You Call It Vol. 20

Two weeks ago I asked my Instagram for suggestions on what to play and I got a BUNCH of responses! The first problem was that I got suggested a lot of songs I’ve played before, but hey, I still had more than enough to create a kickin’ episode! Big thanks to everyone who took the time to make suggestions, and let’s start 2021 off right!

00:00 – Nate Funk – Seasonal Depression Stomp (Clownsuit ’21)
01:56 – OMNIGONE – Swallow Poison (Ska Against Racism comp ’20)
04:01 – the Stiff Joints – Pop a Knocker (First Proper Album ’17)
06:31 – Fence – Hearts of Gold (Stories to be Told ’03)
08:58 – JER – a Message to My Future Self (a Message to My Future Self ’20)
11:36 – the Tellways – I don’t Need to Tell You (Out to the Cosmos ’21)
14:21 – Bad Manners – Down Berry Wood (Heavy Petting ’97)
19:07 – the Space Heaters – Guns of Navarone (the Space Heaters ’96)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

23min of Ska : You Call It Vol. 17

I’ve done it again! I’ve managed to make you, my listeners pick out songs for this week’s episode. That’s right, if you don’t like it you have no one to blame but yourselves! Of course, if you do like then what the hell do I think I’m doing each and every week? Maybe you’re all better off without me! Oh man, I didn’t think that making a podcast this week and then writing this little blurb was going to send me into a crisis of self… well… damn…

00:07 – Simple Minded Symphony – King’s Malice (King’s Malice ’19)
04:26 – Show Me Island – Now I Know Better (Ring Around & Run ’16)
07:37 – Undercover S.K.A. – If Wolfy were Alive He’d be Playing in a Ska Band (We’ve Come for Your Daughter ’95)
11:36 – Skapulario – Vida en Espiral (Vida en Espiral ’94)
15:05 – the Untouchables – Free Yourself (Wild Child ’85)
19:18 – Bad Manners – This is Ska (Return of the Ugly ’81)

Audio clips taken from the Daily Guru‘s video “What is Ska”

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by donating on Patreon or by finding & liking 23min of Ska on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Also, feel free to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

What to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast the Ska After Party or to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!

23min of Ska : You Call It Vol. 14

Welcome to the 14th episode where all the songs picked were chosen by listeners to 23min of Ska. I have to say, you all really surprised me with this one. Some of these acts I straight up didn’t know, and the rest I knew but either hadn’t heard the track suggested or was amazed I hadn’t played it yet! Once again, thanks everyone, you made this episode fantastic!

00:00 – Common Rider – Classics of Love (Last Wave Rockers ’99)
02:17 – the Steady 45’s – Long Time Coming (Long Time Coming/Pressure ’13)
04:52 – Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra – Hello Gagarin! (Budapest Ska Mood ’05)
09:19 – Chencha Berrinches – Take Me to Jamaica (Chencha Berrinches ’16)
12:09 – Superbus – C’est pas comme ça (Pop’n’Gum ’04)
14:41 – Bad Manners – Skaville UK (Return of the Ugly ’89)
17:13 – the Planet Smashers – I’m OK if You Want to Party (Descent into the Valley of the Planet Smashers ’11)
20:26 – Mad Dog and the 20/20s – Best Friend Love Story (Things We Should Have Said (But We’ll Dance To Instead) ’17)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by finding & liking 23min of Ska on facebook as well as follow on twitter. Also, feel free to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Also, feel free to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

Another way to support the podcast is to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!

23min of Ska : You Call It Vol. 4

Once more in a fit of laziness I made the fine ska fans over at /r/ska pick out the songs to play in this episode. If it totally rules, give them the credit, if it sucks, well, same story. Special shout out to Christopher from Run & Punch, who after a fan told me to play their song “So Long” he made sure to get me a copy to have for this episode! Above and beyond for the cats in R&P, so totally check them out if you ever get the chance!

00:00 – the Aggrolites – Firecracker (IV ’09)
04:31 – Bad Manners – Walking in Sunshine (Walking in Sunshine ’81)
07:57 – Run and Punch – So Long (So Long ’14)
10:23 – Sweet Babylon – I’m a Jerk (Life is a Zoo ’13)
13:24 – the Volecanoes – Look at Me Now (Skatoon Time ’89)
15:52 – Hepcat – Prison of Love (Push ‘N Shove ’00)
20:35 – Chris Murray Combo – Why so Rude (Why so Rude ’08)

Find & like 23min of Ska on facebook as well as follow on twitter. Also, feel free to download this episode. You want some ska music on vinyl? Head over to Grandpa’s Casino Recordings! They have some great vinyl ska records just waiting for you!

23min of Ska : Government Cover Up

After several requests, the theme this month is, ta da, cover songs! I’m not a big fan of ska cover songs, mainly because the idea always seems to be born out of the idea that “this song is great, but what would make it better is a ska version!” and, as much as I love ska, I just don’t subscribe to that thinking. Don’t get me wrong, I totally love cover songs (and if you haven’t been paying attention, I totally love ska too), especially when the covers are inventive or just fit in so well w/ the sound the band usually makes that you don’t even realize that it is a cover. So here are a bit of what I think of when I think of awesome ska cover songs. (At one point the theme was going to be ska bands covering ska bands, but to deny the sharing of the Pavement and TMBG covers would be criminal.)

Bomb the Music Industry! – Gold Soundz! (Under the Influence Vol. 3 ’08)
Reel Big Fish – Veronica Sawyer (Fame, Fortune & Fornication ’09)
Johnny Socko – Man in Disguise (Full Trucker Effect ’97)
Star Fucking Hipsters – Ana Ng (From the Dumpster to the Grave ’11)
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Simmer Down (Ska-Core, the Devil & More ’93)
Special AKA – Longshot Kick the Bucket (Too Much Too Young ’80)
Bad Manners – Sally Brown (Sally Brown ’89)
Dan P. – Somewhere in the Between (You by Me: Vol. 1 ’10)

If you’re in a ska band and would like to be interviewed or have a song featured, please email me at radjose[at]gmail[dot]com.

This episode and all episodes can always be found here. You can also subscribe to the podcast by going to your advanced tab on iTunes, then select “subscribe to podcast…” and entering this address: http://23minofska.podomatic.com/rss2.xml into the box that opens. Also if you’d like, find & like us on facebook. Also, feel free to download this episode.

Hey, be a pal, check out these ska records that I’m making over at the Big Ska Gamble, the Georgetown Orbits turn in a great cover of “Domino” by Van Morrison on theirs.

23min of Ska : Too Much 2Tone

I’ve never really thought about centering a whole show around a single label before, but if any record label deserves the honor of being the first, it has got to be the UK’s 2 Tone Records run by the Specials’ Jerry Dammers. This episode is also heavily influenced by a book my wife recently got for me for my birthday, “the Two Tone Story” by George Marshall. This book is a history of the label and the bands on the label. As I was reading it, it made me more and more want to go back and listen to those band and their early songs. I won’t lie, I don’t too much experience with a few of these bands, like the Bodysnatchers and the Selecter so it was nice to hear a little more from each of them. Also, the Swinging Cats are totally new to me and I can’t believe I hadn’t even heard of them before! Rico was a honorary member of the Specials and had studied under Don Drummond before moving to England. He is on a host of ska & rocksteady records from Jamaica and England from ’60s through the to the ’90s (playing with pretty much EVERYONE) and even played on both Dandy Livingstone & the Specials’ versions of “A Message to You, Rudy”. If that isn’t enough awesome we have some classics from the (English) Beat and Madness from their debut singles on 2 Tone. I couldn’t leave out a track from the Dance Craze comp so I went with one of the Bad Manners tracks. Even Bad Manners looks back and says it was a mistake for them to turn down a chance to do a 2 Tone single in their early years. I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least one track from the Specials/the Special AKA, so I went with my all time favorite, “Too Much Too Young” and went out and found a live version of it that I hadn’t heard before! I hope everyone enjoys this trip down memory lane/education type episode. I had a ball putting this together, so I hope it is also great for everyone to listen to.

the Bodysnatchers – Ruder Than You (Let’s Do Rock Steady / Ruder Than You ’80)
the Special AKA – Too Much Too Young (Live) (Too Much Too Young ’80)
Bad Manners – Lip Up Fatty (Live) (Dance Craze compilation ’81)
the Beat – Tears of a Clown (Tears of a Clown / Ranking Full Stop ’79)
Madness – the Prince (the Prince / Madness ’79)
Rico – Carolina (Sea Cruise / Carolina ’80)
the Swinging Cats – Away (Mantovani / Away ’80)
the Selecter – Too Much Pressure (On My Radio / Too Much Pressure ’79)

Also be sure to check out the 2 Tone Records site!

If you’re in a ska band and would like to be interviewed or have a song featured, please email me at radjose[at]gmail[dot]com.

This episode and all episodes can always be found here. You can also subscribe to the podcast by going to your advanced tab on iTunes, then select “subscribe to podcast…” and entering this address: http://23minofska.podomatic.com/rss2.xml into the box that opens. Also if you’d like, find & like us on facebook. Feel the love and download this episode!

Also, hit up www.BigSkaGamble.com for some awesome ska 7″ records.

23min of Ska : Streets

The streets, you should be dancing in them, you’re listening to ska! Here’s another fine collection of music from my collection. I Voted for Kodos is an old favorite, hell I still even wear the bright green shirt they sold me. I became friends w/ Chris from IV4K when he joined a power pop band a bunch of my close friends where in. We hit it off as the “ska guys” at parties and such. Super cool guy, super cool band! I totally forgot I had this New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble CD until last week! I don’t know why, but I through it in my CD player and fell in love with it all over again! There’s a bit if a lost CD theme here, as at one point I thought I’d lost both my Debonaires and Dave Hilyard CDs only to find them right before I moved to LA! The New York Citizens where also brought back to my attention by a guy that works in my building named Burt. I either mentioned ska or he noticed my hoodie full of badges but we got to talking ska and he brought them up, and then hooked me up because I could never find the album back in the day! So yeah, take to the streets! Declare your ska love! I swear to everything holy, you’ll make new friends!

If you’re in a ska band and would like to be featured or if you know some music that you think I should hear for future inclusion, please email me at radjose[at]gmail[dot]com! I’ll play most anything.

You can also subscribe to the podcast by going to your advanced tab on iTunes, then select “subscribe to podcast…” and entering this: http://23minofska.podomatic.com/rss2.xml into the box that opens. Yep, downloading it, that’s always an option.