Love them or hate them, cover versions have been a part of ska since the very beginning.  The desire to turn the world’s favorite pop songs and jazz standards into ska hits has proven so ubiquitous that ska-covers have become something of a cliche.   And what kind of a ska show would we be if we didn’t wallow in the cliches every now and again?

May I present to you, 2 hours of all ska covers- remakes, remixes, redos and respectful reinterpretations- some cheesy, some  serious, all ska.  You’ve got 2 weeks to visit kdhx.org and listen to the archived stream.

Artist / Song / Disk
Dick Clark / What Is Ska? / Police Squad
Tarace Boulba / Man in the street / A La Demande Generale
Ska-J / The Flintstones / Men In The Street
The Blue Meanies / Happy Together / Ska Chartbusters
The Supervillains / Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) / Massive
Ska Parade / My Superhero – Take the Skinheads Bowling / The Ska Parade: Runnin’ Naked thru the Cornfield
Carlos Malcolm and his Afro-Jamaican Rhythms / Bonanza Ska / The Royal Ska
Ringo SKA / Getting Better / Betolzkahitoparat
Spicy Roots / Muppets Theme / Ska Trax – The Next Generation Part 2
Less Than Jake / Laverne and Shirley / Losers, Kings, and Things We Don’t Understand
Buck-O-Nine / Pass The Dutchie / Joint Ventures In Ska
The Drops / I’m In The Mood For Ska / Soda Fountain
Dancing Mood / Take Five / Groovin high
AKA Rudie / Oliver’s Army / Live Inna Windows
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra / Theme from Enter the Dragon / Ska Me Crazy: The Best Of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Reel Big Fish / Monkey Man [Toots and the Maytals] / Fame, Fortune, and Fornication
The Granville Williams Orchestra / The Third Man Theme / Trojan Ska Box Set
Charlie Brown / The Voodoo Glow Skulls / Misfits of Ska
Prince Buster / Rum & Coca-Cola / Ska Lip Soul
The Cosmics / Godfather Ska / Walt Rides Again
Rude Boy System / All Of Me / They Say
The Rudies / Guns Of Navarone / For A Few Dollars More: 28 Shots Of Western Inspired Reggae
The Scofflaws / The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly / Record of Conviction
Goldfinger / Is She Really Going Out With Him? / Darrin’s Coconut Ass: Live
Greenhouse / Wake Me Up Before You Gogo / Ska Chartbusters
Case of the Mondays / Careless Whisper / Look At How Awesome We Are!
Skandalous All Stars / Rock n Roll All Night / Age of Insects
Skankin’ Pickle / Violent love / Green Album
Ska Cubano / Big Bamboo / Ay Caramba!
DJ Shepdog / Skankin’ In The Way Of Control / Nice Up And JStar Present Cut Ups, Bruck Ups And Muck Ups Volume 1
Alkaline Trio / Burn (Tim Armstrong Remix) / Hell Yes
Nickodemus / Just Move Featuring Kwasi (The Spy from Cairo Remix) / Sun People Remixes

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My recent one-off podcast for Music Is Our Occupation just dropped days ago, and it’s got me in a live ska kind of mood.  So here’s the playlist from last night, chock fulla ska and reggae, and every track recorded live.  If you missed it, you can still listen online for the next two weeks.

The idea was to recreate the tracklist of The Slackers seminal record, Redlight, using only tracks from my extensive live bootleg collection.  The result is called, Redlight Redid.  Please enjoy it.

 

Below, I’ve included links where you can get your hands on many of the live sets that these tracks were selected from- be it from live albums, or fan-recorded tapes.

Matt Wixson – Ska’sThe Lmit Theme -  -

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The Slackers – You Must Be Good – Live in Toledo 2001 – Live Recording
[ From my new podcast for MusicalOccupation.com: JJ Loy presents Redlight Redid ]

The Slackers – Married Girl – Live in Montreuil 2004 – Live Recording

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

The King Django Quartet – Does He Love You – From an as of yet untitled, unreleased live album – which is sure to be on Stubborn Records

Deal’s Gone Bad – Movin On – Live at the Bottom Lounge 2008 – Live Recording

AKA Rudie – Oliver’s Army – Live Inna Windows – Ready Room MultiMedia – [Get to know AKA Rudie inna live fashion via Stubborn Record Shop]

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

Tim Armstron w/The Aggrolites feat. Lars Frederiksen – Time Bomb (Rancid) – Live at KROQ Weenie Roast 2007 – Live Recording – [This is one of the roughest sounding tracks of the episode, but if you love Rancid and/or The Aggrolites, this free download is a must]

Royal Roost – Unlabled – Live – Live Recording

The Void Union – Fatty Fatty Boom Boom (Westbound Train) – Live at KDHX – KDHX – [Remember?  eh?]

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

Dance Hall Crashers – Dance Hall Crashers – The Live Record – Fat Wreck Chords – [DHC at the top of their game, worth every penny]

Arthur Kay & The Originals – George Marshall – Live In Berlin – Step-1

The Drastics – Profit Song (Queen Majesty Riddim) – Live in STL 2008 – Live Recording

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

Bim Skala Bim – Wise Up – Live At The Paradise – BIB

Madness – Harder The Come – Madstock! – Live Recording – [Madness has the most devoted fans of any ska band I know of.  If you've never attended Madstock, here's your chance to hear what you're missing.]

Jonathan Archer and Justin Hinds – Medley – Let’s Rock Live – Trojan

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Hepcat – Nigel (live) – No Worries Single – Hellcat

The Pietasters – Night Owl – Strpped Live – Moon

Bad Manner – My Girl Lollipop – Greatest Hits Live – Dojo

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Dave Hillyard and The Rocksteady Seven – Baby – Way Out East – Brixton – [The DHR7 are one of those bands that will most likely never play a town like St. Louis, luckily they've recorded Way Out East to give us a listen]

Rude Boy System – Our Mission – Live Injection – Melodie

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

MU 330 – The Punisher/Downtown – Live – Live Recording

The Selecter – On My Radio – Live Injection – Blue Moon

The Toasters – Talk Is Cheap – Live In London – Megalith – [I can't find any of the many live downloads that Megalith used to offer, but fear not The Toasters Live In London is amazing enough]

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The Dead 60′s – You’re Not The Law – The Black Sessions – France Inter – [Get yourself a copy of this entire live set by the late Dead 60's]

Westbound Train – Check Your Time – Live at KDHX – KDHX – [What?  You didn't hear Westbound Train live from KDHX?  Try harder.]

The Scofflaws – Spider On My Bed – Live – Vol 1 – Moon Ska

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Skankin Pickle – Fights – Live – Asian Man

Green Room Rockers – Broke – Live at the Bottom Lounge 2008 – Live Recording

Playlist for Ska’s the Limit on December 06, 2009
Key:  Artist – Title – Album -   +=Request *=New
[Notes]

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Doing a ska show at 2AM makes me sleepy, but you know, I’m always wide awake by the time 4 o’clock rolls around.  What can I say?  I’m not just the DJ, I’m also a pretty big fan of the show.  Last night, I played some new stuff for Resolution 242 and Rebelation from Do The Dog Records.  We heard the birth of King Django’s chatter on the 80′s ska tune, Free South Africa from the very first US Ska Compilation, NY Beat Hit & Run.  I slipped a decidedly non-ska tune from the Void Union side project, The New Collisions, Parchutes on the Dance Floor.  Otherwise, pretty standard fare…  Check out the playlist below for some cool links, videos and downloads.  If you’d like to listen to this episode, click over to KDHX.org where Ska’s The Limit is archived.

Resolution 242 – Britain’s Nasty Politics – Resolution 242 – Do The Dog* – [Band Page]

Streetlight Manifesto – Would You Be Impressed – Somewhere In Between – RISC*

Choking Victim – Crack Rock Steady – No Gods, No Managers – HellCat

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The Mighty-Mighty Bosstones – Wallet – Mashin Up The Nation Vol 1 – SQUARE – [Bosstones doing Wallet Live in '91 Video]

Common Rider – Conscious Burning – Last Wave Rockers – Panic Button – [Whatever happened to Jesse from OPIV?  Common Rider, that's what.]

The Aggrolites – Black Lung – Dirty Reggae – Axe Records

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Bedouin Soundclash – Trinco Dog – Street Gospels – Side One Dummy Records – [HQ Video of Trinco Dog]

The Slackers – The Nurse – Live – NYC Boat Cruise 2009 – Whatevski Records* – [NYC Boat Cruise 2009]

The Selecter – On My Radio – The Best of Ska Live – Mci

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The New Collisions – Parachutes On The Dancefloor – Unreleased – NA* – [New Collisions MySpace]

Special AKA – What I Like Most About You Is – The 2 Tone Collection – Capitol

$400000 – Chercher Le Chameau – Let’s Skank! – Unknown

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Too True – Free South Africa – NY Beat – Hit and Run – Moon – [Listen To and Learn About the first US Ska Compilation]

Dr. Ring-Ding feat. King Django and Rocker T – Sound Unity – Diggin’ Up Dirt – Jump Up/Victory

Stubborn All-Stars – Tired Of Struggling – NYC Ska Mob and Friends – Stubborn

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

The Impalers – Holding On To You – Blood, Rum & Reggae – Axe Records

Susan Cadogan w/The Slackers – Since I Found You – The Slackers and Friends Upsettin’ Ernestos – MusicMachine

Royal Roost – Matt’s Tune – Royal Family Blues – Megalith Records

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

AKA Rudie – Is It Okay? – Live Inna Windows – Ready Room Records

The Slackers – Have The Time – Live – NYC Boat Cruise 2009 – Whatevski Records* – [The Slackers do Redlight, on a boat mother fucker!]

See Spot – Cancion De Amor – Who Got It? – Jump Up – [Live Video of See Spot]

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

Prince Buster – Red Dress – High Blood Pressure / Red Dress – White Label

Los Hooligans – Lady In Red – Keep The Pressure On – Kingpin

The Gaylads – Lady With The Red Dress – Ska Va Voom – White Label

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

The Dualers – Money – Melting Pot – Galley – [Great live performance of this very tune]

Westbound Train – Sorry Mama – Transitions – HellCat

——– – ——– – ——– – ——–

Rebelation – You Will Know – The Berlin Session – Do The Dog*

Samia Farah – Le Temps S’immobilise – Samia Farah – Sony

Dub Is A Weapon – Armed & Dangerous – Armed & Dangerous – Jump Up

Key:  Artist – Title – Album -   +=Request *=New
[Notes]

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