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Recession tunes — 7 Comments

  1. You are lucky enough to still have something to play vinyl on Ian? I am lucky enough to have a tape player in my Land Rover so I can play my 30 year old Best of Hendrix as I drive along……I wouldn’t have admitted it 30 years ago but I thought that some of the Tamla stuff was good too…….Must be something to do with being from the ‘sticks’ then Ian!!!!!!!

  2. Whoa there . . Blondie was very punky in its day! I think musical tastes here were more American than British. Lots of conceptual stuff like Yes. I do share your love of Madness – they’re touring here soon! Amazing longevity. I’d come with you for sure! Wanna buy me a ticket? A plane ticket that is?

  3. I don’t know how to react to this. Madness were, and are, great. What I find fascinating is that the entertainment industry scooped up the entire skinhead/ska/two tone thing and made it acceptable/marketable to the masses. Don’t forget that Prince Buster wrote ‘One Step Beyond’. The dancehalls of Jamaica were not exactly comparable to dance locations in UK or Ireland, to say the least. Indeed go back to Slade. Pretentious? I think not. Great? Yes. But the skinheads were morphed into Auntie’s Favourite. Go back again to the Kinks. Revered now.
    Yes were definitely pretentious. Just like Deep Purple. Genesis. King Crimson.
    Should you go to the concert? I do not think visiting the swimming hole where you played as a child is a good thing. Those times are best visited in the mind. But do play them on Vinyl – or download them at least and give Madness a few cents royalty.

  4. Ska/Two Tone was a strange phenomenon – it gathered up people from the most unlikely backgrounds.

    Last time I saw Slade was at Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington in 1981 – they were about fourth on the bill – Blue Oyster Cult, Whitesnake and AC/DC followed.

    Going to see Madness is about English roots and identity – it’s like a Dubliner going to an Irish bar in New York!

  5. @ Ian – like your last comment about going to see Madness when English = Irish bar when Irish. However – going to Madness far better and I dare say authentic than the Irish bar abroad schtick.
    Was always very partial to ska myself, only on the radio first time round, but seen and heard a few British two-toners on their second time around – The Selector in Belfast, Desmond Dekker in Kent, and various offshoots/reincarnations of the Specials and the Beat – always a good night.
    I seem to remember that ska was the only thing self-conscious school boys in Belfast would deign to dance to – sufficiently jerky, aggressive, manly I think.

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