Family,Burnley fc, all that is English, I'm a patriotic lad, I love our country and worry where we are heading as a nation - however before you one celled racist wankers start getting excited you can FUCK OFF. Real ale, reading stuff, being a decent lad, earnin a crust,buying CDs and smuggling them in and getting it on the shelf without my wife realising.Industrial heritage {alright}
Music:
SKA, and a bit more ska: The Adjusters, Lovely Lilly Allen, After Hours, The Afterbeat, The utterly fantastic Aggrolites, currently THE best combo in the States: Australia's The Allniters, The legendary Allstonians, have you ever heard Emily Slumber? Its awesome and thats just for starters. Scotlands bouncing Amphetameanies,APB originally from Leeds,the bizarre Aquabats, Area 7, ska heroes from down under. Tim Armstrongs cd A Poets Life is wonderous:"Into action" The Articles, the god father,Mr Laurel Aitken - long may his memory inspire our scene.Buster's ska circus Bad Manners {achieved god like status years ago} Bad Manners Lip Up Fatty
Add to My Profile | More Videos , The Bakesys, The wonderous Beat, Canadas' Bedouin Soundclash,Big 5, current British ska top dogs The Big, Big D and the Kids table, buy their Strictly Rude album it skanks, Bim Skala Bim, respect to old friends.Black Cat Zoot, Germanys' Bluekilla, our very own 2 tone babes The Bodysnatchers, don't you think that Rhoda looks even more beautiful now, ska stalwarts from the fatherland The Braces, Mike Park's truly fantabulous Bruce Lee Band,the eccentric Blue Beat Players from Japan {Good honest man is jaw droppingly wonderful}, The Bluebeats on Moonska NYC, Buck-o-nine {respect in barrels to these guys who don't take no for an answer}, Uncle Buster and his All-stars, The magnificent horn blasting umpah band on speed Busters, The truly marvellous Butlers.Capdowns' blazing skacore, Glasgows legendary Capone and the Bullets(Paranoid Zone is one top notch ska track}, USAs Catch 22, Barnsleys very own wonderous ska posse Catch It Kebabs, shortlived but well good Cheapskates from deepest Wales, Mike Park's imperious Chinkees, their upbeat organ driven style is almost unbeatable: The bizarrely named and infuriatingly catchy Chickenpox from Sweden, our very own and much loved The Clash, the one and only Jimmy Cliff, a true god whose music influences our scene to this very day. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, their early stuff and especially the albums My Aim is True and Armed Forces are superb, Germany's Court Jesters Crew, nothing funny about them but their album with Laurel Aitken Jamboree is fantastic, USAs Crazy Baldhead, finally our best mates in Crunch!The sexy, sweet as honey vocals of Dancehall Crashers, Liverpools utterly fab Dead 60s - "Riot Radio" Chicago's gritty Deal's Gone Bad,have you heard The Ramblers yet? Its bangin'.. King of ska Desmond Dekker, now sadly passed on but always revered by the ska community. From Venezuela Desorden Publico, Don Khumalo whose collaboration with King Django resulted in the lovely No mas errores, Spanish ska troupe Doctor Calypso, the "fat german bastard" Doctor Ring Ding, actually hugely talented trojan of the global scene {if you know your ska you will know who called him a f g b and on what track!},the acoustic ska talent of Drewvis, a top lad from Brighton who's lo-fi style is wicked and London's the Dualers, utterly blinding trad ska. The Dualers - Don't Go
Add to My Profile | More Videos The UKs own Dub Pistols are cool and their new album "Speakers and Tweeters" has some awesome tunes on it including a new version of Gangsters featuring Terry Hall,USAs Easy Big Fella whose Moonska album Eat at Joeys is utterly fantastic, if you have never heard it you are missing out,get a load of this lot, AWESOME!: The rocksteady of Eastern Standard Time, very nearly the saviour of Moon ska USAs Edna's Goldfish, a totally underrated band I absolutely loved their Before You Knew Better album, Englands ska punkers Farse, where are you lads? I thought Boxing Clever was well good, Manchester's fantastically bizarre Fat Jabba, the wicked Fine Young Cannibals, I absolutely loved Johnny Come Home, Fishbone, are a VERY special and talented band from the USA: date rape
..The Scouse looney that is Mark Foggo backed by the long suffering Skasters, I saw them play at the Brighton Ska festival six years ago and I was blown away "hello ska people!", long live Skanky Lil, The Forces of Evil, wackiness from the States.Gangster Fun from the US,"Night of the living stove" is one bizarre yet cool track, early Goldfinger, power ska at its US best.The utterly wonderful Hepcat, me and Jane got married to the track You and I, I hope that they do record together again one day, Dave Hillyard, the sax supremo from NYCs Slackers, Englands very own ska heroes The Hotknives, their album The Way Things Are is a monster collection of tunes and defines the late 80s and early 90s for me:The Hotknives "Don't Go Away" Top ska punk from the US in Hot Stove Jimmy, Howards Alias, dark and moody punk rock with ska leanings.Englands mellow trad ska heroes Intensified,their live set is rumoured to be the best authentic trad ska out there, they are awesome. The short lived International Beat and worthy christian ska band The Israelites.The Jam, I grew up thinking that Paul Weller was a miserable bugger but some of their songs are absolute classics, he still takes himself too seriously but I love the music, you can't argue with that. I love his solo work too but I'm far less sold on the Style Council.A new ska band called JB Conspiracy, their recent release on Gravity Dip "This Machine" is well worth searching out,its a ska/punk cracker, a can't say how brilliantly they have moulded their ska punk style, this is my favourite UK release of that genre by miles, I hope they stick around, the scene needs them in a big big way.JB Conspiracy - Pipedown {live} Punk soul brothers Jesse James, the wonderfully bizarre Johnny Socko from the US, their Full Trucker Effect album is a joy of eccentricity.The much loved and missed Judge Dread, just a class act and a huge influence, music with a smile {amongst other things!} Heavy punky ska noise from Kenisia, Canadas King Apparatus, did a couple of top albums, that was Chris Murray's band before he became the lo-tec ska dude, Londons rising stars The King Blues, thoroughly deserved, their Under The Fog album is a fierce piece of work, true quality. NYCs versatile and wonderful King Django, responsible for some total classics and also for producing new talent, a gent and a ska trojan, this track is "take a chance" its totally gentle and wonderful! The Kingpins, upbeat two tone style ska from Canada, they're good stuff, our very own King Prawn, totally underated and far too short lived, I think they kicked ass and were hugely talented, this is Someone to hate: Our friends and heroes The Kinks, a huge influence and at their best just sublime.Quirky mods The Lambrettas, so much more than Poison Ivy, US ska punk kings Less Than Jake, fantastic ska tunes, shame they have left the offbeat behind over recent years, check this out its the bolloxs! From Sweden the totally barmy and utterly brilliant Liberator, old friends from the US the skanktastic Lets Go Bowling, their Moon ska album Mr Twist is a classic. Canadian dudes, Lo and the Magnetics, our very own heroes from Newbury the fresh faced and lovable Loafers, what a top band they were, I played Contagious until the album wore out!They wrote a fistful of total classics.Ska punkers Lubby Nugget, I loved their style and especially their split cd with Shootin Goon, Big Up Clash, well worth tracking down.Mad Caddies just get better and better for me,their recent album Keep it going is their best to date and is fantastic from start to finish.Madness, the legendary boys from Camden Town, Suggs, Chas, Lee, Mike, Bedders,Chris n Woody, the band that started it all for me and my absolute heroes, they are peerless. Often described as a "singles" band, their albums are criminally underrated and in the live arena they are just magic.Their armoury of awesome songs continues to grow to this day with the sublime NW5. US skankers Magadog, Bob Marley and the Wailers, an inspirational figure to countless millions and a huge influence on our scene.Bostons ska tour de force The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, they are without doubt the best US ska band for me, its wonderful that they are back, I'm still waiting for a copy of their new album Medium Rare, lets hope they do a proper world tour! The Scandanavian ska punk monsters Millencolin, Belgiums smooth Moon Invaders, the utterly sexed up beautiful ska blasters Mr Review, what tunes and lyrics, my fave Euro ska mash up by miles, I played Another Town to death, they've done loads of others too! Like this.... The horn driven sweaty bollox that is MU330, their latest album, Ultra Panic {Asian Man} is sack busting, a new offering is LONG overdue, long, long overdue.The one man ska circus that is Chris Murray, he is a ska Trojan, go forth and discover awesome Canadian tuneage that he is responsible for.US ska mob Mustard Plug, ska punk right out of the Devil's undies!!Napoleon Solo, ska heroes from Denmark who appeared on Blue Beat when it was briefly owned by Buster Bloodvessel, their album "Shot" was a cool mix of ska and soul. The New Town Kings, terrifically talented trad ska combo from England, they have a cd out on Do The Dog,Sound of the new town, its fantastic.The New York Citizens, ska dudes from the beginning of the US scene, respect too to the NY Jazz Ska Ensemble, some classic tuneages from this mob.Germany's Ngobo Ngobo, super catchy two tone blasts. Gwen Stefani's No Doubt, originally a ska troupe who crossed over to the mainstream to huge effect. The utter ska powerhouse that was No Sports from Germany, their King Ska album on Unicorn records is fuckin fantabulous! New Zealands ska warriors The Offbeats, their version of the Dads Army theme tune is guarenteed to make you smile and move your ass.Japan's ska blasters extraordinaire Oi skall mates, when I first heard their debut album "12 mates skall nighter" I got so excited a little bit of wee came out, crazy people! Ska/punk pioneers Operation Ivy famous for adding edge to the US ska sound and for morphing into the legends who are Rancid.The Ordinary Boys, famous for being labelled as shit but I love 'em,I miss their contribution and hope Preston makes a return to the fray, Boys will be boys is, for me, what English ska is all about - Sean and Finnys' ska collective Pama International, I feel the love building for them, done so much in a few short years, their latest offering, Love filled dub band is class. The now defunct Parka Kings,cool band with the gem Midnight Sails in their repertoire.Smooth trad ska combo Peeping Toms on Grover Records.Washington DC heroes The Pietasters,if you love ska and don't have Awesome Mix tape No6 on Hellcat then track it down cos its fantastic! Canadian ska heroes The Planet Smashers, awesome uplifting heart pumping ska anthems: Holy shit its THE Porkers,ska thats raw and real from Australia,one band I would travel round the planet to see play live in a pub on a Friday night in front of their own crowd, utterly fuckin' fantastic, mate: I love Radar, however sadly their camp is very quiet just now, they've done a clutch of singles to my knowledge and theyre all quality:
USAs awesome pioneers Rancid, they've done shit loads of stuff but if you like your ska then look out for "And out came the wolves" or even better "life won't wait".Below is Time Bomb but there are lots of highlights, you really must seek them out:
East Anglias smooth trad ska collective Rebelation, sometimes wide of the mark but when they are on the money they rock, go to Do the Dog and buy the Pounds and Pence ep its bloody awesome.
Reel Big Fish, ska lunancy from the US, where else! In fairness they've done some top stuff, they always make me smile and skanking is obligatory!
