K SPECIAL - VA - The Best Original Ska from Jamaica and 2 Tone: inspired by the BBC television drama This Town - 200 Top Skanking Hits (Super Deluxe Edition) [2024] (8xCDs)

K's Ska SPECIAL

VA - The Best Original Ska from Jamaica and 2 Tone: inspired by the BBC television drama This Town - 200 Top Skanking Hits (Super Deluxe Edition) [2024] (8xCDs) 

In 1981, Britain was at a crisis point. The nation had entered the second year of a recession which saw over 2.5 million people standing in line for the dole, and the threat of miners’ walkouts and the IRA hunger strikes put maximum pressure on the newly instated Thatcher administration. Tensions were running high, with Black and Asian communities enduring an increase in racist attacks and police harassment as the force exercised hefty misuse of stop-and-search powers. As a result, following April’s Brixton Uprising, that summer saw riots rage across the Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

This is the bleak landscape in which Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has set This Town, his latest love letter to the Midlands. While Peaky Blinders touched on similar themes of community, working-class lives and social turbulence, This Town centres on the youth experience in an era much closer to Knight’s heart. It features a group of characters he feels he could have grown up with, who demonstrate tenacity in the face of violence and uncertainty.

https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/tv/features/too-much-too-young-inside-the-making-of-steven-knights-this-town-38193/

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is back with a new 2024 six-part BBC drama titled This Town, which throws viewers straight into the Midlands' ska and 2 Tone music scene of the 1980s.

Inspired by the BBC television drama This Town, Classic Pop Magazine presents the essential guide to the best of 2 Tone Records... Join us in celebrating ska by telling us your favourite 2 Tone track.

https://www.classicpopmag.com/2024/04/essential-guide-the-best-of-2-tone/

This Town - BBC trailer:

https://youtu.be/aR7dCgmzal4?si=b8IYSSFrGoLrNEs3

This Town review - there is no point in resisting this bold, brilliant TV show:

https://amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/31/this-town-review-there-is-no-point-in-resisting-this-bold-brilliant-tv-show

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.

This is Ska - Full BBC Documentary (1964)

https://youtu.be/usbF108onhU?si=5I4Mh0THwnMXhQLZ

The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in the Coventry area of UK, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation, and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials. In many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom.

The Specials recorded "A Message to You Rudy" in 1979. The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in England. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship. Riots in English cities were a feature during the summer of 1981 that the Specials song "Ghost Town" became a smash hit.

"Ghost Town" is a song by the British 2 tone band the Specials, released on 12 June 1981. The song spent three weeks at number one and 11 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

Evoking themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for being a hit at the same time as riots were occurring in British cities. Internal tensions within the band were also coming to a head when the single was being recorded, resulting in the song being the last single recorded by the original seven members of the group before splitting up. However, the song was hailed by the contemporary UK music press as a major piece of popular social commentary, and all three of the major UK music magazines of the time awarded "Ghost Town" the accolade of "Single of the Year" for 1981. It was the 12th-best-selling single in the UK in 1981.

The tour for the group's More Specials album in late 1980 had been a fraught experience: already tired from a long touring schedule and with several band members at odds with keyboardist and band leader Jerry Dammers over his decision to incorporate "muzak" keyboard sounds on the album, several of the gigs descended into audience violence. As they travelled, the band witnessed sights that reflected the depressed mood of a country gripped by recession. In 2002, Dammers told The Guardian: "You travelled from town to town and what was happening was terrible. In Liverpool, all the shops were shuttered up, everything was closing down ... We could actually see it by touring around. You could see that frustration and anger in the audience. In Glasgow, there were these little old ladies on the streets selling all their household goods, their cups and saucers. It was unbelievable. It was clear that something was very, very wrong."

In an interview in 2011, Dammers explained how witnessing this event inspired his composition:

The overall sense I wanted to convey was impending doom. There were weird, diminished chords: certain members of the band resented the song and wanted the simple chords they were used to playing on the first album. It's hard to explain how powerful it sounded. We had almost been written off and then "Ghost Town" came out of the blue.

The song's sparse lyric alludes to urban decay, unemployment and violence in inner cities. Jo-Ann Greene of Allmusic notes the lyric "only brush[es] on the causes for this apocalyptic vision - the closed down clubs, the numerous fights on the dancefloor, the spiraling unemployment, the anger building to explosive levels. But so embedded were these in the British psyche, that Dammers needed only a minimum of words to paint his picture." The club referred to in the song was the Locarno (run by the Mecca Leisure Group and later renamed Tiffany's), a regular haunt of Neville Staple and Lynval Golding, and which is also named as the club in "Friday Night, Saturday Morning", one of the songs on the B-side. The building that housed the club is now Coventry Central Library.

Contemporaneous reviews identified the song's impact as an "instant musical editorial" on recent events (the 1981 England riots). By the end of the year the song had won over the critics to be named "Single of the Year" in Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, the UK's top three weekly music magazines at the time. AllMusic's retrospective review of the original single argued that the song was the band's "crowning achievement".

The summer of 1981 saw riots in over 35 locations around the UK. In response to the linking of the song to these events, singer Terry Hall said, "When we recorded 'Ghost Town', we were talking about [1980]'s riots in Bristol and Brixton. The fact that it became popular when it did was just a weird coincidence."

In the 1990s the song was featured in an episode of the sitcom Father Ted.

The song was featured in the 2000 Guy Ritchie film Snatch, the 2004 Edgar Wright film Shaun of the Dead, and the 2022 Netflix animated film Wendell & Wild.

The song experienced a thematic resurgence on music streaming platforms in 2020, after lockdown orders were placed following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2021, a commemorative plaque was affixed to the house where the former Woodbine Street recording studio was located. The plaque mentions "Ghost Town" was recorded there.

In 2022, it was included in the list "The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs" at number 19, for "Lacing ska and reggae with the amphetamine edge of new wave". Mark Beaumont praised the song and its "brooding evocation of Thatcher’s wasteland Britain".

Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America and Australia), the Specials, and the Selecter. Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness was one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream. Madness recorded "One Step Beyond". The music of this era resonated with white working-class youth and West Indian immigrants who experienced the struggles addressed in the lyrics.

This fully packed 200 track, 8CD set contains a number of rare and extremely hard to find tracks, with many featured in their original 7" mono 45 single form. Only the original studio mixes are included. No later remixes, 'stereo enhanced' or live bootleg versions here!

Many tracks featured in the This Town BBC drama series are included in this compilation:

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/this-town-bbc-soundtrack-songs/

Compiled as always using the very latest and highest quality digital remasters, with a considerable number of tracks sourced from the original master tapes for superior sound quality and enjoyment.

As a very SPECIAL BONUS I have included the complete six-part 2024 BBC drama series This Town as 1080p mkv video files to tie in with this compilation.

K

==========================================================

ALL 

or

ALL 

==========================================================

VIDEOS

This Town - BBC TV Series:

Episode 1     https://www.imagenetz.de/7fc4B

Episode 2     https://www.imagenetz.de/3wjw8

Episode 3     https://www.imagenetz.de/gcQKJ

Episode 5     https://www.imagenetz.de/9ybcL

Episode 4+6 https://www.imagenetz.de/6XFgx

===========================================================

Track lists

CD01

01 Madness - One Step Beyond (One Step Beyond Album Version) 2:18

02 Prince Buster & the All Stars - Al Capone 2:56

03 Madness - Baggy Trousers 2:46

04 The Skatalites - Ball of Fire 3:09

05 Laurel Aitken and the Blue Beats - Bar Tender 2:36

06 Madness - Bed and Breakfast Man 2:33

07 Madness - Believe Me 2:29

08 Bob Marley and the Wailers - Bend Down Low (Original 1966 Wail 'N Soul 'M 7" Single Version) 2:32

09 The Beat - Best Friend 3:02

10 The Beat - Big Shot 2:34

11 Prince Buster - Blackhead Chinaman 2:50

12 The Specials - Blank Expression 2:44

13 Derrick Morgan - Blazing Fire 2:55

14 Rhoda with The Special A.K.A. - The Boiler 5:47

15 Laurel Aitken - Boogie in My Bones 2:49

16 The Maytals - Broadway Jungle 2:49

17 Bad Manners - Can Can 2:49

18 The Beat - Can't Get Used to Losing You 3:01

19 Madness - Cardiac Arrest 2:52

20 Justin Hinds & the Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come 2:52

21 The Selecter - Celebrate the Bullet (Original 1981 7" Single Version) 3:10

22 Max Romeo w; The Upsetters - Chase the Devil (Original 1976 Island Records 7" Single Version) 3:28

23 The Clash - Clampdown 3:49

24 The Beat - Click Click 1:28

25 Lord Tanamo - Come Down 2:17

26 The Specials - Concrete Jungle 3:20

27 Don Drummond - Corner Stone, Burning Torch 2:49

CD02

28 Alton Ellis and the Flames - Dance Crasher 2:38

29 Delroy Wilson - Dancing Mood 2:50

30 The Selecter - Deep Water 4:09

31 The Specials feat. Rico with the Ice Rink String Sounds - Do Nothing (Original 1980 7" Single Version) 3:41

32 The Specials - Doesn't Make It Alright 3:26

33 UB40 - Don't Let It Pass You By (Original 1981 12" Extended Version) 7:45

34 UB40 - Don't Slow Down (Original 1981 12" Extended Version) 7:16

35 Phyllis Dillon - Don't Stay Away 2:33

36 The Beat - Doors of Your Heart 3:47

37 Dave and Ansel Collins - Double Barrel 2:47

38 Prince Buster - Down Beat Burial 2:45

39 UB40 - Dream a Lie (Original 1980 12" Extended Version) 7:53

40 Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Dumplins 2:43

41 UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming (Original 1980 12" Extended Version) 8:20

42 The Skatalites - Eastern Standard Time 3:14

43 The Bodysnatchers - Easy Life 3:14

44 Clue J's Blues Blasters with vocal by Theophilus Beckford feat. Rico Rodriguez - Easy Snappin' 2:49

45 Madness - Embarrassment 3:11

46 Prince Buster - Enjoy Yourself 3:11

CD03

47 Derrick & Patsy - Feel So Fine (a.k.a. Feel So Good) 2:42

48 The Maytals - 54-46 That's My Number (Original 1968 Beverley's Records 7" Single Version) 2:53

49 Laurel Aitken - Fire in Mi Wire 2:43

50 UB40 - Food for Thought 4:12

51 Derrick Morgan - Forward March 2:50

52 The Skatalites - Freedom Sounds 3:51

53 The Specials - Friday Night, Saturday Morning (B-side to 'Ghost Town') 3:35

54 Desmond Dekker & the Aces - Fu Man Chu (Original 1968 Beverley's Records 7" Mono Single Version) 3:14

55 The Special A.K.A. - Gangsters 2:46

56 Prince Buster - Ghost Dance 2:15

57 Alton Ellis and the Flames - Girl I've Got a Date 2:29

58 Madness - Grey Day 3:39

59 The Skatalites - Guns of Navarone 2:29

60 The Beat - Hands Off...She's Mine 2:59

61 The Specials - Hey, Little Rich Girl 3:37

62 The Granville Williams Orchestra - Honky Tonk Ska 2:52

63 Madness - House of Fun 2:46

64 Derrick & Patsy - Housewife's Choice 2:43

65 Lord Tanamo - I Am Holding On 2:16

66 The Beat - I Confess 4:30

67 Laurel Aitken - I Shall Remove 3:05

68 UB40 - I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Original 1980 12" Extended Version) 7:31

69 The Wailers - (I'm Gonna) Put It On 3:07

70 Lord Tanamo - I'm in the Mood for Ska (a.k.a. I'm in the Mood for Love) 2:31

CD04

71 Madness - In the Middle of the Night 3:02

72 Baba Brooks - Independence Ska 2:35

73 Prince Buster - Independence Song 2:50

74 The Specials - International Jet Set (Original 1980 7" Single Edit) 4:13

75 Desmond Dekker & the Aces - Israelites 2:35

76 Desmond Dekker & the Aces - It Mek 2:18

77 Madness - It Must Be Love 3:20

78 The Pioneers - Jackpot 3:07

79 Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Jamaica Ska 2:29

80 Roland Alphonso feat. the Skatalites & the Soul Brothers - James Bond 2:59

81 The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad 3:10

82 Robert Marley and Beverley's All-Stars - Judge Not 2:26

83 Laurel Aitken with Ken Richards and his Harmonisers - Judgement Day 2:53

84 Bad Manners - Just a Feeling 3:13

85 UB40 - King 4:37

86 Jimmy Cliff - King of Kings (Original 1963 7" Mono Single Version) 3:25

87 Lord Creator - Kingston Town 3:10

88 Laurel Aitken - Landlords and Tenants 2:45

89 The Pioneers - Let Your Yeah Be Yeah 3:08

90 The Bodysnatchers - Let's Do Rock Steady 2:56

91 Bad Manners - Lip Up Fatty 2:45

92 The Harry J All Stars - Liquidator (Original 1969 7" Single Version) 3:07

93 The Pioneers - Long Shot Kick de Bucket 2:48

94 Laurel Aitken - Looking for My Baby 2:44

95 Bad Manners - Lorraine 3:07

96 The Wailers - Love & Affection 2:39

CD05

97 Nicky Thomas - Love of the Common People 2:17

98 Laurel Aitken - Low Down Dirty Girl 2:42

99 Prince Buster & the All Stars - Madness 2:42

100 The Specials - Man at C&A 3:38

101 Don Drummond - Man in the Street 3:28

102 Jimmy Cliff - Many Rivers to Cross 2:43

103 Laurel Aitken and the Blue Beats - Mary Lee 2:19

104 The Specials feat. Rico - A Message to You, Rudy 2:52

105 Owen Gray feat. Rico Rodriguez - Midnight Track 2:29

106 The Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom 3:09

107 Jimmy Cliff - Miss Jamaica 2:25

108 The Selecter - Missing Words (Original 1980 7" Single Version) 3:22

109 The Maytals - Monkey Man 3:44

110 Freddie Notes and the Rudies - Montego Bay 2:22

111 Derrick Morgan - Moon Hop 3:10

112 Laurel Aitken with Duke Reid & His Group - More Whisky (a.k.a. More Whiskey) 3:07

113 Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop 2:02

114 Madness - My Girl 2:45

115 UB40 - My Way of Thinking (Original 1980 12" Extended Version) 6:50

116 Madness - Night Boat to Cairo 3:31

117 Bibby and the Astronauts - No More I Will Wonder 2:45

118 Derrick Morgan - No Raise, No Praise 2:48

119 The Beat - Noise in This World 2:17

120 The Folkes Brothers - Oh Carolina (Original 1960 7" Mono Single Version) 2:38

121 Eric "Monty" Morris with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Oil in My Lamp 2:30

122 Jackie Opel with The Skatalites - Old Rockin' Chair 3:09

CD06

123 The Selecter - On My Radio 3:07

124 Jimmy Cliff - One Eyed Jacks (Original 1963 Beverley's Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:42

125 UB40 - One in Ten 4:31

126 The Wailers - One Love (Original 1965 Studio One 7" Single Version) 3:21

127 Madness - Our House 3:23

128 Justin Hinds & the Dominoes - Over the River 2:22

129 Eric "Monty" Morris - Penny Reel 2:30

130 Roland Alphonso & the Soul Brothers - Phoenix City 2:58

131 Rita Marley - Pied Piper 2:15

132 Bibby and the Astronauts - Please Beverley 2:35

133 The Maytals - Pressure Drop (Original 1969 Beverley's Records 7" Single Version) 3:01

134 Madness - The Prince (Original 1979 2 Tone Records 7" Single Version) 2:28

135 Laurel Aitken - Pussy Price 3:01

136 The Beat - Ranking Full Stop 2:48

137 Laurel Aitken and the Blue Beats - Railroad Track 2:51

138 The Specials - Rat Race 3:10

139 Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine 2:56

140 The Upsetters - Return of Django 2:32

141 Madness - The Return of the Los Palmas 7 (Original 1981 7" Single Version) 2:33

142 John Holt - Riding for a Fall 3:53

143 The Melodians - Rivers of Babylon (Original 1970 7" Single Version) 3:24

144 Stranger Cole - Rough & Tough 2:59

145 Prince Buster - Rough Rider 3:12

146 The Specials - Rude Boys Outa Jail 2:40

147 The Bodysnatchers - Ruder Than You 2:48

148 Laurel Aitken and the Unitone - Rudi Got Married 3:21

CD07

149 The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail 3:28

150 Dandy Livingstone feat. Rico Rodriguez - Rudy, a Message to You 2:33

151 Eric "Monty" Morris with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Sammy Dead 2:07

152 The Beat - Save It for Later 3:34

153 Rico - Sea Cruise 3:00

154 The Selecter - The Selecter 2:57

155 Peter Tosh feat. the Wailers and the Skatalites - Shame and Scandal (Original 1965 Studio One 7" Mono Single Version) 3:03

156 Desmond Dekker & the Aces - 007 (Shanty Town) 2:32

157 Roland Alphonso & the Skatalites - A Shot in the Dark 2:39

158 Madness - Shut Up 4:06

159 The Wailers - Simmer Down 2:50

160 The Beat - Sole Salvation 3:05

161 The Gaylettes - Son of a Preacher Man 2:36

162 Bad Manners - Special Brew 3:18

163 The Beat - Stand Down Margaret (Dub) 3:33

164 The Specials - Stereotype (Original 1980 7" Single Version) 3:49

165 Madness - The Sun and the Rain 3:28

166 Bob Marley and the Wailers - Sun Is Shining (Original 1971 Tuff Gong 7" Single Version) 2:15

167 The Melodians - Sweet Sensation 3:51

168 The Four Aces - (Swing Low) Sweet Chariot 2:59

169 The Beat - Tears of a Clown 2:42

170 Rico - That Man Is Forward 3:48

171 Prince Buster & the All Stars - They Got to Go 2:26

172 Bob Marley and the Wailers - Three Little Birds 2:59

173 The Selecter - Three Minute Hero 3:02

174 The Paragons feat. John Holt - The Tide Is High (Original 1967 Treasure Isle 7" Single Version) 2:43

CD08

175 The Untouchables - Tighten Up 2:39

176 The Piranhas - Tom Hark 2:46

177 Madness - Tomorrow's (Just Another Day) 3:11

178 Owen Gray - Too Experienced 3:29

179 The Selecter - Too Much Pressure (B-side to 'On My Radio') 2:48

180 The Special A.K.A. feat. Rico - Too Much Too Young (Live at the Lyceum, London) (Original 1980 7" Single Version) 2:04

181 The Beat - Too Nice to Talk To 3:07

182 Derrick Morgan - Tougher Than Tough (Rudie in Court) 2:22

183 Ken Boothe and the Wailers - The Train Is Coming (Original 1966 Supreme 7" Mono Single Version) 3:20

184 The Ethiopians - Train to Skaville 2:52

185 The Beat - Twist & Crawl 2:34

186 The Beat - Two Swords 2:17

187 Bad Manners - Walking in the Sunshine 3:28

188 Prince Buster - Wash Wash (a.k.a. That Lucky Old Sun) 3:21

189 The Selecter - Washed Up and Left for Dead 4:04

190 The Paragons w; Tommy McCook & the Supersonics - Wear You to the Ball (Original 1967 Treasure Isle 7" Single Version) 2:37

191 Max Romeo - Wet Dream 2:46

192 Stranger & Patsy - When I Call Your Name 3:15

193 Prince Buster & the All Stars - Whine and Grine 2:30

194 The Selecter - The Whisper 3:01

195 The Clash - Wrong 'Em Boyo 3:10

196 Desmond Dekker - You Can Get It If You Really Want 2:38

197 Bob & Marcia - Young, Gifted and Black 3:08

198 The Piranhas feat. Boring Bob Grover (The Man with the Golden Trumpet) - Zambezi 2:46

199 Andy & Joey - You're Wondering Now 2:09

200 The Specials feat. Rico - Ghost Town (Original 1981 12" Extended Single Version) 6:03

=============================================================

=============================================================