A few years back, I wandering around the local “punk rock flea market,” looking through the bins of some vendors I knew, and one of them had an amount of ska. At that moment, the amount of ska I had was zero. And this record stared out at me from the nostalgic past, invoking the spirit of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” an iconic show from my childhood. Not only was the band named for one of the two cool spies, Napoleon Solo, but the album title was taken from a theatrical release that combined two episodes of the TV show. The record’s graphics are ’60s cool as well, so how could I say no? I picked this up with one or two other records, and suddenly there was a modicum of ska in my collection.
The back cover claims that they actually took the band’s name from a ska song by Lynn Tait and the Jets, not even knowing abut the TV character.
This is really only an EP, from 1989. The band, from Denmark, would issue a full album the following year, and another one in 2018! Yes, the band is still around, and you can find them on Facebook.
It’s some stock ska – but just for that fun cover look, when I’m up for some ska, this hits the turntable.
I didn’t know Buster Bloodvessel worked in a production/mixing capacity . . . he was an epic 2Tone era ska frontman with Bad Manners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6fQnTyEniM
Ya know . . . not being a ska guy, I still *thought* I knew that name, and then I failed to follow through on looking him up. Might explain this Danish band on an English label, too. Thanks for hepping me.
This comp . . . https://www.discogs.com/release/387807-Various-Dance-Craze . . . was my main intro into 2Tone ska, when my college roommate grabbed it while it was fresh. SUCH A GREAT RECORD, if your friendly neighborhood vinyl man can score one for you. I probably still know and love those 15 songs more than just about anything else released under the post-Jamaican ska label. And “Lip Up Fatty” is, of course, one of those 15.
I HAVE Dance Craze! But I bought it just after getting Napoleon Solo and one or two other ska records. Actually, one of the others was a record by the Toasters, an NYC band that my wife’s sister used to be tight with, and whom Joe Jackson often sat in with for reasons unknown. We saw him play with them at CBGBs once. Then I got Dance Craze, and the big double Specials collection I think last year. That is probably enough for me.
One of my favorite bands of all time from Syracuse, My Sin, would also fall squarely into the two-tone category for a lot of their stuff. Unfortunately, most of their stuff was home-recorded at a time when that wasn’t so great, but almost all of it is online and you might dig them if you get past the quality. Manifest Destiny and Angel Too are two faves:
http://www.remschel.com/mysin/
Huh!!! I actually saw The Toasters live in 1987 when I was living in Athens, GA, at the legendary 40 Watt Club. They were great! I pretty much stopped following ska soon after that when the American “third wave” supplanted the 2 Tone era . . . so that ’80s era is where my deepest appreciation for the genre sits. Well, except for The Specials: their self-titled album from a few years back is just superb.