The Specials

At The Sound Academy in Toronto on Saturday

“Are you ready to start dancing?” a dapper Lynval Golding asked the roiling crowd wedged up against the stage at Toronto’s Sound Academy [...]]]> Here’s a good review of the recent Specials concerts in Toronto, taken from the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Enjoy!

The Specials

At The Sound Academy in Toronto on Saturday

“Are you ready to start dancing?” a dapper Lynval Golding asked the roiling crowd wedged up against the stage at Toronto’s Sound Academy late Saturday night. The query seemed odd, given that it came mid-set and that most of the surprisingly large collection of latter-day rude boys and girls had been in full bop mode since the opening number, Do The Dog.

READ MORE:

‘Hey rude boys and girls, let’s party like it’s 1979? | Musical Occupation.

Roy Ellis aka Mr Symarip will finally be making a Westcoast appearance in October. He will be backed by The Sand Dollar Sound with support for the show coming in the form of the superb The Impalers and Boss 501. Be here or wonder why you didn’t for years to come.

Tickets [...]]]>

Roy Ellis aka Mr Symarip will finally be making a Westcoast appearance in October. He will be backed by The Sand Dollar Sound with support for the show coming in the form of the superb The Impalers and Boss 501. Be here or wonder why you didn’t for years to come.

Tickets are $20 presale and $25 at the door. To Purchase Tickets go to http://www.oaklandmetro.org/

Join the conversation here:

dancingmood.net • View topic – Roy Ellis AKA MR Symarip Oct 30th in San Francisco.

Everyone knows who my favorite band is. There is no question about it. Madness are the only band that matters (if you don’t count the Specials, The Skatalites and plenty of others of course but you get the idea). Any opportunity to gather new info, read some possibly new tidbits that I didn’t [...]]]>

Everyone knows who my favorite band is. There is no question about it. Madness are the only band that matters (if you don’t count the Specials, The Skatalites and plenty of others of course but you get the idea). Any opportunity to gather new info, read some possibly new tidbits that I didn’t know about or find some new images to feed my nutty hunger I’m in all the way!

So it comes up that there is indeed some exciting news out of the nutty camp. Here is what our buddy Marco had to say:

“Just as Madness fans were celebrating the news about a rumored new album that is due out in 2011 comes fantastic news of the pending publication of the definitive book about the band. Called ‘House Of Fun – The Story of Madness’, the 500+ page tome written by John Reed is destined to be the new bible for all fans of the Nutty Boys.”

YES YES YES! No how about another stateside tour please!!

via Marco On The Bass: House Of Fun: The Story Of Madness To Be Published On October 31st.

READ MORE HERE:

The Duff Guide to Ska: Leicester Museum To Present Laurel Aitken Exhibition.

It’s hotter then hell right now and summer is in full effect. Seems like JA has invaded LA with the heat. So it’s time to get out and do the rocksteady. There are some really great shows and events coming up in the next month up and down the coast so get in the know.

DON’T FORGET TONIGHT! The Specials will be appearing on Dave Letterman. Check local listings for all the info.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER HERE. Hear the news as it happens, with special giveaways and concert updates.

On to the news:

This coming Sunday is the next installment of INTENSIFIED! with King Steady Beat, Bigger Boss and I plus live band SURE SHOT ROCKERS spinnning the greatest hits and lost gems from the little island in the sun.

From all corners of So. Cali, the members of the Sure Shot Rockers bring you traditional roots reggae, contemporary Jamaican dance hall, Rock, Hip-hop, Funk and R&B, all as one of LA’s fastest growing, up-and-coming live music acts!

Check them out : http://www.reverbnation.com/sureshotrockers

And as always a grand selection of DJ’s to keep the floor jumping

Selectors
King SteadyBeat
The Lawless One

Special guests:
Bigger Boss
Zapadru

VISUALS BY CARMEN PARK AKA THE MYSTERY MACHINE

FREE BEFORE 9PM!!
$5 After
$3 VODKA WELL DRINKS AND $3
NEW CASTLES BEFORE 11PM

Grand Star Jazz Club
943 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-2285
www.grandstarjazzclub.com/

FREE ENTRY BEFORE 9PM
RSVP to the event HERE.

Say hello here: http://www.facebook.com/intensified

Trojan Lounge @ Melody Bar drops Friday night as well.

Coming Up: The Revivers make a stop at Ska Wave, Let’s Go Bowling make an appearance, Bad Manners stomps all over the town, Mr, Symarip comes west, Soulside and even more! Needless to say there is plenty of things happening. More next week.

Want to know what’s being said and more announcements then check out The Dancing Mood Message Board @ www.dancingmood.net. Join the conversation.

This Sunday  I return to the tables of Intensified with some choice cuts. Been out for a  couple of months and I’m bringing some old friends with me  Nina  y  Viktor  &  Marv Mack. Oh yeah and the Bullets are playing too. You may have heard about them right.  So click the link [...]]]>

This Sunday  I return to the tables of Intensified with some choice cuts. Been out for a  couple of months and I’m bringing some old friends with me  Nina  y  Viktor  &  Marv Mack. Oh yeah and the Bullets are playing too. You may have heard about them right.  So click the link and RSVP for THIS SUNDAY!

Facebook | INTENSIFIED! w/ LOS BULLETS.

Found this rather interesting interview with Trojan’s Laurence Cane-Honeysett, the man that’s been there for 2 decades and done it all with the label through various owners, scripting amazing liner notes and delving into the treasure trove of the titanic Trojan vaults.

He goes into great detail of things that [...]]]>

Found this rather interesting interview with Trojan’s Laurence Cane-Honeysett, the man that’s been there for 2 decades and done it all with the label through various owners, scripting amazing liner notes and delving into the treasure trove of the titanic Trojan vaults.

He goes into great detail of things that are happening, what he’s found, what’s still there, and why he’s optomistic about the future of the label that for most of us is just simply REGGAE!

Listen to the interview along with various tracks from the label and read about what the futures holds for the label that for most of us is simply REGGAE.

http://www.musiclikedirt.com/2010/07/19/universal-love-for-trojan-records/

Reggae’s very core is built on the version going [...]]]> Since I’ve decided to get my ass in gear and write some more stuff on this blog I’ve come up with a new semi-regular feature that I’ll call — wait for it —Version Galore! Original right? Well that’s kinda going with the new theme of the feature.

Reggae’s very core is built on the version going back to the earliest days of course. Taking soul and R&B hits or anything else really that the producers and artists heard being piped in from the states or that was brought back on vinyl on the many trips people like Clement “Coxsone” Dodd of Studio One label fame – IE: The Godfather, made to the states to find the latest U.S. hits for their respective sound systems, were ripe for a cover.

Artists were covering anything and everything as the recently independent country and quickly enlarging new music industry were hungry for home grown music and what did they have but songs they heard – until that is they had enough talent built up to create their own songs. Covers and recording new versions of old tunes or using old rhythms on new cuts has always been a staple of the recording industry – not strictly a Jamaican phenomenon.

The first track to launch this new feature comes from Cynthia Richards doing her version of “Foolish You”. Why this track? Well I was looking around the web and came up on a cover version by Sublime which made me think – so here you go.

First a little background on Cynthia (taken from Wikipedia): Born in Duhaney Park, Kingston, Jamaica, in 1944, Richards attended the Denham Town Primary School where after impressing teachers with a performance at an end-of-term concert she was encouraged to appear on the Vere Johns Talent Show.

While working as a magistrate’s clerk, she continued her career, working in the 1960s with Bobby Aitken’s Carib Beats band and later the Falcons (with a young Dennis Brown), Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, and the Mighty Vikings. She recorded her debut single, “How Could I”, in 1969, produced by Coxsone.

Although this wasn’t a success, it brought her to the attention of Clancy Eccles, who produced “Foolish Fool”, which became a major hit in Jamaica. She also recorded as one half of the duo Cynthia & Archie. She moved on to work with several producers, including Duke Reid, for whom she recorded “Jungle Fever”, “Sentimental Reason”, and “Aily I”, the latter a hit with UK reggae audiences in 1972. Other producers she worked with included Alvin Ranglin and Larry Lawrence, before moving into self-production with singles such as “Mr. Postman”, and had further chart success in Jamaica with her version of The Staple Singers’ “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)”.

She was voted Top Female Artist of 1973 in Jamaica and toured with Dennis Brown and Toots and the Maytals. Later in the 1970s she worked as a backing singer, contributing to Beres Hammond’s 1976 album Soul Reggae and Pat Kelly’s 1978 album Lonely Man.

Check out the many versions of “Foolish You” below.

Original 1969 Version by Dee Dee Warrick

Cynthia Richards Reggae Version

Sublime Cover

and here’s a wicked cut by a more recent band showing the longevity of some simply “sublime” (pun intended) hits. Over 40 years and some cuts just keep finding new fans.

The Flea Market Funk blog did a post back in May about The Music Specialists. I thought it was a fun read so [...]]]> It’s been a bit of time since I did an update and well it’s time to get back in the saddle. Here’s a little link to a cool blog and some video selections!

The Flea Market Funk blog did a post back in May about The Music Specialists. I thought it was a fun read so go there now and check it out.

Here’s the flip: “Flip”