A1 - Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli - 1966)
A2 - What a World (Busty & Cool - 1962)
B1 - Fire (Bruce Springsteen - 1985)
B2 - It's Raining (Three Tops - 1967)
2 hours ago
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Housewife's Choice - Housewife's Choice 7" (1999)
Sunday, August 29, 2021
Mad Monster Sound [Germany]
They stopped performing in the mid 90s but came back in the year 2000 with a mini-album called "Ten Years Later" that really did pick up where they left off. It's as good as their earlier releases.
This is the post I was supposed to make last weekend but I didn't post it because my scanner is failing and the scans in this post are very low-resolution and probably the worst scans I've ever presented on this blog. I was going to try to re-do them but the new scans were no better. It's not about the scans though, is it? It's about the music. And the music sounds great as far as I'm concerned.
Mad Monster Sound - Mad Monster Sound (1990)
1 Alles Zu Spät
2 No More Pardon
3 Stories
4 Geld Regiert die Welt
5 F.C. Busters
6 Moonstomping
7 Love and Hate
8 Geisterstunde
9 Monkey Dance
10 Sahara Ska
Mad Monster Sound - One for the Road - It's Party Time (1993)
2 Subway Love
3 I Wanna Be
4 New Generation
5 Borderline
6 Crime City
7 Nutty Goes Reggae
8 Don't Waste Ur Time
9 Dreadful Terror
10 Anything
11 Eisbär
12 Ska-Skiffle
13 Monstergang
14 Bonus (Eisbär Extended)
Mad Monster Sound - 10 Jahre Später (2000)
1 Franziska
2 This is SKA
3 Stand By
4 Ghostclub
5 Fresse Verbeult
6 Laut + Lustig
7 Roomservice
8 Pied Piper
9 No More Pardon
DOWNLOAD all three releases from MEGA
DOWNLOAD all three releases fromZippyshare
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Potlatch - Gringo (1994) -and- An Album by Potlatch (1995)
Before the EP they had a 4-song demo tape that, I think, was pure punk without any ska. I don't know for sure because the Japanese release of the EP included the four demo tracks and, of course, I bought that one.
There are lots of copies of the 12-track Japanese version of "Gringo" available today on Discogs but that wasn't always the case. I ended up finding a copy on a site called From Japan that had all 12 tracks. It wasn't terribly expensive but it took four months to arrive and you can guess the end of this tale.
That's right. It was the wrong one. It was the 8-track mini-album/EP. It wasn't worth it for me to send it back for a refund so I kept it and I have found two of the other tracks on YouTube. Jesus and Friends, and Minor. I like punk but for some reason I don't feel any pressing need to get the other version any time soon. Maybe someday, but here's what I have for now.
Potlatch - Gringo (1994)
1 Intro - Role Model*
2 Nazi Punks Fuck Off
3 You Never Know
4 O.P.
5 Grrl Burn
6 Right
7 Back to the Amanda Room
*8 tracks if these are counted as two separate tracks
Potlatch - An Album by Potlatch (1995)
1 Mr. Potlatch
2 Onetwothreefour
3 Wrong Time, Wrong Place
4 Think About It
5 Hey Dad
6 I Wish
7 Reason
8 Hope I Never See Ya Again
9 Pack It
10 Ghosts 'n Goblins
11 Emo
12 Fourtwenty
Friday, August 13, 2021
Atlantic Five - I Was Walking 7" (1979)
Somebody on Discogs said that this might be an all-female band but that makes me wonder if they've actually heard it. Are these female vocals? I don't think so.
A - I Was Walking
B - I Adore You
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Spliff Sound - Spliff Sound (1998)
I don't know if they ever released anything else besides this tape. This tape is professionally made but I had second generation demo tapes that sound better than this tape. I ripped it three times on three different tape players and this rip is really the best I can do with the copy I have. I want to say that it's just mixed badly with the low ends being turned up way too high but, then again, I might just have a warped copy of this tape.
If anybody else has a better rip of this tape I'd like to hear it. It really is a great album. A true classic!
1 Big Brother
2 La Violación
3 Mine
4 Not Many
5 Not Alone
6 Intolerencia
7 In a Cloud
8 Libertad
9 Bond's Ska
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Crombie Bruisers - Crombie Bruisers EP (2013)
This is more contemporary than what I usually post. It's not from the tone nor the wave era but I'm posting it for two reasons:
1. I like it (well...I like some of it)
2. It's extremely rare
This was a band from Denmark that had a respect for the 2Tone era as much as they did for traditional ska and reggae but their energy came from Oi! and punk. They didn't record much. In fact I think this is all they released. They may have recorded more but they didn't make it freely available, did they? I guess they liked playing live more than they liked being a studio band, which is just as well.
The reason I say that is because, if you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know I'm not big on bands recording cover songs. It's great to see them play a familiar tune live but if the band records it, well then, it better be pretty damn spectacular or we'll just listen to the original instead. And not play your music.
The cover I'm bitching about here is 54-46. It's been done. It's been done too much. Don't.
Thankfully Sugar Sugar is NOT a cover. It's not a bad song but the winner for me is the song Stitch.
Stitch is misspelled and the track list on the CD inlay is out of order with how the songs are ordered on the CD. The band's name is misspelled on the spine of the CD inlay.
It's a CD-R with a photocopied inlay. I like it DIY like that.
1 54-46
2 Stitch
3 Sugar Sugar
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...and now it's time for a good ol' rant.
Devotees of this blog might have noticed that I no longer allow comments, I have removed links to my email and social media, and I no longer do re-ups.
There's a reason.
I have done this blog for over a decade and I have had the incredible opportunity to interact with so many of you and it solidified my notions that ska people are the greatest people in the world. We are the punks, the skinheads, the Rastas, the musicians, the jocks, the nerds, the liberals, the conservatives, we are vegans as well as those who can bar-b-q some pork ribs better than anybody else. We can watch Bugs Bunny one minute then follow it with a Shakespeare play. We are more knowledgeable about world events than most people but we never let ideologues divide us.
We are different in many ways and the same in many ways.
We love music. All different kinds of music. We are not racist. We are not sexist. Some of us have religious beliefs but we embrace our brothers and sisters who have different beliefs. We don't care who you're attracted to no matter their gender. We accept that there are people out there who actually don't like Star Wars. We see people supporting the opposing sports team as a comrade with bad taste, not somebody to hate.
Unfortunately people who did not feel this way took advantage of my email address being on this blog. I was called all kinds of horrible things and some people made it clear that they knew everything about me. The names of my family members, where I worked, where I live. Veiled threats.
Someone even started a YouTube account using my name that they used to start problems with other people.
They got very aggressive and it went on for over a year. I initially decided to shut everything down. No more blog. No more social media. In the end I decided against it. I'll still keep posting but it's one sided now. That sucks for me because I liked hearing from you guys. I learned so much from you guys, not to mention all of the great music that you guys shared with me that I posted on the blog to share with other people.
It was a real community. But a few people with their own selfish agenda had to ruin it.
I wonder what they got out of it.
I will try to re-post things but the truth is my account on MEGA is nearly topped-out. If I want to keep posting new things I have to limit any re-posts.
Not only that, but for many years I got people saying "Hey, can you re-post this one thing?" which I had no problem doing but recently I got "Hey, can you re-post this list of 32 things?". People stopped asking for one thing here and one thing there. In the end people were seriously requesting that I re-do more than half of everything that I posted on this blog in the last 13 years. It took 13 years the first time. I can't do it again.
I would like to though. If I had the ability I would make sure that everything I have ever posted on this blog remains consistently available. That's just not realistic.
The things I posted in the past were downloaded by hundreds of people. They are available somewhere, you just have to find out where. If you're serious about collecting this music you should be part of forums and social media groups (NOT Reddit/Ska - that's a wasteland that upvotes the living shit out of a post of a checkered belt but cares very little for actual ska music). It's out there. Find it.
Anyway, (you're still reading?....really? ...why?) I have a lot more rare ska to post. I have demo tapes from The Riffs, No Sports, and more. Lots of records from the 80s (but believe me when I say this...I have already posted the good stuff. I have lots and lots of "ska" and "reggae" records that are very rare but not necessarily very good, - don't get me wrong, I have some really good stuff too), and lots of CDs from the 90s that I can't find anywhere else online.
In my personal and work life I am more busy now than I have ever been so the posts won't be as regular, but there is lots, lots more to come! Keep checking back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is a very famous female singer who released several blues/soul/pop albums over the last few decades but she started out in a ska band in the early 80s. The first incarnation of the band released a full length 11-track demo tape in 1981 and every track was ska but then they changed their name and put out a 4-track demo tape in 1982 under their new name and, again, all tracks were ska. But they went on to release several singles from 1983 through 1987 and the early singles were ska/calypso but they moved more in a pop direction as the years went by.
I have everything this band released including all demos and vinyl singles up to their last single in 1986 - but then, in 2013, they released a vinyl 7" that had one song from the second demo as the A-side and an unreleased song as the B-side.
I do not have this single.
I have sent messages to everybody on Discogs who said they have this single and I offered all kinds of things. Money, rarities in their wantlist, etc. but none of them got back to me.
I think I'll just post everything I have with the hopes that somebody out there will be able to mend the sore spot in this collection.
Can you guess what band I'm talking about?
Sunday, July 18, 2021
The Skalatones [Sweden] - Complete Discography
The band broke up in 2001.
I think this is everything they ever released.
The Skalatones - Non-Album Tracks (A Tone and Wave Exclusive)
1 Ruder Than Roots
2 4 of Them Outta Jail
3 Do the Carnivala
4 Hannibal Se (Lecta)
5 Rude Skank Wank
6 House of Fun
7 Mr. Probation Officer (Remix)
8 Gold
9 Saturday
10 Going Nutty
11 On Parole (The Nutty AnDead Remix)
12 What I Really Had to Do
13 Stereotypes
14 So Alone
15 Y2Ska
16 Persuaders Dub
17 Rude Boy Ska
18 Tune In(terview) from Jamaica
DOWNLOAD The Skalatones - Non-Album Tracks from MEGA
DOWNLOAD The Skalatones - Non-Album Tracks from Zippyshare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Skalatones - By Public Demand... (1997)
1 Start Skanking
2 Sophisticated Robbery
3 One Drop
4 (What Ever Happened) Last Night
5 4 of Them Outta Jail
6 The Geezer
7 Skalatones Theme
8 Mr. Probation Officer
9 The Key
10 Step Aside
11 Arte Bella
The Skalatones - Tune In... (1999)
1 Radio Ska
2 Common Fools
3 Slip of the Finger
4 Casino Fatale'
5 Lipstick on my Collar
6 Prejudice
7 5 O'Clock News
8 Ayayay
9 The Spirit
10 Ska Patrol
11 A Train is Coming
12 Persuaders
DOWNLOAD both albums from MEGA
DOWNLOAD both albums from Zippyshare
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Colonel Hathi [East Anglia, UK]
Colonel Hathi's Dawn Patrol - It's a Bargain! (1992)*
1 A Day in the Life of...
2 Fever
3 Sunshine
4 Una Bella
5 Hathi Beat '92
6 One Way Love
Colonel Hathi - 170 Not Out (1995)
1 Hathi Beat
2 Tomorrow
3 Here She Comes
4 All I Wanna Do
5 Another Story
6 Suzi
7 T.V. Girl
8 Israelites
9 Simba
10 Pineapple Pizza
11 All Grown Up
12 Una Bella
13 A Day in the Life...
14 Fever
15 One Way Love
16 Sunshine
17 Flow
Colonel Hathi - Turned Out Nice Again (1997)
1 Alfie
2 Simba
3 Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious
4 Falling, Crawling
5 Sally
6 T.V. Girl
7 Turned Out Nice Again!
Monday, July 5, 2021
Loin Groin - Arise Sir Loin (2003) -and- Long Kick EP (1999)
Neither of these releases are on Discogs and I do not have physical copies myself. I cannot find a cover for the EP.
Loin Groin - Arise Sir Loin (2003)
1 Chelsea Stockball
2 Melbourne Shall We Give You All The Best Years Of Our Lives
3 Time Tough
4 Bruce Lee
5 Ken Oath's Lessor
6 Aiyefel Seat Covers
7 Stockball Stick-a-Bush
8 Face the Day
9 Love Beats Me Up
10 Pub-Tab
11 Keyboard Frenzy
Loin Groin - Long Kick EP (1999)
1 When Monash Comes Forging On
2 Origins
3 The Professor
4 Keith D.F.C.
5 A Surprise
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Monroes - Kabimba! (1992)
This is a German band not to be confused with the Dutch band The Monroes who did "Sunday People".
This band is called Monroes without the "The" and they took a different approach to ska. They mix rock-n-roll and they utilize thumping doghouse bass that some might call rockabilly. No matter what you want to call it, it's a great sound. Too bad they only ever released this one album.
They were involved in a project that intended to keep vinyl alive at the dawn of CDs. It was called "Save the Vinyl" and the idea was to give out rare vinyl to attendees of live shows featuring live recordings of the bands playing. They got as far as two volumes before they called it quits. They were compilation 7"s and both of them featured two rare previously unheard tracks by Monroes. They also included the funk-metal band Cucumber Men, the rap group Scouts of Evolution, and the instrumental surf band The Looney Tunes.
They were given out around Christmas time and the sub-title of the record series was called Single Bells.
I have included both of the Save The Vinyl/Single Bells records in this download.
Monroes - Kabimba! (1992)
1 1,000 Good Reasons
2 War ina Babylon
3 Cleopatra
4 F.B.I.
5 Jamaica ain't no Paradise
6 Warning
7 Happy Monsters
8 Rhythm World
9 Theme from Rio
10 A Cowboy Meets and Indian
11 You Better Go Now
Single Bells Vol.1 (1992)
A1 - Monroes - Cut My Hair
A2 - Scouts of Evolution - Irie River Mix
B1 - Cucumber Men - Last X-Mas
B2 - Monroes - Caroline
Single Bells Vol.2 (1993)
A1 - The Looney Tunes - Stampede
A2 - Monroes - Marilyn
B1 - Monroes - Lula
B2 - The Looney Tunes - Swingin' Creeper
Max Staples & the Paperclips - Not Working 7" (1981)
This was a band from Australia and this record is probably the only thing they ever put out.
I first heard about them in an old fanzine where they pretty much said that it sucked. I have a copy of that 'zine and I was going to post the review with this post but I can't find it. So, pretty much, I suck too.
I bought this record with the expectation that I will hate it. I don't.
I'm not sure that I like it, but I certainly don't hate it.
Here's one of the worst records ever heard by some guy who reviewed records in 1981.
A - Not Working
B - You Make Me Cry
Ska Cha Cha - Secret Reagan Man (1985) -and- Galaxy of Prizes - In a Garden of Eden (1986)
Mark Nine, also known as MK9, was a prolific musician from California who released a single in 1981 and an album in 1994 but he did several collaborations and was in a few bands.
He started the ska band Ska Cha Cha who did the song Los(t) Angeles that was on the Planet Ska compilation but aside from that, this was their only release. A three song demo tape that the song Los(t) Angeles came from.
The following year he started another band called Galaxy of Prizes who also did a version of Los(t) Angeles but, even though this band also played ska, the new version of Los(t) Angeles was less ska than the previous recording.
I believe that the only recording Galaxy of Prizes ever released was this one demo tape.
I have posted the Ska Cha Cha tape in the past but both tapes in this download are all new recordings from new tapes that I acquired in the last few months. Although these versions aren't perfect, they are better than any other version ever offered online to this point.
Ska Cha Cha - Secret Reagan Man (1985)
1 Los(t) Angeles
2 Cry of Revolution
3 Secret Reagan Man
Galaxy of Prizes - In a Garden of Eden (1986)
1 In A Gadda Da Vida
2 Ska Lip Soul
3 Lost Angeles
4 All Along the Watchtower
5 Times Up, Pencils Down
The Royal Kustoms - The Royal Kustoms EP (2005)
3rd wave style band from San Antonio, Texas. It's a little bit punk but mostly ska. They have at least one other release that I do not have.
1 She's Not for Me
2 One Way Town
3 Where I Belong
4 Lost Inside Your Room
5When You're Gone
6 untitled
7 Freak Magnet
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Sir Lord Erotic - No No Lola Video!!
I have been doing this blog for thirteen years and I honestly believe that the post I recently did for Sir Lord Erotic is the most popular post in the history of Tone and Wave.
Sir Lord Erotic has taken the time to upload the only music video the band ever made because they are entertainers and, after all these years, they are still providing you some quality entertainment.
Watch it, share it, bask in the glory:
Also, if you have the time, here's a live performance by The Amazonas who were mentioned in that post. Not ska but great music and an impressive performance.
The Anklebiters - demo tape (1996?)
I'm not 100% certain that it was released in 1996.
1 Opus #4
2 Blue Skai
3 Rosebud
4 Egyptian Healer
Zen Baseballbat - Kneel Down to the Mothers of the Slums (1994)
This is a ska band from Widnes, UK. They released two albums in the early 2000s.
This is an early release by the band before they dedicated themselves to ska. Three tracks on this EP were later re-recorded for the first album but these version were only leaning slightly toward ska and don't sound much like the sound that the band is known for.
The song Fuel-Injected Love Bug is only available on this CD and was not re-recorded as a ska song.
If you have their other CDs or you know the band and their sound then you might appreciate this EP. If you have never heard them before then you probably don't want to download this one. It's really not ska.
1 Brown Cows of Elocution
2 Whiplash
3 Fuel-Injected Love Bug
4 Captain Midnight
Crawdaddy - The 19th Annual Badger Convention (1994)
Third wave ska, pure ska - no punk, from Bakersfield, California. According to Discogs they have one other release, a demo tape that was released after this album. I have never seen nor heard this tape.
1 Skasquatch
2 Crack
3 Dirty Work Version (The DeWayne Song)
4 Go Joel
5 Go Drew
6 Not Yet
7 Special Extra Secret Hidden Track8 Boba Fett
9 Skary Josh
10 Badger
11 Crawdads for Breakfast
Friday, June 11, 2021
The Beans - No Boys for You 7" (1980)
This band had two other songs on a compilation called The Art of Solving Problems.
A - No Boys for You
B1 - Pressure
B2 - Ravel it Up
Sunday, June 6, 2021
va Welcome to Beatville (2000)
2 Freetown - Skaffic Jam
3 The Gangsters - Girl on the Run
4 Steady Earnest - Scrumpy
5 Yard Beat - Wild Honey
6 Bim Skala Bim - Three Legged Dub
7 Dave & Ansel Collins - That Girl
8 Tommy McCook & The Super Sonic - West Street Special
9 Eastern Standard Time - On the Trail
10 Rocket 350 - Bad Baby
11 The Robustos - Purse String Blues
12 The Graduates - March of the Drink
13 Steady Earnest - Higher Power
14 Rocket 350 - Baby Stop
15 Bim Skala Bim - Murky Water
16 Freetown - The Funnyman
17 The Graduates - Somewhere in Between
18 The Gangsters - Lead Your Own Life (Extended Version)
Monday, May 31, 2021
Banana Buster - Banana Buster demo tape (1994)
If you don't already listen to Talk The Ska you might want to check it out to hear some obscure rarities and to keep up on what's new in the current ska scene.
Talk The Ska Podcast on Soundcloud
Talk The Ska Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Banana Buster demo (1994)
1 Red Light Love Affair
2 There's Nothing to Fighting
3 Skana Jam
4 Comatose
Too Fat to Skate - Too Fat to Skate demo tape (1995)
Too Fat To Skate was a third wave ska band from Lexington, Kentucky who I never heard of and I know nothing about. This extremely rare demo was shared with us by your friend and mine, Matt from Talk The Ska.
I couldn't find anything online about the band other than they were on a compilation called Ace Magazine Holiday Party Volume 1 (1998) where they did a cover of The Christmas Song.
1 Meanie Pants Song
2 Consignment
3 Stupid Little Hippies
4 Old Man
5 Drew
6 Laurels
7 Anvil
8 Slap Song
9 Rice and Means
10 Dolt
11 God
Den Toffendans - De Toffee 7" (1981)
This is a Belgian carnavalsliedje or 'carnival song' so you ska purists may not appreciate it, but the end of the song might sound familiar.
A - De Toffee
B - De Toffee (Instrumental)
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Colouring Lesson
I will not be sharing downloads of the album but I will share a download link of three of my favorite songs by them.
Their first album was called Menagerie and it was released in 1996.
Colouring Lesson - Menagerie (1996)
1 One Way
2 Black Coffee
3 Irie
4 Murder
5 Nothing New
6 Down with the Ship
7 Mea Culpa
8 Nothing New (Reprise)
9 Come Follow Me
10 (Untitled)
More popular than this CD was the 7" record and CD single that it spawned with Mea Culpa Blues (It's My Fault) on the A-Side and Murder on the B-side of the record; Murder and Irie on the CD single.
Mea Culpa is probably their most famous song.
In 1999 they released their second album Targets that has my favorite song of theirs Ragamuffin Sound.
Colouring Lesson - Targets (1999)
1 Innocent Blood
2 Devil in a Paper Cup
3 Capitalism + Free Trade
4 Ragamuffin Sound
5 Some People
6 Monkey Wrench
7 My Spot
8 Don Gordon Dub
9 Amen
10 Ram Dancehall
11 Head
12 Cold Turkey
13 Some People (Reprise)
Their only other official release was from a single from 2001 in which they collaborated with a fellow Baltimore artist called Mary Prankster on a single titled Love Has a Rumble that is available on Bandcamp.
The only other CD I have by them is an unofficial live album called Live in Wilmer's Park, Brandywine, MD from 1996.
1 Shy Man
2 One Way
3 Black Coffee
4 Irie
5 Murder
6 Level
7 Zoomin'
8 Capitolism and Free Trade
9 Cornered Me in the Kitchen
10 Come Follow Me
11 Weatherman
12 Run Away
13 Light'n Up
14 Tenement Yard
16 Tenement Yard
17 Devil in a Paper Cup
18 Head
19 Nigerian Nights
20 She Blinded Me with Science
21 Shy Man
(I don't know why there's no track 15.)
I selected three songs for you to sample
1 Mea Culpa Blues - from the first album
2 Ragamuffin Sound - from the second album
3 She Blinded Me with Science - from the live CD
I was going to share everything but, as I mentioned, the band is making their releases available. You can buy them HERE.
DOWNLOAD the three sample tracks fromMEGA
DOWNLOAD the three sample tracks from Zippyshare
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Judith Ann-Marie
The A-Side to her first single is called Jah Will be There and it is a cover of the Four Tops' amazing classic Reach Out, I'll be There.
Her second release had a B-side called One of the Poorest People which was a cover of the British band Caldonia's song from 1977.
There was a time not so long ago when you couldn't find these records anywhere. I was lucky enough to get an unplayed copy of the second record from the producer Jeffrey Bauman himself. I still have this record. It has only ever been played once between 1982 and now and that's when I ripped it for your listening pleasure.
Judith Ann-Marie and Loose Caboose - Jah Will be There 7" (1982)
A - Jah Will be There
B -We Need to Free Our Love
Judith Ann-Marie and Loose Caboose - Out on a Limb 7" (1982)
A - Out on a Limb
B - One of the Poorest People
(The image for the 'Out on a Limb' record was taken from Discogs because my copy is in immaculate condition and I didn't want to put it in my scanner and risk scratching it. Someday I will sell it and the new owner will appreciate this decision.)
The Smarts - Smarts Attack (1997)
Nineties ska from Italy. Pure 2Tone style ska with no punk or distorted guitars. This is the only thing this band ever released.
1 Oh Yeah!
2 Agent 99
3 Once
4 When the Saints go Marching in
5 Spanish Train
6 Kingston 1959
7 La Piramide di Platino
8 Skaw Boy
9 Sahara
10 The Mosquito
The Hinks
The Hinks - Vom Regen in de Trafue (From the Rain in the Eaves) (1994)
1 Killjoy
2 I Don't Like You
3 Girl from Outer Space
4 Weg Ins Gluck
5 Gangster
6 Schicksal
The Hinks - G. Koch (1995)
1 G. Koch
2 Aans Gehd Imme'Nu Nei
3 Gute Freunde
4 Glotzen
5 Des is'a Greiz
And they recorded a cover of Small Faces "Lazy Sunday Afternoon" that I included in this download.
This is my favorite song of theirs "Glotzen"
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Skank-A-Tiers - Skank-A-Tiers (1998)
I posted the demo tape on Tone and Wave many years ago because my friend Justin from work had a copy of it. It was a long time ago so I won't assume anybody remembers it and I have included the demo in this download. There are 4 songs on the demo. Three were re-recorded for this album.
1 No More
2 Sonny the Gangster
3 Unglued
4 Why
5 Tear Drops from My Eyes
6 License to Skank
7 I Just Wanted You to Know
8 The Car Song
9 Nothing's Perfect
10 Bury Me Deep
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Skank-A-Tiers demo (1997)
1 Sunny the Gangster
2 The Car Song
3 Unglued
4 Mousetrap
Sunday, May 2, 2021
Sir Lord Erotic - No No Lola EP - A Tribute to The Melodians (1995)
At one point it came up for sale and I bought it, but it got lost in the mail. I accepted that this is just one of those things that I'm never going to hear.
But then it happened. Another copy came up and I snatched it immediately. The seller was curious why somebody was interested in a small local band from so long ago. He didn't realize how relevant this EP is to the international ska community. It has quite the reputation for something that nobody had ever heard. There was one music video that nobody has seen. None of these songs appeared on a compilation. So why the buzz?
As it turns out the person selling the CD was JC Dyborn - Sir Lord Erotic himself - and he was kind enough to answer some questions to tell the true story of a band that everybody knows but nobody knows:
SirLord Erotic :
Pelle Ossler : Guitar, Backing vocals
Thomas Holst : Bass
Ole-Herman Finholt : Guitar, Trumpet
Mats Bengtsson : Organ, Saxophone
Stefan Nilsson aka Kiddie Manzini : Drums
J-C Dyborn : Vocals
Joachim Leksell : Backing vocals
Guest on the CD and later replacing Joachim Leksell : Magnus Börjesson aka Miss Mango : Backing vocals
Live guest stars :
Peps Persson : Guitar , Vocals, Percussion
Bosse Skoglund : Drums and percussion
"I started a band in 1987 called Amazonas
The second album was all over the place and I am not ashamed of it but not very proud either.
In Helsingborg there was a tradition to go out and drink the Christmas away every Christmas Day (in Sweden Christmas eve is the big family day) and Amazonas had really cashed in on those Christmas Day shows for many years so when the band was no more, a club owner in Helsingborg asked Pelle if he could put something fun together for the coming Christmas Day. By then Ole-Herman spent so much time in my house, very close to Pelles, just listening to old reggae cds, at full blast. Especially the two double Trojan story cds. And a brilliant The Melodians compilation among others. Pelle had this idea that we should start a ska/reggae band by just making me the singer instead of the drummer as I was in Amazonas. Then he brought in Thomas and Mats from Wilmer X (Mats had been in Amazonas as well for some time) and drummer Kiddie from loads of bands in southern Sweden. Best known over here; The Sinners.
We took the name from Sir Lord Comic on one of those Trojan story CDs. Ole-Herman thought, thanks buddy, that I was the least erotic person in the world and I bought that so Sir Lord Erotic it was.
We debuted in Dec 1992 and made bigger or smaller tours around Christmas time that people thought we were just a Christmas band. Truth is we played a lot of shows all year round when the band members were not occupied with other bands. We did that up until 1999.
In the spring of 1999 Sir Lord Erotic toured with a show package with Swedish reggae super star Peps Persson who also produced the No No Lola EP. It may sound strange to someone outside Sweden but Peps turned from acclaimed blues singer to reggae dito in 1974 or so. Singing in Swedish!! Very bold if you ask me. He looked, and still looks, like a real hippie with long hair and beard but I don´t think there is one artist in Sweden that people respect more. Integrity is not a strong enough word. He is definitely the reason our cd sounds so good.
Back to spring 1999. We were booked on a nationwide tour of Sweden , playing relatively big clubs. All thanks to Peps. The set up was to switch between our covers and Peps´well known own songs and it all went very well. Still, after that tour I got a feeling that we had reached the end of the line. Like, where can we go from here??
So, 1999 was the last year we played together.
The No no Lola EP is the only thing we ever recorded. I have a VHS tape of one of those Christmas Day show. 1997 I think, filmed with a very static simple camera but today I am glad I have at least some live evidence.
We also made a music video for the song No no Lola. Professionally filmed in a TV studio we borrowed in Malmö Sweden. Unfortunately I can´t find it. The tape, not Malmö. I know it is down in the basement somewhere.
I think. Still the tape , NOT Malmö. Ha ha!"
I asked him about their style, not musical style, but how they dressed. If you see the pictures on the CD they have a really cool style
Well, the suit idea didn´t come from two-tone believe it or not. By then, none of us were fans of Specials and Madness. I saw Selecter live 1980 but that was more of a coincident on a festival in Finland. Today I regard Specials 1st album as a milestone and Madness being a fantastic pop band. The suits came from Amazonas where we all wore black suits, more in an Italian mob/godfather style. I can´t remember the train of thoughts when it came to my African caftan but in the early days our shows had a comedy touch that we toned down as we went along. I was actually beating up Joachim on stage, acting like a colonial master with my hired gun musicians. Inspiration from Prince Buster´s Judge Dread character and Scotty in Skank in bed where he tells the musicians to leave the studio for not being good enough musicians. I am very tall (and wide) , 7 ft or so, so the effect of me being an asshole to especially Joachim who was working his ass off on stage dancing and singing and being much smaller, was pure comedy show we thought. Like I said, we toned that part down and focused more on the music, as you should since all the guys in the band were really good musicians. In fact I listened to the CD yesterday for the first time in 100 years , and you are right, it is pretty good. The thing that annoys me is my singing. I mean I was a drummer originally and couldn´t sing but when the CD came out we played a lot of live shows and I got better from doing it night after night but the singing legacy will remain on CD. I was not a good singer by the time we recorded it. Sad really.
All this suit/caftan thing would have made sense if it wasn´t for the fact that I found this old poster right now. I wear a suit as well. Strange. Can´t explain. We used this poster for all our live shows all the years. Pelle made it and it brings joy and laughter to mind. Just tiny small drawings and the guy´s personalities comes out so good.
If you're like me you will disagree with Sir Lord Erotic's opinion of his own vocal talent. I think the vocals are quite decent, especially when you compare them to a lot of the other European ska bands from the late 80s/early 90s.
Whenever I get a chance to talk to an artist about their music I like to ask what music inspired them with the question "What ten songs to you think everybody should listen to?"
Sir Lord Erotic chose these ten songs:
1 Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
2 The BeeGees - Spicks and Specks
3 The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais
4 Bob Marley & the Wailers - War
5 The Beautiful South - Hooligans Don't Fall in Love
6 The Ramones - Swallow My Pride
7 The Specials - Too Much Too Young
8 Peps Persson - Maskin Nr2
9 Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
10 Scotty & Lorna Bennett - Skank in Bed
and the whole "The Harder They Come" soundtrack.
This download includes the "No No Lola EP" as well as "Sir Lord Erotic Selects" and "The Harder They Come" soundtrack.
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