Ska

[Tonsk 0]

I only ask as I thought I wasnt too bad at it...

 

Normally:

 

Madness

Specials

Jam

Bad Manners etc..

 

But did a gig on Saturday which went (in the second Ska bit)

 

Madness - Baggy Trousers, Jam - Town Called Malice, Bad Manners - Lip Up Fatty and then EVERYONE sat down to Madness and Wings of a Dove..

 

Anyone got any better sets that won't get me lynched next time?

[Paul Forsyth 0]

Hi Tonsk

 

You can play this one a variety of ways, by mixing in some old time stuff ie Millie - My Boy Lolipop - Lord Tanamo - I'm in the mood for ska

Sticking with the revival stuff - Specials - Gangsters or The Beat - tears of a clown

And another safe add on is a contempory ub40 track - maybe red red wine

 

Just some thoughts http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

Vinnie

[mikeee 0]

Prince Buster, Skatilites(sp), Ronaldo Alphonso etc etc etc

 

Madness are not truly SKA, although they did do some covers.

Tony Tribe did the original Red Red Wine c.1968, thats more reggae than ska as well, you need to look early / mid 60's, before it got "watered down".

[Eskie 0]

This issue boils down to what the punters who are requesting Ska define as 'Ska'?

For example The Jam were never thought of as a ska group in those days. They started being bracketed with the New Wave & Punk explosion in 77 and were later known as a Mod band in the late 70's early 80's.

As Mikeee points out, true Ska originated in Jamaica with artists such as the great Prince Buster, The Skatalites, Don Drummond etc. Ska then evolved into a style known as 'Rocksteady' which in turn evolved into 'Reggae'.

The Jamaican guys who were into Ska were known as Rude Boys or (Rude Bwoys).

 

In the late 70's the 2-Tone record label which featured artists such as The Specials, Madness, The Selector & The Beat did a sort of modern (at that time) ska. Many of the early tracks were covers of Prince Buster songs. The 1st album by Madness featured a lot of this style but later albums moved further and further away and Wings of a Dove is nothing like Ska (even though the original was a ska track by Prince Buster).

Other bands around at the same time like Bad Manners got lumped into the same catagory, so did the 1st release from UB40 a double a side called King/Food for Thought.

The followers of Madness were mainly skinheads who wore Ben Sherman shirts, Crombie coats or Harrington jackets, with Sta-press jeans & DM's (Doctor Martins boots). Rude Boys also followed Madness and the other 2-tone bands and they wore 2-tone suits (which appeared to change colour in different lights), Loafer shoes & Pork Pie hats.

The skinheads & Rude Boys hated mods and often had huge fights against them. The Mod bands at the time were The Jam, Secret Affair, The Lambretta's etc. The average person on the street couldn't tell the difference between a Mod and a Rude Boy as they all wore very smart suits.

I was a Rude Boy myself although I secretly liked the Mod bands but could never admit that or I'd have got the sh*% kicked out of me http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

 

As for Ska sets:

Original Ska:

Prince Buster: Al Capone, Madness, Whine & Grine, One Step Beyond

Skatalites: I'm In The Mood For Ska

 

70's/80's Ska:

Specials: Gangsters, Message To You Rudy

Madness: The Prince, One Step Beyond

The Selector: James Bond

The Beat: Mirror In The Bathroom

Edited March 31, 2004 by Eskie

[DJshaggy 0]

Following on from what Eskie has said in 2000 we have seen a fusion of the old mod and ska with new wave punk. this is getting more and more popular with teenagers and i find sometimes that if they want ska they actually mean this. It is also known as 's****' (see what they did there Ska/punk lol)

 

This Music still has elements of ska IE Syncopated (on the off beat) and the guitars are picked in reverse to add slightly more top to the mix. This new wave ska is still very bouncy put instead of using clean guitars they mainly use driven guitars. They often feature horn sections also (ALTHOUGH IMO never any real good compared to the Skatalites)

 

Bands currently doing the scene in with this Nu Wave sound are:

 

Reel Big Fish

Penny Wise

&

Less than Jake

 

 

So what is Ska these days?? lol http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/363.gif

 

[kazzachi 0]

Ive been asked to do a ska set on quite a few occasions recently - play stuff like

 

Gangsters - special aka

Jungle Music - Rico

Three minute Hero - The selecter

Sea Cruise - Rico

Ghost Town - The specials

Mantovani - Swinging cats

On my radio - The selecter

Ruder than you - the bodysnatchers

Too much too young - the specials

Carolina - rico

James Bond - the selecter

Train to skaville - the etheopians

Liquidator - Harry J and the all stars

It Mek - Desmond Dekker

Double Barrel - Dave & Ansell Collins

Monkey Man - Toots & the Mytals

Lets do rocksteady - the bodysnatchers

Skinhead moonstomp - Symarip

Guns of Navarone - the skatalites

 

 

Ska seems to be having a bit of a revival just lately!

 

 

[BigBen 0]

I tip my pork-pie hat to those of you that know all about the the roots of Ska, but I think the simple answer to Tonsk's point about everyone sitting down for Madness and Wing's of a Dove is that it is a hard track to dance to.

 

Out of interest, has anyone ever played You Fat Ba:cense:ard (Bad Manners) at a gig before? It's a great singalong but perhaps a tad too risky...

[GaryReggae 0]

I specialise in Ska, Reggae and Punk music, I find that the most popular tracks are

 

2 Tone:

 

MaDNESS - One Step Beyond - Baggy Trousers - Night Boat To Cairo

 

After Baggy Trousers Madness moved away from Ska. 'Our House' etc is not Ska at all.

 

Bad Manners - Special Brew, Lip Up Fatty, Can Can (a great one for ending the evening that!)

 

Bad Manners did a lot of strange stuff like 'Ivor The Engine'; it's best to stick to the more mainstream ones

 

The Specials - Gangsters, Too Much Too Young, Niteklub (avoid that one if you're playing in a club!!!), Enjoy Yourself (fairly obscure but goes down well), A Message To You Rudy, Rat Race

 

Selecter - On My Radio

Bodysnatchers - Do Rocksteady

 

(moving on now to older jamaican music)

 

Prince Buster - Whine & Grine, Madness, Al Capone

Millie - My Boy Lollipop

Skatalites - Guns of Navarone

Maytals - Monkey Man (this one always gets requested!)

Donna & Althea - Uptown Top Ranking

Dave & Ansil Collins - Double Barrel, Monkey Spanner

Dandy Livingstone - Suzanne Beware Of The Devil

Harry J All Stars - Liquidator

Desmond Dekker - Israelites, You Can Get It If You Really Want

Ken Boothe - Everything I Own

 

Plus obviously Bob Marley but choose something fairly upbeat like Iron Lion Zion

Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue, I Don't Wanna Dance

Aswad - Don't Turn Around

Inner Circle - Sweat

UB40 - Red Red Wine, Kingston Town etc

 

And of course Judge Dread (be warned most of his songs are rude!) Big Seven, Big Six

 

Moving on now to "third wave" ska-punk (v. fast and popular at 'alternative' venues!), try

 

Reel Big Fish

Spunge

Less Than Jake

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

 

And finally onto Punk/New Wave music from the late 70s/early 80s (which again I get asked for a lot!)

 

The Jam - Going Underground, A Town Called Malice, Eton Rifles

The Clash - White Riot

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

The Buzzcocks - What Do I Get/Ever fallen In Love...

The Stranglers - Hanging Around, No More Heroes

Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK/Pretty Vacant or of course God Save The Queen

Jilted John - Jilted John

Toy Dolls - Nelly the Elephant(!)

Rezillos - Top Of The Pops

 

Elvis Costello - Olivers Army/Radio Radio/I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea

Blondie - One Way Or Another/Atomic/Call Me

 

But we're going in the direction of 80s stuff now and that's another issue entirely!

 

Hope this helps anyone!

[Dukesy 0]

Remembering the audience attention span of any mobile gig, too much of a 'certain type of music' (or genre) can 'spoil', overplay or 'bore' the moment.

 

Usually a 'most popular' set of such above mentioned tracks will go down a storm, but if the client or function type requires a 'mixed and varied night'.....don't over do it!

 

But yes - excellent suggestions so far.

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

[kazzachi 0]

..and hopefully we know when enough is enough! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/flirt.gif

[Paul Forsyth 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

Really enjoying this thread - Cheers Tonsk

 

Some great suggestions, but going back to the original post, I think BigBen was right wings of a dove just doesn't fit.

 

Interesting to see your list there Gary - although I don't specialise in these areas as a dj they are some of my favorite genres - especially punk as I was into it big time back in the day ( am I sounding old or what (ok don't say it)

 

Gary could you play cranked up really high by slaughter and the dogs http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Vinnie

[GaryReggae 0]

Yeah it does depend on the audience - if I played ska, punk and reggae all night at most gigs it would go down like a lead balloon but some clients have asked for that - I did a wedding reception for somebody last year and apart from the odd party tune to keep the kids happy, she wanted nothing but ska, punk and reggae!

 

There are a couple of good megamixes I've found for general gigs, one is the Trojan Reggaemix which features classics like Israelites and the other is a 2-Tone mix.

 

One final thing - One Step Beyond ALWAYS goes down well!

[BigBen 0]

Long live "One Step Beyond". When I play this , it's the one track of the night I wish I was on the other side of the console! I love dancing to it!

 

Where do you go after One Step? I use it as a cue to move into a completely different genre.

[kazzachi 0]

Where do you go after one step?.... Usually to the loo to splash some cold water on the face to cool down! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/071.gif

[GaryReggae 0]

After One Step Beyond? I usually have it as the third-to-last song of the night...the second last song being a rock and roll number and the last song of the night is *ALWAYS* Runaway by Del Shannon. I don't know why, it's a tradition for me! But I usually play One Step Beyond after the slow dance(s) to liven it back up again just before the end!

[BigBen 0]

Runaway? What a strange end of night song - where did you get that from?

[GaryReggae 0]

I don't know where I got it from. I just played it one night because somebody asked me to right at the end and it's stuck ever since!

[Kingy 0]

QUOTE (Vinnie @ Apr 1 2004, 04:03 PM)

Gary could you play cranked up really high by slaughter and the dogs http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif Vinnie

SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS!!!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/scared.gif

 

What memories...!!!!!!!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/notworthy.gif

[stevemarshall 0]

for great ska comps try Dub Vendor or Mastermix do a good comp:) incidently a great followup to a ska set is Rocksteady:)

 

 

Classic Studio 1 and Treasure Isle stuff, and Lord Creator's orig version of Evening News which I have on orig Bluebeat has to be heard to be believed! the Max Romeo version is fairly cool too, add the Paragons, 60's Bob Marley(yup!) and John Holt and you have a great party:)

 

The Studio 1 classic rhythums never die they just get reversioned:)

 

 

Incidently One Step Beyond is in fact an old Prince Buster song:)

 

Incidently I'm doing a reggae gig(haven't done one of those in a while!) in Germany later this year which will give me a chance to dust off some of my orig Studio 1 and Dubplates plus stuff by Elephant man and the orig version of "Pass the Dutchie"!(not the Musical Youth version) plus some classic lovers rock stuff!

 

 

should be fun:)

 

Like Eskie I'm one of the orig rude bwoys!

Edited April 6, 2004 by stevemarshall

[Eskie 0]

Studio 1 is one of the best ever reggae record labels, they released so many fantastic tunes. I have loads of the old Studio 1 7" pre-release singles http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

The orig of Pass The Kouchie, yep The Mighty Diamonds in full swing, the group who released the all-time classic reggae revival tune: Country Living.

On the topic of Musical Youth; they just took 2 records: Pass The Kouchie by The Mighty Diamonds and Gimme The Music by Hugh Brown and used the lyrics from both of them to make the tune Pass The Dutchie. The Hugh Brown track was on a 7" pre and is now very rare, and as far as I know is very hard to find. I still have my copy though http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

I may well be dropping a couple of classic top lovers-rock tunes at Ian Stewarts soul gig this sunday in Essex.

[stevemarshall 0]

QUOTE (Eskie @ Apr 8 2004, 03:56 AM)

.

Yup have a copy of the Hugh Brown Single too, also the Mighty Diamonds also released another version called "Pass The Knowledge"which I also have a copy of:)

 

on Music works!

 

Studio 1 was one of the classic labels, Coxsone Dodd keeps on releasing old stuff and also revoicing tracks even now:)

 

with the classic backing band, including Jackie Mittoo and others...

 

Also worth looking out for are a number of Studio 1 10" style "Dubplates" by Freddie Mcgregor(on the same rhythum as the Mighty Diamonds etc) and others...

 

released in the late 70's and 80's!

 

there were some fab Lovers Rock singers coming out of Britain in the 1970's and 80's including stuff on the Deb Music label, including Black Harmony who had a number of releases on Bluebird records(Billy was a massive reggae fan) The In Crowd(remember Back A Yard?)

 

Plus early releases by Hawkeye Records and Greensleeves which I got on promo many many years ago(still have them:)

 

The modern person would be someone like Beres Hammond, or the remix of Alicia Keys "You don't know my name" on the Columbus rhytum, plus many great CDs now from Jetstar(another long time record label!)

 

yes have many 7" and 12" pres from those days, still buy stuff too, from Dub Vendor in London, and until recently Daddy Kool records, who I understand are closing their store in London's West End....

 

classic stuff to look out for are Alton Ellis and his sister Horntense, and of course the great Dennis Brown!

 

 

[Eskie 0]

Steve, I'm beginning to wonder how the hell we've never bumped into each other before (or maybe we have and didn't realise http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/533.gif ).

I used to virtually live in Bluebird records from around 1981 to 86 and spent around 66% of all my income in the place http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/wacko.gif and I knew Bill & Billy very well, and in fact they helped get me my first gig abroad.

The DEB record was setup by Dennis Brown (DEB stands for Dennis Emmanuel Brown)and he was/is defintely my fave reggae singer. I have absolutely $hitloads of 7"'s, 12"'s & albums by him.

A lot of the stuff you mention I still have on vinyl which i have stored in the loft. Loads of Studio 1, Alton Ellis, lovers, dancehall, ragga, dubwise, rocksteady, ska, soca, calypso... all great stuff http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

I'll have to look you up matey when I'm next visiting cousins in Dublin http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/beer.gif

[stevemarshall 0]

Yup Eskie, thats true its amazing we didn't bump into each other....the station I was involved with Radio Invicta 92.4fm which was Europes first soul station had an advertising deal with Bluebird, so I would find myself choosing shedloads of stuff on a Saturday afternoon, we also used get some great stuff on promo before anyone else, the Incognito Jazz Funk album springs to mind also the Players Association LP, with Get Down Mellow Mellow, also I can say that we helped launch the whole Brit-Funk movement, with the first airing anywhere of Hi-Tension by Hi Tension, along with the first play anywhere of Champaign's How About Us, and Billy Preston and Syretta's With You I'm Born Again...and of course the Fatback Band! along with guest shows by the late Steve Walsh Chris Hill Chris Brown and someguy called Pete Tong(yup that Pete Tong!)

 

a couple of our biggest listeners were Peter Young and Tony Blackburn too(a noted soul fan for years!)

 

and Billy and Billy helped many Djs and singers, a great pair of lads!

 

Yup Dennis Brown was a one off, in fact I have loads of stuff by him too,. I have been looking in my attic today:) his first ever album on Trojan is a classic:)along with his superb studio 1 stuff too!

 

and found the first single by Bob Marley today on Studio 1, amazing to think its the same guy:) Coxsone Dodd of course discovered the Wailers!

 

Plus old stuff on Highnote, Black Joy and a variety of London reggae labels, I used to get promo copies direct from the studios!

 

Black Harmony's first single was a version of Jean Carns Don't Let It Go To Your Head, which was released on DEB along with Me and You's You Never Know What You Got Til Its Gone!

 

Around 15 years ago, I did a gig in the Kings Road in London, with one of the old Invicta guys, amazing funky and reggae nite would love to do one of those again in London sometime:)

 

 

Yup you are welcome to look me up when you are next in Ireland!

[High Fidelity Ste 0]

Not read all posts above so forgive me if someone said this, 2 other ska/punk style bands are Green Day *been around a while good band) and i recently started Listening to Mad Caddies, the latter seem to be a bit of a rip of various bands

 

Ste

[GaryReggae 0]

Green Day are good, 'Basket Case' probably being their most famous song. A classic!