Ska 121 Items

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.

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. (

The Slickers were an exciting Jamaican Rocksteady and Reggae group in the late 1960s and 1970s. Although their legendary song JOHNNY TOO BAD was included in the Jimmy Cliff movie THE HARDER THEY COME, their story is mostly unknown and full of hearsays and contradictions.
Here is our "version" of the story:
Firstly, it is often assumed that The Slickers were just an alias for The Pioneers but it seems now clear that they were in fact two distinct formations.
In fact, the group was formed by Derrick Crooks (of The Pioneers) and Winston Bailey (not to misunderstand with Winston "Shadow" Bailey a Calypso singer) around 1965. It seems that Derrick was the only constant member and the line-up was constantly changing and overlapping with both The Reggae Boys and The Pioneers.
Other known members were Derrick's brother Sydney Crooks, Roy Beckford (not to misunderstand with U-Roy), George Dekker and Abraham Green (later known as Ras Abraham) who joined at the time "Johnny Too Bad" was recorded in 1970. Abraham is said to have been the lead vocal on "Johnny Too Bad". Besides being featured on the soundtrack for the 1972 Jimmy Cliff film, the song was covered by the British reggae group UB40 and countless more.
The Slickers have recorded about 40 singles during the 60's and the '70s. It seems they disbanded after recording their second album BREAKTHROUGH in 1979...
Although nothing is written in stone about The Slickers, one sure fact is that they were a brilliant Rocksteady and Reggay band… Many of their singles were outstanding such as NANA, YOU CAN'T WIN, MAN BEWARE, JOHNNY TOO BAD and of course the two hot shots on this single: RUN FATTIE and HOOLA BULLA!

Legendary 80's Los Angeles 80's Ska/mod band release their first new single in 35+ years - a collectible picture disc 45 designed by Chema Skandal. A wonderful summery ska take on the Blue Swede / B.J. Thomas oldies hit with a dubbed out version on the flip. Limited edition 750 copies.

Italian Jamaican boogie, calypso & ska trio's latest album now on tape for Cassette Week 2020. Includes wonderful versions of "got MY Mojo Working", "buona Sera", "l-o-v-e", "that's Amore", "down IN Mexico", and the title track. Popular in Europe and have several Japanese releases.

Italian Jamaican rhythm & blues trio release first holiday 45 on colored vinyl. Lead by the charismatic MR T BONE, THE UPPERTONES have taken the world by storm with their distinct pre-ska vibe. LOUIS PRIMIA'S classic never sounded better, flip "RUDOLF THE RED NOSED REINDEER" in mento style!

The Versatiles were an exciting Jamaican reggae group, formed in 1967 by Junior Byles, also a firefighter at that time, Ben 'Louis' Davis and Dudley Earl.
Lee "Scratch" Perry, then working as chief engineer at Joe Gibbs' studio, was scouting for talent for Gibbs' new Amalgamated label, and spotted the group while they were auditioning for the 1967 Festival Song Contest with "The Time Has Come".
Perry signed the group to the label, but left Gibbs soon after. Three superb titles ("Just Can't Win," "The Time Has Come" and "Trust The Book" were recorded under the supervision of Lee Perry.
When Scratch left, Gibbs employed another up-and-coming engineer/producer by the name of Winston Holness, aka Niney the Observer, to take control of his sessions. Niney produced a few Versatiles songs for Gibbs' Amalgamated label (titles such as "Push It In" and "Lu Lu Belle") which were riddled with sexually suggestive lyrics, tame though they are by today's standard.
The Versatiles stayed with Gibbs for two years, before moving to work with Perry, and then to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label. They also recorded for other producers such as Laurel Aitken.
The group split up in 1970, when Byles left the group for a successful solo career. Byles still working as a firefighter, continued to record for Perry up to the mid ‘70s…
During their short career, The Versatiles recorded about 30 tracks for a variety of Jamaican & British record labels. Most of these songs are top uptempo early Reggae tracks with Rocskteady vocals; to spice things up, quite a few are on the risqué side such as the hit PUSH IT IN. Never a dull moment with the Versatiles.

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.

This is the first volume of the HOT Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. The initial plan is for at least 3 albums of 14 titles. HOT Sauce Volume 1 features Rocksteady, Boss Reggae, early Dub & early Reggae outstanding original Jamaican tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and some hits. The record labels showcased on the first volume are Attack, Amalgamated, Black Swan, Blue Cat, Downtown, Doctor Bird, Duke, Grape, High Note, Randy’s and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity. These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there are no “fillers” whatsoever. Particular attention has been paid to the way the songs are sequenced (or “mixed”) so that the album builds up nicely and gradually, generally starting with the Rocksteady songs on the A side and the 70s songs on the B side. HOT Sauce is a musical journey across the early Reggae UK labels and across different Jamaican musical genres & talents and the way they interact together. Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilation have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl…

Here is the much anticipated volume 3 of the HOT Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. HOT Sauce Volume 3 features outstanding original Rocksteady, 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 third volume are Amalgamated, Duke, Gayfeet, Grape, Harry J, Rio, Randy’s, Treasure Isle, Upsetter and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity. These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there is no “filler” whatsoever. Particular attention has been paid to the way the songs are sequenced (or “mixed”) so that the album builds up nicely and gradually, generally starting with the Rocksteady songs on the A side and the 70s songs on the B side. HOT Sauce is a musical journey across early Jamaican Reggae - highlighting its diverse musical genres and outstanding artists – as it was once published by the U.K. record labels during this golden decade… Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilations have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl.

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

A blistering collection of ska tunes from Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd's legendary Studio One Records, Jamaica's foundation label of reggae music. Featuring classic cuts from the originators of Ska - The Skatalites, The Wailers, Lee Perry - alongside a heavy dose of superb rarities from the might vaults of 13 Brentford Road - pure Ska Fever !

This album here is a lightning roller coaster musical journey through the music of Studio One, the most important record company in the history of Jamaican reggae music. Ska and Rock Steady feature from the greatest names in reggae: The Skatalites, The Maytals, Marcia Griffiths and The Heptones alongside vocal and roots styles from Horace Andy, Willie Williams and Wailing Souls; DJ and dancehall styles from Michigan and Smiley, Prince Jazzbo and Lone Ranger; plus some wicked instrumental and dub. It's all here! 100% essential foundation style.

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”.

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.