1 Mockers - Trendy Left 2 Swingers - Never Never 3 Newmatics - Playing the Champion 4 New Entrants - The Kids are Crying 5 Famous Five - The Girls 6 Instigators - The Israelites 7 Toy Love - 2nd to Last Song Toy Love Wrote 8 Screaming Mee Mees - Pointy Ears 9 Danse Macabre - ECG 10 Corners - Ward 11 Blue Asthmatics - Blue Asthma 12 Bongos - Familiar Strangers 13 She Collapsed - Save It 14 Riot 111 - 1981
Jil Thorp and the Beat Boys (also spelled Jil Thorp & the Beat Boys) were from Louisville, Kentucky. They were a five-piece new wave/rock/ska band that sometimes went a little psychedelic. They played everything and Jil Thorp sometimes sounded like Patti Smith. The reason you may know them is because the song "Central Intelligence" from this album was on the Jump Up Records compilation "Death of an American Skathic"
1 Father Knows Best
2 Music for Easy Girls
3 Play with Fire
4 Slippin' Away Boys
5 Tourists
6 Greasy but Fast
7 Central Intelligence
8 Moisture
9 Black Jeans
10 Tumours of Love
11 (Got to) Get Rid of Them
12 Mission Complete
This download also includes their 7" even though it doesn't have any ska on it. My record is in pretty rough shape so I apologize for the sound quality but since it's hard to find and usually sells for about $60.00 I'm in no hurry to replace it.
A - The Young and the Breastless
B1 - Stranded
B2 - Love Young
I don't know how we will remember 2016 in the future...was it a good year?...was it a bad year? I had a lot of really bad things happen in 2016 but I also had a lot of really good things happen.
I don't know how we will remember it, but we definitely will remember 2016.
The underground music scene in general was amazing but the worldwide ska scene was better than I've seen it in all the years of doing this blog.
I'll start with the older bands who have made an impact on the year:
I really like the Norwegian band The Monroes who released Sunday People in 1983 and were obviously inspired by Madness. They are not really a ska band but they did a lot of ska-influenced music in their early days (early-eighties). In 2016 they released a CD of their live performance from London from 1984. The sound quality isn't great but the performance is.
I have featured the U.K. band the Skanxters previously and I lamented that I had their rare cassettes "Spark in the Dark" and "Knights on the Run" but I could not find a copy of their only CD release "Call it a Crime". Thankfully for all of us, bandleader Erin Bardwell has released all three releases for purchase on Bandcamp.
You can buy all three rare recordings for the price of one marked-down modern pop CD HERE.
(Incidentally, Erin Bardwell has a new release slated for 2017!)
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One of the earliest posts I have ever done on this blog was for the British/California band The Hoovers. They released one album in the eighties called "Skin and Blisters" but, seriously, one of my favorite ska records ever released is their EP from 1981 called "Smut and Class".
In 2016 they released a new album called Moonstomper that diverged so much from their original sound that I can't say I really care for it much but, then, they released a collection of five songs that they recorded in 1981 that were never previously released. It's one of my favorite releases of 2016:
Do you remember when you bought the CD "Skankin' 'Round the World volume 3" and you recognized all of the featured bands except for the one called M.S.Q.? Well I did and I did extensive research to find out who they were and what else they released but that went nowhere. I drew the conclusion that they were a live band that didn't record much in the studio - like the French band Verska Vis.
I was happy to find that they are still performing and have actually recorded music in the studio in 2016. I have included their newest song "The Blame Game" - released in 2016 in this download.
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I have posted some of the Suicide Machines' earlier releases on this blog but in 2016 the band made those releases available for download so I will not be re-upping any of the links. You can buy all of their early stuff in this one download HERE.
The Chicago band Rude Guest released 4 cassettes in the 80s with 4 songs on each release. These tapes are nearly impossible to find but, luckily for us, the band worked with Jump Up Records to release all 16 songs that they released on one cassette called Rude Guest: Lost Chicago Ska 1982-1993.
I bought this tape as well as the Crombies cassette that was released in 2016 from Jump Up Records but they were lost in the mail. I wanted to do a review on both of them but the postal service didn't want me to (here's the tracking number 9500111247136350071619 ). Jump Up records did their part but the USPS failed me. "Lost" Chicago ska indeed.
As you know Madness put out a great album this year and I was going to include a song on this download but I removed it to make room for an up-and-coming band instead. It's Madness. You'll own it some day anyway. The Beat - The English Beat - the Rankin' Roger version of the band put out the album "Bounce" and, just like the Madness song, I didn't include it because you will have it some day anyway regardless of my input.
If you ask me what the greatest album of the year 2016 I will have to say "Peg and the Rejected - 4th Wave". I know Marco made the same comment a few weeks back and I disagreed with him but now I agree. This is not to say that any song on this album was my favorite song of the year but it was the album with the most consistently good songs throughout.
I did not include any of their music on this download because you will be buying this release anyway. It would just be redundant.
(Speaking of Marco...another old thing that came back in 2016 was Marco on the Bass
that was dormant for a couple years is now being refreshed with new
posts. Marco's current band Rude Boy George released a fantastic EP this
year which includes one of my favorite songs of the year - a cover of
Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better")
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My favorite song of the year is The Beat From Palookaville's "It's You Voodoo Working". This one is on the download.
1 54-46
2 Solomon Gundie
3 The Israelites
4 Boots
5 Wooly Bully
6 Chatty Chatty
7 Allniters are Allriters
8 What Gives You the Right?
9 Do the Dog
10 Police and Thieves
11 You Made a Monkey Out of Me
12 Ring Dang Doo
13 Rude Dude
14 Skinhead Girl
This is the Eclectics' demo tape. I am posting it by request. To be honest I thought I already posted it but I have searched the blog and found no evidence of any former post so - here you go. Obnoxious ska-punk done right. The first three tracks are on the vinyl version of their first single but the
song "Cutting" is not available on any of their other releases. The same
recording of the song does appear on "Misfits of Ska II" but it plays
faster on the cassette than on the cd version.
A1 - We Can Make it Happen
A2 - Boba Fett
B1 - Harry
B2 - Cutting
This is the Busters' first release. There are two studio recordings - Orion which was re-recorded and featured on their second album Couch Potatoes as Space Patrol Orion. The version on this tape is a different version from the one on Couch Potatoes. Then there is the song Keen on Games which is the same version that was on the bonus tracks of the Ruder Than Rude re-release.
A1 - Orion
A2 - Keen On Games
B1 - Guns of Navarone (live)
B2 - My Girl Lollipop (live)
B3 - Lip Up Fatty (live)
1 You Really Got Me
2 Dead End Street
3 Midnight in Ethiopia
4 Apple Ska
5 Carry Go Bring Come
6 Phoenix City
7 What a Desaster..
8 Sound Pressure
9 Famine
10 Rocker's Rumba
Quite often I find a lot of music on eBay, Discogs, and other online sellers that is sold as "ska" which isn't ska. I have been disappointed so many times by buying things blindly that you would assume I would learn my lesson at some point and only buy things that I hear first, but I keep falling for it. There are a couple reasons for this - firstly, when I go to record shops, conventions, thrift stores, etc. I take way more chances on things than I do when I buy online and I have struck gold too many times that I see no need to to change my ways. Secondly, I listen to lots of different types of music (we all do, I know) so, even though it may not be what I'm looking for, it might still be good.
Here are a few things I bought thinking they were ska but they aren't - but they're still pretty good.
Drive-Ins - Movie Girls (1985)
I'm posting this one because I get requests for it - a lot of requests. It's labeled as ska on Discogs but it's not ska at all. It's upbeat new wave/rock with lots of keyboard, distorted 80s guitar, and a bit of saxophone here and there. The closest it comes to ska might be the title track "Movie Girls", or maybe the song "Get the Message". But it is very rare so you might want to download it for that reason alone.
1 Just Respondin'
2 Don't Kiss My Face
3 Movie Girls
4 You're so Independent
5 Life ain't no Day on the Beach
6 Busy Signal
7 Sylvia
8 Secret Sessions
9 Echoes of War
10 Get the Message
I knew this one wasn't ska before I bought it because there is an edited video for the song. How do you not like that energy?
A - Shout it Loud
B - Sing es Laut
Alleybirds - Habasit 7" (1981)
This one was on my wishlist for years because it was sold on eBay as a ska record. I think this was only due to the title of the b-side which is neither ska nor reggae. I quite like the a-side though.
I am not a fan of Buddy System. They had a hard rock look with a soft rock sound and all of their music was incredibly 80s. They wanted to impress Cyndi Lauper's, Poison's, and Bonnie Raitt's fans all at the same time. They were radio-friendly enough to the point of being bland.
Now, after slandering their good name (I know they have a fan base that wouldn't tolerate my comments all that well), I have to admit that I absolutely love their first record. Both sides are great. It doesn't sound like their other releases. Both songs are a little more heartfelt and there is a slight-but-noticeable ska influence in the rhythms of both songs. I heard samples of both songs before I bought this one and I sat on it too long so somebody else bought it. It took me years to find another copy and the small sample ate at me for those years.
Some of the other stuff in this post is just okay. This is one of my favorite records ever.
I have included their self-titled record and the "Go Back to Hollywood" single so you can compare it to this release.
If you have been following this blog for a while you know I can be pretty stupid at times. I base my knowledge on the things I read on eBay and Discogs and I take them at face value. The Heavy Manners record was posted on Discogs and it was linked to this one here but they really have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
First of all it's the band that's called Barley Wine and the song is called Heavy Manners. Secondly, they are not the Belgian band. These guys are from England and Saxa from the Beat (The English Beat to my fellow Yanks) is their sax player. I know nothing else about the band or about any other releases they might have had but if I learn anything new from an eBay seller who specializes in Andorrian folk music but stumbled across this record at a swap meet I will report anything he says as fact. That's my style.
A - That Train (Click to hear on Soundcloud - I'm trying something new)
B - Heavy Manners
This is the actual single. I know I posted this years ago but they were the versions from the album. This is my own rip of the single.
Igor was a boy from Vladivostok, Skanouska was the girl on his mind. He always did his best to attract her attention, but it seemed as if Skanouska was blind.
He swam the Wolga nude with minus 20 degrees, he climbed the Kaukasus on his two bare knees. But Skanouska made love with all the other boys, 'cause for her they were all much better toys.
One day Igor found Skanouska messin' around, she was playing with Igor's best mate. He was frustrated 'cause he wanted to show her his dung, that he saved for weeks in a box with a gate.
So Igor grabbed his knife and cut his friend in two, and after him all the others of Skanouska's crew. Now Igor was happy and he wanted nothing more, but Skanouska was crying 'cause Igor was a bore.
Let's Quit's stuff is hard to track down. They have several other recordings and there are still two that I need: a 4-track EP from 1997 called "Survival of the Quittest" with song titles: Kirk's Deception, Don't Count on Me, Postman, and Padadow, - the first three songs were on the album "Imprisoned" but the 'song' Padadow isn't on any of their other recordings and I'm guessing, because it's less than a minute long, that it's not a song, just some studio shenanigans. Then they had another one called "Burp That Offbeat". I don't know if Burp That Offbeat is an album or an EP and I have no idea what year it's from or what songs are on it. I have never even seen the covers for these two releases. I'm not exactly desperate to get a copy of Survival of the Quittest (but if you see a copy you should snatch it up - it is rare) but I am desperate to find out more about Burp that Offbeat.
What I do have by them was sent to me by different people because they have never been available for sale anywhere as long as I have been aware of the band.
I have posted their first album "The Southern Belles Party Beat" from 1995 previously and the one I'm posting here is that same low-quality version with track #14 missing.
1 The Southern Belles Party Beat 2 Lies and Lullabies 3 Skanouska 4 Let's Ska Tonight 5 Syndrome Friends 6 Ennio Ska 7 Snowflakes 8 Yes or No 9 Vegetarian Shoes 10 Hip Hip to the Next Life 11 Can You Tell Me My Name? 12 Viktor the Pig 13 The Bailiff 14 The Return of Cliff Barnes 15 Sergio Ska 16 Down I Go 17 Stolen Minds
1 Imprisoned
2 Cat Grace
3 Kirk's Deception
4 You Only Die Once
5 Fish Analogy
6 Skabble d'Babble
7 Don't Count on Me
8 Cocks & Bulls
9 Out of Sight
10 My Bike
11 Postman
Let's Quit - Liberty EP (2001)
1 Beware of the Man Called Liberty
2 Angel Dust
3 Sir Nelson
4 Can You Take Your Hands Off My Girlfriend?
Let's Quit - My Bottled Friend & Foe (2005)
(This is their last album - I don't even have a cover for it.)
1 Don't Ask
2 I Don't Wanna Lose You
3 Mayday
4 Strange Love
5 Self-Pity
6 Schoolmate
7 Your Place or Mine
8 Revenge of the Pigs
9 Can You Take Your Hands Off My Girlfriend?
10 Voor ik het Vergeet
11 Way in Our Lives
12 Dangerous Tactics
The Bakesys - Animated Violence cassette-only release (1994)
A1 - Sex Freak
A2 - Without Warning
A3 - Liquidated
A4 - Life so Tough
B1 - Open All Hours
B2 - Days Gone By
B3 - Grass is Greener
B4 - Animated Violence
The B3's - Only Human 7" (1997)
A - Only Human
B - Never Go Away
The B3's - Devil's Blue Beat (1998)
1 Sharpshooter
2 Devil Blues
3 Smith Kidd
4 New Orleans
5 Puddy's Gone
6 Last Call
7 Lift Me Up
The B3's - Church of the Double Cross (1998)
1 East Side Shuffle
2 Billy the Fish
3 Mustache Fever
4 The Trigger and the Family
5 Alan Watts
6 Makin' it on My Own
The B3's - Krakatoa (2000)
1 Billy the Fish
2 Skratchin' at Skars
3 Scheherazade
4 Devil Blues
5 Foggy Dew
6 Wake Me
7 No Stars Over Canada
8 Only Human
9 Mantequilla
10 East Side Shuffle
11 Hard Times
12 Russian Men's Eggs
This is being re-posted by request. This is a cassette rip of the Villians only album "Go Crazy". I have included my vinyl rips of their two 7"s as well because there are some slight variation in the singles.
I did not include the "Life of Crime" EP in this download because the version I have is a shitty rip with a low bit-rate (I'm talking 64 bits). I will find a better version at some point and post it then.
The Villains - Go Crazy (1984)
1 You Are (All These Things to Me)
2 Call Me Up
3 Laugh it Out
4 Lovers
5 Boogie Man
6 Go Crazy
7 Laylow
8 Long, Short, Skinny, or Fat
9 Wendy's Melody
10 I Don't Care
11 Ska Music
The Villians - Go Crazy 7" (1984)
A - Go Crazy
B - Wendy's Melody
The Villians - You Are (All These Things to Me) 7" (1984)
A - You Are (All These Things to Me)
B - Ska Music
1 Housewive's Choice
2 Confucius
3 Solid as a Rock
4 Freedom Sounds
5 Rules of Life
6 From Russia with Love
7 Rock Steady
8 Let's Start Again
9 Song for My Father
10 Can't Forget About You
11 Rockfort Rock
12 Ska-Go-Mambo
13 Take it Cheazy
14 Night of the Dragon
15 Be Thankful
16 Hong Kong Low Rider
17 Stone Boat
18 Cairo East Pt. II
Non-album tracks:
*Miss Understanding
*Skagasm
*Stop That Train
*The Best of Love
*Perfidia
This is a rare ska record from California. It is obviously based on the Specials song Why?. I don't know anything about this record aside from the fact that it was produced by M. Al Azeem from the California roots reggae band Session. I have included Session's first album in this download.
A - Wolf in Sheep Clothing
B - Wolf in Sheep Clothing (version)
Session - See Up Azeem (1980)
A1 - Dred Time
A2 - You Get the Chance
A3 - Tekk Me Part 2
A4 - Wake Up Everybody
B1 - Natty Rebel Now
B2 - Don't Go Changes
B3 - I Like to be With Jah
B4 - You Lost the Chance
Ngobo Ngobo - Live cassette demo (featuring Rico Rodriguez) (1990)
1 Katuscha
2 Salomon Gundi
3 Love Pain
4 Shanty Town
5 Way Out
6 Keep On
7 I Feel Fine
8 54-46 (That's My Number)
Ngobo Ngobo - We're Just Kidding (1992 demo cassette)
1 Good Fine Day
2 Good for Nothing Man
3 I Can't Stand It
4 No One Cares
5 Lilly
6 Hello Everybody
7 I Feel Fine
8 Skinhead Moonstomp
Dubtember 29 - Code Name: Dub Culture
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Brother Culture is an MC based in Brixton, London. He started his career
around 1982 for Jah Revelation Muzik Sound System. As part of the Twelve
Trib...
THE HEELWALKERS The Heelwalkers 1999
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*Discogs*
Canadian Rock Band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The group consisting of three
former members of Cleveland Steamer.
*Tracklist*
1
Open ...
Primal Scream - The Screamadelica 12'' Singles
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*PRIMAL SCREAM*
The Screamadelica 12'' Singles
2021 Sony Music
01. Loaded
02. I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have
03. Ramblin' Rose (Live In NYC)
04....
Wackies Rhythm Force - Planters Dub Vol. 1
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Bull Wackies Music 2018 FLAC Digital Release
Beautiful Dub
Dangerous Dub
Dub My Love
Jah Know
Majesty Dub
My Love Dub
Warn Them Dub
Just Enough
Friends...
The Cassettes - The Cassettes
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Banda: *The Cassettes*
Disco: *The Cassettes*
Ano: 2002
GĂȘnero: Alternative Rock, Indie Pop/Rock, Power Pop, Steampunk, Mystic
Country
1. Intro (0:54)
2. H...
Modcast #609: Summer Sets
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Say so long to summer and ride into autumn with some cool, new, mod
friendly music.
* Listen Now Download * Psychotic Youth -- Girls (2026)
Haircut 10...
Ginger And The Nutts - Pig In The Freezer (1981)
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b/w Oil Wars
Great New Wave from this Reigate based band who also had a track [Typical
Radio] on the 1981 VA LP Class Of '81
*Georgina Hill* (Voc Violin)...
EATER - Get Your Yo Yo's Out (Live) EP 1978
-
The recordings for this fucking piece of shit were made on April 24, 1978,
at a concert in the legendary London club Dingwalls. At this point, *Eater*
wa...
Skooch - Skooch EP (1999)
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*Posted by Request *
American 90s pop punk with a horn section. I don't know what state they're
from or if they have ever released anything else.
...
New single "Tell A Stranger"
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My new single "Tell A Stranger" is out now on Bandcamp and all the regular
streaming platforms. There is a B-Side that is exclusive to Bandcamp. It's
the...
Espiando en los 80's Venezuela Vol 2
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1-Jah Jah Children - Vamos a Bailar
2-Henry Stephen - I Don't Know
3-Fabrica de Sueños - Tu Estilo de Amar
4-Callejon 88 - Negrito Fiel
5-Colina...
# 569 Ricky & the Spitfires - Rock'n'roll singer
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Side a: Rock'n'roll singer
Side b: It's against the rules
DK 1978
Very fine powerpop record by this South African R'n'R group. It was
released on a danish...
Yo SĂ Le Brinco - Desgracias, Gracias (2022)
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“Somos una banda de punk rock originarios de leon gto. Decidimos hacer la
banda en tiempos pandemicos con el pretexto de poder salir del encierro y
distra...
Ore Ska Band
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* ============================================================ Artist : Ore
Ska Band Album : ITOKASHI Genre : -=Ska-Punk=- Bitrate : VBR ~31...
New Heavensbee Album "We Mean Business" Released
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After nearly 2 years of writing and recording, I'm excited to finally share
a pre-order link for the new Heavensbee album "We Mean Business" which will ...
No Comply
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*Biography : *
No Comply are from Belgrade, Serbia. The band started in 2001, and made a
come back couple of years ago. A very good band from a country ...
AGGRESSIVE
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ALEMANIA
Aggressive son una banda Street Punk Oi! de Ruhrpott, Alemania.
2015- Spit Blood
01- Aggressive
02- Chain Reaction
03- Alone With The Wolve...
