In a recording career that spanned over 45 years Laurel Aitken (1927-2005)- The Godfather of Ska- only registered one top 100 record in the UK. His influence, however, far exceeded his commercial success (or lack of it), and he enjoyed renewed and prolonged fame following the resurgence of interest in Ska brought about by 2Tone.
Born in Cuba, raised in Jamaica, Laurel Aitken lived in London for 3 years (1960-63) and then came to the UK again and settled in Leicester from 1970 onwards. His career spanned the development of Jamaican music from mento right through to dancehall, and he was playing gigs well into his seventies.
Plaque erected at Mr Aitken's former house by Leicester City Council (? the year of his birth- most sources give 1927)
What are we for? nothing really. We're just a group of blokes. We're not for anything.
A Skinhead quoted in You'll Never Be 16 Again: An Illustrated History of the British Teenager by Peter Everett (1986).
For all its aggression , skinhead was a curiously passive phenomenon with no obvious interest in interacting with, let alone changing society. And, in a first for a post- war youth cult, it didn't even produce its own music, preferring to dance to the early versions of reggae that were coming out of Jamaica.
From Crisis? What Crisis? Britain In The 1970's by Alwyn W. Turner (2008)
The 2Tone scene revived an interest in Jamaican sounds of the sixties and early seventies amongst young white listeners.
The Specials LP contained covers of songs by Dandy, Prince Buster and The Maytals; Madness began with a tribute to Prince Buster and followed it up with a cover of One Step Beyond.
Consequently Skinhead classics like Longshot and Liquidator reappeared in the UK charts, and acts like Derrick Morgan and Laurel Aitken enjoyed popularity with new audiences.
The original Trojan LPs became much sought after and a steady stream of compilation albums featuring the ska/ rocksteady/ reggae classics loved by the Skinheads of 1969 appeared.
This compilation was much later, 1992. From a personal point of view it was a Friday night favourite through which many of my younger friends learned about the music, whilst the older members of our gang wallowed in nostalgia.
The back cover gives the track listing along with the reasons for inclusion.
Released in 1993 to promote a Best of 2 Tone compilation this EP brought together the début singles from 4 of the label's leading acts:
The Special AKA- Gangsters
Madness- The Prince
The Selecter- On My Radio
The Beat- Tears of a Clown
In the case of Madness and The Beat these were their only releases on the label.
Photographer Toni Tye documented the 2Tone scene in early 1980, when it was having a massive impact on British pop music. Her archives can be viewed here.
Obviously no feature on Skinhead culture would be complete without an acknowledgement of the role that the 2-Tone label/ movement played in bringing the sounds of ska and the fashions of the Skinhead era to a new generation.
I thought that posting this LP might be viewed as something of a cliché, and I was sure that it was available in loads of other places. Not so, apparently.
So I dug out my 31 year old vinyl copy, bought in Boots for about £2.50 in November 1979. It's an absolute belter. Amazingly the next record that I invested my pocket money in was London Calling by The Clash. What a great time to be 14!
Here's some info on the record.
And here are some other posts on The Specials.
Alex Hughes (1945-1998) was a former Bouncer, wrestler and DJ. In the persona of Judge Dread he scored 11 UK hits (second only to Bob Marley for a reggae act)and also set the record for having the most releases banned from the airwaves
by the BBC (11- including the completely clean Molly- a benefit record for an Ethiopian famine in 1973). He was also the first British (or possibly even white) artist to have a hit in Jamaica.
When I was in school we swapped from having a free pass to use on the local service bus to a specially laid on coach just for us .
This meant more comfort, a guaranteed seat and no hassle off boys from other schools or old ladies telling us to behave. On the plus side you got home earlier, on the downside there was no smoking.
Our regular driver was a Jack the Lad character called George. He was from Essex, probably about 40 and I reckon he was something of a ladies man, like one of those cool uncles you only ever meet at weddings, Burt Reynolds moustache, gold bracelet and tan.
George used to play Judge Dread on the cassette player of the coach and it kept us happy.
I was a bit perplexed when I saw the Judge in a music paper- older lads had told me he was a Skinhead act, but in fact he had collar length hair. Apparently you didn’t need to have a skin-head in order to be a Skinhead.
The Judge followed in the tradition of music hall and the smutty seaside postcard innuendo. I would imagine that this was what appealed to good time George, the Judge was a Skinhead Benny Hill (or in the case of Up With The Cock TheTwo Ronnies).
The Maytals were Toots Hibbert, Raleigh Gordon and Jerry McCarthy- and they first got together as a vocal trio as early as 1961.
I'm not going to write at length about The Maytals here as the album includes an excellent booklet tracing the early history of the group. These songs were recorded prior to Toots' imprisonment. Later, as Toots and The Maytals, they recorded such seminal early reggae numbers as 54-46, Monkey Man and Pressure Drop, and were one of the most consistent quality acts in 70s Jamaican music.
Quintessential Englishmen?
Well, we're a class riven society and I suppose they fall into two categories:
Apparent toffs like Basil Rathbone, Terry- Thomas, Stephen Fry and Boris Johnson are undeniably quintessentially English. But then again so are Michael Caine, Stanley Holloway, Johnny Vegas and John Terry.
Suggs bridges the gap here...
Madness were undoubtedly one of the major successes of the eighties. Maybe they did appeal to kids who idolised Tucker off Grange Hill but they turned out a succession of catchy and humorous hits. The ‘Ska revival’ also missed out on a sartorial coup, with faux market stall pork pie hats and sta pressed trousers that were more like pantomime costumes replacing the authentic fashions of the late sixties. It was all a bit fake.
However, as their enduring popularity testifies, Madness had a place in the hearts of millions of working class Britons.
When frontman Suggs appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2002 there was also something quintessentially English about a number of his selections: The Kinks, Sir John Betjeman, Ian Dury and The Clash.
Despite the Englishness of her name Julie London was, of course, American- Suggs chose Cry Me A River (younger readers may know it from V for Vendetta) and you can't argue with that as a selection of a timeless classic. Ian Duryrepresents a proletarian flavour of risque entertainmnet that dates back to the music hall era. It's easy to imagine Dury as a carachter from Dickens or the ragamuffin cabman providing Sherlock Holmes with some tipoff. On London's Burning from their self titled debut The Clash give us a hefty chunk of urban dissaffectation from the western suburbs of London.
In terms of fogeyishness the genuine article here is Sir John Betjeman, the betweeded poet laureate who , in the words of Auden was so at home with the provincial gaslit towns, the seaside lodgings, the bicycle, the harmonium. (We'll be having more from Sir John in the near future). Prince Buster pops up with the obligatory 'ska' number- Al Capone. I've nothing against Peggy Lee and actually have a few of her albums (Black Coffee is highly recommended) but I don't really go for the number that Suggs selected (Is That All There Is?). The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society has been described as a concept album lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions.
There is also something very British about Van Morrison's Cleaning Windows- the disaffected grammar school boy trapped in mundane labour whilst immersing himself in American beatnik culture of jazz, blues and Kerouac.
Sugg's overral choice was the Peggy Lee record. A book of Italian Verbs was his literary choice and a nucleus of bees was his luxury item.
Here are the records, but not the full programme:
Sadly gone from Rapidshare and I haven't got a clue what I did with the original file- never mind, worse things happen at sea.
Good time music from Coventry.
This was the first release on 2 Tone records.
Information on the record can be found here.
This is a rip of the original single.
Line up: Jerry Dammers - keyboards, Terry Hall - vocals, Lynval Golding - guitar , vocals, Roddy 'Radiation' Byers - guitar, 'Sir' Horace Gentleman/ Panter - bass, Silverton Hutchinson - drums Neville Staples appears on the cover but at the time the recording was made he was still the roadie. This is a 1978 demo (good sound quality) by the band that went on to become The Specials/ The Special AKA. Familiar tunes, slightly unfamiliar arrangements. An interesting listen for all those who have fond memories of this, the thinking man’s ska band.
The Specials were the punkiest of the new wave of ska bands, thanks in part to the edgy guitar of Roddy Byers and also the social consciousness of their original songs. Their early records launched my enduring passion for ska and rocksteady, leading me to explore the history of Jamaican music and track down the originals that inspired the 2 Tone movement. 2 Tone was commercially successful in a way that punk had never been. In 79-80-81 The Specials / Special AKA scored 7 consecutive top ten hits, including 2 number ones, ... the music and image had mass appeal, particularly with younger kids. The porkpie hats, the sta pressed, the braces, the dances, the shades- it was all there on a plate and served up by numberless market stalls. This EP went to number one in the UK charts in January 1980. The lead number, a breakneck version of a track off the band's debut LP, was a reworking of Lloyd Charmers' Birth Control . The remaining tracks are covers of 60's Jamaican classics that would pepper generations of ska compilations. Terry Hall - vocals Jerry Dammers - keyboards Lynval Golding - rhythm guitar, vocals Neville Staple - toasting, backing vocals, percussion Roddy Byers (Roddy Radiation) - lead guitar Horace Panter (Sir Horace Gentleman)- bass guitar John Bradbury (Brad) - drums with Rico Rodriguez - trombone Dick Cuthell - flugel horn
Born in Cuba, raised in Jamaica, Laurel Aitken lived in London for 3 years (1960-63) and then came to the UK again and settled in Leicester from 1970 onwards. His career spanned the development of Jamaican music from mento right through to dancehall, and he was playing gigs well into his seventies.
Plaque erected at Mr Aitken's former house by Leicester City Council (? the year of his birth- most sources give 1927)
