The Liquidators [U.K.] - Prepare to be Ska'd (2002)

 

This is not The Liquidators that you know of. Not the California band or the French band. This band was from the U.K. - probably from Devon or the surrounding area. 

They performed with Neville Staples and The Selecter and had offers to open for Bad Manners, The Beat, and The Skatalites. They might have actually opened for those bands but there's little to go on to know for sure.

The band played a mix of covers and originals. This 4-track recording demonstrates a bit of both. 

The band was (in order on the photo):

Lee Shepherd - guitar

Steve Thorne - vocals

Giles Isaac - bass

Mark Robinson - drums

and the band even played with trumpet player Major Chris Willis from the band Too Hot but this recording has no horns. 

This incredible post is thanks to Rikard who recently sent this to me. I haven't posted anything in the last couple of weeks due to an excessive work schedule but this was so good I had to find time to get back to the blog for a few minutes. 

Thank you Rikard!

 

1 Rude Boys Bar

2 Gangsters

3 I can't Sleep

4 Liquid Dance

 

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50% Potato - demo (2007)

 I can't remember if I got this from a demo tape or if it came from a MySpace page. Either way this band is incredible. I don't know if they ever released anything else but I hoping they did. 

If you know anything more about this band please let me know.

 

Here's what I know

They were from Thetford 

The guitarist/vocalist was Toby Mayes

Bass - Lewis Wilkins

Drums/back-up vocals - Daniel Adcock

Keyboard - Josh O'Farrell

Saxophone - Lois Braysher

 That's all I got.

 

1 Liquid Jelley Moon

2 Ghost Train

3 Pay Hommage to Hummus

4 Money

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The Usuals - Non-Album Tracks (2026)

 

 

This is a Tone and Wave exclusive. I compiled their tracks from compilations and singles a few years ago and I shared my collection of 8 songs on a Facebook forum but if you were one of the lucky few who downloaded it, you might still want this one. It's pretentious of me to date it "2026" when this is not an official release by the band and these songs were recorded a long time ago but I did it to distinguish this collection from the previous one.

 The difference is that this one includes all 4 songs from their 1994 demo tape "May I be Excused" which was just shared with me today by Marcel who does the Punk Guy YouTube channel. If you are not already subscribed to his channel you are remiss in your duties as a collector of this type of music. It is primarily punk but there is a lot of ska, and I mean a LOT of ska, as well as indie, garage, a little bit of funk, and, really, just about everything. 

Here's his channel. Do yourself a favor if you haven't already.  

 The Usuals - Non-Album Tracks

(Yes, I know some were on the albums, I just included all tracks from the singles.) 

1 Salty Coffee

2 Rocket Power

3  Catahoula

4 Besame Mucho

5 The Setup

6 Cupid

7 Hey Boy

8 Bring on the Night

9 Dig the Beat

10 Let's Play

11 Had Enough

12 Ice Cream

 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Ziptacular! - Don't Call J.J.! (2008)

 Ziptacular was a ska-punk band from Michigan who, I am pretty sure, only released one album in 2009. This was a demo CD-R that the band put out before the album. There are six tracks on this demo and five of them are on the album. Same recordings and I think the same mixes. The only track that wasn't on the album is "This is It!" which is just over a minute long and is more of a intermission than a full song.

 Very third-wave sounding with tight musicianship and male vocals with some female backing vocals.

 

 You can hear their full self-titled album HERE.

1 Not Today!

2 250 Plus!

3 This is It!

4 One Missed Call

5 We're Sorry Yoshi!

6 Henry the VIII!

 

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The Flys - State of Mine 7" (1985)

 The Medflys was a power pop band from California who released a self-titled tape and then changed their name to The Flys and put out one 7".

 Their song "State of Mine" was kind of their big hit. It was a pseudo-funk new wave tune. It was on the KSJO "Best of the Bay" compilation in 1985 and it was the A-side to their only record.  

I haven't heard their tape so I don't know how much they dabbled in the ska sound but the B-side to their only record was a great ska song called "Should've Stayed Home".

 I have heard their demo tape and, surprisingly, they had a full-on ska version of "Wild Thing" which I included in this download. 

 

A - State of Mine

B - Should've Stayed Home

* - Wild Thing

 

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The Barrymores

 Female-fronted third wave ska from Canada. 

As time went on they got better. The vocals went from fun amateur to professional pop vocals. The songwriting started out strong and got even better over time and the band played tighter. Unfortunately as they got better as a band they drifted away from ska. That last album has horns in a few songs but there is only one ska/reggae song and the rest is pop-punk.

I like pop-punk and I think it's a great album but I am disappointed that they moved away from ska when they were at their finest. 

The Barrymores - Kill All the Ska Kids (demo CD) (2001)

1 The Barrymores Theme

2 The Great Date Skatastrophe

3 S.S.

4 Up the Bum

 

The Barrymores - The Barrymores (2001)

 1 Song One

2 The Way It's Supposed to Be

3 My Girlfriend's Got Bigger Balls than Me

4 Pachabel's Skanon 

5 Menace II Society

6 The Great Date Skatastrophe

7 S.S.

8 It's What You Did

9 Missing in Action

10 Up the Bum

11 What You Think About Me

 

The Barrymores - All Nighters (2004)

1 200 Late Days a Year

2 Why So Much Hatred

3 Hearsay

4 Jesse and Jo

5 Run Run da Chillin'

6 Think Straight Again

7 Our Ocean

8  By the Way I'm Not Your Girl

9 The Sweetest Song

10 Can't Stop the Rock

11 Just Another Stupid Day

12 Tick

 

 The Barrymores - New Invasion (2006)

1 New Invasion

2 Radio De-Lite

3  There's Something Missing in Paradise

4 Diary of a Neurotic

5 In the Mayfair Streets

6 Another Night with You

7  Old Dogs

8 Back in Eighty One

9 Every Day

10 World of Repetition

11 How to Kill a Goldfish (Still Hooked) 

12 Destin for Nothin'

13 Lies, Cheat and Deceit

14 Karma Kids

15 My Problem is You 

The Barrymores - non-album tracks

* Another Teenage Love

* Happy Hour

* No Sugar Tonight

* Our Ocean

* The S Song 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Cantina Ska Band - Cantina Ska Band (demo CD 1999)

 

This was an Italian ska band. All songs are sung in Italian. 

All of these songs are available on YouTube on THIS CHANNEL, but this download is for my own rips and scans.

  

1 C.S.B.

2 Brivido

3 Plaza de Toro

4 Quello che Verra'

5 Maskara 

DOWNLOAD

 

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Go Bananas

 This was a ska band from Bavaria, Germany. Very little is known about them and the only reason I know they were from Bavaria is thanks to Burn Heart from In Search of the Ska. 

This image has nothing to do with the band itself, just a sticker I found on eBay.

There are four tracks I'm assuming I must have gotten from MySpace many years ago but I don't remember exactly. Sadly the quality sucks but that's all I got. Here they are in incredible 52 kbps. 

1 Gobwithchilli

2 Right Now Finish

3 Silency

4 Your Town

 

DOWNLOAD

 

Skadatel - Demo CDR (1998)

 This is a female-fronted ska band from the U.S.. They were from Wisconsin or Michigan. I don't remember exactly. They had one song "Without You" on Moon Ska's "Skarmageddon #4: Armageddon Time!" compilation. 

That song came off of this CD-R. I don't know if they ever released anything aside from this demo CD-R.

1 John Tesh

2 Underwear

3 Bust a Move

4 Without You

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Your Inlaws - 716.07 (1993)

1 Trendy Bitch

2 Dee's Revenge

3 Instrumental

4 Your Inlaws

5 Be Like Me!

6 Yeah Right

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The Riffs - demo tape (1989)

 

1 Murderation

2 Spen's Tackle

3 Spud Song

4 Golden Brown

5 Road has Burnt My Mouth

6 Monday Morning

7 Spanish Lady

8 Girl is Mine

9 Spen's Tackle (version 2)

10 Monday Morning (version 2)

11 Spud Song (version 2)

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

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Bedlam Beggars - Rude Boy EP (1999)

  Bedlam Beggars was an Australian band who were a very popular live band but they only recorded a handful of songs in the studio. I don't know if they ever had an official studio release aside from this EP but, to be honest, I don't know that this EP was ever released.

It was sent to me many years ago by Merrick who was the keyboard player for this band. He had his own blog and he posted a live recording from Bedlam Beggars. I have included the live recordings in this download

Bedlam Beggars - Rude Boy EP (1999)

1 Rude Boy

2 Who Shot Cyrus?

3 Ain't Nowhere to Go (live)

(Bedlam Beggars - live)

4 Sweet Talkin' Girl

5 Young Love

6 Boot Girl

7 Rudeboy

8 Just Can't Get It

9 Soundtrack to...

10 Under Pressure (You're No Good)

11 Ain't Nowhere to Go

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

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Shakerz - Shakerz (1998)

 

This was a female-fronted ska band from Orange County, California in the 90s. Imagine if No Doubt was actually a ska band (they weren't) they would sound like this. 

This CD is the only thing this band released aside from the song "Christmas Wrapping" that was on the 1998 Drive-Thru Records compilation Christmas Gone Wrong. 

I have included the song "Christmas Wrapping" in this download so you have every song they ever released. 

1 Selfish One

2 Soca Loca

3 Pipe Dreams

4 Hard to Name

5 Boogie Man

6 Island Joe

7 Interlude (Outback)

8 Christmas Wrapping

 

 

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

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Did you hear that? in the video at the 13:40 mark she said "We have tapes for sale in the back."

They have a demo tape. We need to find this!

Mr. Review - Reggae and Ska (demo tape 1987)

1 Complications of Life

2 Searching for the Past

3 Run Away

4 Independence (live)

5 unknown (live)

6 Who Closed My Eyes (live)

7 Part Time Love Affair (live)

Some of these songs cut off in middle of the song. That's how they appear on the tape.

 

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

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SKAM / Beer 'N' Skatals - Australian ska demos

 These two bands are completely unrelated but I had a file called "Australian ska demos" and these are the two bands I have never posted yet. 

The Beer 'N' Skatals songs were found on Soundcloud but the SKAM CD-R rips were sent to me by Tom H. 

SKAM* were from Sydney and they started in 2000 and ended in 2003. This demo CD is probably the only thing they recorded. Track #2 was just a few seconds of noises - not an actual song - so it was omitted from this post. 

I don't think I know Tom H but I appreciate that he took the time to share this gem with us. Thank you Tom!

 

Beer 'N' Skatals

1 Dr. Dekker

2 Don DeLion

3 Phoenix City

4 Police and Thieves

5 Was My Number 

SKAM - CD-R (2002)

1 Hand Me a Beer

2 #

3 VD Blues

4 Rudeboy

5 Dave's Song

6 DT Patient

7 Thursday

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

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* S.K.A.M. was said to stand for Subversion Kaos And Mayhem. 

Tom stated that he thinks "DT Patient" and "Thursday" are the standout tracks. I agree.

 

 

The Executive - Fur Elise (1980)

 I think anybody who comes to this blog knows that The Executive was George Michael and Andrew Ridgely's first band. Those of you who don't know might want to read the article that Marco wrote ten years ago. 

 This is just one track which I understand was always put as the last song when George would make individual tapes for different people. I heard that it was a short song but this is not even a full 30 seconds long so I don't kknow if this is the full song or not.

 

I found it on THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL and I did leave a comment asking if he might have more of the demos. I think I know the answer because he probably would have included them if he had anything else but it doesn't hurt to ask.  

 

UPDATE: The YouTube channel did respond and he said he does not have anything else by the Executive. The search continues. 

 

toneandwave · The Executive - Fur Elise (1980 demo)

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

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Bellary - Bellary EP (2003)

 

 This is a ska band from Sweden. I don't know if they ever released anything aside from this demo EP but the first song "The Wheel" should be considered a great ska classic. It sounds like all of that great ska from the early 90s.

1 The Wheel

2 Out of My Head

3 Reklam

4 Lonely Feeling

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

Sunbeams - Rude Boy (1998)

 Rare British ska from a local band who self-released their only album/demo on CD-R that they recorded at home. Talk about lost potential.

 

1 Still Around

2 It's Your Fault

3 Left Alone

4 Pacifist

5 Another Day

6 I Know You're Wrong

7 Seeing Red

8 Girl

9 The Unknown

10 Sunshine

11 Ska'd for Life

12 Rude Boy

13 untitled  

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

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The Frenchise - Skank, Surf, & Swing (demo 1999)

The Frenchise was a Canadian ska band that never released anything aside from one song on a compilation of Canadian ska bands called 2 Tongue: Le Quebec En Montre Toute Une from 1999. *

This is their demo CD.

1 I'm the Superstar of My Small World

2 The Mighty Mighty Speaker Phone

3 Little Sin

4 Notre Province

5 Jour et Nuit

6 Fade

7 Incognito (demo 1997)

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Zippyshare

 

*I could be wrong that they never released anything else. That's what I was told. But the title of that last track does say "demo 1997" which makes me think they have at least another demo, if nothing else, out there somewhere. 

 

 

The Agents - The Agents (1996)

 This is the same band that released the albums "For all the Massive", "<401>" and "Steady Forward". This is their first release. 

1 I Don't Know

2 Mission 49

3 Dance You Up

4 98

5 Plexy's Song

6 Skank it Up

7 Girl

8 420 (live)

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

DOWNLOAD from Zippyshare