T&W Rare 80s ska "mixtape"

I didn't have anything prepared so I just went and threw this crap together. Some good stuff on here and a whole lot of shit. Very few, if any, of these tracks have ever been posted on the blog before.

Side 1
1 Fabulous Poodles - Toytown people
2 Dolly Dots - Ragged Nights
3 Roaring Jelly - Beethoven Bluebeat
4 Take Me - Laughing Inside
5 Chairman Youth - Uncertainty
6 Big Bill - Tes Ka
7 Tempo - Not for a Million
8 Keeper - Where is He Now?
9 004 - Too Much to Do
10 Sedans - Rhythm of the Nation
11 TV Neats - Was I Dreaming Again?
12 The Bogey Boys - Gunslinger


Side 2
1 The Monotones - Edison
2 Bouncing Soles - Dangerzone
3 Talk Back - Rudy
4 The Positions - Get Up
5 Penknife Glides - Taking the Weight Off
6 Les Gangsters - Therese
7 Moira & the Mice - Heart Like a Whore
8 Split Enz - My Mistake
9 Tempo - Stay Clean
10 Timelordes - Don't Mess (With Joh)
11 Damage - Jailhouse Ska
12 Willem OP Schepper - De Tien Geboden

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Potato 5 - Live at the Town and Country, London 9 Sept. 1989 (cassette)

1 Shuttle Disaster
2 Spit + Pollish
3 Stop That Train
4 Harvest in the East
5 Hi Jacked
6 Western Special
7 Got to Go
8 Sally Brown
9 Dial M for Murder
10 Sahara
11 Shocker's Rock
12 Never Take the Place of Your Man

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Not Quite Ska - part 2

 Some more records (and cassette) I bought thinking they were ska.

First is Prudence Dredge. A straightforward rock-n-roll band from Seattle who named themselves after a children's book about potty training. At one point Craig Ferguson played bass for them.

Unrelated to this post Craig Ferguson was also a drummer for a punk band called The Dreamboys in which Peter Capaldi was the front man. Craig Ferguson had Peter Capaldi on his show and Peter mentioned the band and said they were terrible.
They released one 3-song single including a cover of Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead"but Craig Ferguson did not play on the recordings:



Prudence Dredge had a sax player and a trombone player and they released two albums and two singles. Not a ska beat anywhere in their recordings and, yet, they are often sold as ska just because they have horns.

Don't Stomp Away 7" (1985)

Big Ellen (1986)

Detroit Rock City 7" (1987)

Special Shovel (1989)

DOWNLOAD "DON'T STOMP AWAY" & "BIG ELLEN"


DOWNLOAD "DETROIT ROCK CITY" & "SPECIAL SHOVEL"


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Among The Donkeys - Love Bed 7" (1984)

 This was sold on eBay as a ska record. It's 80s pop-rock with prominent saxophone with no semblance of ska at all but it's pretty good and it only cost me 3 dollars. The band was Swedish and I don't know of any other recordings they ever did.

DOWNLOAD

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Buffer Zone - Buffer Zone (1990)

I'm assuming this is a demo tape. I can't find anything at all about the band (but I honestly didn't look hard at all). This was also sold on eBay as "ska". The band does have a horn section and they give thanks to Jah in the liner notes but that's about where it ends. This is one of those long-hair funk/metal bands that were popular around the early 90s. I'm not really a big fan of that sound so I was quite disappointed with this purchase. If nothing else, it is rare.

1 Oatmeal Days
2 Sick
3 Realities
4 I Explore the Soul
5 Slave to Cool
6 Hitchiking to Heaven
7 Pagan Prayer
8 You Gotta be Strong

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Diversion Factor

Diversion Factor - Information 7" (1987)
A - Information
B - Going Home

Diversion Factor - Scenario 6 (1987)
1 Quick Fix
2 Scenario 6
3 Animal Friction
4 Break Down
5 Better Life
6 Heartbeat
7 Come With Me

Diversion Factor - Sold Away 7" (1988)
A - Sold Away
B - Reflexive

Discogs had all three of these records labeled as 'ska' but the only ska song is "Better Life" from Scenario 6. They were actually described as sounding like The Animals more than anything else.

DOWNLOAD ALL THREE DIVERSION FACTOR RECORDS


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Les Leopards - Hula Hoop Oup 7" (1981)

A - Hula Hoop Oup
B - Agent Secret

This is a French band that I know nothing about. This single may be the only thing they released and I was after this record for many years because it was always called 'ska' but guess what?

DOWNLOAD LES LEOPARDS

Spy Eye [REPOST]

Unicorn Records classic. In 1994 it was released on cd as a split with Mr. Review's Walkin' Down Brentford Road but the last song "Everything Crash" was not included. This is the vinyl version with all 10 tracks.

1 VC 10
2 Neither Red/Black Nor Racist
3 Look Smart
4 Shake it Up
5 A Message to You Rudy
6 The Things I Feel
7 Phantoms
8 Morange
9 Reminds Me of Cairo
10 Everything Crash


This is the only album they released but they did record a demo in 1989 called "Have a Good Ska Stomping" that had 6 tracks:

1 Brand New Beat
2 Rude Boys
3 Me and My Shadow
4  These Boots are Made for Walkin'
5 Reminds Me of Cairo
6 I Hate You

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM AND THE DEMO TAPE

Jamaican Survivers

Attack of the Maffia (1979)
1 Attack of the Maffia
2 Love Song for Dillinger
3 Jesse James on the Road
4 The Killer in Action
5 Demons in Chicago
6 The Night of Capone
7 Murders Party
8 Action in Chinatown
9 Death of the Traitor
10 Ballad for Elliott Ness
11 Dance of the Syndicate
12 Daysy's Theme

DOWNLOAD FROM MEGA

DOWNLOAD FROM ZIPPYSHARE

Jamaican Survivers LP (1980) - this was previously posted - same rip
1 Dark Side of Hong Kong
2 Baby Face Nelson
3 Attack of the FBI
4 Buggy's Theme
5 Murders of Chicago
6 Dillinger is Back in Town
7 The Vendetta
8 Chicago Stomp
9 Theme from The Gamblers
10 Stoned in Bangla Desh

DOWNLOAD FROM MEGA

DOWNLOAD FROM ZIPPYSHARE


Jamaican Survivers singles:

DOWNLOAD ALL 7 SINGLES FROM MEGA

DOWNLOAD ALL 7 SINGLES FROM ZIPPYSHARE

va Honey for Tea - A Collection of Cambridge Bands (1982)

This is not a ska record but I'm posting this for several reasons...

First, it's rare. Second, there are a few songs on here that have a ska influence. I included the Hondo song on the Hondo post.
Third, I don't really have anything else prepared but I feel a need to make a post.

1 The Great Divide - Elements and Innocence
2 The Lonely - The Hurt
3 Your Dinner - Worthwhile Work in a Pleasant Atmosphere
4 Sindy and the Action Men - You're So Lucky
5 Pure Thought - Caught in the Middle
6 The Agents - Walking on Water
7 The Amyl Dukes - Universe
8 The Rapiers - Blaze of Glory
9 Hondo - Party
10 Su Lyn Band - Feels Like Magic
11 Seven Fifty-Four - Civilized World
12 The Innocent Bystanders - In Love With Emotion

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Does anybody have this...?

Skavoovie and the Epitones - An Evening with Skavoovie (1994)

Cassette-only demo.

1 Mint Julep
2 One Eyed Giant
3 Batman
4 She Sure Can Cook
5 Sonic Boom
6 Solomon Gundey
7 Nut Monkey
8 Hi-Ball

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Tenement Dance - Wild West 7" (1984)

This is an ultra-rare one-off single by this Australian band.

A - Wild West
B - Had My Chance

The cover shows "Wild West" as the A-side but the record itself has it as the B-side. Maybe they changed their minds at the last moment as to which song was supposed to be the driving force of this release. Both are good ska songs with a proper Australian flavor but Wild West has more of a novelty factor. 

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Nutty Skanker - Who am I? (1994)

This is the first album from this energetic French band. It was a cassette-only release. Their second album was released on CD. It's called Definitely Rude and it's as hard to find as this cassette is. I don't have the CD yet and, let me tell you, I've been looking. If you have it, please, be a pal...

1 Jumbo Jet
2 All Right
3 Who am I?
4 Les Cadavres
5 Monsterska
6 Nebraska
7 Quadrophenia
8 Bonehead
9 Dogs of War
10 No Time to Lose
11 Chicken Pie
12 L'homme qui Rit



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Positive Craze - Pretty Body 7" (1983)

The Positive Craze was a band from Philadelphia and I don't know much about them. I don't think they ever released anything. In fact, this single was never actually released.

Enjoy.

A - Pretty Body
B - Settle Down

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Delaney Venn - Neon Heart LP (1980)

Delaney Venn was an Australian duo comprised of Michael Delaney and Chris Venn but the band was rounded out by Paul Wheeler (ex Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Band Of Talabene, MacKenzie Theory) bass, Chris Raggett (ex Matt Finish) guitar and Tony Doyle on drums.

They were relatively successful but their entire catalog is represented in this one release. They did have three singles but all a and b sides are on this album.  There are 10 new wave/rock songs on the album and about half of them have a ska/reggae influence. The album and the singles are hard to find and they are usually pretty pricey if you do find them. You may not love these tunes on first listen but you have to appreciate that they were from 1979-1980 in Australia. The British ska scene hadn't really hit hard yet at that time. These guys were pioneers.

After the success of this record the duo was invited to pose for a womens' magazine called Cleo. I'm not going to post the picture here but you can see it on their Facebook if you are so inclined.

Delaney was a writer who was working for different magazines before he was killed in a car accident in 1982.


1 Lucky Number
2 White Reggae
3 Fix it Up
4 Shake of the Hoodoo
5 Cub Dub
6 Young Lion
7 No Expectations
8 Prisoner
9 Tumblin' Down
10 Breaking Your Own Heart



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United Balls - One for the Money, One for the Soul 7" (1988)

A - One for the Money, One for the Soul
B - Hot and Horny

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Beau Weevil - Wooly Bully 7" (1982)

A - Wooly Bully
B - 'Cause it Feels Good

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*Let it be known that I am still very much against ska cover versions of "Wooly Bully". Nobody ever gets the lyrics right (this one comes the closest) and nothing compares to the original Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs version. If you want to play it live, then by all means. It is a fun song to hear live. But stop recording it. Especially as an a-side.


Oh, and I don't have a cover for this so I respectfully stole this from 45 Cat which also has another picture sleeve that I have never seen for this record. I included it in the download.

The Hoodlums - Unreleased LP (1985)

The Hoodlums were a laid back ska band from Eugene Oregon... and they never actually released anything. They recorded seven songs in the studio that were intended to be for an LP but the band broke up before it was finished.

Thanks to the blog Panic on the 13th we can hear not only the seven studio songs but twelve live tracks from a show the band did at the EMU Ballroom in 1984.

1 This is Your Life
2 This Person
3 Through My Eyes
4 Follow Your Heart
5 You and I
6 My Chiquita
7 My Beach

8 You and I
9 This Person
10 My Chiquita
11 Wouldn't You Like to Talk?
12 Follow Your Heart (part I)
13 Follow Your Heart (part II)
14 Find My Heaven
15 Through My Eyes
16 Hold Them High
17 Talk to Me
18 What Are You
19 Five Characters
20 I'm Laying Down

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Elite - You Don't Care About I (1983)

I say this a lot but this is one of those great singles from the 2 Tone era that really should be more well known. It was more popular in its day than a lot of the stuff I post but it has been all but completely forgotten. There are plenty of copies available and it usually goes for cheap but I can't find any evidence that it's ever been made available on line.


A - You Don't Care About I
B - Silly Grin

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Soul Rebels - Soul Rebel 7" (1980)

A - Soul Rebel
B - Plain Truth

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Kelvin B. - IBM Skankin' 7" (1982)

A - IBM Skankin'
B - Crooks Celebration Ball

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Requests and Re-ups

Amazulu - Too Good to be Forgotten 12"

Porkers - Tired of Being Pork Hunts

Spy Kids 1991 demo tape

No Sports - King Ska

No Sports - Stay Rude Stay Rebel 

Checkered Cabs

N-E-1 - So We Go

The Employees - Pick it Up

I can no longer offer Artur Kay's music for download on this blog. 

King Apparatus - Loud Party (1989)

I'm sure you guys already know this is Chris Murray's band. There were two albums later released on CD but this is the first release. It was cassette-only recorded in 1988-1989.

1 Made for TV
2 Hangin' On
3 Five Good Dub
4 Dancing Fools
5 Fire (Springsteen cover)
6 Five Good Reasons

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