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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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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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
Skaparàpid
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.