Friday, September 22, 2023

Do you know who this is? - a ska mystery [UPDATE - October 15, 2023]

 I have about ten ska demo tapes without any covers or labels or any kind of markings at all. I don't know who the band is, what year the tape is from, or even where the band is from.

Earlier today I listened to some of these tapes and this one here stood out. 

Every song is great. The voice sounds a little familiar but I can't place it exactly. This is 90s style 2-Tone inspired ska with female vocals played very fast. The last song is the A-Team theme song so that should give us a starting point but I have Googled this (or "done my research" as some might say) but I can't find anything about this tape. 

There are four tracks of female-fronted ska from either the 80s, 90s, or early 2000s and they could be from any country. All lyrics are in English if that helps

1 - ?

2 - ?

3 - ?

4 - ? (The A-Team Theme Song)

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

UPDATE - I found an old folder with this tape that I had ripped previously and I have titles. I have searched these online to no avail. Do any of these titles sound familiar? Especially that first one? You would think that title would stand out. 

1 Britishlessness

2 Er Uit

3 Mr. P.C.

4 A-Team

 

I thought her accent sounded Dutch and the title "Er Uit - "Get Out!" "Get outta here with that shit" -or- "Go on with your bad self" is a Dutch expression. 

When I first said her voice sounded familiar I was thinking of Rebelation but now I'm reconsidering.  

...

Director's Cut - Director's Cut (2007)

 

1 Lady LaLaLa

2 Save di Girl Dem

3 Peter Di Irator

4 Director's Cut

5 Cafe International

6 Dance Instructor

7 Liquid Sunshine


DOWNLOAD from MEGA


DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain


...

Screwtape - Through the Roof (1998)

 Real ska-punk - not pop-punk - from this band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

1 Dropout

2 Supermodel

3 Shut Up

4 Narcoleptic

5 Vogue

6 Annie

7 Lizzy

 

DOWNLOAD from MEGA


DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain


Monday, September 4, 2023

Checkmate - Demo tape (1993)

 Checkmate - Demo Tape (1993) (this date is speculative)

1 Mr. Moustache

2 Inferno

3 Rosarita (live)

4 21 and Over (live)


Checkmate - It's Called Ska! (1993)

1 Gustavo

2 What's the Matter

3 Mr. Moustache

4 Clownin' Around

5 Sneakers

6 Perfidia

7 21 and Over

8 Cafe' Cat

9 Jason's Afro

10 Sunday Girl


Checkmate had many songs on compilations and they released the album called "Revelations" that's available on Bandcamp. 

Every song they had on compilations was included on Revelations with the exception of one song "Women's Penitentiary" (also known as "Women's Penn") but I have included that song with this download.

I don't know if the Revelations album and everything in this download is everything they released as a band but it's all I have and everything I know about. If you know of any other releases please let me know. Gracias. 


DOWNLOAD from MEGA


DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain


...and, of course, I respectively stole the "It's Called Ska!" tape from THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL. I don't have a copy of this tape and, even if I did, I don't think my copy would sound this good. 

Much thanks to Jason Bolton - whoever you are!



Sunday, September 3, 2023

va Ska Trax

 Ska Trax - The Next Generation part 1 (1994)


 DOWNLOAD Part 1 from MEGA*

DOWNLOAD Part 1 From PIXELDRAIN*




Ska Trax - The Next Generation part 2 (1995)

Ska Trax - The Next Generation part 3 (1996)


 

DOWNLOAD Parts 2 & 3 from MEGA

DOWNLOAD Parts 2 & 3 from PIXELDRAIN

 

 

* I posted part 1 a couple years ago. This is the same rip and scans from back then. If you already have it you don't need to download this one. 

I have never posted parts 2 & 3 on the blog before. 

 

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Empty Hours fanzines

 Do you remember the band M.S.Q.  from Skankin' 'Round the World volume 3 from 1989? Did you ever wonder what M.S.Q. stood for? 

So did I. 

Now I know it stands for. It's Mabel Stringer Quartet. I would not have known that if our friend and long-time Tone and Wave contributor Rikard hadn't've sent us a couple of issues of an old fanzines called Empty Hours. These issues are numbers 23 and 24 and they are a veritable treasure trove of ska knowledge that cannot be found on the internet. I can only imagine what's in the first 22 issues. 

 Googling something for 5 minutes should never be called "research". Reading every page of old ska fanzines is actual research.

 

DOWNLOAD from MEGA


DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

There is no music in this post - only knowledge. A million thanks to Rikard and, just so everybody knows, Rikard has sent me a lot of old fanzines and I intend to post them all at some point. This blog will end at the end of this year but I will find some way of putting them out there. I'm thinking the Internet Archive but I'm open to suggestions.

Not Scrib'd (which is pronounced "scribed" - short for "transcribed" not "skrib id" which is how most people pronounce it.) .   

Friday, September 1, 2023

Ska Vendors - I Don't Want You to Go (2008)

 1 I Don't Want You to Go

2 What Will You Do?

3 Song for Roland

4 Happy Man

5 Work in Progress

6 Rocksteady Girl

7 Hard Hearted Woman

8 Tumble Down

 

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain