va Pick It Up (2005)

 This is a short compilation of bands from Holland and the surrounding area.

It's rare that I can listen to a ska compilation all the way through without having to skip a track but this is one of those rarities. There are only nine songs here. There could have been 20 but then we might have had to skip a few. This way there is only the best songs from great bands with no filler.

In my opinion the song by Zwit is the top track.

Zwit has been playing since 1984 but it's really hard to find their music anywhere. I have a small collection of songs by them, most of which are live. If this band ever did any studio recordings please let me know. I would love to hear more of them.  

1 Stenchtown - Sail On

2 Ska-D-Lite - Skaramanga

3 Skapiche?! - Ska D-H-D

4 De Groeten van Henk en Bep - Lone Ranger

5 Ollie Q. & The Deep Six - Waking Up Dead 

6 Splendid - Straight Up

7 2nd Hand Sneakers - One Night Stand

8 Zwit - Lock You Up

9  Mensergerjen!et - Laat Maar

 

DOWNLOAD

 

...

2nd Hand Sneakers / Son of Blob

 2nd Hand Sneakers - demo tape (2003)

1 One Night Stand

2 Nica's Dream

3 I'd Rather Stay In

4 Youth 

2nd Hand Sneakers was formed immediately after Son Of Blob broke up in 2003. This is possibly their only recording.

Let's take this back a bit. Son Of Blob was a Dutch ska band that formed in the mid 90s. They played De Melkweg in Amsterdam alongside bands like  Catchup Squad, Venus Hill and De Hardheid and shared the stage with The Slackers, The Toasters and The Selecter.

The known Son Of Blob line-up was:

Skippy - vocals
Michiel Leeuwenburgh - bass
Maurice Bierhuizen - guitar
Kris van der Heyden - drums
Hessel van der Flier - keyboard
Jeroen Mullié - trombone, trumpet
Lodewijk Reijs - alto sax, baritone sax

 

Son Of Blob had a music video for their most well-known song Rode Fiets (Red Bicycle) but the drummer in the video was  called Ron and he was one of the founding members of The Upsessions.

Some of you may remember a post I did in September 2023 about a blank cassette I had and I didn't know who the band was.

 As it turns out it was a demo tape by Son of Blob that they recorded after their new singer Nena joined the band. I thank aboynamedstew for steering me in the right direction which eventually solved this mystery.

I don't know what happened to their iconic lead man Skippy but it seems like people were used to the original lineup with Skippy at the helm and Nina was a hard sell. I don't know for sure that's what the situation was but that's my observations as an American 20 years after the fact.

Nina was the vocalist for the demo tape as well as for their only full-length. 

The band didn't break up after that, they just changed their name to 2nd Hand Sneakers with the intention of changing their sound to incorporate more mellow reggae sounds as well as aiming for a pop sound.

This post includes the 2nd Hand Sneakers demo as well as everything I have by Son Of Blob which is not complete. 

I do not have their full length The Hippest Cats in Skaville (2001)

 

I also don't have their "Venus" 7" 

 

 Here's what I do have:

 

 

 Son Of Blob - S/T cassette (1997)

1 Rode Fiets

2 Lady Marianne

3 Mighty Spliff

4 Tweedle Kans

 

 

 Son Of Blob - Rode Fiets 7" (1998)

1 Rode Fiets

2 Make Me Feel

3 Penetration*

4 Fantast 

Son Of Blob - Skagiddyboogiddy (1999)

1 Britishlessness

2 Er Uit

3 Mr. PC

4 A-Team

 

Also included is a live song called "Het Strand" (The Beach) which was recorded on the same night that the first demo tape was recorded but it was not included on the tape.

 DOWNLOAD the three Son Of Blob recordings and the 2ndHand Sneakers tape

 

 

* The song Penetration is a cover of "Penetration" by the first American skinhead band The Pyramids.

They were skinheads before skinheads were a thing.