French Ska Ska 7" (1980)

A - Strange Ska
B - French Can Can

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Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Ska Me Forever

RELEASED TODAY! Early versions of this album were leaked last year and posted on other blogs but those versions didn't include all tracks.

Iconic Band Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Highly-Anticipated Release of 'Ska Me Forever'

Renowned Worldwide for Explosive Live Performances, 
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s International Following Continues to Grow Through Extensive Global Touring

After decades of performing sold-out shows in Japan and in over 26 countries, legendary band Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra celebrates their 25th anniversary with the U.S. release of their new album, ‘Ska Me Forever” on vinyl and digital download on February 10th.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s 19th album boasts a dynamic blend of rock, jazz, ska and punk, and features the lead single “Wake Up!” with Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra also puts their playful and diverse spin on fan-favorite covers of Café Tacvba’s 'Eres,' Beethoven’s 'Symphony No. 9,' and the classic Mexican folksong, 'Cielito Lindo.’ Their new release 'Ska Me Forever’ marks a significant milestone for the ever-evolving band who continue to delight and surprise audiences with their music and exciting live shows.

From their beginnings in the late 1980s club scene in Japan, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra rose to fame in their native country and have taken their acclaimed live show worldwide, performing to festival audiences in Europe, the United States and Latin America, including the Warped Tour, Glastonbury, Supersonico, Coachella and Vive Latino.




You can get the real version - all 18 tracks - HERE

The Odds - Dread in My Bed 7" (1980)

A - Dread in My Bed
B - Spare Rib

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Tee-Vees - Dr. Headlove 7'' (1980)

Rare disc from this Irish band who were formerly called The Jets.

I must confess that I never attained a copy of this record myself. This rip was found somewhere online and I'm pretty good about giving credit where it's due but I completely forgot where I found it and a simple Google search isn't helping.

A - Dr. Headlove
B - War Machine




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To the original poster:  thank you, and I'm sorry!

Laurel Aitken - Sahara 7" (1986)

Laurel Aitken with Potato 5 on Gaz's Mayall's Gaz's Rockin Records label.

The song Sahara is the same version that appeared on the album - which is a totally different version than the one on The Blue Beat Years (this is the better version). The b-side is also on the album but this is a different version.

A - Sahara
B -Long Time (I've Been Watching You)



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Amazulu - Too Good to be Forgotten 12" (1986)

A - Too Good to be Forgotten (12" version)
B - Sez Who



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Undercover Festival

UNDERCOVER FESTIVAL III

18 / 19 / 20 SEPT 2015

BISLEY PAVILION nr WOKING SURREY GU24 0NY

3 PACKED DAYS OF PUNK / SKA / DUB / REGGAE / POST PUNK + SO MUCH MORE

FREE CAMPING + VERY CHEAP ACCOMMODATION ON SITE

WWW.UNDERCOVERFEST.COM

                                                             Bisley Pavilion, Nr Woking, Surrey

The South East’s truly “alternative” and “independent” festival

THE DAMNED

PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES (new addition)

UK SUBS

PENETRATION

+ so much more  

PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES announced as the headline band for Friday18^th September 2015 at Undercover Festival III.

Peter and the Test Tube Babies formed in the small town of Peacehaven (Near Brighton), in 1978 by Del Strangefish and Peter Bywaters. Due to their humorous tongue-in-cheek lyrics, they have been considered part of the Punk Pathetique subgenre. Peter and the Test Tube Babies were first featured in Sounds magazine in July 1980, and after a John Peel Radio One session, made their vinyl debut on the Brighton compilation album Vaultage 78.

Fast forward to 2015 and they are still playing live and as popular on the scene as ever.

Current Line Up

•           Vocals — Peter Bywaters

•           Guitar — Del "Strangefish" Greening

•           Bass Guitar — Paul 'H' Henrickson

•           Drums — Dave O'Brien

Not resting we have hit the ground running for 2015, we are pleased with PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES along with Saturdays headline act THE DAMNED,  for Sunday we have the UK SUBS and PENETRATION as joint headliners.

With the change to Fridays Headline Act and a few tweaks the line all bar the shouting is now complete (see Editors notes).

Early bird tickets have flown out since we announced The Damned and are now sold out.

Ticket sales compared to last year are considerably up on last year.

Weekend tickets are now £75 in advance for 56 bands which we still feel is pretty good value.

UNDERCOVER FESTIVAL set in and around the unique setting of Bisley Pavilion, Bisley Camp nr Woking Surrey, a festival venue and experience that defies all other conventions and festival templates.

UNDERCOVER FESTIVAL 3 DAY PACKED MULTI GENRE FESTIVAL OF Punk / Ska / Dub / Reggae / Post Punk

+ so much more!!!

The thing about this festival more than any other in our opinion is a melting pot of the genres, crew, the bands, the venue but last and not least the varied / fun nature of those there that made this a festival that we firmly believe no other promoter will be able to re-create.

For 2015 we are sticking with the 2 stages as the synergy between both stages was excellent.

Please note: For the avoidance of any doubt The Undercover Festival is not an open air festival - the festival will be held in 2 rooms plus other areas at the Bisley Pavilion nr Woking Surrey – undercover by nature of the music policy of this festival and undercover - well because it is....

Line Up Announced so far

Friday 18^th September

PETER AND THE  TEST TUBE BABIES

XSLF  (X STIFF LITTLE FINGERS)

SEX PISTOLS  EXPERIENCE

THE TALKS

THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS (Change of day from previous announcement)

THE PLAGUE

NO LIP

GEISTFIGHT

RAGE DC

EMERGENCY BITTER

T & THE MUGS

ARGONAUT

DEMON SMILES

SWEET JONNY

AMETHYST KISS

TBA

Punky Reggae “After show” Party with SOUNDATION and DJs Murph & Mabbs (Rude Boy Productions) 

Saturday 19^th September

THE DAMNED

CHELSEA

SPIZZENERGI

MENACE

THE RACKETEERS

DRAGSTER

BROKEN 3 WAYS (Change of day from previous announcement)

KING PUNCH

POPES OF CHILLITOWN

UK RAMONES

FIGHTING EVIL IS COOL

HEARTS UNDER FIRE

HEADSTONE HORRORS

R.E.D

SKURVI

MONKISH

KILTER

HAZARD

STRENGTH IN BLUNDERS

TBA

DIRTY UGLY PUNK MONKEYS dodgy after show party time +DJs

Sunday 20^th September

UK SUBS (Joint headline)

PENETRATION (Joint headline)

TV SMITH (The Adverts)

THE RAMONAS

DEPARTMENT S

WITCHDOKTORS

THE DEFECTS

THE PIRANHAS 

PUSSYCAT & THE DIRTY JOHNSONS

CRETIN 77

SKACIETY

PHOENIX CHROI

ARCHIVE45

SOUNDATION

SHOOTING FISH

XTRAVERTS

DEREK AND BOBS LIVE D&B TRANSMISSION

Times and stages to be announced

Line up may be subject to change at short notice

OFFICIAL SITE

GET TICKETS

 

The Set - Nothing to Lose (1981)

The Set were from Birmingham and, outside of that, I know nothing else about them.
There was a 7" version of this record that didn't include the song Situation Desperation and it had a shorter version of Nothing to Lose. (The 7" version of Nothing to Lose is included in this download.)

The back cover doesn't give much information but my copy was signed by the band so I have a few names to go off of to find more info but they're first names: Phill, Mick, and a few I can't discern. They don't help much but I appreciate one band member's signature. Apparently he's called Baz

...as far as I know this is their only release.

A - Nothing to Lose
B1 - Situation Desperation
B2 - If I Had the Chance

"Nothing to Lose 7" version"

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Tone and Wave's ska favorites of 2014

There were so many good ska releases this year I had to leave a lot of them out. I had so many in the end that I did two podcasts - The Morning Edition for the punk/new wave/mod stuff and The Evening Edition for the slower/reggae/rocksteady stuff.

The Morning Edition

The Talks - Don't Look Behind You
Heavyball - Black Eye Friday
Rude Boy George - The Metro
2 Rude - Rude Boy Can't Get No Bail
Briatore - Skankin' Tonight
Rifffs - Tommy Twister
Rancid - Everybody's Sufferin'
Cabstars - Ends in Goodbye
Amphetameanies - Good One Go
Beat Brigade - Another Cause
Bruce Lee Band - AGH!!!
Skabrot - Alternatives
Max & the Invaders - Running on Fumes
Planet Smashers - Scientific Explanation
Strange Tenants - I Don't Want to Fight Your War
Keystone Ska Exchange - Nancy Says
The Kubricks - Self Help Wannabe
Skaos - Cool Cat
The Talks - Hacks
Buster Shuffle - Devon

DOWNLOAD THE MORNING EDITION

The Evening Edition

Bluebeaters - Catch That Teardrop
The Dodgy Few - The Wild Bunch
Zack Keeman - One Smile
Targarians - Latin Goes Ska
Mighty Fishers - Give Me Some
Deals Gone Bad - Sweet Morning
Ska Four Ensemble - Precipitous Cliff
Upsessions & Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Millicent Go Big Up Your Waist
Ziggy Marley - Give It Away
Ali Campbell - Cyber Bully Boys
Alpheus - Stand Up
New York Ska Jazz Ensemble - Moving On
The Fabulous Lolo - Right the Wrong
Skamanians - Ghosts in the Park
Delirians - Get Up
Snails - Liberty Street Lights
Jaya the Cat - Unconditional Love
Many Loves Ska Band - Ipse Dixie
Ska Vendors - All Without You
Joe Cang - Long Time Dead

DOWNLOAD THE EVENING EDITION



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

*NOTE:
A lot of other things were cut for no other reason than I felt like it didn't flow with the rest of the songs.
Supertonic Sound Club's "Scheherazade" was cut because I find Dave Barker's vocals a bit grating.
The Dualers were cut because I couldn't pick one song that really stood out. "Back to Paradise" is a great album beginning to end.
I really like the Pisdicables debut but it didn't really fit in with the other songs. 
Neville Staples' album was disappointing. Chock full of cover versions of songs that have already been covered too many times. The only thing that would have made it worse would've been adding Israelites and Wooly Bully to the list. How many covers of Johnny Too Bad are out there?
Rebelution just isn't my cup of tea. Neither is the Skints or any other band that uses hip-hop or rap to try to attract an audience. It's been done. It's over done.
The 80s Canadian band Dub Rifles only released 2 EPs in their career but in 2014 they released all of their recordings No Town, No Country. I didn't include them for the same reason I never posted the EPs - they're good but they don't really stand out. They're easy to forget.
  
Some bands I just forgot to include.

Roy Ellis released a great single, The Autonomads, T-Killas, The Interrupters,  I never even got the Yellow Cap album, and I just realized that I didn't include the Buster's Supersonic Eskalator.

There were a lot of non-ska band with notable ska songs released in 2014. I only included one - Joe Cang's Long Time Dead, but I cut a few more because, although I appreciate it when artists foray into the ska/reggae realm, the focus of this post it to bring awareness to actual ska bands. I cut The Iscariots - Follow You Down , Santana's cover of Iron, Lion, Zion (feat. Ziggy Marley), and, do you remember the grunge band Cracker? They released an album called "Berkeley to Bakersfield" in 2014 and it had a ska (ska-ish) song called "March of the Billionaires".

There are a couple things that technically should not have made the cut. Although Amphetameanies "Good One Go" was released on their 2014 album "Last Chance Bordello" it was released a few years back as a single. And the Kubricks' "Self Help Wannabe" was actually released in 2013 but it didn't come to my attention until 2014 and it's really good. It doesn't deserve to be overlooked for another year.

Mix Blood - Skaville LP (1980)

This is one of those great 2 Tone era records that you never heard before.

This LP features both tracks from the single. On the single the title track was erroneously called "Toot Last Train to Skaville". The b-side for the single is Move and Move.

  

1 Hoot Last Train to Skaville
2 Natural Man
3 Let Me be the One
4 Move and Move
5 Love's Gone by
6 Let's Dance Again
7 Give a Little Praise
8 On the Road
9 Reggae Revolution
10 Love's Gone Saxxy

"Hoot Last Train to Skaville"

"Let's Dance Again" (ska cover of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again")

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AK 47s - Don't Call Me Vanilla (1991)

1 Downward Spiral
2 Bastard Restart
3 One Hand
4  Spirit Of Resistance
5 Tiocfaidh Ar La
6 Chillin'
7 God's Man
8 Cop Cars
9 Tottenham Three
10 Tottenham Three (dub)

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Nuclear Device

French ska-punk band from Le Mans.


45 Révolutions Par Minute 12" (1985)

A1 - Arriba Espana
A2 - Abajo La Dictadura
B1 - Dicta-Dub
B2 - Corruzione


Tonnerre a la Lunne LP (1986)

1 Servitude Nationale
2  Aguila De Ciudad
3  Habib Grimzi
4  El Gran Corrido
5  Negritude
6  Arriba Espana (Disco Remix)
7  Abajo La Dictadur


 Desperados 7" (1987)

A - Desperados
B - Coscorron Steady Beat


Western Electric LP (1987)

1 Deprisa
2 N°5446
3 Partisans
4 La Roue S'Arrête
5 Frontière
6 Pas De Quartier
7 Desperados
8 Prétoria + Dub
9 Guantanamera
10 Lettre De Fusillés


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Oddly Enough - Shaky Ground 7" (1985)

I don't know why this record is always labeled as a ska record. The b-side is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" with some timbales and saxophone but it's not ska. Neither is the a-side. 

This record comes up for sale on eBay quite often and it rarely goes for cheap. Save your money and download it.

A - Shaky Ground
B - Blowin' in the Wind

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Sax-O-Tromba - Supafantastic (1997)

...by request. Quintessential 3rd wave sounds from Cleveland, Ohio.

1 What I Call Beer
2 Get Up
3 Letter Jacket
4 Rudy is Here
5 Useless
6 Who's Your Daddy?
7 Down
8 Man of the Moon

"Get Up"

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Tchicky Monky - Wishbone 7" (1991)

French ska band from Dijon with a 2Tone sound. They released a couple of demo cassettes and this 7" in the late 80s / early 90s before breaking up. They re-formed a while ago (either that, or they never really broke up, they just took an extended hiatus) and they have been very prolific but I'm not sure they've been releasing anything. They have been playing shows and have recorded quite a bit. You can hear more of them on their MySpace.

A - Wishbone
B - Melody Ska

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The Blue Beat - The Blue Beat 12" (1990)

A1 - Sunshine Ska
A2 - The Waltz
B1 - Blue Beat Shoes
B2 - It's Not Funny

"It's Not Funny"
"Sunshine Ska"

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Sound System - I Scared Myself 7" (1987) [LINK UPDATED Dec. 17th, 2014]

A - I Scared Myself
B - Sound System Style


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Ethnic Drivers - Ethnic Drivers 12" (1985) [link updated 09/11/2016]

Canadian new wave band. I think this is their only release. There are 4 great new wave tracks on here, but the first two songs could be considered ska.

1 (This is) Sydney Town
2 Wake Up to Me
3 When it's Over
4 No Safety in Numbers
5 Parade of the Sensible
6 Youth Anthem

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Skavengers - demo tape (1995)

This is one of the many bands called Skavengers. This particular band was from Massachusetts and I don't know that they ever recorded anything else.

1 Good at Everything
2 Last Cigar
3 Hardened Soul
4 What's Going On?

"What's Going On?

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Riff Regan - You Call Me Lucky

Riff Regan was the vocalist for the punk band London. He went solo in the early 80s and released a few singles. A few of them had a bit of the ska influence. This is the only one I have - so far.

A - You Call Me Lucky
B - Jacoby Island

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