Merry Christmas To One & All!

Merry Christmas to all readers of Liam_Ska's Heavy, Heavy Monster Blog! Hope you all have a great Yuletide.

Here are some Christmas classics for you. First up is Judge Dread's 'Jingle Bells'. This is dedicated to Dan.:


Next, is one of my favourite Christmas singles. 'Christmas Time Again' by Bad Manners:


Another of my Christmas faves, Jacob Miller's 'Silver Bells':


This one I've only just heard, but it's much better than his version of 'White Christmas'. Bob Marley - 'Christmas Reggae':


Finally, nowt to do with reggae or ska but it's the mighty T.Rex with 'Christmas Bop'. Great simply because of the word 'T-Rexmas'!!:


See you in the new year!

Liam

Skaville UK and The Skanx - Live Review and videos

Another trip from Cardiff to London this week. This time to see Skaville UK at The Worlds End in Finsbury Park.

First up were support band The Skanx, an 11 piece ska/funk band from South London with a fantastic 5 piece brass section. The Skanx played a great mix of covers and new material and were very well received.

Their original material was the highlight of their set, but their covers were very well arranged and sounded really good to. They ended their first set with a great cover of The Selecter's 1980 classic 'Three Minute Hero':


Next up was Skaville UK's headlining set. Opening with the 1989 Bad Manners classic 'Skaville UK', they really got everyone on their feet and skanking.

The set included great covers of The Folkes Brother's 'O Carolina', Justin Hinds & The Dominoes' 'Carry Go Bring Come', Prince Buster's 'Rough Rider' and Vince Taylor & The Playboys' 'Brand New Cadillac' and a great version of the Bad Manners track 'Suicide'. Some of Skaville's best songs also got an airing such as '(I Wish It Was) 1973' and 'Outta My Head' for which the band were joined by the fantastic Jennie Matthias.

Skaville's latest (and greatest) album 'Devil Beat' was represented by their tribute to the late, great Judge Dread 'Dreader Then Dread':


Skaville ended their set with the Longsy D/Bad Manners track 'This Is Ska' which again featured Jennie. With the crowd hollering for more Skaville didn't disappoint and encored with a version of Laurel Aitken's 'Sally Brown'.

The Skanx played a second set after Skaville had finished and included quite a few more original songs than in their first set including 'Party Party':

The Skanx also played some great covers in the second set, the best of which was an extended version of The Specials' 'Gangsters' during which the female singer came and danced with the crowd. Again, The Skanx went down really well and were called back for a few encores.

A splendid time was had by all and everyone left The Worlds End with a smile on their face despite the pouring rain!

For more information on The Skanx and to hear more of their original material, check out their MySpace page: http://myspace.com/herestheskanx

For more information on Skaville UK, check out their website: http://skavilleuk.webs.com/ or their MySpace page: http://myspace.com/skavilleuk

To purchase Skaville UK's great new album 'Devil Beat', or any of their other albums, visit the Skaville e-shop: http://skavilleuk.webs.com/eshop.htm

Podcast #10 - Pete Townshend Acoustic Special

Today's post is the 10th podcast from the Heavy, Heavy Monster Blog! and is something pretty different from the previous podcasts. Rather than being dedicated to a ska or reggae artist this one consists of impromptu acoustic performances from Pete Townshend.

The majority of the performances come from Rachel Fuller's fantastic 'In The Attic' web cam broadcasts and the associated live shows, including Pete's version of The Beat classic 'Save It For Later'.

There has been an official cd/dvd set of recordings from the broadcasts but none of the tracks on the podcast were included in the official release. To buy the cd/dvd set please click on the links below:

Best Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/null/Rachel+Fuller+Presents+In+the+Attic/pcmcat175700050006.c?id=pcmcat175700050006

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Fuller-Presents-Townshend-Friends/dp/B0023V2BFQ

Amazon.co.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachel-Fuller-Presents-Townshend-Friends/dp/B0023V2BFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1259068965&sr=8-1

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Podcast tracklisting:

1. A Quick One While He's Away

2. Tattoo

3. Sunrise (with Rachel Fuller)

4. Here For More

5. Bargain

6. Cut My Hair

7. I'm One

8. Blue, Red & Grey

9. Man In A Purple Dress

10. Save It For Later (Beat cover)

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Download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?to3z2mwqlzm

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You can purchase albums from The Who's back catalogue here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Who/e/B000APYN9Y/ref=ntt_art_dp_pel_1

I highly recommend the recently released deluxe edition of 'The Who Sell Out'.

Hope you enjoy the podcast, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Pauline Black - New Album and Live Dates

Great news for ska fans everywhere, Pauline Black has recorded a new album entitled 'Pigment of my Imagination' which will be released early next year on Vocaphone records.

You can hear some of Pauline's fantastic new tracks on her recently updated website (http://www.paulineblack.co.uk/) and her MySpace site (http://www.myspace.com/paulineblack).

Pauline will be performing a few UK gigs in December 'with a 7 piece band including a three piece horn section, to perform new and old material', according to the website. The dates are:

Dec 4th Leicester - The Charlotte, Dec 11th Brixton - Hootananny and Dec 12th Newport - TJs.

Entry for the Brixton gig is £3 on the door.

You can buy tickets for the Newport gig here, for £10 each: http://www.seetickets.com/ents24/event.asp?filler1=ents24&showcode=421824 (Hope to see some of you there - I can't wait for this gig!)

Here is a collection of clips from Pauline's performance at Amsterdam's Black Magic Woman Festival. This was recorded at the Bijlmerpark theatre, 12th of November 2009 and highlights a number of the tracks from 'Pigment of my Imagination' and a great version of The Selecter classic 'Bristol & Miami':


...and here is a clip of Pauline performing The Special AKA's 'Alcohol', which will be included on the 'Pigment of my Imagination' album. This was recorded on the 'This Is Soul' tour at the Morecambe Dome, 16th February 2008.

Punks Not Dad Present Dadstock! 2

Punks Not Dad plus support from this blog's favourites Inconsiderate Parking and cool tunes spun by my favourite DJ Liam_Ska :D

This looks set to be a great night and anyone in the Cardiff area or indeed from anywhere in the universe could do worse than pop down to Tommy's Bar, Howard Gardens, Cardiff on Saturday 21st November and spend a hard earned fiver on seeing this lot:



I know you've all seen that video before but I just wanted to post a video with Scrapheap Challenge's Lisa Rogers in it :roll:

'In Me Shed' is from the soon to be classic debut album 'We Are The Dads'. Which you should all buy either at Dadstock 2 (so that you can continue your dad dancing when you get home) or online here:
http://punksnotdad.moonfruit.com/#/sell-out/4533253686

TV Smith has described Punks Not Dad as 'Genius' whereas some fanzine recently described them as 'unfunny juvenile shit'. Now if that isn't enough reason to see them I don't know what is!!!

A splendid time is guaranteed for all. See ya there! :D

The Fink Brothers - 'Mutants In Mega-City One'

Today's post consists of 3 tracks taken from the second single release from Madness' Zarjazz label. This was 'Mutants In Mega-City One' by The Fink Brothers (Suggs and Chas Smash).

Tracklisting:

1. Mutants In Mega-City One (from the 7")

2. Mutant Blues (from the 7")

3. Mutants In Mega-City One (Mutie Mix) (from the 12")

Download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4ywkg2nmjy1/Mutants.rar

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Here is some promotional material from the single (courtesy of the http://www.2000mad.20m.com/ website):

Starvation/Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie

Today's post consists of the 5 tracks from the long deleted 'Starvation'/'Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie' charity single, released on Madness' Zarjazz label in 1985.

The single contained members of The Specials (Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and John Bradbury), Madness (Bedders and Woody), The Beat (Ranking Roger & Dave Wakeling) and many others. A great Dick Cuthell track entitled 'Haunted' was released on the 12" version of the single.

For a full list of contributors, please click on the following picture:

Tracklisting:
1. Starvation - Starvation (from the 7")
2. Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie - Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie (from the 7" and 12")
3. Dick Cuthell - Haunted (from the 12")
4. Starvation - Starvation (African Version) (from the 12")
5. Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie - Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiopie (Part Two) (from the 12")

Download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mh3moonywfm/Starvation.rar

All proceeds from the single were distributed in the famine areas of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan through Oxfam, War On Want and Medecins Sans Frontiers.

If you would like to donate to any of these charities, please click on the following links:

OXFAM: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/?ito=1482
WAR ON WANT: http://www.waronwant.org/support-us/donate
MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS: http://www.msf.org.uk/support_donate.aspx

More photos from The Specials pre-gig warm up and after show in Cardiff and some videos of the gig.

Photos courtesy of Sharker.













Videos courtesy of Mike Cornwell and Shan.

The Specials Cardiff Pre-Gig Warm Up and Aftershow

I'm just about recovering from numerous hours of DJing in The Toucan before and after The Specials' gig at the Cardiff International Arena (CIA) last night. The day kicked of f at 12:30 with a 4 hour DJ set by myself and then there were lives sets from the rather excellent Inconsiderate Parking and the stupidly good Tattsyrup. I followed this with another 90 minutes or so DJ set.

We all made our way over to the CIA after that and were suitably warmed up by what seemed like a very short set from Pama International before an amazing set from The Specials. The atmosphere at gigs in the CIA can be lacklustre to say the least but last night it was electric.

After The Specials it was back to The Toucan for another couple of hours of reggae and 2 Tone tunes.

Here are some photos and videos from The Toucan:

'Skinhead Moonstomp' - Inconsiderate Parking



'The Sound Of Fire' - Inconsiderate Parking



'Pressure Drop' - Inconsiderate Parking



'A Message To You Rudy' / '007 (Shanty Town)' - Inconsiderate Parking



'One Step Beyond' - Tattsyrup



'Enjoy Yourself' - Tattsyrup


'Ghost Town' - Tattsyrup

The Specials Pre-Gig Meet Up In Cardiff - FREE ENTRY!

I will be performing a DJ set in the Toucan Club, Womanby Street, Cardiff on Sunday November 1st, before The Specials gig at the Cardiff International Arena. I'll be playing a set of 2 Tone and Trojan stuff with a few punk and new wave tracks thrown in.

It's free entry and there will also be live music from Inconsiderate Parking. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

UPDATE: LOCAL SKA BAND TATTSYRUP WILL ALSO BE PLAYING

Hope to see some of you there.