Roddy Radiation & Lynval Golding Announce California Tour Dates!

Brothers in arms from The Specials, Roddy "Radiation" Byers and Lynval Golding have just announced they are playing a west coast tour of the U.S. during the month of November! If you missed The Specials on their most recent North American tour this past summer, then you now have a chance to catch the two as they play stripped down versions of the band's best known songs.

Not sure what to expect? Check out video from earlier this summer when Roddy and Lynval played an intimate solo show here in New York City that my ska blogging partner Steve Shafer (Duff Guide To Ska) and I organized as part of our Electric Avenue ska showcases.







According to Lynval, this was the very first time that he and Roddy had ever performed together like this, and while Roddy joked that it should be the last time! "Hey Little Rich Girl," and "Rat Race" which were penned by Byers, and particularly "Doesn't Make It Alright" (which Lynval sent out to George Zimmerman) took on a haunting and emotional quality. The fact that the band's U.S. tour is very likely it's last and that the overall future of the band who have been playing together since reuniting nearly 4 years ago is uncertain, added to the poignancy and power of these versions of the songs.

The Selecter To Perform 'Too Much Pressure" 2014 UK Tour To Celebrate 35th Anniversary Of Album Release

The Selecter (who are currently on tour with PIL in the U.K.) have just announced a 35th Anniversary "Too Much Pressure" UK tour next spring to celebrate the release of the seminal 2-Tone album in 1979.

The band will perform all the songs from the album, followed by an extended encore of classic and contemporary songs. Since the band have re-formed, they have never played the album in its entirety, so this is being billed as a special gift to the band's fans, who’ve supported them over the past three years. Tickets for the tour are now on sale. Here's to hoping that the band decides to bring this tour back to North America at some point.

TOO MUCH PRESSURE 2014 UK Tour dates

FEBRUARY:
27 - Guildhall, Gloucester
28 - Princess Pavilion, Falmouth

MARCH:
1 - O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
2 - O2 Academy 2, Sheffield
6 - Komedia, Bath
7 - Pavilion, Exmouth
8 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
9 - O2 Academy 2, Oxford
13 - O2 Academy 2, Birmingham
14 - 229, London
15 - The Globe, Cardiff
16 - Old Firestation, Bournemouth
20 - Assembly, Leamington Spa
21 - Rock City, Nottingham
22 - Brudenell, Leeds
23 - Sub 89, Reading
28 - Brickyard, Carlisle
29 – Scotland TBC
30 - Scotland TBC

APRIL:
3 - The Square, Harlow
4 - Open, Norwich
5 - Concorde 2, Brighton
11 - Band On The Wall, Manchester
12 - The Grand, Clitheroe
13 - O2 Academy 2, Newcastle

The Next Electric Avenue Show: The Scofflaws, Across The Aisle and Rude Boy George on Saturday, October 19, 2013

The next Electric Avenue show will kick off on Saturday, October 19, 2013 at Characters NYC in the heart of midtown Manhattan with a headlining set by NYC ska icons The Scofflaws, pop/punk/ska upstarts Across The Aisle and the return of Rude Boy George, which is a new musical project that I am part of with other members of my band Bigger Thomas, The Toasters and Across The Aisle, that performs ska, reggae and rocksteady versions of 80's new wave songs. Doors are at 9 pm and the cover is a super low $10!

Check out videos of each band below including The Scofflaws performing "Nude Beach," Across The Aisle performing "Better Off" and Rude Boy George performing a soulful rocksteady version of "Tempted" by Squeeze.








Electric Avenue is a partnership between myself and my fellow New York City ska blogging pal Steve Shafer (Duff Guide To Ska who also happens to be a member of Rude Boy George). We have teamed up to present monthly ska and reggae shows at Characters NYC, a midtown Manhattan Irish pub (243 West 54th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue in Manhattan) with a big back room ideally suited for live music.

Since last fall, we've been undertaking this labor of love--doing it for free (the bands split 100% of the cover, nobody else takes a cut)--to support ska bands and their fans, and have some fun in the process. Electric Avenue shows already have featured some of the best acts on the Northeastern U.S. ska scene, including King Django (NJ), The Snails (Philadelphia), The Frightnrs (Brooklyn), Destroy Babylon (Massachusetts), Bigger Thomas (NY/NJ), Beat Brigade (NY), Doomsday! (NY), Los Skarronerros (Brooklyn), The Pandemics (Long Island), The Scofflaws (Long Island), The Bullbuckers (Wilmington, DE), The Reggay Lords (Brooklyn), The Copacetics (Providence, RI) and The Rudie Crew (NY) and The Royal Swindle (New Haven, CT). This summer we were blessed to have Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding of The Specials perform a solo show for us.

The Facebook Electric Avenue event page can be found here. And take a moment to "like" the Electric Avenue FB page, so you keep up on our shows.

Pauline Black: The Queen Of Ska Interviewed On WNYC Radio

While in New York late last month, Pauline Black of The Selecter stopped by the venerable New York radio station WNYC for an interview with Sound Check host John Schaefer. The interview was posted late last week a few days after the bands triumphant show at the Grammercy Theatre.

Black is in fine form during the nearly 20 minute interview touching on her experiences being adopted, the appeal of Motown music on her as a teen and her life and times in one of 2 Tone's leading band.

Have a listen to the interview below and read excerpts below:



Interview Highlights

Pauline Black, on how being adopted shaped her:

I do still consider myself, to a certain extent, to be an outsider. I'm mixed-race. My father was Nigerian, my mother was Jewish. I was adopted by working-class white parents in London. By the time I was four years old I was ready to go to school so they had to tell me something because, you know, kids always point out the elephant in the room. I was definitely the elephant in the room in the school I went to. It didn't come as a a shock necessarily. It did make me think. Obviously, it gives you identity issues I suppose as you grow into teenage years. Everybody has identity problems at that time. Not knowing your mother or your father - your real mother or father- it does tend to make you a little more insecure than you would normally be.

On how Motown appealed to her as a teenager:

It was like the information was coming from America about what it meant to be Black. I mean, James Brown named the nation Black and I thought, 'Yep, that's for me.' .... The video of [Aretha Franklin] strutting down the street singing ["Respect"] at full voice to a little Black kid in Britain, that meant a lot.

On The Selecter's new album String Theory:

On Made In Britain [we were] saying 'whatever color you are, we're here. Somehow we have to deal with each other, and that is the future, and what comes out of that.' String Theory is really just taking it on and thinking about my scientific background. String Theory would suggest that we're all made of the same stuff, these little vibrating strings are all the way through the universe. That's what connects us. It seemed to be this lovely connect with our past, this string that we were following from 1979 to present day. Really saying, that we are all the same. All we have to do is embrace the fact that at the end of the day we all are human beings and the best thing we can do is stop ourselves from messing this planet up more than we have already.

Elvis Costello & The Roots Cover The Specials "Ghost Town"

Earlier this week Elvis Costello and the Roots celebrated the release of their new album "Wise Up Ghost" with a one-off, sold out concert at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. Along with performing tracks from the new album and takes on some iconic Costello songs (“Watching The Detectives,” “Shabby Doll,” an extended “I Want You”), the group played an amazing version of "Ghost Town" by the Specials. Check it out!

My Favorite 2-Tone Era Album Of All Time: The Selecter's Celebrate The Bullet

In honor of The Selecter's visit to New York City to perform at the Gramercy Theatre tonight, I wanted to re-post something I wrote about the band's second album "Celebrate The Bullet." Written nearly five years ago, before Pauline Black rebooted the band with her co-front man Gaps Hendricksen, the album remains a personal favorite that defined the hope and promise of 2-Tone. Though recorded as the band and the 2-Tone movement were moving out of fashion in the U.K., it still stands the test of time, exploring dark themes of violence, racism, isolation and decline that resonate three decades later.

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If pressed to name my favorite album of the entire 2-Tone era I would have to say "Celebrate The Bullet" by The Selecter. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Now don't get me wrong. I love The Specials first album and I am always moved by the near perfect majesty of 'Ghost Town' and the straight forward and soulful lament of 'Why'. The first album by The Beat was the soundtrack to my youth and I love the way I can track different times and places in my life by each Madness album. Indeed, 'Victoria Gardens' and 'The Sun and The Rain' are among my top 10 favorite songs of all time.

However, in my humble opinion "Celebrate The Bullet" broke the mold and remains the most creative and unique collection of songs to come out of the whole 2-Tone era. I wouldn't even call it a ska album necessarily. This is a dark, haunting, bluesy iteration of ska that to my knowledge has never been attempted before or since. This is very intense and emotional music. For that reason, it is a very unique record and it goes against the grain of what fans of 2-Tone probably expected when it was released.

At times the songs have a new wave feel via synthesized keyboard melodies that buzz over Neol Davies' blistering, bluesy and soulful guitar solos and riffs. Other times its almost undefinable as the songs are driven by a seamless melting pot of rock, reggae and new wave via memorable melodies that stick in your head. In fact, I would argue that 'Celebrate The Bullet' is on par with 'Ghost Town" as one of the best songs of the 2-Tone era. And personally, its the very end of 'Bristol and Miami' when there is an acapella chant taken from The Beatles 'Black Bird' that seals the artistic and emotional quality of the record for me.


When the album was released it took a beating from the critics. That's especially depressing given the rave reviews for "Too Much Pressure", which, while a great record, was almost a by the books ska revival recording. Songs like "Celebrate The Bullet", "Deep Water", "Washed Up And Left For Dead" and "Red Reflections" still give me the chills every time I hear them and demonstrate the huge steps the band had taken since their first LP. Under different circumstance this record could have really opened up a new path for ska, which has essentially remained fixed in time and space, except for this album. Some bands have moved beyond ska, but only The Selecter dared to expand and evolve the genre. It's too bad they were punished for it, when they should have been richly rewarded.

While the music is a step above, what stands out above all though is some absolutely great vocal work from Pauline Black who channels her own musical heroes (Billie Holiday, Nina Simone) and their presence can be felt in the music. Unlike The Specials ironic take on British society and Madness's nutty view of English life, The Selecter's second album come across like a very dark and serious news report with Pauline and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson reporting from the front lines of an early 80's Britain straining under the reduced expectations of Thatcherism. Indeed the songs and their subject matter seem spookily relevant for those of us in the U.S. who have barely survived 8 years of George Bush, the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, mortgage foreclosures and a financial meltdown that threatens to devour the life savings and job security of all of us.


Here is promo video of the band performing "Celebrate The Bullet":



I had the honor and pleasure to meet Pauline Black and Neol Davies when my band supported The Selecter when they reformed and toured the US in 1991. I most recently saw her when she and Lynval Golding of The Specials sat in with The English Beat in 2006. The highlight of those shows was when Pauline came out mid-set to perform 4 songs by The Selecter. She has always been very kind and accessible and remains a true artist to this day having acted in a number of UK TV shows and stage productions in addition to her singing with The Selecter and as a solo artist exploring soul.

The Search For Evidence of George Michael's Elusive 2-Tone Ska Past

I've previously documented the ska and reggae pasts of many major pop and rock stars, including Madonna, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.  While these icons dabbled in ska or reggae before going to make their mark in dance pop, industrial and alternative rock, George Michael actively pursued a career as a ska musician before going on to find success in Wham and later as a solo artist.

Michael and his best friend Andrew Ridgely formed their 2-Tone influenced band The Executive (rare band photo above) along with Paul Ridgely and David Austin in 1979.  The band banged out happy, sunny syncopated 2-Tone styled ska and later entered a a sixteen-track studio to cut a demo tape, recording an original titled "Rude Boy" plus a ska cover of the old Andy Williams' classic "Can't Get Used To Losing You"and a ska version of Beethoven's "Für Elise."

According to a George Michael fan web site, the band played local gigs close to where they lived and spent a lot of time hawking their demo tape around the A&R departments of London-based record companies.  Rumor has it that a copy even made its way to Dave Wakeling of The Beat who were running their own Go Feet label in Birmingham.

"George and Andrew would take time off from school and college, travel to the capital and then sit around in the waiting rooms of the music business until some lethargic talent-spotter finally agreed to see them. But even when they were granted an audience, the A&R man who lolled in his chair on the other side of the desk invariably pressed the STOP button before their tape had gone very far. 'Come back in the next millennium,' seemed to be the general consensus among the major labels, thought Andrew, and even those sympathetic to the ska cause failed to offer them anything resembling a deal. Andrew was cocky enough to attribute the negative response of the record companies to the advanced ages and modest IQs of the men who staffed the industry's A&R departments. George was confident enough to think that perhaps "Rude Boy" was sufficiently derivative to deserve all the rejection it had heaped upon it. He would do better next time..."

Though they lasted only 18 months, Michael and Ridgely ended up using the constant A&R rejection of The Executive to start over with Wham.  The truth is that The Executive was part of the many copycat ska bands that popped up all over the U.K. during 1979-1980 in the wake of The Specials, Madness, The Selecter and The Beat's ascent into the charts and on Top Of The Pops.  And while many of those bands are forgotten to the sands of time, the fact that Michael made it big as a pop star has fueled interest among ska enthusiasts to locate and hear the songs on the elusive and impossible to find demo tape.

I connected with my fellow ska blogger Tone & Wave who specializes in rare, odd and hard to find ska music.  According to Tone & Wave:

Despite my best efforts, I think it's safe to say that we're never going to hear The Executive demo. My understanding is that it was not actually released and there were less than 10 copies made. Each time George Michael would go to a major record label he would specifically make a copy for that label. The first tape had only three songs -- "Rude Boy," "Can't Get Used to Losing You," and "Fur Elise" -- but subsequent tapes would include a newly added song until there were eventually 6 to 8 songs (depending on who you ask). The song "Rude Boy" was written by George Michael but "Fur Elise" was just a ska version of the classical song, and I'm guessing that they saw The Beat perform "Can't Get Used to Losing You" live and saw the potential for a hit. The Executive recorded it before The Beat did and if they had pressed it to vinyl they might have had a successful career as a ska band. 

I have heard (and I'm not saying it's true) that the first recorded version of "Careless Whisper" was added to one of these tapes. It was recorded with Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals studios in 1981. It did have a bit of an upstroke on the guitar. Certainly not a ska song, but it sounds like they were playing in a style comfortable to them.

 

How much of any of this is true I don't know. I do know that it has never been on eBay. If it ever does end up on eBay it will go for several hundred - if not thousands of dollars. George Michael fans can be unreasonably devoted to all things George.  Ska fans, not so much.

I imagine there is a store bought tape with the words 'The Executive' in faded marker in George Michael's own handwriting sitting in a dusty box in the basement of a failing record company. It will be destroyed in a few years when the business is shut down. Nobody will ever hear it again. And that's just as well. From what I hear it was not very good.

Despite the fact that The Executive may not be very good, hearing their long lost demo tape remains a goal of mine.  If you've heard it or might be one of the very few people who have a copy, please let me know.