The Plugs - Last of the Boiler Boys (1982)

 This is not an actual album. The Plugs never released an album. This is a collection of odds and ends. Mostly home recordings for songs they played live but never got to record in a studio.

 They hand made this tape for their fans and they sold it at their last show. 

I was holding off on posting this because I wanted to include both of their singles and a live tape which includes a compilation track (which is not ska) but I didn't have time today to work on a post so I just decided to put this out. It's very rare but a little hard to listen to because of the sound quality. The other stuff I have by them is even more rare but even more hard to listen to. I will post the other stuff at a later date. Sorry for the inconvenience.

1 We are Plumbers

2 Chips and Beer

3 Berserkers in Babylon 

4 Pluggage

5 My Bicycle

6 Interval

7 Why is Life so Complicated

8 B. Brain

9 In My Oriental Garden

10 Oh Dear!

DOWNLOAD

 

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Mistakes - Demo (1998)

 

This is not my own rip. I thank the original uploader.

1 Make No Mistake

2 Wake Up

3 Love Seals Destiny

4 Gold Digger

5 Nice 'N' Easy

6 Looking for a Way

 

DOWNLOAD

 

I made a post in 2019 with everything else I had by them. I'm still missing the other demo tape. If you need me to re-up the other releases let me know. 

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Crucial DBC - Haunted World (1988)

1 Spy Version#

2 Hold On

3 Oppression

4 I Don't Understand

5 Who's Lovin You?

6 King Darry's Rude Boy Rap*

7 Wicked*

8 Right for My Heart

9 Ipso Es Victium

10 Haunted World

 

# I'm guessing these tracks are not in order of how they were played. At the end of the first track Spy Version he says "Thank you! Good night!" like it was the end of the show. I didn't re-arrange anything, I left it as it is on the tape. 

*The song King Darry's Rude Boy Rap flows directly into the song Wicked. I tried separating them but without any real line of demarcation it sounded terrible so I left it as one single track. There are ten songs on this tape but you'll see only nine in the download.  

 

DOWNLOAD

 

Riot [France] - Riot (1993)

 

 I know nothing about this band. The tape says it's live but it doesn't really sound like a live recording and there is no audience noise.

Male and female vocals sung in English and French.

1 Sally Brown

2 Les Milchiens

3 Destroy Fascism

4 Mister Pile

5 Riot

 

toneandwave · 04 Mister Pile

 

DOWNLOAD

 

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The Jinkies - Nine-Piece Nug Combo (1996)

 Another great gift to us from Marcel from the Punk Guy YouTube Channel.

Thank you Marcel!

 

1 Scooby Doo

2 Mixed Messages

3 Darlin'

4 Groovy Doo

5 Last Night

6 No Exit

7 Road Trip

8 Studio J

9 Give it Up 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Beatbusters - "Wanted" Dead or Alive (1992)

1 It's Gonna Get You

2 Saxica

3 The Popular Man

4 Ska-Fire

5 Inspiration 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Nu-Hu - War Games (demo tape 1986)

 It seems that there was a reggae band in Cleveland, Ohio in the 80s called Kaya. I know nothing about this band and I can't find anything online about them. But I do know their lead singer Max Nuhu went solo and released one record in 1987. The song "Let Me Be the One" was the A-Side and "Give It Up" was on the B-side. It is highly sought after and I have never found a copy in my life. Thankfully somebody posted the A-side on YouTube. 

He even had T-shirts.

 A few years ago I had incredible stroke of luck while searching for this record and I found a demo tape. It includes both songs from the record with many other songs I didn't know existed. 

Here's the full "War Games" demo tape by Max Nu-Hu with the re-recorded version of "Let Me be the One" from the record and a re-recorded version of the song "War Games" that would have been the title track of the album if he ever released an album, plus another song he recorded later called "Third World Woman".

 Max Nuhu passed away in Jamaica in December 2020. 

 

1 Blood Money

2 Retribution

3 Give it Up

4 Give it Up Version 2

5 Let Me be the One

6 Ezy Come

7 Go Getta

8 Island Summer*

9  War Games

10 Bubbla

* Let Me be the One 7" version

* War Games 

* Third World Woman

 

DOWNLOAD 

 

* (The song Island Summer is very low quality. The quality of that song is much different than the other songs on the tape. I tried multiple times to get a good rendition of it but this is the best I can do). 

 

Rudeness Empire - demo tape (1995)

 All three songs on this tape were on the CD but all three are different mixes. The vocals are the exact same but there are variations in the placement of the vocals. Some "chickitup-pickitup" are moved to different bars and in the song "Vampire" the scream isn't there and, instead, there is simply the word "vampire". I don't know which version I like best.

Some sound effects that are on the CD are absent on this recording so, even though the recordings are the same for all three songs these are unique versions not found anywhere else. 

1 Vampire

2 Skaville Express

3 June 

DOWNLOAD

 

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I Fratelli di Soledad - S/T demo tape (1990)

 1. Brescia Bologna Ustica

2. La Sigaretta

3. Io Non Ballo (Sono Un Duro)

4.  Circoli Viziosi

5. Quello Che Puoi

 

DOWNLOAD

Archita - Rude Boy (1996)

 This is Archita's demo tape. 

They had two other recordings. SEE HERE for details.

 1 Intro

2 Skasso

3 Mr. Skazz

4 P.G.R. '96

5 Babylon Style

6 Luglio 

DOWNLOAD

 

I am not happy with how this tape sounds. It's very low sounding. The bass sounds great but the rest of the music suffers because of it.

I think I might have to re-rip it with modified settings. 

Skoidats - non-album tracks

 

 

This is a re-post deluxe. I got a request to re-post the two demo tapes so, instead of just posting the two demo tapes, I also included a live recording and a collection of songs recorded at practice sessions that were never recorded in a studio. 

DOWNLOAD

 

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The Fabulous Bowler Boys - Word * Sound * Power (1994)

 Ska band from Texas who only ever released this tape.

(Posted by request)

1  Man on the Scene

2 The Upsetter

3 Jimmy Hate

4 Waiting Game

5 From Cairo with Love

6 Sally Brown

 

DOWNLOAD

 

The Amateurs - Ganja Man is Coming to Town (1992)

 

This was a reggae band from Raleigh, North Carolina and from what I have gleaned from the comments on YouTube this song got some radio play and was considered a Christmas classic by some.

1 Ganja Man is coming to town

2 Look at the People

 

 

 

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The Lidds - A Ska Outfit (1995)

 The Lidds was a ska band from Philadelphia who were known for not rehearsing in private but every rehearsal they had was open to an audience. Every show they performed was basically a band rehearsal. More bands need to do this. 

When I was younger some of the best shows I have ever seen were band rehearsals when the band invited people to watch them rehearse and it always started out for the first hour or so as a serious band rehearsal but morphed into a party a couple hours later. 

Ah...the good ol' days. 

 This tape is a live recording. I don't think they ever recorded in a studio. This recording is available on Bandcamp but it's not complete. This download here is for the complete tape including "Rudi, a Message to You" and "Rat Race" which are not on the Bandcamp version. "Rudi..." is a cover song but, surprisingly, "Rat Race" is not.

1 Liberty

2 Revenge

3 Dumb Stormtrooper

4 Me with You

5 Roadkill Restaurant

6 Funky Smell

7 Rudi, A Message to You

8 Character

9 Attitude

10 I Wanted it All

11 San Francisco

12 Rio

13 There for Me

14 Rat Race 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Verska-Vis - Danse L'Espace (1992)

 

1 Go Out Anymore

2 Do the Dog

3 Qu'est-ce Qui ne Tourne pas Rond Chez Moi?

4 Give Her

5 Time Hard

6 Get Crazy

7 A Message to You Rudy

8 Cure the Redeem 

 

DOWNLOAD 

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

 This re-up post is by request. I originally posted this in 2017 and I assure you the post was from my own rip of the tape.

When I saw that somebody requested this I went looking through my old stuff and I could not find it. I sold the original tape years ago but I was certain I kept the MP3s and the scans. Well, not certain, but pretty sure. But I couldn't find it anywhere. Luckily I found this version on Soulseek. It was originally WAV files and I converted them to MP3 and I think it sounds pretty good. I don't remember what my old rip sounds like so I don't know if this is a better version or worse or exactly the same. But it seems it's the only copy I have and I am lucky to have it and to be able to share it so I thank the anonymous person who took the time to do their own rip and share it with us. 

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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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.

Ruskabank

 This was a ska band from Manhattan, Kansas who released two albums in the 90s. This download includes what I believe to be everything they ever released.

Ruskabank - Swank! (live demo cassette 1996)

1 Hothead

2 Hectic

3 Been Around

4 One Shot Judy

5 Ruskabank

 

 Ruskabank -  This Took Some Time (1998)

1 We Dancin'

2 Feel

3 My Friends

4 Gangster Girlfriend

5 Ruskabank

6 Hothead

7 Try n' Try

8 I Been Around

9 Tube Socks

10 One Shot Judy

11 Ska on da Radio

12 Mission

13 Sultan of Scandal

14 Wishing Well

Ruskabank - I Don't Think You Hear Me, Though (2000)

1 Cheer Up

2 I Don't Think You Hear Me, Though

3 Give it Up

4 Lover's Sea

5 Hectic

6 Wish I Would Have Kissed You

7 Wrong Again

8 Speedy Gonzales

9 Strugglin'

10 All My Fans Are Dead

They had several songs on compilations but most of those songs were on their albums. 

They did have two songs unique to those compilations that were not available anywhere else:

* How I Spent My Summer Vacation

* In a Very Bad Place (live)

Both of these songs are included in the download.

DOWNLOAD

Arpioni - demos

 

Arpioni - Demo tape (1992)

1 Noi Vogliamo un Altro Mondo

2 Il Paese Dei Balocchi

3 BG Shot

4 Mind the Gap

5 Piu Rudi di Babylon

6 Quanto Tempo Ancora

7 Stop That Train

8 Police and Thieves

9 Hooker Riddim

Arpioni - Demo CD (1994)

1 Crisi

2 Non Me Lo Succhi Piu

3 Cambia Canale

4 Noi Vogliamo un Altro Mondo

5 Sorvolando

6 Mind the Gap

DOWNLOAD

The Brownies - Four Songs For The Mon (1992)

 This is the demo tape from the California band The Brownies.

I have posted this several months ago on my Facebook but this is for those who missed it.  

1 Total Hardcore Ska

2 Listen to the Jammin'

3 Pop Goes the Weasel

4 Why Can't I?

DOWNLOAD