MetaChat - We All Need More Ska in Our Lives

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28 March 2006

We All Need More Ska in Our Lives →[More:]Maybe more mainstream ska than some like but I grew up on the Bosstones and darned if they don't get my groove thing going.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Another Drinking Song.

And there's a cosmic law against Ska threads that do not include Madness - One Step Beyond.

post by: fenriq at: 11:59 | 28 comments

I like the Bosstones a lot. And early No Doubt is very good as well.

posted by mike9322 28 March | 12:00

How funny that you posted this... I saw a poster this morning advertising The English Beat at a local club in a couple weeks.

posted by kellydamnit 28 March | 12:01

I was just wearing my Don't Know How To Party t-shirt the other day. And you know, it's true, I really don't.

posted by amro 28 March | 12:03

One record from the specials is just about all the ska I need. The rest is largely just cheap imitation.

posted by drpynchon 28 March | 12:04

amro, part of the fun is, if you don't know how to party, practice, practice, practice.

The best part about posting this thread is that I found out that all of my Madness mp3's have gone missing (that's not the good part) and now they have been restored (THAT's the good part).

I do believe I'll be skankin' out for the rest of the day!

posted by fenriq 28 March | 12:06

I miss the Bosstones. Good stuff.
I'll try to remember to add some mp3s to this thread when I get home.

Funny(ish) story: I bought a hat and t-shirt after a show in college, and in the hubbub trying to get out the door, I dropped the hat. When I reached down to pick it up, it was gone, but there was a pair of too-big Bosstones plaid flannel boxers in its place; they're still somewhere in the back of my underwear drawer.

posted by me3dia 28 March | 12:10

How 'bout a ska version of the "Scooby Doo" theme? Fuck if I can tell who this is, though.

posted by TrishaLynn 28 March | 12:11

Seems like a good time for someone to post some Toots and the Maytals.

Alas, I cannot.

posted by Hugh Janus 28 March | 12:13

drpynchon, I'm very much the same way with country music, one Johnny Cash album, maybe a few tracks by Merle Haggard and a couple by Hank Williams and that'll do me fine. Oh yeah, maybe a Willie Nelson too just because he's got stones.

But I don't think I'd go so far as to call everything else a cheap imitation since some of it is, probably, pretty decent stuff. Same thing for ska. Of course, that's just my opinion though.

posted by fenriq 28 March | 12:14

I saw the bosstones on my 18th birthday when they were on the Warped Tour, many moons ago.
I got to meet Dicky Barrett. I asked him to sign my ticket stub and said it was my 18th birthday. He grabbed my butt and then said "wait, 18, right?"

posted by kellydamnit 28 March | 12:18

When I do Dance Dance Revolution, I always choose that Specials song.

posted by Miko 28 March | 12:23

My friends find it hard to believe that I went to a lot of Berkeley ska shows in the early '90s. It was a fun scene, although a little too colourful for my tastes.

Skankin Pickle - My Hair
Agent 99 - Look At You Now
Let's Go Bowling - Live & Let Dance
The Toasters - Pirate Radio

posted by cmonkey 28 March | 12:25

Classic ska... Dave Ansel Collins - Double Barrel

posted by agropyron 28 March | 12:26

for Hugh, and others:

My kids' favourite - Toots doing Monkey Man

And, here are the classic Pressure Drop and his version of Take Me Home Country Roads.

posted by richat 28 March | 12:26

Just for you, Hugh: Toots & the Maytals - Pressure Drop

And for the drinkers in the crowd: King Apparatus - Non Stop Drinking

Dammit, richat beat me to it.

posted by elizard 28 March | 12:28

I see we've already got Toots, but since I uploaded it... Toots & The Maytals - 54-46

posted by agropyron 28 March | 12:32

elizard, King Apparatus were one of my favourite live bands when I was in uni...early 90s. Even got to know the guitarist. Great live band, although if you can't get a bar bouncing playing ska, there's something wrong with your band!

posted by richat 28 March | 12:57

I'm always in the mood for ska! Here's a few favorites:

Unquestionably the best NYC ska band: The Slackers - Married Girl

You gotta dance to these, they're all so Sweet & Dandy

posted by Triode 28 March | 13:23

My socks?

Blown to shreds. In a good way.

posted by fenriq 28 March | 13:45

richat-yep, I loves them too, though for some mysterious reason their gigs are a bit blurry in my memory. Here's another band that put on a hella live show, Bad Manners, with a little Inner London Violence, 'cause Fatty Buster Bloodvessel was a right Fat Bastard.

Great idea, fenriq!

posted by elizard 28 March | 13:57

Where's scody! Didn't she say something once about having done liner notes for a Madness box set?

posted by tangerine 28 March | 14:26

I like Pressure Drop - here's The Specials' and The Clash's versions.

posted by Zack_Replica 28 March | 15:17

The Bosstones are cool, don't let anyone ever tell you different.

posted by King of Prontopia 28 March | 15:33

Check out Toots and the Maytal's "Sweet and Dandy" if you can. It won one of those Jamaican song competitions from the sixties that Toots and Marley were always splitting. Beautiful song about a wedding.

Also "Bam Bam" and "Bim Today, Bam Tomorrow." I have no idea what they're about.

And "54-46?"

Tell me what's your number, man! [I don' answer] What's your number, man? [Don' answer] He say what's your number man! He say what's your number man yeah, yeah, yeah...

That might be my favorite fifteen seconds of any song, ever.

posted by Hugh Janus 28 March | 15:41

This is ska. Bad Manners. Ne Ne Na Na Nu Nu...The authentic sound of NOW! Well, that's what they tell me On My Radio, anyways.

posted by Zack_Replica 28 March | 15:52

Canadian ska!
King Apparatus - Michael & Anne, Made for TV
Me, Mom and Morgentaler - Anarchie
Los Furios - La Furia Llego, Running in Circles

Also, there are links to 17 great ska songs here at Ska for the Skeptical, which covers a bit of history of the roots of the Jamaican music.

posted by Zack_Replica 28 March | 16:32

Loooove Toots. We saw him live a few years ago and he was awesome.

posted by jrossi4r 28 March | 17:51

Anyone still here? Just in case, here's a couple more songs:

Hepcat - "Riding the Region"
The Pacers (sadly, long defunct) - "Brand New Day"

posted by me3dia 28 March | 23:36

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