Screaming Believers - My Eyes 7" (1984)

These guys were from Australia and I have their albums "Communist Mutants From Space" and "Refugees From the Love Generation" which have no ska on them so the B-side on this recording "Unprofessional" may be their only ska song. The A-side "My Eyes" is an alternative rock song with some Madness-style saxophone.



A - My Eyes
B - Unprofessional


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The Strikers - No Reason 7" (1981)

It's pretty hard to find a good copy of this record. It's a 7" but the cover is longer than it should be. My copy doesn't have a cover and the seller was honest enough to tell me that the record is warped and in terrible condition before I bought it. He was right - the record is trashed but I got it cheap so I at least know what it sounds like. This image is from Discogs. It's the only image I've ever seen of the cover.

The first song "No Reason" is so good that I am still looking for a decent copy just so I can hear it in better quality. I'm not into high quality sounds as you can tell from so many past offerings, but this rip really is pretty bad. The song "Knock it Down" is the worst. It's very crackly and skips in a couple of places but the song was released on a compilation from 1981 called Test Patterns that featured bands from St. Louis, Missouri (so we can guess that's where this band is from...) and I have included a CD version of the full album that includes another song by The Strikers called "Kick Around". It's not a ska song but there is a nice ska tune called  "Love 'N' Skank" by a band called The Felons.

The Strikers - No Reason 7" (1981)
A1 - No Reason
A2 - Original Crowd
B1 - Knock it Down
B2 - Running on Air

va Test Patterns (1981)

1 The Felons - Love 'N' Skank
2 Zanti Misfits - Holier Than Thou
3 Trained Animal - U.R.A. Girl
4 The Mopeds - Woe is Me
5 Oozkicks - Unknown
6 Swift Kick - Crushin' Russian Girl
7 The Strikers - Kick Around
8 Oozkicks - I'm so Young
9 Swift Kick - Unpredictable
10 The Mopeds - She's a Mongrel
11 The Strikers - Knock it Down
12 The Felons - Dancing School
13 Zanti Misfits - Bachelor's Friend
14 Trained Animal - When You Dance With Me


DOWNLOAD THE STRIKERS 7" AND "TEST PATTERNS"

Private I.D. - A Little Fun 7" (1981)

Private I.D. was a new wave/ska band from Aberdeen, Scotland who only released two singles (as far as I know). This is their first one and both songs are ska-influenced.

A - A Little Fun
B - Stay Back



The vocalist was Jacqui Copland who was a back-up vocalist for some well-known acts including Duran Duran. Read about her HERE.

The second single isn't ska at all but I can't find any trace of it ever being online so I included the 12" version of it in the download.

A - Cold Cold Sweat
B1 - Cold Cold Sweat (instrumental)
B2 - Perfect Lady

DOWNLOAD

The Internationalists - Let the Pressure Start (1986)

This is a British punk-reggae band who released this album in 1983. It was re-released in the UK in 1986 and again in France in 1988. The original 1983 release had a different cover...

...and the track listing was a different order.
This is the French version:

1 Kicking on the Wrong Door
2 Every Fifth Man is Guilty
3 Breaking Your Heart
4 Tighten Up
5 Solidarity
6 Gun Runner
7 Let the Pressure Start
8 Tooth and Nail
9 Lay the Foundation

"Kicking on the Wrong Door"


"Solidarity"


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Audrey Hall - Eight Little Notes (1985)

Pop-reggae with a slight new wave influence from 1985. It might take a while to grow on you but play it a couple times. You'll love it.


1 8 Little Notes
2 Oh What a Fool
3 Nobody Wants to be Alone
4 I Want to Know What Love Is
5 Anyone Who Had a Heart
6 Holding Hands
7 No Honorary Whiteship
8 Imagine
9 One Dance Won't Do




DOWNLOAD

Detonators - Dance! EP (1982) [REPOST]

Re-posted by request...

British new wave/punk band that had a ska song on this EP.
A1 - Don't Talk
A2 - Opening a Modern Art
B1 - Restless Kid
B2 - Passé

I was lead astray from the facts by the eBay seller who reported that this band was from the UK. I have since been informed that they were not British, but were actually from Spartanburg, South Carolina.


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Billy Rancher and the Unreal Gods - Boom Chuck Rock Now (1982) [REPOST]

Reposted by request...

This is a relatively rare and expensive record. It's not great and it's not really ska but there is a ska influence.
The only other release the band had was a single called "Happy Santa Claus" which was a one-song/one-sided 7". I do have a copy and I intended to post it with this record but I can't find it at this time. It is not a ska song and after you hear the album you will probably be okay with me not posting it. Let's be honest...you're going to download this record because it is a rare "ska" record but you're not going to listen to this record ever again.  

1 Boom Chuck Rock
2 My Girlfriend's Drawers
3 The Cyllycybin Doll Face Child
4 Symmetry in My Play
5 Upstroke Down
6 Rude Buddy Holly
7 (I'm Walkin' Down a) Rocky Road
8 Go Go Boots are Comin' Back
9 Rockabilly Queen
10 Uptown
11 English Boy
12 Somethin' New


DOWNLOAD


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the "Happy Santa Claus" single.

A - Happy Santa Claus
(b-side is blank)

DOWNLOAD

Humdrum - 79 7" (1980)

A - 79
B - Tooza

Belgian rock band who only released this one record. I don't know what the rest of their repertoire was but the A side is power pop with a 2 Tone influence and the B side is power pop/new wave with a 50s influence that's kinda reminiscent of The Bay City Rollers' "I Only Want to be With You". Both songs are sung in English with a harsh but charming accent.



DOWNLOAD

Atlande - Miss Hollywood 7" (1980)

A - Miss Hollywood
B - Le Mac Homme



DOWNLOAD

Danny and the Terminals - Investigations 7" (1981)

This one has been overlooked by everybody. I don't know one person who has it or has even heard it and it's too good to be this unknown, not to mention that it is readily available. There are lots of copies out there and some are very cheap.

Two sides of great ska-inspired power pop that get better every time you listen to them.

A - Investigations
B - Lazy Afternoon

DOWNLOAD


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I still haven't even started the list yet. Life has been hectic lately. I'm really aiming for next weekend.

After Drizzle - Jamaican Tango 7" (1980)

A - Jamaican Tango
B - Back in '83

DOWNLOAD


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just a quick post because I didn't have time this week to do anything else. I haven't even started making a list of the things I'm getting rid of. I'm sorry. Stay tuned...

Wild Horses - Funky Poodle 7" (1980)

A - Funky Poodle
B - Neighborhood Angel



DOWNLOAD

Joe Salvo - Life Could be Better 12" (1984)

A - Life Could be Better
B - Life Could be Better (Instrumental)

Don't take this as fact but I think Joe Salvo was a blues/rock musician from the US who made this one-off new wave/reggae song in the UK.
I don't know anything more about it except that this song makes me happy. It sounds like it would be perfect playing over the credits at the end of an 80s movie. You can almost picture Emilio Estevez roller skating in shorts and striped socks into the sunset...

HEAR IT on Soundcloud

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

The Emotion Pictures - They Say Space is Cold 7" (1980) [REPOST]

Thank you  Edd Bartlett for informing us that the vocalist for this band passed away last week. There's really nothing online about the band so it's hard to put anything together as a tribute. At least we have this one record. If anybody else knows anything more, please leave a comment.

A - They Say Space is Cold
B - Rescue Remedy



DOWNLOAD

Click Clack - Ketchup 7" (1982)

Click Clack (not to be confused with the British band Click Click) were a Belgian new wave/disco/ska band who put out this 7" in 1982. I have seen it for sale quite a few times listed as a ska record but I had never heard it so I was reluctant to buy it. I found a cheap copy so I thought 'what the hell' and bought it.
I was very surprised...this is a great record. It's not exactly ska but it is definitely Tone and Wave type of stuff.
There are at least three other singles that I intend to get at some point and I'll post them when I get them. It won't be for a while. I have to put it at the bottom of my list with the other "not exactly ska" stuff like Otitis and Ex-Hole.

A - Ketchup (hear it on Soundcloud)
B - Theo (hear it on Soundcloud)

DOWNLOAD through Zippyshare

DOWNLOAD through MEGA

va Goat's Milk Soap (1982) [REPOST]

1 Mockers - Trendy Left
2 Swingers - Never Never
3 Newmatics - Playing the Champion
4 New Entrants - The Kids are Crying
5 Famous Five - The Girls
6 Instigators - The Israelites
7 Toy Love - 2nd to Last Song Toy Love Wrote
8 Screaming Mee Mees - Pointy Ears
9 Danse Macabre - ECG
10 Corners - Ward
11 Blue Asthmatics - Blue Asthma
12 Bongos - Familiar Strangers
13 She Collapsed - Save It
14 Riot 111 - 1981

DOWNLOAD from Zippyshare

DOWNLOAD from MEGA

Jil Thorp and the Beat Boys

Jil Thorp and the Beat Boys (also spelled Jil Thorp & the Beat Boys) were from Louisville, Kentucky. They were a five-piece new wave/rock/ska band that sometimes went a little psychedelic. They played everything and Jil Thorp sometimes sounded like Patti Smith. The reason you may know them is because the song "Central Intelligence" from this album was on the Jump Up Records compilation "Death of an American Skathic" 

1 Father Knows Best
2 Music for Easy Girls
3 Play with Fire
4 Slippin' Away Boys
5 Tourists
6 Greasy but Fast
7 Central Intelligence
8 Moisture
9 Black Jeans
10 Tumours of Love
11 (Got to) Get Rid of Them
12 Mission Complete

This download also includes their 7" even though it doesn't have any ska on it. My record is in pretty rough shape so I apologize for the sound quality but since it's hard to find and usually sells for about $60.00 I'm in no hurry to replace it.

A - The Young and the Breastless
B1 - Stranded
B2 - Love Young


DOWNLOAD - Jil Thorp and the Beat Boys from Zippyshare

DOWNLOAD - Jil Thorp & the Beat Boys from MEGA

...................................................................................................

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!!!

What the hell...I threw this one in as a bonus

DOWNLOAD - Death of an American Ska-thic

Void! [Denmark] - Middle Class Rebel 7" (1982)

A - Middle Class Rebel

B - Wonder Fun



DOWNLOAD

Dutty Rass [California] - Dutty Rass 7" (1980)

Okay, here it is. This is the third in my series of the three rarest ska records in California history.

In case you missed them the others were RAM - Our Physics May Not Apply, and The Corvairs - Self Abuse.


This is a 7" with 4 songs. All 4 are reggae/ska. No punk, no new wave. As usual I have no information to offer. Enjoy.


A1 - Our Time, Baby
A2 - How Many Chances (Would You Take)?
B1 - Burnin'
B2 - Out Of It

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Not Quite Ska - Part 1

Quite often I find a lot of music on eBay, Discogs, and other online sellers that is sold as "ska" which isn't ska. I have been disappointed so many times by buying things blindly that you would assume I would learn my lesson at some point and only buy things that I hear first, but I keep falling for it. There are a couple reasons for this - firstly, when I go to record shops, conventions, thrift stores, etc. I take way more chances on things than I do when I buy online and I have struck gold too many times that I see no need to to change my ways. Secondly, I listen to lots of different types of music (we all do, I know) so, even though it may not be what I'm looking for, it might still be good.

Here are a few things I bought thinking they were ska but they aren't - but they're still pretty good.


Drive-Ins - Movie Girls (1985)

I'm posting this one because I get requests for it - a lot of requests. It's labeled as ska on Discogs but it's not ska at all. It's upbeat new wave/rock with lots of keyboard, distorted 80s guitar, and a bit of saxophone here and there. The closest it comes to ska might be the title track "Movie Girls", or maybe the song "Get the Message". But it is very rare so you might want to download it for that reason alone.

1 Just Respondin'
2 Don't Kiss My Face
3 Movie Girls
4 You're so Independent
5 Life ain't no Day on the Beach
6 Busy Signal
7 Sylvia
8 Secret Sessions
9 Echoes of War
10 Get the Message


DOWNLOAD DRIVE-INS - MOVIE GIRLS


Grunwaldt & Bley - Shout it Loud 12" (1987) 

I knew this one wasn't ska before I bought it because there is an edited video for the song. How do you not like that energy?



A - Shout it Loud
B - Sing es Laut


Alleybirds - Habasit 7" (1981)

This one was on my wishlist for years because it was sold on eBay as a ska record. I think this was only due to the title of the b-side which is neither ska nor reggae. I quite like the a-side though.

A - Habasit
B - Reggae Music




DOWNLOAD GRUNWALDT & BLEY 12", & ALLEYBIRDS 7"

Buddy System - Sad Story 7" (1983)

I am not a fan of Buddy System. They had a hard rock look with a soft rock sound and all of their music was incredibly 80s. They wanted to impress Cyndi Lauper's, Poison's, and Bonnie Raitt's fans all at the same time. They were radio-friendly enough to the point of being bland.
Now, after slandering their good name (I know they have a fan base that wouldn't tolerate my comments all that well), I have to admit that I absolutely love their first record. Both sides are great. It doesn't sound like their other releases. Both songs are a little more heartfelt and there is a slight-but-noticeable ska influence in the rhythms of both songs. I heard samples of both songs before I bought this one and I sat on it too long so somebody else bought it. It took me years to find another copy and the small sample ate at me for those years.
Some of the other stuff in this post is just okay. This is one of my favorite records ever.

I have included their self-titled record and the "Go Back to Hollywood" single so you can compare it to this release.

A - Sad Story
B - Lonesome Cowboy

DOWNLOAD THE BUDDY SYSTEM