - Way of Life

21 Rundown Kreeps - Not a Clue
22 The Yoties - Funky Yotie Party

23 Culture Shock - The Humanity Show
24 Yellow Cap - Safe & Sound
25 Divils - Useless
(This is the first version - they released 2 EPs in 2018 and this song was on both. I prefer this one.)

Part 2 
1Ska'N'Ska - Boom

2 The Silencerz - Don Logan
3 The Skatuesques - Back in the Day

4 2 Tone Lizard Kings - Red Flag
5 Stratus Fear - Radio Overload
6 King Kong 4 - My Lovely Grenadine
7 Stranger Cole (with the Steadytones) - Ungrateful
8 Shoot the Moon - Grow Some Stones

9 AkinSanya - Fancy Girl
10 Soul Ska - Do Right
11 Interrupters - Leap of Faith
12 The Magnetics - She Don't Wanna Sleep Tonight
13 Wolverine Amadeus Bastard - Mat&Lazy
14 [6 Foot 7] - Have a Can
15 Skaghoors - Ernest Boogie
16 Well Charged - Family Tree
17 Dinner Club - vs. the World
18 Big Fat Panda - Home Sweet Home
19 Kneejerk Reaction - Apathetic Society
20 Marc - Movin' On
21 Capone and the Bullets - Cruel to be Kind
22 Ska Skank Redemption - Age Like Wine
23 The Offenders - Missing the Dawn
24 Skaworkers - 7 Days
25 The Sentries - Renegade (cover of the Zodiac's song from 1965)


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________________________________________________

Only after I was done with everything did I realize I have one song repeated and there are at least three songs that were released prior to 2018 (but they were also re-released in 2018 on comps and albums so they're fair game), but the biggest mistake is that one song is mis-titled. Oh well. I'll try harder next year.  




Monday, December 24, 2018

Rolly Joker - Yakety Gag (1981)

Rolly Joker was a German comedian/musician who recorded records in the old American style of "blue records" where the comedians told profane jokes that were not usually well-received in a polite society so they would record their stand-up acts in a small room (their own living room for example) filled with friends and family who agreed ahead of time to have exaggerated reactions to the jokes that they likely heard before.

The jokes on Rolly Jokers' records weren't so 'blue' that they couldn't be performed in clubs but he did a good job of adhering to the classic 'blue record' sound.

He did different styles of music but this is probably his only "ska" one (even though it's not really ska in the strictest sense).

A - Yakety Gag
B - Yakety Gag (Instrumental)

He tells eight jokes throughout the song. They are in German but they translate well to English:

*It's a company party at a big company and the boss is telling a joke. Everybody laughs heartily out of politeness. Except colleague Meyer. Boss asks why aren't you laughing? Meyer: I don't need to, I'm leaving on the first.

*Two women meet at the health insurance institution.
"What are you doing here?"
"I am getting a sick note for my husband."
"Well, I get my husband's extended." 
"What they do that here too?"
(Wordplay on husbands and things that get extended).

*A man stands in front of the mirror during his morning ablutions and admires his athletic body: 100kg dynamite. A slight turn to the left: 100kg dynamite. Yells his wife from the kitchen: But a really short fuse!
(A penis joke)

*The fortune teller says to her client: Young man, I got some good news and some bad news for you. Let's start with the good one: You were a good guy, you will get to heaven, in heaven you will become a great soccer player and will achieve lots of goals. Now the bad news: Your first game is tomorrow.

*During the wedding night the couple happily lays next to each other. Only the bride has a terrible flaw: really bad odour from her mouth. The groom has a terrible flaw too, really bad stinky feet.
The bride: "Darling, I got to tell you something..."
Groom: Yes, I already know, you ate one of my socks.

*Little Fritz comes home from school, crying. "Mommy, mommy, the other pupils are so mean to me. They always bully me and say I got gigantic feet."
Mother: "Oh darling, that is not true. Now put your shoes into the garage and come upstairs."

*"Oh Erwin, say why don't you have teeth since birth?"
"Well, my mother stumbled when she was pregnant with me and since then I am missing my teeth." "Oh. See, when my mother was pregnant with me, a turntable fell on her leg. Didn't hurt me at all. Crrgh. Didn't hurt me at all. Crrgh. Didn't hurt me at all."

*Male driving instructor asks the female driving student:
"Miss Mueller, do you have the rules in your head?"
"Why, am I bleeding from my nose?"
(Word play: 'rules' is Regel, but Regel is also used as a word for menstruation.)




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Belly Button and the Knockwells - demo tape (1988)

Just like the last post, this is strictly mod music. Not a second of ska anywhere on this tape. But don't worry - I am not moving in that direction. I am running out of quality ska music but there is still lots that I haven't posted yet. I have posted some mod stuff in the past. It's allowed.

As I'm sure you know Belly Button and the Knockwells' first actual release was for their ska song "I Left the Army". The B-side of that single is "When She's Around" which appears on this tape but it's a much different version. There are six songs on this demo and "When She's Around" is the only one that was released later.

1 You're a Liar
2 When She's Around
3 Fresh
4 I Want Up
5 How Much I Love You
6 My Babe

"My Babe" is, of course, a cover of the Little Walter classic.

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Surprise Surprise - Anguished Heart 7" (1984)

Surprise Surprise was a mod band from Australia that released three  singles that I know of. This is not ska but I am posting it because I used to have the other two which also were not ska but, for some reason, any time I saw this one for sale anywhere it always labeled it as ska. It was (and still is) relatively common for a mod/power pop band to do an occasional ska song so I was intrigued. Even though I no longer have the other two I broke down and bought this one expecting a ska song. Half of me was disappointed because there is no ska to be found from this band, but the other half of me was okay with it because the A-side is a good mod song.

A - Anguished Heart
B - Walking with a Zombie

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The Champions - Eye To Eye 7" (1984)

A - Eye to Eye
B - Get Away

Female-fronted punk reggae from Australia.


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Nigel Six

Let's Go Crime demo tape (1995)
1 Cloud City
2 Let's Go Crime
3 Rusty Gate
4 Brown Lifeguard
5 Poop
6 Well Said



America's Favorite T.V. Family (1996)
1 Long Vacation
2 Racecar
3 Bus Pass
4 No Women
5 First
6 Push Me (non-album track)


Nigel Six was a punk band with a heavy ska influence from Connecticut. They released a demo tape and then these two recordings. The tape is more ska than the later offering.

Thanks to the Punk Guy YouTube channel who submitted the cassette for our approval. He has tons more punk and ska rarities on his channel.
If you have anything to do today I highly recommend that you DO NOT GO to his YouTube channel. It will hold you captive for a long time. The rest of your day's plans will become secondary.

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Khyber Rifles

I cannot re-post this record because the band has made all four tracks available for download with lots of other songs that were recorded in 1984 and they sound much better than my rip of this record.

Rude Rebel Radio was just released in 2018 and it has 17 original recordings which includes the 4 songs from the EP and all of the songs that were on their old MySpace page.

It's available on CD Baby.


Iguana, if you're reading this, send me a private email. I won't post it on the blog but I can share it privately with friends.


Sunday, December 16, 2018

Real to Real - Tightrope Walkers (1980)

In February 2016 I posted Real to Real's 7" "White Man Reggae" single. I mentioned that Real To Real was a band that included Alan Wilder from Depeche Mode. I said that they only released three singles, but I was wrong. They also released this lone LP. It included every song from their singles except for the B-side from the "White Man Reggae" single "One of These Days". I have included that 7" with this download so everything they ever recorded is in this one file.

Tightrope Walkers 
1 Mr. and Mrs.
2 Wind Up Man
3 The Blue
4 No One Was There
5 White Man Reggae
6 Don't Let Go
7 Not the One
8 The Closer You Get
9 Can't Forget You
10 Tightrope Walkers

White Man Reggae 7"
A - White Man Reggae
B - One of These Days

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Hot Stove Jimmy - Take Your Time (1995)

This is a CD release of their demo tape. They later released two albums. I was going to post them but I think they're still available for sale through Jump Up Records.

1 Shit Not Ska
2 Not Like Him
3 Stop Looking
4 Take Your Time
5 Different Views
6 Twist
7 Usual
8 How it Used to be
9 That Type of Life
10 untitled

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Mr. Safety - The New Revolution Think 7" (1975)

This was ahead of its time.

Jason Conrad was a musician/actor in Britain in the early 70s who witnessed a child being killed by a car. He became an advocate for safety and toured Britain warning children about the dangers of automobiles. He did this through a live stage show and through music.

At one point Frankie Laine (He sang the theme to Rawhide and had a hit with Jezebel but, on  an unrelated personal note, one of my favorite songs is his version of "The Cry of the Wild Goose") invited him to America to do his safety lectures leading to him moving to Florida where he founded the Children's Safety Foundation inc.

Read more about Jason Conrad and the Safety campaign HERE.

The reason I think this is a notable post is because the B-Side sounds like it was an effort to pass this safety message through the ska pop-culture sound that was happening at the time except that it was five years ahead of the time. Listen to "The New Revolution Think". Doesn't it sound like it was pandering to kids who liked Madness? But this was from 4 years before 2Tone.

Like I said, ahead of its time.

A - Little Danny Jones
B - The New Revolution Think

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Re-posts (FINALLY, I KNOW!)

I try to get to these re-posts when I receive them - if I have time. But I never have time. My life now isn't what it was when I started the blog. But I'm not making excuses. I like sharing this incredible music and you actually want to hear it. It's not like back in the days when I used to make actual mix-tapes for friends and they never listened to them.

 Most of you I got back to personally, but I ran out of steam. Here are the ones I didn't message personally.


The Frits - Die Erste (still missing that one track - I'll fix this one day. Give me another ten years.)

Rick Nolov - White Shoes, etc.

The Professionals (only their two ska singles. Maybe someday I'll collect their disco stuff but I have far too many things I want before I get to that)

No Doubt - Live at Mod Expo 1987 (this is on YouTube you know)

Spy Eye (I have re-posted this many times. Where have you been?)

Zero Heroes (I re-posted this many times too but I agree, it needs to be re-posted again)

Hotpoints - Let it Rain (This has never been re-posted since the original post but it should be more noticed.)

Grunwaldt & Bley - Shout it Loud 12" (This is not ska at all but I love this band and I love this song. It was posted on a "Not Quite Ska" post but I'm glad somebody requested it again. This is great music!)





Sunday, November 18, 2018

004 - I Don't Love You 7" (1982)

I believe this is the only release that 004 ("Double-O-Four") put out when they were active. They later released a CD full of studio and live recordings (which was posted on Tone and Wave in 2012 HERE) but neither of the songs on this record were on the compilation.

A - I Don't Love You
B - Brite Lite



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Sunday, November 11, 2018

Sparker [Santa Barbara/Goleta, California]

These guys put out two albums and released a few tracks on compilations. If you ever heard their name it's probably because you have the Ska Parade's first compilation CD which featured Sparker's covers of  The Vapors' "Turning Japanese" and 7 Seconds' "New Wind".
I really think they did good with those two covers but their original songs are even better.

I was at a record convention in Orange County, California many years ago and one of the vendors pushed one of theses records on me and said that it was his nephew's band. The record sounded terrible, like it was cut badly. Very raw and hard to listen to. But that's how these guys did it.They released two 12"s in a plain sleeve with a long-form 14" 'legal' paper copies glued folded around the record sleeve. Very DIY. Very 'punk'. And, yet, the music is not really punk at all. Just guitar, bass, and drums, and some light keyboard playing ska. Every song is ska. No distorted guitars. No punk songs. No funny novelty songs. Just ska.

They recorded three songs for a compilation called "Reality Control" which were as good, if not better, than the songs on the records.

Sparker - Sparker (1993)
1 Scrap
2 Ed
3 Traffic
4 Grovel
5 Turning Japanese (Vapors cover) / New Wind (7 Seconds cover)
6 Holiday
7 Grandma
8 Mommy
9 Nightstick
10 Wipe

Hear the song "Ed"

Sparker - The Ultimate Race to Control Time and Space (1995)
1 Belt
2 Stomp
3 Toys
4 Sniper
5 (There's a Prowler in My) House
6 Eye-Balls
7 Garbage
8 Sweep
9 Splinter

Hear the song "Belt"

Songs from the Reality Control (1996) compilation.
1 January
2 Tattoo
3 Igor's Theme

Hear "Igor's Theme"

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Monday, November 5, 2018

Pinhead - You Don't Like Me, Do Ya? (1982)

This band was from Burlington, Vermont. The band was an outlet for artist Dug Nap.

The band's sound should appeal to fans of Talking Heads and they have just a tiny splash of Boingo.

There are two or three ska-influenced tracks on this record. One of which "Where are You?" was re-recorded for an EP of the same name that was released a year later. That record also included a re-recording of the song "Citizen" but was titled "Be a good Citizen" on the second release.

Pinhead - You Don't Like Me, Do Ya? (1982)
1 Almost Human
2 Back to the Womb
3 Where are You?
4 Little Rocker
5 Citizen
6 You Don't Like Me, Do Ya?
7 Stealing Your Wife.


Listen to "Stealing Your Wife"


Pinhead - Where You? (1983)
1 Where are You?
2 Don't Dance
3 Nature
4 Here Come the Mutants
5 Subway
6 Be a Good Citizen



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Sunday, October 28, 2018

Duck Duck - Sticky's Children (1992)

I'm not certain but I think these guys were from Massachusetts. They recorded lots of songs that they used to dub to blank tapes so it's hard to say how many songs they actually recorded. They played different styles of music and put on a great live show.

This might be their only "official" release but it's really more of a compilation of songs recorded between 1989 and 1992. There's even a track from 1988 from a previous incarnation of the band when they were called The Toast'Em Boys.

Ska purists will probably not like most of the CD but it is extremely rare and fans who saw them live back in the days will love this post.



 1 Lost
2 Crazy
3 She's Got the Knife Again
4 Spiderico
5 Armies of the Duck
6 Dog
7 Penguin
8 Suckafish
9 Is a Duck a Duck?
10 There's a Big Giant Thing in My Yard
11 Toast 'Em Bride

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Sunday, October 21, 2018

Loose Ties - Loose Ties 12" (1985)

This was a band from Massachusetts that played in Boston quite a bit.

I'll be totally honest here. I don't like this record very much. I really try to avoid saying anything negative about a band on this blog but look...

The first two or three songs are great. "Last Time" is a cover of the Rolling Stones song and it wasn't done in a ska style, but was done exactly as the Beat (English Beat) would have done it. The second song is a ska song and I love it. The third song is pretty decent.

If these three songs were released as a 45 or as a 12" I would say this is an impressive release.
These are the 3 songs on the A-side.

But, then, we have the B-side.

I don't care for any of the songs on the B-side. In fact some of the songs skip and I don't care enough to re-rip them.

A-side - great record.

B-side - pointless crap.



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Sunday, October 14, 2018

Monkey - demo tape (1996)

1 Julie's Fire
2 Bomb
3 Rude Forever
4 Cha Cha Ska


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Leisure Research - Discontent 7" (1984)

Extremely rare British ska.

A - Discontent
B - Reasons

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Skatterbrains - Buckwheat Road (1992)

I posted this Canadian band's first album which was a cassette only release HERE and I really thought it was a notable ska release. I wondered if this band ever released anything else and some astute folks pointed me in the direction of this CD which was released a year after their great ska cassette. I have to say I like the cassette much more than I like this. There is some ska here, but not much.

1 Uptight
2 Soundcheck-1
3 Unity
4 R&B
5 Watch Out
6 Soundcheck-2
7 Humility
8 Night on the Town
9 Best of Intentions
10 Doctor in the House
11 Soundcheck-3
12 Yeh, Yeh, Yeh
13 Don't Save My Soul
14 Soundcheck-4
15 Bible Thumpers
16 Serve and Protect
17 Soundcheck-5

This download includes the cassette for those of you who don't have it yet so you can compare and see how badly a 'ska' band go ruin themselves.


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Sweeties - Midnight Affair 7" (1980) [REPOST]

A - Midnight Affair
B - Moskow Train





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Monday, October 8, 2018

The Cousins - Sneakers 7" (1984)

This band was from Philadelphia and I don't know anything else. My scanner isn't working so I stole these scans off Discogs. I thank whoever uploaded them to Discogs.

A - Sneakers
B - Puppeteer 

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