The Dance Brigade - New Ska Band Featuring Lee Thompson (Madness) & Jennie Mathias (The Belle Stars)

While we continue to wait patiently for the new Madness album "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" let me introduce you to The Dance Brigade, a new ska musical project featuring the combined talents of Madness sax player Lee "Kix" Thompson and Jennie Mathias who was the lead vocalist of The Belle Stars (formed by ex-members of The Bodysnatchers).

Their ska-based music is a hybrid of styles mixed in with technology and is very reminiscent of The Madness project with the songs dominated by sampled drum sounds. They recently performed live at the 100 Club in London and their live show featured computers and a live band (guitars, horns, keyboards) on stage. They were joined at their live show by Dave Barker (Dave and Ansell Collins) who has also recorded a track with them. Though I'm not a fan of the overly processed drum sample sounds on the recordings and feel the lack of a real drummer live hampers the overall sound and live groove, the songs are interesting and its great to see Lee and Jennie working together again as their paths crossed at Stiff Records many years ago.

The band line-up includes:
Lee Thompson (Saxophone, Vocals)
Jennie Bellestar (Lead Vocals)
Keith Finch (Production and programming)
Chico Chagas (Keyboards, Guitar, Accordian)
Chalky White (Trumpet)
Daniel Burdett (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Debra Barker (Backing Vocals)

Here is a video of the song "Who's That Girl" filmed by Madness guitarist Chris "Chrissy Boy" Foreman on his cell phone at The Dance Brigade show at the 100 Club in London in September:

Interview with Charley "Red Dread" Anderson Bassist of The Selecter

I've been listening to The Selecter a lot recently. In particular their second album "Celebrate The Bullet" which eerily seems to be a commentary on current events here in the U.S. Interestingly, the history of The Selecter is a who's who of Coventry musicians who went on to start The Specials, The Selecter and many other 2-Tone era bands and small record labels which I have tried to write about and honor on this blog.

One of the most interesting things about the origins of The Selecter is that the core of the band all grew together playing in a variety of reggae and soul bands around Coventry. According to Neol Davies' web site, "the seeds of The Selecter were sown along time ago in the early 70's. silverton hutchinson, a childhood friend and later the original drummer for the automatics/specials, invited me to jam with some friends at the holyhead youth facilty in coventry city centre. this was a basement where you could set up amps and drums and then play as loud as you wanted til late. here I met the people who would turn out to be significant throughout my life, they were charles "aitch" bembridge (who played more bass and organ then) arthur "gaps" hendrickson who played guitar (see the picture below which includes future members of The Selecter performing as Chapter 5) desmond brown (the person who taught me how to really play the reggae chip) charley anderson (the dreadlocked bass man) and lynval golding (later to be the specials guitar player)." Members of the band played together in Chapter 5 (a Coventry reggae band) and The Transposed Men (the pre-cursor to The Selecter.)




One of the original members was bass player Charley Anderson. He was born in Negril, Jamaica, but moved to Coventry when he was 11 years old. It turns out his brother and Lynval Golding were best friends and often rehearsed downstairs in the Anderson garage. He gained his first stage and music experience by dee-jaying at sound systems in the Coventry area and then started a band with his brother and Golding. Though The Selecter’s success didn’t change his life financially, Charley has been quoted as saying “It was a great mental boost – like graduating with a triple Ph.D. on how to survive in music.” After touring with The Selecter, Charley focused on his own career. He started The People with his ex-Selecter bandmate Desmond Brown and he toured Ireland with The Century Steel Band, and later moved to Mombasa, Kenya where he formed The Vikings Band.

Here is a recent video interview with Charley that includes his memories of playing with The Selecter as well as an update on his current musical project and single "Ghetto Child":



You can learn more about Charley at his MySpace site.

Basement 5 - Innovative Late 70's Reggae/Punk Fusion Band Featuring Punk Legend Don Letts

Basement 5 were arguably the first black punk reggae band who are described by many artists who followed them as "hugely influential" and "groundbreaking". Mixing rock elements with reggae and dub they were one of the bands that broke down barriers and paved the way for black kids to play rock music. Starting out in London in 1978, the band were an innovative and highly original post-punk group who created a kind of politically charged, futurist, punk-fuelled dub. The lyrics were an attempt to reflect the situation of young people in Britain in the era of Thatcherism, high unemployment, strikes, racism, and working class poverty.

Originally assembled by former Roxy DJ and punk legend Don Letts with money from Island Records' chief Chris Blackwell, the band's personnel was Winston Fergus on vocals, former Roxy barman and friend Leo Williams on bass (who went on to play with Big Audio Dynamite and Mick Jones' current band Carbon/Silicon) and friends J.R. on guitar and Tony ('T') on drums.

By 1979 after a short vocal stint by Don Letts himself, Basement 5's lineup was solidified with Sex Pistols/Bob Marley photographer Dennis Morris as vocalist, Leo, J.R. and soon to follow, ex-101'ers and PIL drummer Richard Dudanski. In their short life, the band supported John Lydon's Public Image Limited (PIL) debut at London's Rainbow Theatre, performed a number of shows in Portugal and signed to Island Records. The result was the album "1965-1980" co-produced by the legendary Martin Hannet (Joy Division. Magazine). It became the first and only Basement 5 LP. Long out of print, it was eventually reissued as a partial album along with selected tracks from its original dub mini-LP partner 'Basement 5 In Dub'.

The album did not sell as well as expected and as with so many other bands before and after them they fell in pieces and were never to deliver a follow up. Basement 5 had broken up by the end of July 1981. Dennis Morris blames their lack of success firmly at the feet of Island who according to him were spending all of their energy on breaking U2. He goes further by saying that after playing together, Bono and the boys borrowed various elements from Basement 5 that helped to contribute to their success!

It is somewhat criminal that there is nothing freely available from the band, despite '1965-1980' being coupled with 'In Dub' for a partial CD reissue. So it's happy hunting on E-Bay where you can overpay for it or whatever...

Here are videos of "LastWhite Christmas" and "Riot" from their LP "1965-1980":






Below are downloads of their first single "Silicon Chip" b/w "Chip Butty".

Basement 5 - Silicon Chip

Basement 5 - Chip Butty

Jerry Dammers Speaks Out About The Specials Reunion Perfomance at Bestival

The November 2008 issue of Mojo Magazine includes a story titled "Partial AKA" that features a reaction quote from Jerry Dammers about The Specials reunion show that went ahead without him at Bestival in September. Amazingly, Jerry was at the show and watched the performance (I believe he was booked to do a DJ gig at the festival). Still, it is curious that he decided to watch rather than play. His reasons are summed up quite succinctly in his comment below.

"They did a fantastic job, but I think one of the reasons that I was excluded and didn't want to take part was because I had expressed the opinion that the real Specials would never do a gig where the real Specials fans couldn't even get in--Bestival was already sold out. I went, and it was very weird for me. Without my influence it felt like they were playing themselves a bit, it was too much of a 'fun' thing, a bit of a 'stars of the '80s' nostalgia vibe, not what a real reunion would have been at all. There was something missing, but unfortunately I'm the only person who really knows what that is. The subtleties in the music were a bit lost on them. "Doesn't Make It Alright" should have had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, but compare it to the record and the heart and soul was a bit lacking. The best excuse for a reunion is if you can do some really good new music. The guy playing keyboards pulled his cap over his face so you couldn't see it wasn't me, which says it all."

Wow! Well without taking sides, Jerry's comments could give you a good sense why his bandmates may have decided to go ahead without him. With the 30th anniversary of The Specials and 2-Tone fast approaching lets hope Jerry is motivated to show up and fill in the missing "subtleties" rather than watch from the audience and critique. If you want to get a better sense of what hardcore fans of the band think take a trip over to The Specials web site where there is a lively debate taking place on their community forum page.

Exclusive: Interview with Stefan Tylunas of The Ammonites

I recently posted about The Ammonites and their role as one of the only pure 2-Tone styled ska bands to emerge from the vibrant late 70's/early 80's music scene in Brighton that was centered around venues like The Vault and The Alhambra. The Ammonites were a six-piece who were influenced by the sound of Trojan rocksteady. When they started their set was comprised of all cover songs including Clancy Eccles "Fatty Fatty" and Lee Perry's "Tighten Up" which you can hear and download from the previous post. Over time they developed a repertoire of originals including "Blue Lagoon" which, in my humble opinion is a lost gem of the 2-Tone era. I have always loved the Everly Brothers go ska sound of the song.

The band line-up consisted of: Colin Smith (bass), Stefan Tylunas (vox), Nick Stewart (guitar), Steve Kelly (sax), Mike Roberts (guitar), and Dave Doleval (drums). Though the were mostly limited to playing shows in the Brighton area, they did open for The Vandals and Toots & The Maytals and were such a local draw that they drew more fans for a show they played in Brighton the same night The Beat were booked to play.

Below is an interview I did with Stefan Tylunas who was the lead singer for the band. He shared his memories and experiences of playing with the band. He was also kind enough to share the picture above which includes from left to right: Steve Kelly, Stefan Tylunas and Nick Stewart.

Can you tell me about your introduction to music and ska music in particular?
I began playing guitar and vocals in bands with my mates at around the age of 15. It was only much later when I was about 19 that I was invited along to an audition for vocalist with the then embryonic Ammonites. I met Dave Dolezal (the bands 1st drummer and founding member) in a pub one Saturday evening in Brighton. He was a friend and he asked if I was interested in singing in a ska band the next day. At first I declined because I had arranged to play football the next day with some mates. However I was interested to know what a Ska band did? and eventually agreed to meet the next day. We were to meet in a large shed at the local dog stadium, where Nick and Colin where groundsman. It started off with the 4 of us and then we bought in Mike Roberts and Steve Kelly. That was the beginning of the ska sound for me.

How did The Ammonites get started? Did you know the other members of the band before you started the band?
I knew Dave and it was he, I believe that was into all things Ska and reggae and because he was good friends with Nick they got the idea for a band. Nick and Colin were work colleagues.

Was there a ska scene in Brighton when the band started? Who did you play shows with? Where did you play shows?
I believe we were the only Ska band in Brighton and possibly the South-East

Who was the main songwriter for the band and tell me how you approached the song writing process? Who's idea was it to cover the Clancy Eccles song "Fatty Fatty"?

I guess Fatty Fatty was just another Ska song, that was a possible, that would fit into the set. Like a lot of bands that start up we just played ‘cover’ material and built it up in such a way as to give the set cohesion and a variety. After a while of playing the set, Mike and Nick were writing independently of each other and presenting songs to us for a critique. They would be virtually finished, however they were generous writers and allowed us a say in the arrangements and the eventual song writing credit was given to the band.

What were your first live shows like and what was the UK ska scene of the late 70's and early 80's like? Did you play any shows with any of the 2-Tone bands? What about The Piranhas?
We initially began playing locally at a venue called the Alhambra. It was a pub which had a regular clientele and everybody and anybody would play there. You would ‘start-off’ as virtual unknowns, playing on a Monday and depending on your abilities to draw a crowd would progress to Fri/Sat evening (unless you caught the eye of a better band and was asked to be support). We eventually held a regular Friday night spot and we had a ball. The dance floor was always very busy. The Piranhas also played at the Alhambra, they were more of a punk thing and we never did any support for them.

Can you share any unusual stories about touring with the band or any shows that are particularly memorable?
I guess the most memorable gig for me was support for Toots and the Maytals at the ‘Brighton Centre’. It still is to this day a Conference Centre which is used by bands, corporations and political parties to stage events. The potential for a capacity of around 5000, it was the biggest venue I had experienced. I remember the massive stage and being able to dance and jump about without crashing into any of the band or the equipment, it was just great fun. I can’t remember meeting any of the Toots, probably to nervous to introduce myself, but I’ll never forget the smell coming from inside there dressing room.

Tell me about recording "Blue Lagoon" for the Vaultage 80" album. Did you record any other songs? Was there a plan to record an album?
Blue Lagoon was a song Mike had brought to the band. For all I can remember, it was recorded locally and the day I sang the vocal I had a cold. Apart from never liking my vocal, Nick and I always sounded well together. Steve’s sax is great (as was always the case) and Mikes guitar parts were always cleverly worked. We recorded "Big Eaters" and "Dressed to Kill" and that was all that I’m aware of.

How and why did the band come to an end?
I became disillusioned and tired with how we were being managed and left to return to college. The boys carried on for a while, but not sure for how long.

Are you still in touch with any of your old band mates?
No. However, we met a few years ago with the intention of reforming for a ‘Benefit’ but unfortunately nothing came from it. Shame.

Are you still active musically?
No, apart from singing in the bath!

Finally, what is your take on the current state of ska in the UK?
There has been a wave of revivalism here in the UK from 80’s bands. But nothing really happening mainstream and certainly not Ska. The BBC recently aired a show on the radio entitled ‘Too much to Young’ celebrating the ‘Two Tone Label’ established by Jerry Dammers and the bands associated with it. But apart from Suggs appearing on TV adverts here in the UK there isn’t any ‘scene’ to be talked of.

The Punk Brighton Web site has made a 15 song rehearsal tape the band recorded in 1980 available for free download. The link is below. Enjoy!

The Ammonites - 1980 Rehearsal Tape

Ska Explosion @ The Astoria in London on March 23, 1989

On March 23, 1989 London's world famous Astoria played host to one of the biggest Ska festivals ever staged. The cream of late 80's contemporary British Ska were assembled alongside several veterans of the scene. Much more than a mere revival this was a celebration of the legacy of UK ska and reggae from the 60's through the early 80's.

The show was hosted by the legendary Judge Dread who also performed and according to those who were there the atmosphere was buoyant as one after another of late 80's UK ska bands hopped and bopped around the stage sending the crowd into a frenzy. In addition to Judge Dread, Laurel Aitken was also on hand to add a touch of authenticity to the proceedings with blistering renditions of Sally Brown and Skinhead that hearkened back to his heyday.

The bands included The Skadows (reunited specifically for the show), The Hotknives, The Deltones (formed by members of The Bodysnatchers in 1984), The Loafers (Specials drummer John Bradbury was an early advocate and produced many of their records and after Ska Explosion, Laurel Aitken tapped the Loafers for additional duties as a backing session band), The Potato 5 and Gaz Mayal's ground breaking Trojans who were all the leaders of a late 80's UK ska revival. There was great hope that the show would be a showcase for a new ska generation happy to embrace the music, though this resurgence was eclipsed by the rave scene and dance music that was coming out of Manchester with The Happy Mondays and Stone Roses.

Below is a list of the bands that performed and the songs they played:

The Skadows
Stir It Up
Low Rider

Judge Dread
Big Six

The Hot Knives
Crying
Don't Go Away
Driving Me Mad
Liquidator
Holsten Boys

Judge Dread
A Message to You Rudy

The Deltones
Don't Fall in Love
Lemon Squeezy
Saturday
Show Off
Secret Agent Man

Judge Dread
Big Seven Loafers
Undertaker
Too Late Rudy
It's So Easy
Everyday
Skankenstein

Laurel Aitken
Sally Brown
Skinhead

Potato 5
Original Style
Stop That Train
Western Special
The Jerk
Got to Go

Judge Dread
Up With the Cock

The Trojans
Trojans Are Coming
Maggie Meets Ska-Gil
Riding for a Fall
Rude Rude Rudy


Below is very rare live footage of The Skadows from the Ska Explosion festival:

The Skadows - Stir It Up



The Skadows - Low Rider



Here is Brighton ska band The Hotknives performing "Don't Go Away" at the Ska Explosion festival:

Here is Laurel Aitken with The Loafers performing "Sally Brown" and "Skinhead"

A question for my readers - Please read and comment

I've needed to take some time off from the blog to attend to work, family and band. I plan to begin posting in earnest again shortly and have some great exclusive interviews for your reading pleasure.

In the meantime I need to ask for reader feedback. When I launched this blog my vision was to combine my love of ska and reggae with my own personal insights and relationships to make it a full multi-media experience. The idea was to allow readers to not only read about the bands and musicians who made 2-Tone ska and reggae what it is, but also to listen to and enjoy the music. However, I have been criticized for allowing visitors to this blog to download songs and albums (most, but not all that are out-of-print and unavailable) via links found on other blogs and Web sites that make it readily available. It's been suggested that adding links to these sites is akin to being an accessory to a crime and that I am abetting the act of stealing music.

While I wish to withhold a decision on what I plan to do with this blog moving forward, I want to hear from all of you about your thoughts on this issue. There are people who fervently believe (and have made their views about this blog very clear here and on other blogs) that illegal music downloading is stealing and is morally wrong. They feel that it takes money away from artists who deserve to be compensated for their recorded work. As a musician and songwriter I can empathize with this position. Along with my band mates, I have invested thousands of hard earned dollars from gigs in recording 4 albums worth of our own original music. We have paid for studio time, paid for engineering, paid for mastering, paid for graphic art work, paid for pre- and post-production and paid for shipping the CDs. Don't get me started about indie record labels and the terms of their deals. I acutely know what it feels like to be on the other side. I'm pretty sure all our albums are available for download somewhere on the Internet. I know most kids who like our band have shared our albums with each other via get file programs that permit them to access each other's hard drives and download the music files directly. There is little we as a band can do to stop this. Instead we have to take solace in the fact that they like our music and know the songs when they see us live. If they buy a t-shirt or a button then we make up the cost and pay for our gas money and save for the next recording. That's life as an indie band.

On the other hand, as a passionate fan and music consumer for nearly 30 years, I have supported the old and new music industry and bands with my love, attention and hard earned cash. I've paid top dollar to see thousands of live shows at clubs, arenas and stadiums and I have always made a point of also buying a t-shirt, poster or a tour program (this is what some of my best memories are made of). I have spent countless thousands and thousands of dollars on records, 45's, 12" singles, bootleg LPs, cassette tapes, CD's and MP3 downloads. I am old enough to remember when albums and CDs were priced at $19.99 a piece at Tower Records and I have bought far too many $30 and $4o imports and paid $50 for bootlegs at New York City records stores. I am an active iTunes user and have bought plenty of music from eMusic and Amazon. I support new models of distribution that make it easier for fans to access music that is affordable. All to often, music fans have paid far too much for music. Our passion was often taking advantage of to underwrite high music executive salaries, drug and alcohol fueled band riders and largess. Like the current banking crisis, the music industry binged itself to death. Then, when Shawn Fanning launched Napster the music industry went after its own consumers instead of adapting and providing them what they wanted.

So, I'm asking both my regular readers as well as those of you who come here solely to download what you think and what you would like to see happen. Let me hear what you think.