The Apple Stomp "Ska Brunch" will take place on Saturday, June 1 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm (before that night's Apple Stomp show with The Slackers, Spring Heeled Jack, MU330, Mephiskapheles, The Pietasters, The Scofflaws, Westbound Train, Thumper, and Bigger Thomas) and features Rude Boy George doing their cool ska covers of New Wave classics (check out several RBG videos on The Duff Guide to Ska YouTube channel) and Selecter Steve spinning a mix of vintage ska, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave.
You can find Electric Avenue in the back room at Characters NYC (243 West 54th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue)--a short subway ride away from Union Square and Irving Plaza. The Apple Stomp Brunch is an all-ages event and the door is a mere $5.00 (all of which goes to the band).
Editor's note: In an attempt to catch up on the huge backlog of releases that are awaiting my review--and to counter my obsession with solely composing long, in-depth write-ups (something that I just don't have time to do as much as I'd like to, sadly)--I'm launching this new series of brief, paragraph-length reviews. Titled "Over the Transom," my inside joke with Marc Wasserman about sneaking in ska releases and merchandise to our homes without attracting the attention of our respective wives, these batches of reviews are intended to give props to the many bands still recording and issuing great ska music, as well as alert ska fans as to which releases are worth their hard-earned cash. + + + +
(Reviews by Steve Shafer)
While there have been several vinyl LP re-issues of Toasters material on Megalith/Jump Up over the past few years (and the band practically has been on a non-stop tour of the globe), there hasn't been a Toasters release of new material since 2007's One More Bullet (kind of a shock, since I remember the brighter days when each year brought a new Toasters album). This is, no doubt, a reflection of the deleterious impact of illegal file sharing on sales of recorded music rather than an omen of the creative well running dry. To dispel any worries about that, all one has to do is place the needle on The Toasters' "House of Soul" single, a superb new tribute of sorts to Motown, which will sate the cravings of both newbie and long-time fans for Bucket's patented and beloved NYC ska sound. For a musician now based in (and frequently touring) Europe, it's fascinating to note how these songs are (still) so strongly influenced by 60s black American music (and express deep nostalgia for "old time music," "beat up 45s," and music delivered via mono transistor radios and hi fi sets--all of which are okay by me). "House of Soul" ("Take a boat ride down the delta/and a train right down to Atlanta, too/Take a quick trip up to Chicago, Illinois/To find the home of the rhythm and blues") is another of Bucket's ska history tracks--acknowledging the vital roots of Jamaican ska--that could be the companion track to "Chuck Berry" off Hard Band for Dead. "Going Home" is a ska-via-New Orleans musician's road warrior song ("I've met a lot of people/Ugly, good, and bad....I've broken a lot of hearts/but none of them was mine/Now I'm standing at the crossroads/In the middle of the square/I don't know where I'm going/but it feels like I'm almost there/I'm going home to the one who is waiting for me there"). Good stuff. Bucket says that "House of Soul" marks the first of many new singles from The Toasters--here's hoping that in the near future the band takes more breaks from touring to hit the studio to lay down the next batch of killer tunes!
Packed with more slack double entendres that you could shake a...um...stick at, comes Dr. Ring Ding's Kalipso Times EP (which I was able to mail order through Interpunk in the USA). Anyone paying attention to the ska scene over the past two decades will know that the good Doktor is an extraordinary master of vintage Jamaican ska, but his forays into Trinidadian calypso are equally as magnificent. Side A of this EP features an excellent original tune done inna Mighty Sparrow style called "The Cat and the Rooster" (I'll let you work out what we're really referring to here) concerning the struggle for dominance between men and women. More reggae than calypso, "All Because I Love You" is a rather sweet and straight-forward declaration of love and devotion that was also featured on the recent Dr. Ring Ding Ska-Vaganza CD Piping Hot. Side B contains a cover of Might Sparrow's deserved 1966 hit "Obeah Wedding" and “The Needle,"a reggae take on Lord Kitchener's “Dr. Kitch" (also a favorite song to cover by the great and late Judge Dread), which is not exactly about syringes and medicinal injections (both of these tracks have previously been available on a Grover single and Jump Up's release of Dr. Ring Ding's Back and Forth CD). It's all pretty hilarious, in good fun, and very well done.
Though known more for his Christian reggae, Solomon Jabby showcases his early reggae instrumental work on these two fine keyboard-centric tracks. "Showdown at the Altarsound" (Altarsound is the name of Jabby's backyard studio, a la Lee Perry's Black Ark) is an energetic organ workout, while "Tone Wheel Express" is a proud, almost strutting track. Fans of The Aggrolites, The Caroloregians, and 2000 Tons of TNT will be more than pleased to have this single in their collection.
In all my many years as a ska fan, I have yet to meet a fellow ska disciple who isn't also a rabid fan of The Clash (probably my all-time favorite band). For many ska fanatics of my generation whose high school years fortuitously coincided with the late 70s and early 80s, The Clash were our formal introduction to--and gateway for exploring--roots reggae (just as the 2 Tone bands led many of us to seek out recordings by the original Jamaican ska musicians from the 60s). While The Clash, obviously, have extraordinary appeal far beyond ska and reggae circles, their love of and reverence for Jamaican ska and reggae shines through on dozens of their tracks ("(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," "Police and Thieves," "Rudie Can't Fail," "Guns of Brixton," "Wrong 'Em Boyo," "Revolution Rock," "Bankrobber," "Pressure Drop," "Armagideon Time," "Justice Tonight/Kick it Over," "The Call Up," "Junco Partner," "The Crooked Beat," "One More Time,""The Equalizer," "Living in Fame," etc.) and is what draws ska fans into their fold and keeps them there for life.
With all this in mind, it shouldn't come as a shock that I'm eagerly anticipating the release of Golden Singles Records' double LP of The Clash Goes Jamaican, which features an international roster of ska bands covering the Only Band That Matters (check out a preview of all songs on the comp here; the complete track list can be found here). While I'm not sure of the release date for this tribute, ska fans of The Clash can immediately satisfy their cravings through Jump Up Records' incredible new The Clash Goes Jamaican colored vinyl single (available in red, white, or blue), featuring The Crombies and Green Room Rockers.
On paper, a ska-soul version of The Clash's furious and righteous punk rock anthem "Clampdown" might seem misguided, but the Green Room Rockers pull this feat off magnificently, largely on the strength and conviction of Mark Cooper's vocals (when he sings "it's the best years of your life they want to steal," it's like he knows from first-hand experience!). On this track Strummer, an avowed socialist, advocates general resistance--even revolution--against the pernicious capitalist system, AKA "The Clampdown," that enriches the few by controlling and brutally exploiting the masses ("No man born with a living soul/Can be working for the clampdown/Kick over the wall, 'cause governments to fall/How can you refuse it?/Let fury have the hour, anger can be power/Do you know that you can use it?"). But "Clampdown" also illustrates someone's gradual acquiescence to the manipulation and propaganda of "the system" ("The men at the factory are old and cunning/You don't owe nothing, so boy get runnin'/It's the best years of your life they want to steal/But you grow up and you calm down and/Working for the clampdown/You start wearing the blue and brown and/Working for the clampdown/So you got someone to boss around/It makes you feel big now/You drift until you brutalize/You made your first kill now"). And throughout the song there are allusions to nationalism, xenophobia, and the Nazi's anti-Semitism that suggest fascism is the political system that the capitalists believe to be the most profitable/advantageous to them ("Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew?/Working for the clampdown/They put up a poster saying we earn more than you/Working for the clampdown/We will teach our twisted speech/To the young believers/We will train our blue-eyed men/To be young believers").
The Clash Goes Jamaican single highlights The Clash's deep connection to the ska scene--and showcases two of midwest America's finest acts in the process--but it also serves as a reminder of how The Clash composed some of the sharpest, most potent, and still painfully relevant rebel protest songs in the history of popular music.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7
The Pandemics
Stage 48
New York, NY
4/28/13
(Review by Steve Shafer)
I first started reading about Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra in Tower Records' magazine "Pulse" in the very early 1990s--and was incredibly intrigued by this ska band that was gaining so much mainstream attention and had attracted major label backing (Epic), especially at a time when ska was an underground thing, worldwide. And then a few of their releases began showing up in Tower's import bins--mysterious (with psychedelic artwork and Japanese text), tantalizing, and pricey. Since my ska obsession knows no bounds, I picked up many of their available imports (though, to this day, I don't know the titles of some of the TSPO releases I have!) and immediately fell in love with their pumped up, big band, Skatalites-influenced sound.
I had always harbored the hope/fantasy of traveling to Japan to see TSPO there, but my life's plan (so far) hasn't made this possible. During my time at Moon Ska Records, I thought it might happen. I had helped handle the licensing of many of our releases to our Japanese sister label, Moon Ska Tokyo (run by Tachyon Records), and to promote some of the Moon Ska Tokyo releases, Tachyon arranged for several Moon bands to tour in Japan. But the opportunity never arose for me to tag along with any of them.
In the waning days of Moon, sometime in 1999, when everything was starting to crash down on our heads after the mainstream music press and music industry had formally declared ska dead (triggering an avalanche of returned CDs from record stores across the nation), a few representatives from the Japanese major label Avex (who had recently set up TSPO with their own imprint, Justa Records) visited me in New York with the intention of exploring some sort of partnership between Moon and TSPO in the USA. Sadly, Moon was in no condition to launch a new endeavor with TSPO or anyone else (around this time, The Porkers had finally made it over to the States for the Warped Tour and to support their Hot Dog Daiquiri release on Moon, but, in a bit of miserable timing--and much to my horror--Moon's promotion department had been shut down, and I could barely look Pete Porker in the eye when he was in town). Had this meeting taken place just a year or two earlier, a deal between Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (who, no doubt, would have toured the USA in support of any domestic release) and Moon Records might have positioned the label to survive the hard ska times coming at the end of the century...
I did come away from the Avex encounter with some incredible TSPO 7"singles and 12" EPs on Justa Records for my troubles, which hold treasured spots in my record collection to this day.
When Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra played NYC's Central Park Summerstage about eight years ago, for some reason (and much to my regret), I missed it (I must have been out of town). So, when I received an e-mail a few months ago from someone in Chicago who was inquiring about good places to stay in NYC when TSPO plays, I dropped everything I was doing and scrambled to get a ticket (even though TSPO was playing a Sunday night show at a new, non-ska venue) and altered my friend Marc Wasserman (Marco on the Bass/Bigger Thomas) to do the same.
From pictures on its website, Stage 48--located in Hell's Kitchen/Clinton, off 11th Avenue--appeared to be a cavernous space (that typically hosted hip-hop concerts and themed club nights), but it turned out to be a surprisingly intimate space, with a U-shaped balcony over the dance floor. I saw/heard very little about the show ahead of time (where were the preview articles in the local media?), beyond the ticket contest I did via The Duff Guide to Ska and listing the bill in The Duff Guide to Ska NYC ska calendar a few times. So, I had no idea of what to expect.
When Marc and I turned up at the venue, the line waiting to get in was comprised of what I assume were Japanese ex-pats--and they made up about half to two-thirds of the 500+ crowd that eventually assembled inside. The NYC Latin ska scene was well represented, and I spied a cross-section of NYC ska scenesters, including Buford O'Sullivan (ex-Scofflaws, ex-Toasters, Easy Star All-Stars), Ricardo from Los Skarroneros, Skankin' Rich, and "Checkerboard" Phil Dejean.
The Pandemics were up first and compelled the audience to dance to their fun mix of punky and modern ska originals and covers (including The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and Prince Buster's "Hard Man Fe Dead"). I thought I had a bunch of video shot of The Pandemics from their show at Electric Avenue earlier this year, but it turns out I don't, and apologize to the band for not taking some here!
Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7 (a supergroup of sorts, including Larry McDonald on percussion; Dave Hahn on guitar; and Rich Graiko on trumpet) brought a completely different vibe to the venue with their excellent, laid-back jazzy ska and rocksteady. The group's musicianship and performance were really top-notch, though their extended jams with solos all around let the energy in the room lag a bit at times (to be fair, the fans were craving TSPO's supercharged brand of ska).
Click to enlarge TSPO set list.
From the moment they stormed the stage in their matching, natty suits, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra were nothing short of extraordinary. They were laser focused on entertaining the crowd with their impeccable musical performances of originals and covers, and their hilarious stage antics (the Buster Keaton-ish move of having their trombonist spin around and the musicians on either side of him ducking in order not to be brained by the t-bone slide; or the melodica that has flashing lights embedded in it--see the "Ska Me Crazy" video below). In short, these guys know how to work the fans into an ecstatic frenzy (listen to the lion's roar of the crowd at the end of each video!)--and everyone in the audience devoured it all, since it's a rare thing to experience a ska band of such an extraordinary caliber. I've seen few bands as tight, a blast to watch, and delivering their goods with such brilliance. I pray they come back to NYC soon.
Unfortunately, due to adult responsibilities (it was a Sunday night, with a long, sometimes difficult work week ahead), Marc and I had to jet after about half of TSPO's set (I know--heresy!). I really wished I could have caught more of their show--especially after I saw their complete set list the next day. But what I did hear and see of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra will stay with--and buoy--me for a very long time.
For the purposes of full disclosure, I was in one of the bands--Rude Boy George--that performed recently at Electric Avenue at Characters NYC (and, as you know, help book the bands and run these monthly ska nights). So to avoid a complete conflict of interest, some portions of this post are going to be less of a review and more of a first person, experiential piece.
In case you missed my post introducing Rude Boy George, we came together to do ska, rocksteady, and reggae covers of New Wave hits. RBG features Megg Howe (Across the Aisle) and Roger Apollon, Jr. (Bigger Thomas) on lead vocals; Spencer Katzman (Bigger Thomas) on guitar; Dave Barry (The Toasters/Beat Brigade) on keyboards; Marc Wasserman (Bigger Thomas/Marco on the Bass) on bass; and Jim Cooper (Bigger Thomas) on drums. I sing back-up vocals and play a bit of melodica. We're doing this out of our shared respect and love for the extraordinary amount of good music produced during the New Wave era (we're not doing cheesy, ironic covers). And we want to have some fun in the process.
In preparation for the night (I spin records before and after each band at most every Electric Avenue night), I pulled a ridiculous amount of ska, New Wave, and post-punk vinyl off my shelves (and only ended up playing a small fraction of it that evening, natch), but was wary of mixing in too much non-ska (I really wanted to play Made for TV's "So Afraid of the Russians" followed by Fear's "Let Have a War," and The Selecter's "Selling Out Your Future"--since the flip side of the odd-ball, day-glo component of New Wave was Cold War paranoia and dread of nuclear annihilation). Up to this point, the Electric Avenue nights have been exclusively ska and reggae affairs, so I was concerned about alienating the regulars (though in retrospect, Beat Brigade brought in an older crowd that had experienced their high school days years during the glory days of New Wave, so they would have dug it; as it was, many people approached me to comment on how much they loved a song choice that I'd made...).
After the doors opened and before our set, I found myself pretty distracted as I was digging through my crates and putting the needles on the records. Not only was this night going to mark my debut in a band, but we had hoped to squeeze in one last run-through of a song or two at sound check (we'd rehearsed about 6 or 7 times over the past few months--no easy feat, given everyone's work/family responsibilities). Without getting into recriminations (and all has long since been forgiven), the drum kit that all the bands were sharing didn't arrive until just prior to our set time...
Even though the rest of the members of Rude Boy George have been performing for years in Bigger Thomas, Beat Brigade/The Toasters, and Across the Aisle, several of my bandmates were visibly nervous--particularly without a warm-up--so I actually felt kind of relieved being in the same boat, jittery nerves and all (in the "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" video, you can see that I can't stand still during the intro). Plus, I'd been in enough plays/musicals throughout my schooling, as well as sung in amateur and professional choirs, to have experienced plenty of stage fright and to know that anxiety and adrenaline end up focusing and powering you through your performance.
Nonetheless, it was still a bit of a shock to find myself up in front of the mic without that last practice. But there was no time for fear--all my attention was on hitting my notes and marks, and before I knew it, we'd made it to the end of our set (Culture Club's "Church of the Poison Mind"). I'd had a blast performing and it had certainly helped to be in front of such a friendly and enthusiastic crowd of about 100 people that was really into Rude Boy George's mission and sound (to everyone that was present--thanks so much for your support!).
Enough of my navel-gazing. Check out the videos that my friend (and ex-Moon Records colleague) Ray Manuud shot of us, which will give you the best idea of what Rude Boy George is all about ...
The next Rude Boy George gig is on Saturday, June 1st at a special Electric Avenue show--stay tuned for more details. We'll have a few new covers ready by then, too!
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Over the past few months, Beat Brigade have been recording an album, and whatever magic they've been working in the studio has definitely infected their live show. I've seen the band several times over the past year or so (after completely missing them in the 1980s) and each performance ends up topping the previous one! Between the superb Specials/Costello/Clash influenced original cuts and the incredible musicianship of the band (the unstoppable rhythm section of Ramsey Jones on drums and Frank Usamanont on bass; Dave Barry on keys; Carmelo Dibartolo on guitar and vocals; Erick Storkman on t-bone; Michael Kammers: sax; and Jack Hoppenstand, guitar, who was unable to perform this night), Beat Brigade are one of the finest and most powerful acts on the ska scene. Their 80s NYC ska vibe still sounds brilliantly unique and contemporary after all of these years (even back then, their mix made them stand out from their competition on the NYC ska scene; dig out "Armageddon Beat" off 1985's NY Beat: Hit and Run compilation or "Try and Try Again" off their 1987 split single with The Toasters--it's like nothing else at the time). To use an archaic (and late Cold War era), but completely appropriate and accurate phrase, Beat Brigade are the bomb!
Here are the Beat Brigade videos that I shot. Thanks to Dave Barry for shoving me at one point!
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Hopefully, this came across in my drunken and semi-coherent introduction of the band that night, but I really do think that Across the Aisle are one of NYC's underrated gems. Their eternally sunny ska-pop-punk packs one hell of a wallop on your musical chin (i.e.: they knock you out every time). Megg Howe is a truly gifted and dynamic performer and her bandmates (Ashray Shah on bass; Jay Reid on drums; Jesse Gosselin on guitar; Jackie Chasen on sax; and Andrew Hagerty on t-bone) are a whip smart, amped-up ska groove machine. Because I had to talk some business (so it goes), I missed too much of their set, but what I caught was pretty magnificent--including a few of my favorite ATA songs ("Beer Song" and "Better Off," both from ATA's great, debut The Mercy EP), which I videotaped and saved for all posterity...
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Ska melts in your mouth, not in your hand!
Lastly, I want to take a moment to publicly thank my good friend (and another ex-Moon Records employee) Adam Liebling for underwriting part of this Electric Avenue night in celebration of his birthday. Adam generously paid for the admission of the first 40 people through the door (all of which went to help pay for the bands' performances that night) and he gave out amazing birthday party goody bags to friends as well as several random people in the crowd! My own personalized and much appreciated goody bag included a bag of white and purple M and Ms with Walt Jabsco, the Beat Girl, "ska," and "Electric Avenue" printed on them; a Derrick Morgan CD; Madness and Buzzcocks badges; and a "Great Performance" ribbon (in anticipation of my bit with Rude Boy George, which I hope I earned). And I later learned that Michelle Ska received a goody bag with a Moon Ska zippo lighter--only 250 of those were made (mine is squirreled away in an undisclosed location!). If you haven't guessed, Adam is the man!
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Check out the spectacular photos of the bands taken by Bryan Kremkau of Skapunkphotos.com--you can see Rude Boy George here and Beat Brigade here.
If you've been reading this blog with any frequency, you already know I'm a big advocate/supporter of crowd funding as the model that ska bands should utilize in this age of rampant, illegal file sharing for pressing up vinyl and/or CDs and delivering it to those fans who still want and value tangible recorded music.
So, here's a new crowd funding project from The Prizefighters that is very worthy of your hard-earned cash. I've already made my pledge, so I'll be receiving all three Prizefighters 45s (more singles to play at Electric Avenue!), their new CHema Skandal-designed t-shirt, stickers, and a badge!
There were no computers, no air-conditioning, just the hot hum of the reel-to-reel churning through the 95 degree heat. Just like how the tape rolled through the sticky air of Jamaica in 1964, The Prizefighters found themselves transported to that golden era, cooped up in a Minneapolis recording studio in the Summer of 2012. The goal was to record a trio of 45s, each platter serving as a continuation of the “rusty-dusty” sounds called ska, rocksteady, and reggae.
Using 100% analog equipment, The Prizefighters tracked six new tracks, the ska scorchers “Lost at Sea” and “One Thousand Words,” rocksteady laments “No Use Crying” and “Night Breeze,” and early reggae standouts “Cold Shoulder” and haunting instrumental “Sukeban” (hear samples of each song in the video below). You can literally hear the heat and thick air pouring through your headphones as each track spins away. The Prizefighters utilized vintage Jamaican recording techniques to achieve a sound so authentic there would be no question that these new tunes belong in the oft-overlooked canon of Jamaican music history.
The Prizefighters have been at the top of the Twin Cities ska scene for the past six years, playing all across the Midwest bringing the sounds of young Jamaica to the masses. They self released their debut album Follow My Sound in 2010 and saw Jump Up! Records pick it up and help release the special edition vinyl LP in 2011. Recently, The Prizefighters have had the honor of working with Jamaican legends Stranger Cole, Charlie Organairre, Roy Panton, and Yvonne Harrison, serving as the primary backing band for Chicago's Jamaican Oldies Weekends. A Musical Knockout in 3 Rounds! will be the first 45rpm releases from The Prizefighters.
What You Get
This record series highlights brand-new recordings from The Prizefighters, released on the format most appropriately suited for vintage Jamaican music: 45rpm vinyl. In addition to the vintage production style and soul put into every tune, each of the three records features unique label art designed with a 60s Jamaican aesthetic, released on the band’s own Prizefighter Sound System label. This is the real deal, folks, and The Prizefighters have pulled out all the stops to deliver an authentic listening experience to fans of vintage Jamaican muzik the whole world over. You had better act fast if you want a piece of these platters, though. Each release will be limited to 500 copies, and once they're gone, they're gone for good!
Not only is this a chance to get your hands on all records in the series before they're officially released, you'll have the opportunity to score some really choice swag. This is the first time we've ever set up a true mail-order store, so if we've never come to your town here's your first chance to pick up our merch.
We're launching new t-shirts designed by the multi-talented CHema Skandal! (check out his work HERE), new stickers, test pressings of each record, and a truly one-of-a-kind high quality DVD of our performance with Roy and Yvonne from Chicago's Jamaican Oldies Weekend. For you high rollers, check out the perks we're offering, such as The Prizefighters VIP card, granting you free admission to all Prizefighters shows for an entire year! Check out all of the reqard packages to find one that puts you in a dancing mood.
For anyone interested in my history with Moon Records and 7 Wonders of the World Music--and how I became involved with ska in the first place--you may want to read this new interview I did with Steven Bauer of ReadJunk.
As you may know, original Mouseketeer Annette Funicello passed away earlier this week at age 70, due to complications from multiple sclerosis (read The New York Times obituary here).
What many people are unaware of is that she had a hand in introducing ska music to mainstream, whitebread America in the 1960s.
Back in September of 2011, I reviewed the "Doin' the Popcorn Ska" 7" EP, which included Funicello's take on Byron Lee and the Dragonaires' "Jamaica Ska," and ended up writing about how Disney's star came to record a genuine ska tune of all things (and then how she revisited the song in the late 80s with Fishbone). To read this Duff Guide to Ska entry, go here.
Check out The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel for footage of ska bands in action in clubs around NYC, as well as unusual and rare ska videos from the 90s! Bands featured include The Toasters, The Bluebeats, The Forthrights, Across the Aisle, The Caroloregians, The Moon Invaders, The Rudie Crew, Tip the Van, Hey Stranger, Beat Brigade, Bigger Thomas, King Chango, The Scofflaws, UB40, The Hard Times, Jah Love and the Valentinians, The Shifters, Rudies Don't Care, Big Audio Dynamite, Stranger Cole and Patsy with Crazy Baldhead, Queen P of Ocean 11, King Hammond, The Snails, King Django, Doomsday! The Ultimate Tribute to Mephiskapheles Consisting of Former Members of Mephiskapheles, Destroy Babylon, The Frightnrs, The Pandemics, Los Skarroneros, The Bullbuckers, The Scofflaws, The Reggay Lords, The Copacetics, Rude Boy George, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, and more!
"Ska--the last refuge of rebels, scoundrels, and the unemployable."
"An era of information/When no one seems to know what's going on..." -- "F.A.N." by New Young Pony Club
Steve from Moon--who am I? For most of the 1990s, I was the promotions, marketing, production guy for Moon Records (RIP). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. Seriously, I miss it badly. During 1999/2000, I ran 7 Wonders of the World Music, the first digital download-only ska label (that was too ahead of the curve for its own good; RIP).
I also put together these compilations for Moon: the first three Skarmageddons; Ska United: A Global Ska Sampler; Skank Down Under; This Are Moon Ska I, II, and III; and Moonshot!
Here's an old interview with Adam Coozer from Read Magazine that covers my days at Moon and 7 Wonders.
Duff means worthless.
I'm blogging from Gotham City, USA.
If you have a ska or reggae release that you'd like me to consider reviewing, please send an e-mail to Steve at duffguidetoska@gmail.com. You should know that we I am old school and prefer music in tangible formats (plus I might use your music when I DJ ska events). I'd also appreciate any news or tips you may have about bands.
All reviews and interviews posted on The Duff Guide to Ska are copyrighted and are the sole property of Steve from Moon. Please contact me for permission to reproduce anything on this blog.
The Duff Guide to Ska--we really care about ska music, man.
Duff Guide to Ska Merch!
Show us the love by visiting The Official Duff Guide to Ska shop, where you can purchase men's, women's, and kid's t-shirts proudly sporting the official Duff Guide to Ska Bat guano logo! Plus, you'll find Duff Guide to Ska trucker hats and beer steins (we tried to do stamps, but we were denied!). As King Apparatus used to sing, Buy our stuff--make us rich!
