The Hooters Celebrate 33 1/3 Years!: Philadelphia Band Started Out Playing Ska & Reggae

There is a great story in PhillyBurbs.com about the 33rd anniversary of The Hooters very first show in the Philadelphia suburbs in 1980. It also includes an excellent interview with the band's drummer David Uosikkinen. The band, which also features co-fromtmen Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman is playing a reunion show tomorrow night at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia.

The Hooters started out as a bar band playing punk-influenced reggae and ska cover songs and took their name from the melodica (AKA: Hooter) that was featured on many of their songs. Their very first recording, was a demo of Don Drummond’s ‘Man In The Street’ which was played a lot on local radio though never released commercially.  I didn't know at the time that it was a cover, but I remember thinking it was an amazing song. Only later did I make the connection that it was a great version of what has become one of my favorite Don Drummond/Skatalites songs.

Check out live versions of "Fighting On The Same Side" and a rocking version of "Man In The Street" recorded in 1982 which really give a sense of the bands great reggae and ska meets rock sound and of the kind of local draw they had in Philadelphia.





The band became so popular in the early 80's that they opened for The Who's farewell tour concert show in September 1982 at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on a bill that also included The Clash. After taking a break following this show (during which Bazilian and Hyman wrote songs for Cyndi Lauper's debut "She's So Unusual" including "Time After Time"), the two frontmen reformed the band with Uosikkinen and new members.

It was this version of the band would go on to record and independently release the album Amore which included ska and reggae influenced versions of their original songs. This led to them signing a deal with Columbia Records and they re-recorded a few of their ska sounding songs as rock songs on Nervous Night and went on to MTV fame.

Once again it is interesting to see the way ska and reggae has really influenced and changed the sound of so many bands. Frankly, I've always been disappointed that The Hooters didn't stick with the ska and reggae sound they started off with.  If they had, they could have been responsible for bringing the sound into the mainstream and on to American radio.

Viva Ska Vegas Festival On May 4th Features California 3rd Wave Lineup

Viva Ska Vegas returns to Las Vegas this May 4th with a line-up of California-based 3rd wave ska bands that represent an entire era of music that has come to define the sound of American ska.

The one day festival on Saturday May 4th at the Henderson Events Plaza is headlined by Orange County third wave ska band Reel Big Fish (RBF) and pulls together acts from across California who have contributed greatly to the ska scene and continue to stay faithful to it. In addition to RBF, the 10-band lineup includes notable bands like The Chinkees (fronted by Mike Park of Skankin' Pickle and Asian Man Records fame), Let's Go Bowling (one of the original American ska bands who formed in 1986) and The Skeletones.

Tickets starting at $22 are now available on the festival's website.

The Selecter Live From Coachella 2013!

The Selecter performed their first U.S, show in more than a decade this past Saturday as part of the Coachella Festival.  In case you missed the live feed on YouTube, watch 20 minutes of the band's set below, which focused exclusively on songs from the album "Too Much Pressure" including the following tracks:

Three Minute Hero
Time Hard
They Make Me Mad
Danger
Street Feeling
Train To Skaville
Carry Go Bring Come
James Bond
Missing Words
On My Radio
Too Much Pressure (Pressure Drop)



The band will be playing a series of shows across the West Coast of the U.S., before returning to play at the Coachella Festival again next Saturday April 20th. The remaining tour schedule is below:

April 15th - The Glass House, Pomona, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 16th - Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 17th - Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 20th - Coachella Festival, Indio, CA
April 21st - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ

The Selecter Kick Off "Non-Stop Pressure U.S. Tour 2013" At Coachella Festival

American fans of 2-Tone ska living on the West Coast of the U.S. are in for a treat!  Hot on the heels of The Specials tour of the Southwest and West Coast in March, The Selecter are about to embark on their first U.S. tour in a decade! And if that wasn't exciting enough, the band will be joined by Lee "Scratch" Perry on four of the dates!

The band will be playing Coachella Festival in Indio, CA on Saturdays April 13th and 20th with the remaining five tour dates sandwiched in between, including stops in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Sacramento.  The full tour schedule is below:

April 13th - Coachella Festival, Indio, CA
April 14th - Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 15th - The Glass House, Pomona, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 16th - Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 17th - Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA with Lee 'Scratch' Perry
April 20th - Coachella Festival, Indio, CA
April 21st - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ

The Selecter have just released an excellent, new 10-track album titled "String Theory" (read my review here). The album uses the band's iconic 2-Tone sound as the musical foundation for ten modern ska songs that are rooted in the band's legacy but that explore a new spin on 2-Tone's original ideals. To get a sense of the band's electric live show, check out some great versions of old and new songs that fans attending the shows can expect to hear.

The first video clip includes the tracks "Danger," "My England" and "Celebrate The Bullet" from a show in Liverpool in early March during the band's UK tour:



This clip includes the track "London's Burning" from the new album "String Theory":

Apple Stomp Bands Announced! 2-Day New York Ska Festival Headlined By The Suicide Machines & The Slackers

Irving Plaza in New York City will be the in place to be on May 31st and June 1st when the 2-day Apple Stomp ska festival rolls into town! 

The festival, which is organized by Asbestos Records and Live Nation is anchored by two headliners who have helped define the diversity of American ska -- The Suicide Machines and The Slackers.  The rest of the bill includes a diverse mix of bands from the various 80's and 90's disciplines of American ska (ska punk, ska-core, 3rd wave, and NYC 2-Tone) including Spring Heeled Jack, Pilfers, Mephiskapheles, Murphy's Law, MU330, The Pietasters, Thumper, Metro Stylee, What's Your Problem Brian, Westbound Train and Bigger Thomas.

The Apple Stomp festivities will kick off  with a pre-show party on Thursday May 30th at Characters NYC in Midtown Manhattan. An after show party is also scheduled for Cake Shop on Saturday night June 1st.

Two Day Tickets will go on-sale this Friday, 4/12/13 at noon EST.

The Specials Announce More U.S. Tour Dates -- Four Shows In New York Metro Area!

The Specials have just announced a series of east coast dates for a summer U.S. tour that kicks off in Ottawa and includes stops in Toronto, Boston, Silver Spring, MD, Danbury, CT, New York City, Long Island and the Jersey Shore! Dates and venues below:

July 8: Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa, ON
July 9: Cool Haus, Toronto, ON
July 11: House of Blues, Boston, MA
July 12: The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
July 16: Ives Concert Park, Danbury, CT
July 17: Hudson River Park, Pier 26, New York, NY
July 18: The Paramount, Huntington, NY
July 20: Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ

Stand Down Margaret! - Dave Wakeling Of The English Beat Reflects On The Passing Of Margaret Thatcher

The death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher today at the age of 87 is monumental from a cultural and musical stand point for those of us who came of age in the 1980's.  Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan galvanized musicians on both sides of the Atlantic to critique them for their right wing domestic policies and heavy handed approach to foreign affairs. In the U.K., 2-Tone era bands were united in their opposition to her, with The Beat, The Specials (Ghost Town) and UB40 (Madam Medusa) all recording songs took her to task for gutting social welfare programs and declaring war on the working class and more vulnerable members of British society.

On the news of her passing today, Dave Wakeling of The English Beat who penned the iconic "Stand Down Margaret," shared the following statement:

"Although I rejoice in no one's death, Margaret Thatcher's passing is an important event for those who lived under her regime. She made competitors out of neighbors, and people stopped talking at bus stops, even about the weather, in the shadow of her affected, pretend posh accent. margaret made herself big on the tears and suffering of others, more Cromwell than Churchill, yet however much pain she caused us, I wish comfort and solace to her family today."

Here is one of the best live versions of the song ever recorded by the band in 1980.



The New York Times had the following succint overview of the way Thatcher in particular generated significant opposition from the community of musicians:

From the beginning, some of the toughest depictions came from musicians. Opposition to her free-market ideology infused albums like Gang of Four’s 1979 “Entertainment!” and, in the same year, the Clash EP “Cost of Living,” the cover of which Joe Strummer reportedly wanted to include a collage featuring Mrs. Thatcher’s face and a swastika. Robyn Hitchcock, in the song “Brenda’s Iron Sledge” (1981), imagined Thatcher’s Britain as a surreal dogsled ride to hell. The Beat’s “Stand Down Margaret” (1980) called on her to resign. In 1985, Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, Kirsty McColl and other musicians founded Red Wedge, a collective aimed at forcing her to do just that.

When that effort failed, some turned to dark fantasies. In “Margaret on the Guillotine” (1988), Morrissey trilled “People like you/Make me feel so tired/ When will you die?” Elvis Costello, in “Tramp the Dirt Down” (1989), promised “When they finally put you in the ground/ I’ll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down.”