Marty Robbins goes to Russia? Бра́во [Bravo] was founded in 1983 in Moscow, was one of the most popular underground acts. Ветер знает[The Wind Knows] sounds just like the real deal. (There’s an English version here.)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones‘ song intro has been stuck in my head for months and now that I’ve rediscovered it I can finally sleep at night. This live version is from 2011.
Cam Cole, busker, bluesman, rocker, recording artist, and “the most impressive one-man band you will ever see” nails the blues to your forehead and plugs it into your ears. This guy is definitely one to watch for.
Have a great weekend, something else will show up here tomorrow.
The Specials in 1979, with A Message To You Rudy.
From the Utoobage comments:
“For those who do not know the story already, the “rudy” of this song is not a person. In fact, it refers to the slang term “rude boy” (rude boy-rudie-rudy) that originated in Jamaica in the early ’60s to define a specific sub-culture that used to listen to ska and rocksteady. As you can imagine, the term “rude” refers to the not exactly in-line-with-the-law lifestyle they had. [..] This particular subculture heavily influenced the mods and the skinheads, particularly in the look. And in in regards of music too , obviously, since the genre Oi! is heavily influenced by ska.”
Rude Pride is/was a band from Madrid (2013-2020) that played 1970s style Oi! Although the sub-genre is often misconstrued as music by racist pro-fascist bands, this is not one of them. I just like the song. (BTW, that’s the Flag of Jamaica on the wall in the background.)
Keeping with the accidental theme, let’s go with some nasty ska. The Interrupters cover Billie Eilish’ Bad Guy, and their version is better. Duh.
I think that’ll do for now. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
George Duke showed up to play Zappa’s classic Uncle Remus with Dweezil Zappa‘s band in 2010. (If you like George Duke, this behind the scenes rehearsal from1978 is kinda fun. Jump to 02:50.)
Ignore the clickbait title – it’s a killer groove by MonoNeon. He’s right-handed, but plays left-handed on an upside-down right-handed bass. Dude can cover Zappa, too.
Many of his own recordings were catchy pop (and somewhat sappy) love songs and covers of the same IMO, but I liked them. I liked them especially because the pretty coeds would stay around longer when Todd Rundgren was spinning at 33rpm. Then in 1983 he wrote and performed one of the best ska tunes ever – Bang The Drum All Day. (As a resident of Hawaii, he later recorded “Bang The Uke All Day.)
DO NOT BYPASS THE INTRO. Joanna Connor covers Son House‘ classic “Walkin’ Blues.” She pats your head, then smacks you twice before you realize what happened. Pure awesome.
LIVE CAM: Train Engineer’s Cab View in Norway [click here for local time]. Not sure which line this is, where it’s headed, or if it’s running above the Arctic Circle. Check it out in full screen view and I’ll see you back here in a couple of days.
Someday, I suppose I’ll go to Norwegia and ride that train. Meanwhile, I’ll listen to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones from 1993.
Or maybe I’ll roll with Fishbone, one of the tightest ska/rock/funk bands I ever heard. Those guys won me over a long time ago. (Check out this 1987 live version. Sound quality sucks, but the energy is killer.)
Toni Tee & Liquid Wisdom on a bus. They play a cool variety of music (reggae, rock, funk, soul, hiphop, punkadelic) but it’s tough to find a vid with decent a/v on the Utoobage. [h/t Bunkessa – yeah she scored two hits this week; this one and the one above.]
Can’t fight corruption with con tricks; They use the law to commit crime. And I dread, dread to think what the future will bring, When we’re living in gangster time.
Pure percussion by Tito Puente e Los TropiJazz All Stars. I could listen to this stuff all day.
Decades ago (in college) we attended an off-campus house party that seemed to have a live band. I asked the host about it and he replied, “That’s the Rhythm Section. They’re in the basement.” So I went downstairs and found people taking turns on vinyl trash cans, bottles, cans, buckets, with wooden dowels and spoons, and it all sounded great as it morphed, non-stop. No electronics, just stoners people grooving on impromptu syncopated rhythms.
Micky Hart‘s Planet Drumproject got my ear as well. Hard to say what musical instrument came first, the bone flute or the drum. I’d guess the latter, because you can bang on anything to create a tempo, and everything else is secondary. (Vocals don’t count unless you’re talmbout Hollerin.)
Then of course there’s this RetroSka classic:
Have a great weekend, folks. We’ll be back here tomorrow whether you like it or not.
August 2016 – “Tasmania’s most famous wave comes to life to launch the Australian winter with a roar. When the southern hemisphere starts to rumble and shake under the weight of wild winter weather, The Stern, out there on the south-eastern tip of Tasmania, bears the full brunt of the conditions.”
Harriers are awesome… and scary as hell if you happen to be the enemy. You hear its death whistle before you see it.
El Mariachi Manchester covers The Smiths‘ “Girl in a Coma” with a poco mariachi, poco ska style. (The trumpet player is using a Harmon mute and Bunkessa said the singer looks like me).
Since I’m in a ska mood, let’s wrap it up with this.
