Lancaster Band - Comic Strip Heroes (1981) [link updated 18th of December, 2016]

This is your new favorite album.

The Lancaster Band formed in South Africa in 1974 playing their blend of rock and reggae well before the 2 Tone movement. They released this album in 1981.

Is this what a 2 Tone ska band looks like?

They have since reformed and are currently playing shows and have also released a new EP called "Edn Sessions" in 2006

Comic Strip Heroes
1 Modern Science
2 Just Can't Help Myself
3 The Girls
4 The Boys
5 Natural Lift
6 Denture Adventure
7 Henry Harpic's Holidays
8 Obscene Gestures
9 The Kite
10 Comic Strip Heroes

DOWNLOAD

The Offs (almost) Complete Discography

The Specials released their first single in July 1979 which is considered the spark that caused the ska-punk fire. Though they get credit with being the ones to make it more well known they were not the only ones to mix punk and new wave with ska and reggae. Aside from Arthur Kay having already released records with the 2 Tone sound before the Specials, The Slits, United Balls, and Plastic Bertrand were incorporating ska into their music as were many bands in the UK and throughout Europe.
But in the US there were a few bands playing reggae and those that were were not mixing it with punk or new wave. Not yet anyway. But in California in 1978 there was a band called The Offs.

They mixed their punk music with r&b, soul, reggae, dub, and even German experimental music.

They later moved from the West Coast to New York but continued going back frequently to play shows in San Francisco and L.A.
Here's just about everything they ever recorded before lead vocalist Don Vinil died in New York in 1983.

"624803 / Johnny Too Bad" 7"
"Zero Degrees / Everyone's a Bigot" 7"
"I've Got the Handle" alt. version from a 415 Records Compilation
"My World / You Fascinate Me" 7"
"The Offs First Record" (Their first, last, and only full length. The cover was designed by famed New York artist Basquiat and the original is for sale on eBay with more information about it. HERE'S the auction.
3 tracks from a live compilation called "Can You Hear me? - Music From the Deaf Club"

DOWNLOAD EVERYTHING ABOVE IN ONE FILE


Live at The Mubuhay Gardens Nov. 7, 1980


This live show is actually a compilation of 3 live shows:
There are 20 tracks. The song "624803" was recorded July 5, 1980 and the songs "100 Dollar Limosine", "Johnny Too Bad", and the 2 Lou Reed covers "Sweet Jane", and "Heroin" were recorded March 1, 1980.

DOWNLOAD LIVE ALBUM

The only thing missing is
"Why Boy? / Why Boy Dub" 7" on Epiphany Records

Not really a Christmas song...

...not really a ska song either. Good stuff though.


Toini and the Tomcats are a rockabilly band from Norway. Their drummer Ned Leukhardt used to play for Wall of Voodoo.

HERE'S Toini's Myspace.

I will be back after Christmas with more ska posts.

Skankin' 'Round the World volume 5

This was the last in the Unicorn Records' series. I do have three of the other ones but I am too disorganized, drunk, and lazy at this exact moment to find the rest. I will be getting the one I am missing (vol.4 I think) and I will post that as well as the others.
Actually, you can get vol.1 right here courtesy of the Skankin' 'Round the World blogspot. (Thanks Monique!)

Skankin' 'Round the World vol.5 (1990)
1 Machtoc - First Time
2 Potato 5 - Spit and Polish (live)
3 The Liquidators - Riches to Rags
4 The Deltones - Silent River
5 Strange Fruit - Over the Border
6 The Latenotes - Yeah! Alright!
7 Gangbusters - No Fun 8
8 Tighten Up - Trouble in Town
9 Skapa - Ska Polka
10 Spy Eye - The Things I Feel
11 Lady Fun - Jah-Maica
12 The Speakeazy - We Need Enid

DOWNLOAD

Vegimite Reggae - Trendy Ex-Hippies

I think that those few of you who actually heard of Vegimite Reggae probably heard of them from their cover of Stairway to Heaven. It was not originally on this album but I have included it for those of you who don't have it yet.
Again, there is not much information on this band on the internet. From what I've found they only ever recorded this one album, a single "Send it Out / Faces" (both of which are on this record), and another 7" "Too Many Years / Love is Gone". (Which is for sale on Music Stack right now for under $6. I would buy it and share it with you, but I'm buying other more interesting things for us.)
If anybody knows anything about Vegimite Reggae (yes, VegImite, not VegEmite) - especially any other recordings they may have please don't be stingy with this info.

Trendy Ex-Hippies (1987)
1 Send it Out
2 Open the Door
3 Way Away
4 Rude Boy Rude Girl
5 For Love
6 Faces
7 Fat Girl
8 Illusions
9 I Need You
10 Latin Lover
* Stairway to Heaven

DOWNLOAD

[To be honest, I am not a big fan of this album. For being lumped into the ska / reggae category this album is quite lacking in either. There are a few really good songs on this record, but I think those songs would've been better off being released as singles without the need for this entire set. They certainly were a good band, but I'm not sure this recording represents them properly. Am I missing the point here?]

The Hoovers

I finally got around to re-posting both the EP and full length by the Hoovers. I re-transferred the Smut and Class EP from vinyl and this sounds much better than the version I had posted earlier. I also included lyrics in this download. I was going to type out all of the lyrics for Skin and Blisters but, goddamnit, I just don't have that much free time. If you really really can't make out the lyrics I may get around to getting them together if you harass me enough.

As you may or may not know The Hoovers have since gotten back together and even have a new album called "Toy".
Check out their Myspace to hear their new material, or their OFFICIAL SITE to order it.

HERE'S a recent interview with Paul Whiting on Marco on the Bass.

This download includes "Skin and Blisters" and "Smut and Class".

DOWNLOAD

I've been getting a lot of requests to re-post my former offerings. If I haven't gotten around to your request yet please don't think I'm ignoring you. I will get to everybody eventually. Thank you for being patient.

Skankin' Pickle - double feature

This is Skankin' Pickle's first release from 1991. It was called "Skankin' Pickle Fever". It was released just before "Skafunkrastapunk". These exact recordings later appeared on the full length album of the same name so if you own the album "Skankin' Pickle Fever" you already have these exact same songs (but why not hear them again with record-crackling goodness?)
Also in this download is the 1995 "Erik Yee" EP.
The first song is a great unreleased Skankin'Pickle tune (title track). The second song is a live version of "Onyonghasayo" (from "Sing Along with Skankin' Pickle") with alternate English lyrics. The third song is a live cover of "Sally Brown" sung by drummer Chuck Phelps.

Skankin' Pickle Fever

1 I Missed the Bus
2 David Duke is Running for President
3 Ice Cube, Korea Wants a Word with You
4 Pass You By

Erik Yee EP

1 My Name is Erik Yee, My Favorite Band is Green Day
2 Losin' Again
3 Sally Brown


DOWNLOAD

Amazulu

Amazulu was an all female (except for the drummer) dance/pop/reggae/ska band from London. They released a number of singles between 1983 and 1986 before releasing this one and only full-length. Though they were moderately successful at the time they seem to be a forgotten band. They even had a bit of success in the US with their cover of the Bobby Bloom hit Montego Bay (though the Allniters were well known for their cover 3 years earlier) and they performed on Top of the Pops and The Young Ones.
Here's their Wikipedia article.

Here are a few members of the group pretending to perform "Too Good to be Forgotten" on Top of the Pops in 1986:



Their record label Mango was a branch of Island Records who has since dropped the Mango subsidiary. They also put out Aswad, Jimmy Cliff, and Burning Spear as well as other British Reggae and Hip Hop acts. Much of what was on the Mango label has never been re-released on cd.

I have included 2 songs that were not originally on the album.

1 Too Good to be Forgotten
2 Excitable (Soca Mix)
3 After Tonight
4 All Over the World
5 Things the Lonely Do
6 Montego Bay
7 Don't You Just Know It
8 Cairo
9 Moonlight Romance
10 Upright, Forward
*Mony Mony
*Wonderful World, Beautiful People

DOWNLOAD

Mobster - Perfect Man 7"

I have absolutely no information about this record except what the cover says. It's from an English band from 1981.

The first track is very vanilla reggae. A mellow song with decent vocals. The B-side is instrumental...slightly up-tempo with synth steel drums. It'll grow on you.

I've been putting off posting this because I haven't been able to transfer it very well. The vinyl I have is full of scratches and it skips quite a bit. This is kind of a patchwork that my wife has toiled over for way too long especially considering that she hates this record.
I actually like this record and I think she did a great job with it. What do you think?

A - Perfect Man
B - Trinidad

DOWNLOAD

Bim Skala Bim - Bim Skala Bim

This is Bim Skala Bim's first album from 1986. It is currently out of print and was quite difficult for me to find.
If anybody from the band or BiB Records wants me to remove this post please let me know and I will do so immediately. No threats of lawyers required.

1 The Key
2 Better Get Out
3 Balance
4 Chief Inspector
5 Jah Laundromat
6 Solitary Confinement
7 Silence
8 Fear No Evil
9 Cool Nights
10 Not a Test

DOWNLOAD

Liquidators - Black and White Pictures

The only release from this Santa Cruz, California band from 1990. Originally on Unicorn Records. Members of this band went on to form California's Northern Soul band Durango 95.

I found this interesting interview with a member of Durango 95 HERE.

01 Swing Easy
02 Black and White Pictures
03 Do I Worry?
04 Where Are You Going?
05 Do the Best That You Can
06 Long Time Again
07 Soul Steppin'
08 Do What You Wish
09 Swing Time Ska
10 Riches to Rags

DOWNLOAD

The Caribs - Caribbean Capers

We all know the familiar black and white checkers of 2 Tone and that it stands for racial unity - particularly between blacks and whites in Britain in the late 70s and early 80s. Most of the bands were made up of both black and white musicians, and it is commonly accepted that they were playing traditionally black music with a new white influence.
It could be said , however, that the roots of the 2 Tone concept go way back - even before ska music came into its own.
Jamaica's first studio band was The Caribs who played and recorded in Kingston from 1958 to 1968. And though they are recognized as one of the first bands to ever play the ska sound they were in fact formed in Australia and were made up of only white musicians. They started playing clubs in Surfer's Paradise, Queensland in the late 50s and already were using the name The Caribs. They played calypso and mento and experimented with other Caribbean folk sounds.
In 1958 their manager Max Wildman was offered a job running a new hotel in Jamaica and he agreed as long as he could bring the Caribs with him. Only three members - Dennis Sindrey (guitar), Peter Stoddart (piano), and Lowell Morris (drums) made the move. They were joined by bass player Lloyd Brevett who later joined the Skatalites and other local black musicians and began incorporating ska into their set in effect becoming the first 2-tone ska band. They became a regular act at the Glass Bucket Club where they performed for Errol Flynn, Che Guevara, and even Winston Churchill amongst others.
When Jamaican studios first went into business the Caribs were in demand as a support group for Owen Gray, The Jiving Juniors (the Caribs was the band playing on the hit 'Lollipop Girl'), and lots of other acts including Laurel Aitken. They worked with producers Simeon Smith, Chris Blackwell, and Coxsonne Dodd.

As usual I can't find much information on the internet about them. I don't know what year this album was recorded or what other releases they have under their own name. I was happy to find this record on THIS site. Many thanks to them.

01 The River
02 More
03 Bangalou
04 Ecstasy
05 Miserlou
06 Jordan
07 Sammy Dead Medley
08 I Wish You Love
09 Mary
10 Let's Go
11 Sand in My Shoes
12 Yellow Bird Medley

DOWNLOAD

Studio One engineer Graeme Goodall was the sound engineer on most of their releases as well as the Skatalites, Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Marley and the Wailers, and he himself was also Australian.

Kontraritam

Kontraritam is known as the first ska band in Serbia (though there was already another band in Yugoslavia playing reggae tinged music called Haustor). They formed in 1980 and recorded this album in 1982. This is pretty much the only thing they've ever released. They were on some compilation albums but only with songs from this album.

1 Sretne Noge
2 Drugacija
3 Obojeni Grad
4 Bruce Lee
5 Pesma Bez Imena
6 Miss Ska-Kulation
7 Zozo, Vrati Se
8 Decaci
9 Slobodna Devojka
10 Oko I Duh
11 Predstava
12 Zdravo, Kako Si

DOWNLOAD

Dave's Big Deluxe

Billy K from Dave's Big Deluxe writes:

"This is Dave's Big Deluxe's first release, a self-titled cassette. It was recorded in a high-end home studio on some kind of video cassette format. It was some weird set-up. It sounds pretty weak by today's standards, but recording was not so easy back then, and we didn't have a lot of money to spend (we self-financed this one). It was released by Third World Underground, which was a very small local label that focused mostly on punk rock. The label owner, Jack, would soon start a new label, Slimstyle, that focused on ska and swing.

"My memory's fuzzy about most of the details, but I think we'd been together a couple years at this point. This was what I'd consider our first "real" line-up. In those days we just let anyone with a passing interest play. If you could hold a wind instrument, you were in. At one point we had 12 people in the band; 7 horns. And we (sadly) didn't have an organ player, that was done by the producer.

"There were two Guitarists/Singers back then; Dave and Doug. Doug was into space rock and trippy stoner stuff. "Hardest Thing," "World Full of Ugly" and "New Start Tomorrow" were his songs. Dave was really political back then, as you can hear in most of the lyrics not written by Doug. If I recall, "Idle Gossip" was written by our first bassist, Gordon, who was heavy into Mod culture at the time. I wrote most of the horn parts. Not that they're particularly intricate.

"The lineup on this record is basically the same as "Sounds from the Credenza," but would change drastically between there and "Miss Fortune." In fact, only Dave and I stuck around for the next "era." You can really hear a difference in the rhythm section. Gordon played this awesome Vox Cougar bass that had that old plunky sound that really defined us early on. His lines really moved. I think Dave was playing a vintage Mosrite through a vintage Fender Twin (killer vintage equipment was cheap and plentiful in Tucson in those days...sigh.) the guitar solos were all played by Doug. You may notice as we "grew" as a group, our guitar parts disappeared. Dave hated playing leads, and when Doug left, so did our guitar solos. But our horn section got a lot better, and started playing more and more solos. You'll notice the horns on this record...um...suck. I hadn't really played in two years, but I was the only one with more than high-school band experience, which is why the mix is so heavy on trumpet.

"I did the "artwork" for all our releases (except the 45). In 1992 I didn't own a computer, so I hand-lettered the logo and set the credits with a typewriter. Remember, this was 1992/3. In the next couple years, desktop publishing would really take off, and I got significantly better at design (and got access to a computer). This one is kind of embarrassing, but also reflects the DIY way we did things back then.

"I don't even remember how many cassettes we pressed or how many we sold - if any. Frankly, I think we just gave most of them away. We never made any money in the band. Anything we made from shows or merch went into the band fund for equipment and expenses, and later touring.

"And that's officially more than anyone needs or wants to know about the early days of Dave's Big Deluxe."

1 Intro
2 HMK
3 Post Cold War Political Satanic Ritual
4 Idle Gossip
5 Hardest Thing
6 Left and Right
7 Political Correctness is McCarthyism
8 World Full of Ugly
9 New Start Tomorrow

DOWNLOAD M4A files

DOWNLOAD MP3 files

Dave's Big Deluxe - Miss Fortune

Billy K - I hope this is okay. I've been meaning to post this for a while now anyway. This is the last of my Dave's Big Deluxe collection. I'm sure I don't only speak for myself when I say we'd love to hear the rest of your recordings. I didn't even know DBD had put anything else out because there's virtually no mention of the band on the internet. Is there a site I don't know about or any other info you feel like sharing with us?

01 Little L.A.
02 What Kinda Girlie
03 What I Used to Be
04 Power Grip
05 Time After Time
06 Ham & Egger
07 Girl in My Kitchen
08 Hole in My Shoe
09 Charlie Don't Surf
10 Brand New Second Hand
11 Miss Fortune
12 It's OK to be Ska

DOWNLOAD

Dixo Wankers - City Boy 7"

The first release from this Dutch band from 1981. Read more about them HERE. The first song 'City Boy' is poppy with female vocals and 'Jaguar' is mostly instrumental with male vocals not toasting so much as just talking.

Here they are performing 'Bah Bah Bloemenbuurt!' with Ab Van Der Laak in 1983


Here they are performing the Selecter's "Danger". This video was posted by Ronan. Thank you very much for this great post Ronan!


side A - City Boy
side B - Jaguar

If you do download this keep in mind that you are doing so for reference only and that you must delete it within 24 hours. If you like what you hear save your money and hold your breath and wait for the day their record company accidentally hires a music fan who gets them to re-release this and buy it then so that the band can pay their bills and keep playing.

DOWNLOAD

Both sides...

There are lots of good arguments for why I should continue to post music and a couple for why I shouldn't but the fact of the matter is that it is illegal. That's it plain and simple. That's why Tone and Wave won't continue in the same way it started out. I'm considering what to do next. Are any of you really that damn interested in reading more reviews? Maybe I could do a podcast and link to some Myspaces? Maybe I could keep posting obscure things that are unrelated to certain record labels and wait for them to threaten me with lawyers.

I'm being tongue-in-cheek right now, but I have to say that even though I'm a bit irritated at Megalith (not because of them telling me to take off their music, but because of the 'I'm telling my lawyer on you' attitude) I will not be boycotting them. I have gotten lots of good stuff from them in the past and I will continue buying from them in the future. I do support the ska scene and I support any record company that helps put out ska music. I could support them a hell of a lot more if I wasn't spending $80 on a rare used vinyl that they own the rights to and are not selling for whatever reason. Like Steve from Moon said labels should make more of an effort to make their back catalogs more available. Tone and Wave is an example that there is still a market for this stuff.

I would have a bit more respect for them though if they came straight out and said "Look asshole, you're affecting my livelihood!", instead of all this crap about how I'm affecting the bands. I've had numerous bands comment when I posted their music - some corrected the errors I made in describing them, some asked where I got certain things, some thanked me for posting their music, and some even just responded with "I was in this band". Not one told me to remove the post. Not a single one. Three of these responses were from bands that were on the list of bands I had to remove.

Here's a perspective from somebody in a band.

Tone and Wave is coming to an end

Hey,
This is Jeremy at Megalith Records (The Toasters / Moon Ska Records),
I have come across your blog and see that are you hosting links to many
bands on our label that you have no legal right to distribute freely.
http://toneandwave.blogspot.com/
Please remove all links in reference to the following bands and
compilations:

The Butlers
All Skarmageddon comps.
Anything and everything Toasters, Skaos, Dr. Raju, Skavoovie and the
Epitones, Bluekilla, Mr. Review, The Busters, Too Many Crooks, No
Sports, Go Jimmy Go, The NY Citizens, Deal's Gone Bad, Royal Roost and
all related releases.

Not only is what you are doing completely illegal, but you are NOT
supporting ska music by pointing people to download their work for free,
you are hurting them. Many of these albums you have links to are
releases from 2008 and 2007. I know because I designed that Royal Roost
album cover and we released that last year, and the Deal's Gone Bad
album was released this year between us and JumpUp Records.

You MUST remove all links to these bands, if you do not comply within
48hours, we will have our lawyer contact you and Google and have your
account removed as well as Yahoo. Please take me seriously.
You are creating a DIS-service to these hard working bands and you are
breaking the law.

Jeremy Patton.

--
megalith records
c/o jeremy w patton
1529 sunrise circle
norman, ok 73071
cell 405.641.8114
http://www.toasters.org
http://www.megalithrecords.com
http://www.jiantwebproductions.com

....................................................

Sorry folks, I can't argue with this. He's right.
My only dispute with this letter is where it says I am not supporting ska music. He meant to say I'm not supporting the people who make money off of ska music.

If you look on the Megalith Records site you'll see that the Toasters "Skaboom!" cd which I posted is out of print which means that I didn't harm their ability to sell it and that if you wanted to buy it you'll have to wait until it's repressed - if ever. (Or you can just get it used off of ebay)

How was I to know that there was still a market for many of the bands on the list when they aren't mentioned in their catalogue? It took me quite a long time and way too much money to collect all of the Too Many Crooks cds because I had to find them second hand in other countries because nobody in the US sold them - not even Megalith. How am I keeping them from making money from something they're not even selling?
But that's besides the point. I was told to remove them and I did. I will not send anybody the links so please don't ask. Support the bands by going to the shows and buying their music from them. Buy stickers and buttons and whatever else.

I also removed anything else I thought that anybody could still be making money off of.

This is not the end of Tone and Wave. I still have a few things left that I think I can post. After that I will call it quits. You will know when it's over.

The Blackpool's Skampilation vol.II

Live compilation from 1994.

1 Mobtown - Zoot Suit Samba
2 Mobtown - Ten
3 Mobtown - Comin' ta Get Cha
4 The Soulfuls - Monte Carlo
5 The Soulfuls - Chillum Pipe
6 The Soulfuls - Backslider
7 Buck-O-Nine - She's Fat
8 Buck-O-Nine - More than Your Eyes Can See
9 Buck-O-Nine - Junior
10 Mealticket - Brassman
11 Mealticket - Looking Glass
12 Mealticket - 98

DOWNLOAD

The Specs - Changes to the Few (link updated November 22, '08)

This is The Specs'(The original Specs from Riverside California) first recording from 1991. It was a cassette only release which I have never been able to find another original copy of since mine disappeared. Luckily I made a friend a copy of my original tape way back in the days and after all these years he still has it. The sound quality is terrible - there is a constant tape-hiss all the way through and almost every song warps or has tape fading but those of you who know this album should appreciate it nonetheless.
And, though I don't have the original tape I do still have the cover - the scans are included in the download with the lyrics and all.

1 Don't Change My Song
2 My Soles are Worn
3 Eliminator
4 Let Me Now
5 Rude Agents
6 Dance with Me
7 Problems Arise
8 Bush Clearing
9 Rudeboy Has to Skank
10 Cleopatra Skat

DOWNLOAD