Ska 126 Items

Tel Aviv's world famous roots reggae & rocksteady band's latest album now on yellow vinyl! Darlings of BBC presenters DON Letts and David Rodigan, the band is once again set to hit the European reggae circuit in 2024. Ten tracks of lovers rock vibes with gorgeous three part harmonies.

Catbite, WE ARE THE Union, Kill Lincoln & More Combine FOR A Modern DAY “dance Craze” Showcasing THE Current State OF SKA 2xLP Gatefold With 11x17 Poster on Doublemint Green Vinyl Recorded live across the 24 dates of the 2023 Bad Time Records tour, “this IS NEW Tone” captures the energy and diversity of the modern ska punk scene through 24 brilliant tracks from some of the genres best and brightest bands. With Catbite, We Are The Union, and Kill Lincoln highlighted as the tour headliners, you get a taste for what makes each of these bands so special live... the songs have a unique energy, you can feel the crowd responding, and it’s easy to imagine being packed into a club somewhere across the country sweating it out to your new favorite bands. Joined by fellow label mates BAD Operation, J. Navarro & The Traitors (Jay of The Suicide Machines), JER, Omnigone, Eichlers, The Pomps, Joystick, and Thirsty Guys, each of the bands contributes their unique brand of ska and punk to this jam packed celebration of one of the best live genres in music. With the help of engineer / mixer Rick Johnson (Mustard Plug, Jeff Rosenstock), the album captures the raw experience of being at the club while also maintaining a high audio fidelity in order to truly document these bands properly. The record also accompanies a live concert film / documentary of the same name which will premiere in Spring 2024. If you’re looking for evidence that ska is still alive and thriving, look no further than “this IS NEW Tone”.

close to NM

Copy closer to VG+

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

Rude Girl Revue curated collection of 16 women led ska/reggae acts of all styles. Inc Scotch Bonnets, Stop THE Presses, Catbite, Half Past TWO, Rude BOY George, Soul Radics, Some SKA Band, Skulttz, Bowcat, THE Pandemics, HUB City Stompers, Jade Tremba and more.

UK ska/reggae charity collection tributes the crooner RAT PACK style, inc FRANK SINATRA & TONY BENNETT songs! Ten trax from RUDE GIRL REVUE, CRAZY BALDEAD w/JESSE from THE AGGROLITES, KING DJANGO, SPECIAL BREW, SKAPONES, EASTERN STANDARD TIME, MR KINGPIN and many more. Generic white sleeve.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

A collection of rare 60's sound sources, mainly by the Skatalites, that shows the heat of Kingston in the heyday of Ska!! Selections from Indian-Jamaican Dada Tewari's Caribou and Down Beat labels. Caribbean Recording Company, owned by Dada Tewari, was one of the first Jamaican studios to follow in the footsteps of Ken Khouri and Stanley Motta, and this album contains songs from the boogie shuffle to the heyday of ska. In addition to Lord Tanamo's ska anthem "In The Mood For Ska", this is the label's first album of mega-rare singles and top Caribou ska, including Don Drummond's last recording "Bellevue Special", "Up & Down" by the Mighty Vikings and "Way Of Fortune" by Pat & Roxie.

Death Is Not The End together all three LP volumes of the critically acclaimed If I Had a Pair of Wings LP compilation series for a bundled edition.
"...all of the music on this compilation is the result of the forward-thinking artists and producers that realised the worth of local Jamaican artistry during a time when the island's leading political figures had not yet managed to throw off the colonial yolk. These are sounds with a certain innocence and the optimistic promise of better to come, with the influence of American pop ballads and doo-wop looming large, yet already pointing to the innovations of the future. Listen keenly and take in the sounds of the Jamaican music industry at its very beginnings, its singers and players drawing from the popular styles of the island's larger neighbour and already changing those styles into something their own." - David Katz
Lauren Laverne's comp of the week on BBC Radio 6 Music w/c 11th Jan.
Guardian feature: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/12/a-thousand-teardrops-how-doo-wop-kickstarted-jamaica-pop-revolution-reggae-rocksteady

Here is the much anticipated volume 4 of the HOT SAUCE compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975.
HOT SAUCE VOLUME 4 features outstanding original Rock Steady, Boss Reggae and early Reggae (“Reggay”) tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and a couple of hits.
The record labels showcased on this fourth volume are Amalgamated, Big Shot, Duke, Explosion, Grape, High Note , JJ Records, Treasure Isle and Trojan.
The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs, closer to VG+

This album from an Italian-based production outfit on Aloe Vera Records celebrates the label's early years and the unique style of one of the imprint's key acts, The Officinalis's. They were known for classics like 'Si Comme' Si' and for blending. Naples and Jamaican musical cultures. Aloe Vera Records skilfully merged these worlds in their output and created a distinctive and recognisable sound that bridges past and present. These are all well-crafted sounds with warm low ends, rich bass and plenty of loved-up melodies that make it a nice escapist listen.

Cover closer to NM

Killer early reggae vocal tune and an funky instrumental Reggae cut. TIP! A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Cool Ska Inst. Cover Of Spanish Flea backed with a funky vocal cut.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Side A : 1968 Recording. Never Released. Wicked Winston Wright Playing Organ Rock Steady Instrumental. Side B : 1968 Released. Great Rock Steady Vocal By Bobby Davis Lead Singer. A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Side A : 1965 Recoding In Federal Studio. Alternate Take. Walk On Bye, Killer Ska Vocal. Side B : 1965 Recording In Federal Studio. Alternate Take. Straight Instrumental without MC, different from release take. A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Original inner sleeve. Non die cut cover!

The US ska-heroes captured live in a German studio, during a couple of days off from their 2023 European tour. 'Men In Underwear' contains impromptu live versions of 11 popular Toasters tunes!

One More Bullet is the ninth studio album from the ska band The Toasters. Released in 2007, the album was the first Toasters release on Stomp Records. It was their second album not to be released on Moon Ska Records (excluding early records); as that label became defunct in 2000.

Vinyl reissue of third wave ska classic from 1994, originally released on Moon Ska NYC. At the time of release, the ska scene was on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. Excitement electrified the air. No album captured the sheer exuberance of this time like Dub 56. From the opening note to the closing refrain 14 tracks later, the listener is drawn into a party that just doesn't want to end - the band play like they're standing in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd. Highlights include "Mona" with it's irrepressible melody and swing, Skatalite Lester Sterling on "Dancin'" and "Marlboro Man," "Midnight Hour" shows just how much fun you can have with a soul classic, and of course title track with the toasing skills of Coolie Ranx. Essential Third Wave Ska album.

A side is a Jamaican Independence festival tune from 1968. Foundation. Both here are great Rock Steady Vocal cuts.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

This is the very first reissue of the much in demand double sided killer single released in 1970 on the Upsetter label. Both tracks were produced by Lee Perry. The A side is a beautiful yet wicked cover of LET IT BE by the Beatles, produced by Lee Perry and performed by the Soulettes. The B side is BIG DOG Bloxie, an even wackier version of the A side by Lee Perry!

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

Jamaica's ska originators celebrate their 60th anniversary with two new songs on a limited edition 45! Both tracks are midtempo ska groovers, with cool lyrics and hot horns. Beautiful old skool label art designed by Chema Skandal, big hole black vinyl DJ friendly press of 1000 copies. (

a Sino/Japanese twist.

In the early 1960s Justin Yap and his brother Ivan [aka ‘Jahu’] ran the Top Deck sound system from their family’s ice cream parlour and restaurant in Barbican, Kingston. The local success of the sound system encouraged them to venture into the recording business, and by 1962 Justin had recorded singers Larry Marshall, Ephraim ‘Joe’ Henry and Ferdie Nelson. The fledgling label enjoyed a modest local Jamaican hit in 1963, with trumpeter Baba Brooks and the Trenton Spence Orchestra's “Distant Drums” issued on Top Deck Records as the b-side to Larry Marshall’s hit “Too Young To Love”. As a fan of exotica composer Martin Denny, Justin had heard “Jungle Drums” on Denny’s 1959 LP “Afro-Desia”. His liking for Martin Denny would prove fruitful later, when Justin recorded the Skatalites in a mammoth all-night session in 1964 at Clement Dodd’s Studio One on Brentford Road.

By 1963-1964, hundreds of ska tracks were being recorded by Clement Dodd, Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, Vincent Edwards, Vincent Chin, Leslie Kong and Prince Buster and others. Justin had linked up with Allen ‘Bim Bim’ Scott, a friend of Clement ‘Coxson’ Dodd, owner of the Studio One label who had already recorded the musicians who became the Skatalites.

Justin and Ivan organised a session in November 1964 at Studio One; it lasted 18 hours. The length of the session allowed for alternate takes to be recorded, but the highlights of the sessions were the five original compositions by Don Drummond – “Marcus Junior”, “The Reburial”, “Confucious”, “Chinatown” and “Smiling”. The first two are in tribute to the Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey; “The Reburial” refers to the occasion of his interment in Jamaica in 1964, his remains having been brought from the cemetery in Kensal Green London, where he was originally buried in 1940, and reburied in King George VI Memorial Park Kingston [later renamed National Heroes Park].

Along with these originals were some well-chosen cover versions. Two came from the Duke Ellington songbook: “Ska-Ra-Van” is of course Ellington and his trombonist Juan Tizol’s classic composition “Caravan”, while “Surftide Seven” is Ellington’s “In A Mellotone”. The LP title track “Ska-Boo-Da-Ba” is a version of Bill Doggett’s 1958 “King” US 45 “Boo-Da-Ba”. “Ringo” had also appeared on Arthur Lyman’s “Taboo” LP [1958] as “Ringo Oiwake”. Originally it was sung by Hibari Misora – a very famous vocal song in Japan, recorded in 1952, the melody composed by Masao Yoneyama. Yet another tune copped from Lyman’s “Taboo” LP is “China Clipper”, composed by the pianist / arranger / orchestrator Paul Conrad.

The last track on this fine LP is “Lawless Street”, a feature for Roland Alphonso. Unlike the other Skatalites, Roland wasn’t a graduate of the celebrated Alpha School, like many of Jamaica’s top musicians from Bertie King to Yellowman. Alphonso was a graduate of Boys Town School in Denham Town. “Lawless Street” was another tune that was recorded twice at the session – the second version features vocal ‘peps’ and exhortations by DJ King Sporty.

By late 1966, Justin emigrated to the USA, settling permanently in New York. There he took up US citizenship and was called up to serve in the US Army in Vietnam, In the early 1970s he worked in computers and eventually drove a New York cab. In his all too brief involvement in the competitive Jamaican music business he certainly left his mark as a producer. He produced some of the best ska ever made, and the LP reissued here is perhaps the most coherent LP in that genre, deriving as it does from a single session.

The celebrated record producer at Randy’s Studio, Clive Chin:

“It wasn’t the fact that they [the musicians] really love Justin; it was the fact that Justin used to pay them the right money and make them comfortable. Make sure them have them smoke, them food, them drink, and after them finish they got paid.” Unlike many other producers, Justin actually attended the sessions.

It stands as his defining legacy in Jamaican music history.

1966 Recordings. Alternate Takes here: A side with a wicked Ska Vocal backed with a great Ska Inst.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Side A: 1969 Recordind Duke Reid's Studio. Unreleased. Great Harmony And Killer Early Reggae Vocal. Side B: 1969 Never Released at 1969. Wicked Early Reggae Vocal. A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Debut full length album from South Korea's boss early reggae band, who are stylistically funky reggae ala Toots & THE Maytals fueled by the energy of British 2-tone. For fans of THE Aggrolites, Boss Capone, THE Slackers and THE Upsessions. Ten tracks on white vinyl.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Cover has slight wear, small sticker tear on front, price tag on back cover. Original inner sleeve. With poster. Original German pressing.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

Side A : Unreleased Great Rock Steady Vocal. Recording In Duke Reid Studio 1966. Side B : Unreleased. Great Rock Steady Instrumental. Recording In Duke Reid Studio 1966.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.Side A : Never Released. Early Ska Vocal.1961 Recording At Federal Studio. Unknown Duke Reid's Duo Artist. Side B : Recoding At Federal Studio 1961. Great Ska Instrumental. This One Was Recording Before "You're So Delightful" By Skatalites In Jamaica.

The Carmines are back with their 3rd full length album "Work Harder Not Smarter"! The band may have matured over the last decade, but the sound is the same and the melodies are here to stay! Staying true to their roots, they pump out 10 new songs, recorded and mixed all analog by Pete Mattern at Horsetown Recording Company, that really capture the sound and spirit of early ‘90s Lookout! Records! Limited to 200 copies on blue-ish/green-ish vinyl

Original album + live. 2 x 140g Crystal Clear / 2 x Printed Inner Sleeves / Gatefold LP Jacket / RSD Sticker

Original inner sleeve.

New single by Nagoya based SKA band THE Rude Pressures, who are set to perform at Fuji Rock Festival '24! The Rude Pressures, a Nagoya-based SKA band active since 1990, will release their first new single in four years, a collaborative single featuring Japan's proud Rock Steady singer Takako (The Drops /ex Dreamlets ). Takako's own bittersweet original tune and a cover of "You And Me" by Penny & The Quarters, an insert song from the movie "Blue Valentine" starring Ryan Gosling. The arrangement is a superb Lovers Rock Steady that makes the most of her unique style.

Brand new single from lovers rock queen Susan Cadogan backed by Italian ska band THE Magnetics. Her voice is still sugary sweet since topping the UK pop charts in the 70s, on this 45 we get the melancholy reggae jam "MY OH MY" w/NAT King Cole's "unforgettable" on flip. Red wax pic sleeve

Lovers rock legend returns with two brand new vintage style tunes produced by MITCH "KING KONG" GIRO. "GIRL WHO CRIED" is a rootsy midtempo rocksteady jam with true lovers flava, the flip "I DON'T WANT ANYBODY BUT YOU" is a fantastic ska groover.

Vinyl with scuffs and hairlines

Vinyl with scuffs and hairlines

Kultural Grooves is thrilled to unveil Shakedown Unlimited’s inaugural album, a masterpiece crafted amidst the vibrant cultural backdrops of Italy and Spain. This album is a testament to the eclectic talents that are part of the contemporary European Reggae, Funk, Soul, and Jazz scenes. Steering this sonic expedition are the adept Michal “Michu” Krygiel, also known as Baodub, and the inventive Davide “Deez” Di Sauro. Michu, a stalwart in the dub sound system and electronic scene, not only anchors the album with his foundational drum beats but also takes the helm in mixing and recording. Davide, with his creative spark, orchestrates the album’s arrangement and composition, weaving in his unique bass rhythms that echo his past work with The Officinalis and Napoli Rockers Syndicate, alongside the pulsating beats of Afrodesia’s ‘Episode One’. Their artistry is amplified by the spirited strumming of guitarists Andrea Farias and Alessandro “Sugar / Papa” Rizla, and the percussive precision of Giosuè Perna, whose collaborations with Periodica Records and Aloe Vera have refined their collective harmony, enriching the musical journey with a diverse palette of auditory hues. The album’s vocal prowess is delivered by Payoh Soul Rebel, whose voice stands unrivaled in the European reggae and soul landscape. The icing on the cake is undoubtedly the presence of Andres Balbucea, the singer, composer, and pianist of the breakout Disco/Afrobeat band, Parlbleu. A fellow member of the Napoli Rockers Syndicate, like the pianist Giulio Neri, Andres is entrusted with the entire composition of the organ sound for this album—an indispensable element of offbeat music—imbued with his unmatched touch. The brass arrangements, a soul-stirring element of the album, are the brainchild of jazz maestro Enrico Fumo, with the alto saxophone melodies woven by the esteemed Jah Wind, a name synonymous with reggae aficionados. The fusion of these musicians and their diverse styles, rooted in a strong reggae foundation yet infused with Soul, Funk, Latin, and Jazz, is visually encapsulated by Riccardo Corda. Corda, a visionary designer whose work has graced albums like ‘The Mauskovic Dance Band’ by Soundway Records and ‘Bar Mediterraneo’ by Nu Genea, lends his artistic signature to this album, further solidifying its place as a modern classic. The trumpet and trombone are in the capable hands of the Valencian duo, Jonas Sanchez and Manuel Pardo, masters of brass who bring a vibrant soul to every note. Shakedown Unlimited’s debut is more than an album; it’s a musical journey enriched by the essence of the Mediterranean, a reggae anthology that resonates with the soulful rhythms and vibrant influences of its heritage. We are beyond delighted to present this auditory treasure, a testament to the enduring spirit of reggae and its universal appeal.

First time on vinyl for debut album from Wash DC ska/reggae troop, on red wax. This 16 track 10th Anniversary edition includes many early favorites with guest appearances from ANGELO MOORE of FISHBNE and JORGE PEZZIMENTI of THE PIETASTERS & LOVING PAUPERS fame. Limited to 500 copies.