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Madness March 2024 - The Two Tone-ament Round 2 (w/ Esteban Flores)
201 Plays8 months ago
The Two Tone-ament continues as the CPSC progresses the second round of the bracket to determine the greatest 2 Tone Single of all time! To help, they bring along fan favourite guest Esteban Flores of Matamoska, Catbite and Out of Control Army! Esteban catches the crew up on what he's been working on, new fatherhood and upcoming festivals before diving into the next 8 matchups, eliminating half the songs along the way.
CP/SC will be performing LIVE at SPI Fest 2 in Connecticut May 17-18! Tix at www.spifest.org
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Cutman
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
Bracket: www.challonge.com/madnessmarch2024
NEW MERCH: www.checkeredpast.ca/merch
Patreon: www.patreon.com/checkeredpast
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Transcript
Introduction and Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
Stop your fucking around. Better listen to this bracket. Time to straighten those AirPods listening to podcasts in your car. Checkerhead, a message to you, Checkerhead. It's Madness March 2024. The two-tonement. We're wayo. What the fuck you doing living life these days?
00:00:56
Speaker
Ooh, what a fade.
00:00:57
Speaker
What a favorite. What up, Checkerheads. Welcome to Checker Pass the Skycast with Celine and Rob.
Hosts and Show Format
00:01:03
Speaker
The show is not the shoe, the Arabic shoe, where I tear the whole thing down with Webster and Sergeant Baker's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Run Me Down with Webster. Explore the history and impact of a different band each episode and hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm Robbie Radiation, and this is my sister and co-host, Celine Volgolding. What was that?
00:01:27
Speaker
Those were Higgson songs. And then I also put Down With Webster in both of them. But what's Down With Webster? They're a Canadian, like, rap punk thing. Okay, you're acting like everybody knows what that is. If I don't know what that is? They're like Canada's 303. Name a song. What's the song? What was the song, Joey? What's the song? Oh, here is Joey Dammers. I'm here too, yeah. Anyway, Down With Webster. That's what they were.
00:01:54
Speaker
Uh, to hold it down. Oh, okay. We're doing a thing. Yeah. Okay. You ready? It's time to pick it up where we left off and we are as always fueled by sea change. Ah, should we pick it up where we left off? You have to play the song too, I guess. Yep. I think we should.
00:02:17
Speaker
So here's the story and a content warning. I'm about to talk about my past deference. Oh, right. I forgot about that. I was like, what's your story? Rob has not forgotten about it. I have not forgotten about it. I forgot. Yeah, I know you did. Yeah. Yeah. It's a little hard for you to forget about it.
Vasectomy Anecdotes
00:02:34
Speaker
So Tuesday, I got my vasectomy. So I'm joining Joey and past guests, common sense, kid, and the sex to me. Yeah. This is this as, as Johnny Sokka once said, this is your vasectomy. That's a Scott thing, I guess. Uh, so here's the story. Let's talk about it. So it started and cut his vas deferem.
00:02:56
Speaker
Yeah. So November, I go into, Joey, you describe our, cause we had the same vasectomy doctor. You texted me and you said he describes the process a certain way. Do you remember what you told me? No, I don't. But I did say that he runs the place like a muffler. That's what it is. Runs the place like a muffler show up. Yes.
00:03:20
Speaker
So he's just going down there getting all crazy. He's this South African guy and he only does the vasectomies and circumcisions. It's the only two things he does. That's it. He just loves dicks. Just loves dicks. Dick areas. Okay. And he, when I went to go see... Everyone needs a passion. He has days for circumcisions, days for vasectomies, and then days for like consultations. Mondays he's feeling a little circumcision-y. Yep. And then... Tuesdays he feels... Thursdays I feel like we're his vasectomy days.
00:03:49
Speaker
I was Tuesday for me. Tuesday as well. When I went in for my consultation, he had, I think like a dozen dudes in there. There was a lot. Was it making eye contact or no eye contact? No, absolutely zero eye contact. He was running like...
00:04:05
Speaker
like just like every five to ten minutes they're just like just going in one out after another he finally pulls me in and he's like i'm so far behind would you mind if i brought somebody else in to do the consultation with you and i was like i guess he brings in another guy pause for a second
00:04:24
Speaker
When I did my consultation, there was only one other dude there and he was like, well, there's only this one other guy here. You mind if we just do it at the same time? And I did my consultation with the guy too. So he goes through this whole thing about like, um,
00:04:42
Speaker
Like make sure you know what you're doing. This is how you freeze sperm. It's really expensive. It's really expensive. Yeah. It was pretty ridiculous. And then of course he kicked the other guy out in order to feel around down there. Um, he uses, he's the most gonzo doctor I've ever met in my life.
00:05:01
Speaker
He uses the term nuts and nutsack exclusively. I didn't remember that, but okay. I don't remember him saying testicle or scrotum a single time, just nut and nutsack. Okay, well that's his chosen words. I'm sure he says them like a million times a day. It's funny. It has nuts. Yeah, it's funny. He seemed to enjoy it. I went in Tuesday and I was supposed to get this whole thing
00:05:26
Speaker
Um, and you, you, you pay, you could pay an extra like 300 bucks, which I dropped to get like a whole kit of stuff. Premium vasectomy. The premium vasectomy with like a pumped up, way better, uh, anesthesia and all that stuff. I got it too. And worth it. Totally worth it. Um, and then, you know, he gets in there and it's all, it's all business, but it's all like,
00:05:50
Speaker
You know, he has soccer on the TV and he's talking about soccer the whole time. And, um, you know, he's like, do you have any questions? And I'm like, I, what questions would I ask? He's like, well, most guys ask if it hurts. I was like, okay. He's like, Hey, this is going to feel like someone's flicking you with a rubber band. And then he does his like anesthesia. And I was like, that is a very gentle way of explaining what this is
Live Shows and Band Involvement
00:06:14
Speaker
because I've never been flicked in the rough in the balls with a rubber band before.
00:06:20
Speaker
Not yet. Not yet. And now I know what it's like. And now I'm going to sign up for more. And then he proceeded to have one of the world's most uncomfortable procedures of my life, which lasted about 15 minutes. Happy is done. Um, he then told me after that, he's like, okay, so that's deference. Some are like penne, some are like spaghetti. Ew. Yours are like spaghetti.
00:06:44
Speaker
i don't want to know i don't want to know this information about my brother and then he was like do you want to see and i was like no what does that mean oh he like added penny penny also penny he wanted to show it to me i don't really understand does the penny versus those are very different noodles first of all like does he does he mean penny i think he meant girth
00:07:09
Speaker
size. I guess but those are very different girls. So you just have a teeny tiny teensy weensy. Sega teeny vats. And because of that he had a really difficult time with one side of my body and so I would say the recovery process has been a little bit longer than most. I get a lot of people being like oh it was so I was in and out in like two days I was back at work and everything was
00:07:31
Speaker
Joey was kind of down bad for a while. Joey was down bad for a while. I heard about it. I paid attention six weeks. You were walking weird complaining. Yeah. I think my issue was when I was in there, he had a guy training.
00:07:47
Speaker
Uh, and he was like, Hey, do you mind if this guy does the procedure? And I was like, sure, I guess. And that guy like totally yanked all my masses. I think, I think he was not as careful and gentle as you probably were. You were in pain for a long time. Yeah. You were, you were shuffling and yeah, I'm going to be shuffling for a little while. So it was a solid month of like, Oh, and ah.
00:08:11
Speaker
I'm getting up and sitting down, not my favorite. As I told Joey, my choice of underwear really determines how good a day I'm having. Joey wore those support underwear for a long time. Yeah, for a while. So that was the other thing. Did you get a little support underwear? They're supposed to give you a jock strap to support you when you get there.
00:08:32
Speaker
they ran out. So I had to go send Arianne on a jockstrap trip. That's fun. And so she came back with something that was like for hockey. So it was like serious business. But I didn't have time to put it on. You should have got one of those like sexy ones.
00:08:49
Speaker
So the second option she had was there's a Rexall in the basement and she was like, do you want one of those, like, ones for hernias? Like, I have, like, suspenders over them? And I was like, no. I was like, I need to have some dignity.
00:09:03
Speaker
Nah. That's a lot of like a lot of good game and we're sexy little jock straps. Yeah, I know. I saw a bunch. When I searched jock strap, that was mostly what I saw. There's also like sexy little ones. I was like, I don't, I need this to, I appreciate that those are available, but I needed something to support my situation.
Spotlight on Matamoska
00:09:24
Speaker
Okay, vasectomy talk over. I did it. This is the beginning and end of this segment, Rob's vasectomy talk, because it's never happening again. No. You shouldn't have to. No. What if you change your mind? Then you've got more giggles. I got the whole spiel about not doing that. Yeah, it's too expensive. Too expensive. They say don't. They don't recommend it. No. No. And it's over $10,000. Woo. Yeah, to get on vasectomy. Should we introduce our guest? Yeah. I'm wondering if he has thoughts on this.
00:09:55
Speaker
We're thrilled to introduce our guest, 15 minutes about that. I'm sorry for our listeners. Well, our guest might be thinking about it with their two-year-old. He's a keyboard extraordinaire. You've heard him on tour with Jer and Catbite. Our good friend Esteban Flores is here. How are you doing? Do you have a lot of thoughts about vasectomies? Vasectomies. What do you think? Can you give me his number?
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, I just want to talk. I just I just want to know about the mufflers. Listen, I'm trying to close the factory down. These guys got to die. Yeah, I'm really talking the last the last couple of months about getting a vasectomy to my friends. And I've had bad stories, similar stories to what you told me where there was like one of my friends who I'm going to not say his name. But if you heard this, he'd be like, he's talking about my story.
00:10:48
Speaker
told me that just the guy was just so unserious the entire time and he just kept joking and he kept going like, Oh, I think I got the wrong vein. And as I'm like, my eyes are red staring at the ceiling, just like beads coming off of my head.
00:11:07
Speaker
Exactly the time for you to start I Don't want to laugh that's like not I don't want to shake my body always said if I was a gynecologist I would have a hard time not being like hello The entire time because we're talking about that I was just like that's hot that's hot
00:11:29
Speaker
Was getting scrapped off? Was getting clamped? Okay, that's hot. Yeah. You literally say this at the moment where I was just like, I was telling my wife, I was just like, kind of close the factory down. Having one kid is cool, but having one kid is having one kid for sure.
00:11:49
Speaker
everyone's telling me one kid i know so many people with one kid right now and they seem like they're handling it well and just how expensive everything is right now like it's like i don't know how you could have more than one oh yeah no for sure i was i was basically not not telling not calling my mom but
00:12:04
Speaker
You know, gently being like, yeah, you're kind of an idiot. Like you had four kids. You had four mistakes. I was better off. Yeah, I was better off just, you know, much more than you know. I got to pay you ran. I'm suffering. I'm not having a good time.
00:12:24
Speaker
Just check it past the podcast. We don't condone suicide here. So no, you don't have to deal with it. You're going to have to deal with life, dude. Have a good morning routine. Get coffee or have a beer. Make sure your protein is good. Take care of yourself. Try to wake up at the same time every day. It matters more than going to bed at the same time. Oh, yeah, for sure.
00:12:53
Speaker
My sleeping schedule kind of goes with whenever I finish work and then I wake up every time at the same day and I hate it. Yeah, I'm just tired. It's fine. Anyways, you know, talking about my nuts and I'm not talking about the homeboy's nuts. Let's talk about Scott, you know, there's nothing vasectomy cast. Talk about these nuts. Talk about these nuts.
00:13:16
Speaker
Well, let's, okay, we got to do the interview portion at least a little bit. Last time you were on was July, I think is when we recorded the last episode. What happened from July till now in the world of Esteban Flores? Tour? Touring? Did you tour? Was it July? I just came back from tour with the beat, huh? That happened. I played with the AgriLites, which is kind of crazy. That's crazy. That's really cool. Yeah, that was not on my bingo card. I was really just going to mope around the house and take care of my kid.
00:13:45
Speaker
Um, I did like one last gig with cat by, uh, that was supernova. And that was fun. I do a suicide machines for every now and then, which is pretty cool. Whenever I'm around, that's really cool.
00:13:59
Speaker
a bunch of Matamos stuff. That's it for the first time Mexico was how was Mexico? Dude, it was like, it was a sold out show. So it was about like 10,000 15,000 people. That's crazy. And it was only three, three ska bands, which is like out of control army. And then there's manlos estra moticos, which is like, they're like
00:14:19
Speaker
Pops cause they're like poppy but but Scott's mainstream in Mexico and
Two-Tone Music's Role in Ska
00:14:23
Speaker
then inspect all which is like one of the biggest of the biggest. Yes. Yeah, that's it was there. It was like their 30th anniversary 35th anniversary was something like that.
00:14:33
Speaker
And yeah, they're playing their entire, they're, they're playing their entire catalog or at least the hits for the entire catalog from beginning to end. And it was just, it was just super massive. I'm really good friends with the inspector guys. And I'm really good friends with the other control army guys. And they invited me over the minute I got my papers. And that was an experience. I was in Mexico city for like a whole week.
00:14:53
Speaker
I spent like fun. Mexico City seems so cool. That's a bucket list for me. Oh, dude, for sure. I mean, you get like actually going to the city. You get like five tacos for like two bucks. So I like I like at least two hundred dollars worth of tacos between me and my wife. And yes, two thousand tacos about somebody. We just tried everything and we just had like a taco, a taco, a place that we go to. Like there's tacos everywhere. We're just like this. It's right here. It's right there. And yeah, that was pretty fun.
00:15:23
Speaker
So when that happened, that was November, New Year's and all that life thing happened, became a dad. Well, I'm still a dad, I've been a dad since then. Now the dad just became one. And then now it's like, now I'm like full dad mode where I'm just like- Daddy Thiccums. Yeah, Daddy Thiccums. I'm actually a good dad for sure.
00:15:43
Speaker
My little girl's actually- That was not what I was implying. My little girl's actually like right outside, she's just going... That is a soft joke. How did you hear her? Get her on the pod, that's basically what I'm saying.
00:16:02
Speaker
I gotta give you a picture where you can just photoshop her head in the next picture. It's like a very small cameo. We should just get her on the pod next time you're on and have her be co-host and see when someone notices it's not me. I'm just gonna say something that she shouldn't say. That's not what it is. No, they're nice people. You know babies are brutally honest about shit. Oh yeah.
00:16:29
Speaker
Yeah. She'll be like, he'll cut you down. I'm just like, I'm not fat. So then that happens. And then, and there it is. There she is.
00:16:42
Speaker
The cameo we've been waiting for. Yeah. Yeah, just shows, just playing shows. I mean, like after that December happened, I had my first set of shows in Matamoska in February or January, something like that. But yeah, just doing stuff. I'm just doing things with Jared in two weeks. I'm going to L.A. next week to film a music video for Mata for a future project that we're doing. Fun. And yeah, I like to think that's what I have so far in mind. I'll remember something for sure. I'll remember stuff.
00:17:08
Speaker
So speaking of shows, and by the time this comes out, everything will be announced. SPI Fest two in connect to cut. I think that's how you pronounce it. Uh, no, it's connect to cut. Yeah, whatever. Matamosca will be there and still a little checkered past. Hooray. So we'll actually be able to connect in an IRL connecting Connecticut, Connecticut, Christian beers, Christian beers. That's right.
00:17:36
Speaker
I'm not coming with the bottle. You should be like, you guys want to get shots? I'm going to go in hot. I'm going to go in so hot and just be like, just take some shots and just figure this out. That's what I did before we performed and I guess it worked. Yeah. We did Check It Past in real life and I just walked there and I just started like just shitting on everybody. Just roast fast. I just hear Joey in the background and they're like,
00:18:01
Speaker
oh my god the president of the hater building is here and i guess come in and i start hating on everybody and then i guess that's fine yeah kind of like a tornado we could do that as a segment that's just a segment yeah we're potentially that's about hate yeah we're potentially opening both dates so like we might be up there twice yeah we'll see what happens i mean hopefully you guys are there i
00:18:24
Speaker
Well, because obviously everything is already kind of announcing, but we play like in Ben Salem the day before. And then hopefully the other flyer comes out. If not, then I'm spoiling it. But we're playing in Jersey the day before. So where are we going to be around the area? And yeah, so we'll be around the area. So like, hopefully we'll be able to see you guys more than once. I'll be there. I'll be there probably. We'll link up. Yeah, I'll be there for a while for sure. I know. I think we're just going to do like a Thursday or Friday and just fly back home.
00:18:52
Speaker
so okay i don't know what we're doing yeah we're waiting to know what's going on but we're definitely there and we're definitely gonna do it live and joey's uh this will be our second and third live shows joey's got a plan
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, I got a plan. Yeah, but also there's stuff going on in the background. So I might not need a plan, but I have a plan. So we'll figure it out. So there's like a comedy bit where you guys just like, like figure out bits or figure out like segments and you just like bring them in, bring them in. It is kind of like a comedy format, the kind of thing when you guys do it.
00:19:26
Speaker
So we've done, uh, when we did it last year, it was basically the show where we get up on stage and we do like a monologue for like 10 minutes. And then we bring a band on to kind of a little interview, played a game. We did play a little game and then we got the groups last year and then we got the audience to ask questions. So we would have a microphone. We get them to ask them the band questions. Yeah, that was fun. And the whole band had Mike, so it got like pretty chaotic. It got pretty, Kurt was getting crazy. Yeah.
00:19:56
Speaker
Kurt said a lot about cheese. And Sasquatch. She said Sasquatch, yeah. He got really serious. I feel like I'm going to be, I'm going to be, uh, you know, like the Bushka lady, you know, you don't have a Bushka. I'm going to do that with glasses and I'm going to have a mic and they'd be like, tell us what bounty hate. Who said that? What happened with the interrupters? Hello, how do you really feel?
00:20:24
Speaker
And they're playing there too. For sure, for sure. Like Matamoska is like my most consistent group. That's like, this is actually stuff you wrote now, right? Instead of playing other people's music. Like that's gotta be, that's huge, right? Yeah. It's different. It's like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I'm, you know, I don't condone with a polygamy or whatever, but it's like sleeping with someone else and then sleeping with your person. It's like, yeah, you know, it's like, you know, yeah, you're great. But like,
00:20:51
Speaker
My girlfriend's a lot better. Or like, hey, yeah, you're great. We're like, well, I'm in love with my wife. Yeah. There's no other way for me to explain that. You know, you're somebody else where you're like, oh, this was a lot better because it's like home and you know this person and you know what makes them tick. Yeah. Them tick, not her, but them, you know, much people.
00:21:10
Speaker
For sure. Do you want to tell the listener a little bit about Matamoska? We brought him up like every time you've been on, but I don't know if we've really like dug in to your full time band. Like they've been around for a long time. Matamoska? Yeah, Matamoska. Matamoska basically means flies water in Spanish. That's fun. Matamoska with a C is a fly.
Matamoska's Evolution and Style
00:21:35
Speaker
Matamis kill, so flies water, fly killer.
00:21:37
Speaker
That's fun. The band has been active since 2001. I'm not the original member. I joined the group 10 years after the band was made. The band had a hiatus in the early 2000s because they were active. They started and they were active during the whole like Scossucks phase where like- Circle gauges. Yeah, Circle of Survival was like hot and Streetlight was weirdly, really super popular, more popular than before, Victory Records.
00:22:08
Speaker
And then the band took a break, 2006, and then returned 2009. And I was always a fan of the band, so I always wanted to go see them. And then when I joined the band, I was already starting my whole like playing with three bands at the same time. I was like 17, 16.
00:22:23
Speaker
So I was playing with multiple bands for decades at this point, at this point in my life right now. But I started back then and then the band saw me and they wanted me to hang out with them and I got to just join the band. And at some point I took over as just a regular keyboardist to management. The singer became like my best friend, he's like my brother. So I just told him like, yeah, I'll do this for you guys, like nobody else for you guys. And I just got through the position.
00:22:48
Speaker
yeah i mean i've been in the band since i was 17 i'm 31 so that's that's magical and it happened organically it sounds like yeah i i wanted to do it all like it wasn't forced upon me because there was some events there was something i feel like that means something when it happens so naturally like that
00:23:05
Speaker
Yeah, because nowadays, I know my boundaries, but back then, I was a little more of an asshole about it, where people say, oh, you do this. And I'm like, no, fuck you. I don't want to do that. And then that's where problems start. But with Mata, I was more like, yeah, this guy is like, he means a lot to me. Ironically, me and him went to the same college. He graduated college.
00:23:24
Speaker
the year after I got there, but like he, he still went as an alumni. And so I will get a lot of his alumni benefits like free food and free showers or whatever. So he'll always help me out with my college. Like it was always beyond the band. It was also like in my life. He was very, very special to me or he is, you know, he's not, he's not gone, but he's very special to me. And so I feel like that strengthens my bond with the band because I feel
00:23:48
Speaker
um it's your people for me to want to be in a band i have to just really like you to be to say like yeah that's my band you know that's for sure whatever um and they never really they never really abandoned me you know there's there's certain bands that i'm not gonna say names or whatever but that they would be like yeah you're in the band
00:24:04
Speaker
And I just don't feel like I'm part of the band, you know, I'm not in any any facet. And so then I could read a room, you know, I'm not I'm not dumb and I'm not a kid. And and I can just see it. I'm just like, you know, I did it fine. Like, I just I don't I don't want to be part of this band if you don't want to make me feel like I'm part of it. So yeah, a bit about that. But yeah, my thought that we did a bunch of cool things. We were one of the first
00:24:27
Speaker
We were one of the only like four bands that played like Vance Warped Tour in that time, which is like pretty crazy. It was like it was it was the same Warped Tour to where like bands like Left Alone Sign was rancid, they were like the exact same area. So we were concurrently with with those groups left alone with one of the groups that that we grew up with.
00:24:45
Speaker
alongside other smaller groups. And then usually when I started taking over the band, I started really trying to branch out and do touring and write more records. The guys were kind of just going to make us a hobby and the band wasn't really going to go anywhere, but there was some... Close the beer goggles.
00:25:03
Speaker
Clothes with beard goggles, right? Yeah. We started touring kind of before the whole Scott craze started happening again. And we thought we were just going to be like, oh, we're just going to fizzle out. But now, thank goodness for people like Mike and Bad Time and SPI and all those labels for reviving the interest again. Because it feels really good, again, just to see more than 10 people at a show.
00:25:29
Speaker
yeah but also like it's way more fun as like an audience member to see a band that you can tell like each other that aren't just like paid to be there because you can tell yeah you get it's so fun when you're like oh my god those two are besties they're having the best time like that makes me like a band so much more watching the mad caddies the most recent yeah you're like hey there's nothing there look at these six strangers on stage
00:25:54
Speaker
the Gallagher brothers? No, I don't know. I'm gonna put myself on the spot, but I've at least kissed seven of the nine members of the band. That's fun. That's nice. What's going on with the last two?
00:26:07
Speaker
They're new. They don't know what's coming for them. They don't know what's coming for them. They don't know what's coming for them. They don't know what's coming for them. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming.
00:26:30
Speaker
But I was just talking about that too, but I was just talking about that with, and I'm sorry, we're going off on a limb here, this is part of the podcast. Yeah, no, it's good. But yeah, I was talking about that with some of the band too, because we always talk about band dynamics, and it's true, there's just some bands that you just see them and they just look so like, oh, you're clocking in to work, this is just clocking in, you know?
00:26:49
Speaker
Totally. Yeah, we're totally not that. I really enjoy the fact that we could be cool with each other. Oh, that's my little girl. My little girl does this thing where she goes, and that means she wants Chi Chi, which is boob. You guys know that she wants milk, but my wife is awkward. Sorry.
00:27:10
Speaker
Try harder, no. I've definitely woken up with such noises on my chest, and I'm just like, wrong pair of boobs. It's going to be a long day if you keep drawing. And how would you describe the style of your band?
00:27:31
Speaker
Ska? It's weird. Yeah, for sure. It's Ska, dude. You ever heard of that? What an idiot I am. All right. It really depends. I mean, we've been told, we sounded like, it depends from album to album, but we've been told we sound like voodoo. We sound like a more punkier, like boss tones. We've been told real big fish, but Spanish, which is not that.
00:28:00
Speaker
That felt a little more backhanded than it did complimentary. Yeah, the other stuff was good. Yeah, I mean, I love, we like real big fish too, like their homies recorded at their studio. But I think real big fish has a certain happiness to it that I don't mesh with, you know? Yeah, but it's the existential dread.
00:28:21
Speaker
Yeah, basically. Those are like the three styles. We got new stuff coming in the summer and that sounds kind of on its own thing. I don't know how to explain that. We always take our time just trying to say like, oh, we wrote these songs. How could we be as creatives better?
00:28:43
Speaker
than our last album, because that's all we could try to achieve. We're not much of a competitive type where we want to say, middle finger to everybody, we want to write the best album. We're just more like, eh, we wrote these, how could we be better than our last album? Community over competition. Yeah, I can't describe how our new stuff sounds like, because it's obviously, but it's just
00:29:09
Speaker
genderless, I guess. It's a mesh of influences that are not even what we used to tap into before. That's cool. That makes it even better. Yeah. Hell yeah. It's a mixed bag. I like it. I've been hearing this new stuff for years at this point because the album has been done for years and we were just trying to find the right moment to pitch it and we pitched it and then now it should be out soon in the summer, hopefully.
Two-Tone Singles Bracket
00:29:35
Speaker
Hell yeah. I'll take a hit of that.
00:29:45
Speaker
So let's do the bracket. That's what we came here for. We're here. We're doing it. This is Madness March. All month long, we're doing a March Madness style bracket to pit 32 singles from two-tone records in head-to-head battle to determine once and for all the greatest two-tone single of all time. Thanks for everyone who voted their predictions. If you want to follow along, the bracket is at shallons.com. Shallons. Slash Madness March 2024.
00:30:07
Speaker
It's for the listener.
00:30:09
Speaker
The matchups are based on the order of release. Here's how it's gonna work. We did the pre-show at the beginning of February. And then the last two weeks was just us knocking out round one, part one and part two. So now it's round two with Esteban. Then next week we'll have another guest and then the finals at the end of the month. In the case of a tie,
00:30:30
Speaker
when we're deciding who the winner is, we will play the B side of the single, and that will be the determination. So what is Two Tone Records? It's the legendary record label founded in 1979 by specials keyboardist Jerry Dammers in the UK as a means to issue releases by his own band and to support his niche scene. He struck a deal with Chrysalis Records who allowed Two Tone to fund 15 singles per year, so he immediately signed many bands with a similar mindset to his own.
00:30:56
Speaker
Unique at the time, the deals only required them to issue one single and option to release albums if they wished. These groups all shared the special love of classic Jamaican ska in modern UK punk, often with a mixed race lineup and socio-political lyrics. It became the launching pad of what would be considered second wave ska, or more commonly, two-tone,
00:31:15
Speaker
named after the label and its black and white color scheme. The fashion was all about tonic suits, pork pie, hats, and loafers, and the logo was a stylized version of Peter Tosh from the Wailers that has become iconic for the Ska scene. The label was only active for six years and released approximately 30 singles, six albums, two compilations, a documentary charting consistently during its entire run and becoming all but synonymous with Ska in the half-decade of its existence.
00:31:43
Speaker
This is what we're looking for in a two-tone single. Joey, do you remember what yours were? Fuck no. A one drop, maybe? Yep. Tell them what they are. Yeah, tell me the other two, please. So one drop. Yeah. Oh, whoops. It's not in this one. It's in the other one. You said spooky, I think. Maybe, yeah, maybe spooky and maybe upbeat. Yeah, that was it. You got it. Spooky, upbeat and a one drop. You remember yours? Effortlessly cool vibes. Yeah.
00:32:13
Speaker
dance-y and objectively good musicianship. That is exactly correct, you both nailed it. I like it. I like it skanky, I like it dirty, and I like it urban. And I said that's my Tinder bio, mine is urban. Yeah. So, guest Esteban Flores, if you were to pick three things that you are looking for in determining a two-tone single, what would you say those things are?
00:32:41
Speaker
First of all, great bassline. I'm always very critical of the bassist, or at least the bassline, because that's what makes Jamaican music in general. It still makes two-tone music. The bounciness, there's a certain bounce to it that I like a lot. It's just very driven, but still kind of like a bumpy car ride, but it's like a flowy, nice bumpy car ride. Like, oh, this is sick. Oh, yeah. Oh, this is a great car ride.
00:33:11
Speaker
and aggressive and i do like some aggressive as well there's so there has to be some aggression to it because obviously two-tone it's a mesh of punk and reggae roots so like i do like i do like it when the punk kind of shows its teeth where there's like a little distortion or a little bite on the skanks or something you know like i that's what i'm big on
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah. So it's got a little bite to it. It's got a bounciness to it. And what was the third one? Oh, the bass. Bass. That's going to be an interesting criteria. So now this may determine, because I know what we have in front of us, does it have to be Ska? Yes.
00:33:48
Speaker
So you think it has to, so Celine? Yeah. Legitimately thinks it has to be Scott. Or like not just a straight up disco song if we're talking about this specifically. Yeah, I think it has to be like at least Scott Jason. Even if it wasn't straight up Scott, there was like the Scott breakdown or it was like, yeah, I think if you think two tone, a two toner man on a Scott themed podcast, you know,
00:34:14
Speaker
So it's it's not a tune tone records, even though that's how it was pulled. Yeah, I think. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's fair to vote for the funk songs, but I think it's voting in the spirit of the whole thing would be to vote for ska songs. But it almost down to voting with your heart.
00:34:39
Speaker
I'm allowing myself to not vote a ska song if I feel like it. That's your own moral compass. Esteban, you may not know this. You need to go to bed with you at night. There are a couple non-ska songs that made it this far. Do you think that the ultimate two-tone single has to be a ska song?
00:35:01
Speaker
No Yeah, they're gonna get this is the this is the round I'm out here hearing a Yeah, I vote my heart. I'm like I'll someone give this guy a lifetime award over here you vote with your heart. What do you
00:35:29
Speaker
You gotta vote with your heart. You gotta vote with the one that you want to win. Here's my argument. They got good baselines. That's true. That's true. Also, like, if you're a listener, you can't vote with your heart. You have to vote with what you think our hearts want. Yeah. So it's different. If you like winning, winning. If you want to win. If you want to win. I've noticed that not everybody is motivated to win. No, a lot of people are not motivated to win, it seems like.
00:36:01
Speaker
My problem is that there's good songs that have bounce, that have good bass lines and that are aggressive, but they're not ska. The only thing I would say too is because when I went to the UK, I was kind of just picking up on all the vibes of how everything is over there. And I think about bands like Talking Heads, which I feel like they qualify for all three, but they don't have ska music into it. It's just more like 80s.
00:36:22
Speaker
Okay, here's my argument.
00:36:28
Speaker
And then I think about groups like The Clash that they have all three again, but they're not Ska. So I feel like the thing that stands out between bands like Talking Heads and The Clash would be Ska.
00:36:39
Speaker
I like it. I like it. That's true. How do you feel about that Paramore cover that everyone seems to be talking about on TikTok? Oh, I didn't hear what's true. I don't even know what Paramore is. It's a very sincere question too, because I remember when Tim told me about Cat Bite, I remember when Cat Bite was telling me about, oh, yeah, we're trying to do this vibe of Paramore. And I was just legit like, what's a Paramore? And then someone was like,
00:37:03
Speaker
Somebody explained it to me and then they showed me music. And I'm just like, I've never heard of this band like ever. They're like, what were you living in the MySpace era? And I'm just like, I was really heavy to Street Scott in the attics and guessing. I was too cool to listen. I never like I knew who they were, but I was like too cool to listen to them back in the day. I didn't even like really appreciate them until my 30s. Like I turned 30 and I was like, you know what? She's a really good vocalist and some of these are pretty catchy. The one she like denounced because it's kind of sexist is a really good song.
00:37:33
Speaker
I mean like I'm playing a festival in March and they're playing too so I'm like technically like opening up for them. That's cool. A lot of everyone's telling me like oh shit you're playing over Paramount and I'm just like oh okay like there's like four other bands. Oh that's way cooler. That's way cooler to me. I'm just like. I feel like Eugene Hutts would super dig Madam Oscar don't you think?
00:38:00
Speaker
I think Eugene would dig it, for sure. I think so, yeah. I'm really good friends with Corey, they're a drummer. Oh, cool. Yeah, they tell me that Eugene's just a big ska fan too, big AgriLights fans too. That's what I heard. There's a whole thing in differential ska.
00:38:17
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to lie. When you said Eugene Hutz, my brain went to Lionel Hutz. And I was like, what's he? He's a terrible lawyer. The lead singer of Golgol Berdello, Joey. I figured it out. Tell him, tell him. He's so slow.
00:38:35
Speaker
Tell him Salinsik thinks he's hot. Scott Daddy meter, 10 out of 10. Eugene Hutts? Absolutely. 11 out of 10. That mustache, that big nose. Get out of here. All right. Here's the first one.
00:38:50
Speaker
Gangsters, the song that started it all, released in 1979 with the selectors of The Selector as a double A side, cribs liberally from Prince Buster's Al Capone, and discusses an instance involving the Clash's roadie and a destroyed hotel room. This is The Special's Gangsters. There's your clips, Joey. Good. Sweet. Looks nice.
00:39:25
Speaker
I mean, it's spooky. Every time, when it's started. Al Capone's guns. So good. I think it's going to go pretty far. I guess I don't know what it's up against, but we'll see.
00:39:42
Speaker
I think this is gonna make it pretty far and we all like it. I'm very biased in favor of this song. Effortlessly cool vibes. I can dance to it. Objectively good musicianship. Nothing super complicated but like they're keeping rhythm.
00:40:04
Speaker
It hits most of our... Criterions. Yeah, for sure. Like a Curacao movie. Yeah. Criterion. Yeah. That collection. Is Miyazaki a Criterion? I don't know. Should be. I really need to see the new one. I hear it's sad. Might win the Oscar. I hope it does. I don't think Elementals... God, that's fun. Yeah, that's fun.
00:40:32
Speaker
What do you think about that track, Esteban? Classic. It's a song that defines a genre for real. Okay, what's it up against? It's up against Do Nothing, released in 1980 on the sophomore Moore specials album. The Singles was backed by Maggie's Farm, a song about modern disillusionment. It saw the band diverge from their scar roots a bit. And even visually, they opted for a more puppy laddie. Look, this is the specials. Do Nothing.
00:41:02
Speaker
That Betty's very comfortable. She looks very happy. Very happy. Yeah, you're happy, baby. This is a tough matchup, man. It's a little boring. I want to get going, though.
00:41:32
Speaker
Two-year-olds love a special victim unit. Toddlers are like Paw Patrol SVU. Same show, bro. If you try to put law and order like regular on, they cry. They cry. They cry. They're like, where's Maloney? Where's Maloney? Where's the wife? Because that's always what it is. It's always. Sometimes it's pedophile. That's true. Children's kidnapping. Let's be new.
00:42:02
Speaker
Apparently the new True Detective has the very procedural crime.
00:42:11
Speaker
I guess what am I trying to say? It has a mission. Yeah, apparently. I don't think so. Have you watched it? Yeah, I'm watching it. It's good. How's Jodie? It was a good song, right? Oh yeah, this song. But this is boring. I don't like, I don't actually do it. I might have said I liked the song before, but I take it maybe it wasn't, I don't know. I think it was, I think it was a easy matchup. Okay. This is an okay song. You know, more specials is fine. I won't, like, search this out till the future ends.
00:42:37
Speaker
I think the old, I think the best song, I know Joey likes this song. This is a Joey jam. Listen to it all you want, but you can like it. I've listened to it. That's the second time today. With Jerry doing his little like... nonsense.
00:42:54
Speaker
Rat Race is the best song on more specials. Like, I just think in comparison this song is just like... And again, Gangsters... Gangsters versus Do-Nothing. What do you think of Do-Nothing? I don't know if you caught some of that song or if you know that song. I know a song by heart. The song is cool. Personally, if it came to that era of specials, I prefer Friday night, Saturday morning or Sunday morning. Oh, there you go.
00:43:19
Speaker
But gangsters takes it, dude, still. I'm staunch on gangsters. That's just the shit right there. We might as well vote it in. Yeah, we got to do the vote. Because I can already feel where the wind is. One, two, one. Gangsters. Did you say gangsters, dude? Yeah, I said gangsters. I think you knew where it was. I knew where it was. Do you think gangsters hang loose? I'm hanging loose right now. Do you think gangsters hang loose? This gangster hangs loose. Yeah. This hand symbol has a...
00:43:47
Speaker
has a name for it. And you know you're a gangster. No, it's like a Hawaiian name. When you say it with a hard ER, like a true uncool white person. I'm a gangster and I'm hanging loose. Gangster. Next match up.
00:44:03
Speaker
Run Me Down by the funk punk group The Higgsons on two-tone. This is one of only two singles they issued on the label in 1983. B-side is the aptly named. Put the punk back into funk and the single has Rhoda on the vocals at some point. This is Run Me Down by The Higgsons.
00:44:29
Speaker
So fucked Rob has an agenda, I can tell. Rob has an agenda. Rob has an agenda. Rob has an agenda. A fucko agenda. There's some fucking UU hockey show ass type of intro. I can use that anime aesthetic type of shit.
00:44:47
Speaker
That's totally a lot. Yeah, this does have like animating throw. Does it make you want to shoot the energy bullet out of your fingers? What's that? You know that Rocky scene where Apollo feed and walk running down the beach and they hug each other at the end?
00:45:05
Speaker
with like the stigmatism filter so just a little a little pay just subtle day undertones yeah there you go super nasty bro like pop gun masculinity that's my favorite shorts and uh and white beaters
00:45:21
Speaker
Anyway.
00:45:44
Speaker
Okay, what's it up against though? No, no one wants to talk about this song. No, fine. I don't know. It's some fun song, you know, feels like John Scott Van Damme kind of type of shit, bro. So it's a it's a it's a rematch. Higgson's versus the selector because they're going up against.
00:46:02
Speaker
Three-Minute Hero, a Neil Davies song from the album Too Much Pressure released in 1980 with the instrumental James Bond on the B side. The song is about the endless drudgery of the daily grind and how a great song can make a band a three-minute hero. Up against the rando funk song? Yeah. We're just way too into that song. You know my ex-girlfriend is called the Three-Minute Hero.
00:46:39
Speaker
That's why you were here
00:46:43
Speaker
Better than a one-minute man. That's three-minute hero You know what? At least I'm not gonna hype it up. I'm not gonna say oh, yeah, it's y and z and then I don't deliver I just say you know what there's gonna be a bag of surprises Yeah, I I don't even know what I'm getting myself into And the clap
00:47:08
Speaker
this is really cool is this stuff gonna be like is a commentary gonna be edited wrong like let me talk about nope we keep it fine some of it goes okay for sure yeah my my haters normal haters comment is i feel like the selector is just like second last of my whatever two tilt bands
00:47:43
Speaker
Bad manners is over selector do I love bad manners the first song I ever learned on keyboard the song I ever learned on keyboard was inner lemon violence
00:47:51
Speaker
That's a good song. That's a good song. I'm liking the selector more through this process. I saw them like three times in the UK last year when I was on that tour. And after the first time and I saw them again, I'm just like, no, I'm good. I'm just watching them once. I'm going to go backstage and get drunk. Fair. So it's OK. So body snatchers included. What's your two tone rank? Oh, I mean, body snatchers being dead last only because they were so short lived.
00:48:19
Speaker
Right. Okay. Then number one is the specials. It would be between special and madness. So that's interchangeable. Bad manners, bad selector. Then I'll be English B and then body snatches and body snatches. Rough. Interesting. Interesting. Joey, what do you got? Okay. Yeah, I'm not there yet. Okay.
00:48:40
Speaker
But like, let's talk about this matchup. Three-minute hero versus, I just am not over this. Three-minute hero versus Run Me Down. Yeah, we all know what we're voting for. Okay. Three, two, one. Three-minute hero. Okay. Okay. I voted three-minute hero too. Goodbye, Run Me Down.
00:49:01
Speaker
All right, it didn't have a chance. Three Minute Heroes is a good song. Three Minute Heroes is going up against gangsters next week. That's funny. Oh, that's a tough one too. So continuing with the selector vibe, the second single by the selector and first featuring Pauline Black released in 1979. It was an attack on the tedium of mainstream radio and the people that listen to it. The B side is a song that should be in this bracket. Too much pressure. The song is On My Radio by the selector. This one's good.
00:49:34
Speaker
That's the sixth song. This has got bounce. Oh my god, this is bouncy. And it's got a weird vocal thing, which is fun. How do you feel about those, like, uh... Yeah, I really like that. Those bass lines, what do you call those, those, like, uh, chromatic bass lines? With the lock of things? Yeah. That's fun. It's like disco-y. I crib it all the time.
00:50:03
Speaker
what you're playing air metal yeah you've made something make something fancy or do a lot of things easy yeah this has like lady new wave energy in the vocals yeah 1979 i don't know is it right
00:50:36
Speaker
I'm ready to go. What a fun vocal thing. Yeah. What a track. Jam. What a fun tune. I don't think I've ever heard that song live. But if I did, I would want to dance. I've never seen the selector live.
00:50:52
Speaker
I would like to. That's about how do you feel about on my radio, your favorite band, your number one choice. It sounds just like the next song we're about to play. Same shit.
00:51:15
Speaker
This song is called easy life by the body snatchers It wasn't a single which is stupid
00:51:30
Speaker
They do have very similar baselines, for sure. Yeah. So I just feel like I just feel like Selecta has kind of used that same and use that same blueprint and just keep going with it. I think what I like about them is that it's just got that just like drive the whole time gets going. Yeah, it'll slow down.
00:51:50
Speaker
And I think the cover choices are good too, but I don't know. I'll defend the selector. What's it up against? It's up against Easy Life by the Body Snatchers, one of only two singles by the Body Snatchers ever. It's about how Easy Life would be if there was equity and parity for women, encourages them to take action. Backed by the B side, two experienced and issued in 1980. Easy Life by the Body Snatchers. Easy Life.
00:52:17
Speaker
Imagine this. Body statchers love saxophone. White, cisgendered, mentally healthy, physically abled, social economically strong, easy life. Easy life. They say, I don't think I said hetero-saxophone. Christian, even easier, probably.
00:52:40
Speaker
Just making the easy life business curve. Give me a second guys. This is a fun tune. It doesn't have the same upbeat-y-nest though.
00:53:13
Speaker
On my radio versus easy life, do we know who we're voting? I'm a radio. I could do that one for sure.
00:53:20
Speaker
You gotta do the count. Three, two, one. On my name. Yeah, poor body snatchers. That sounds good, though. Yeah, easy looks. Never stood a chance. No, it didn't. There's like too many heavy hitters, I guess. That's kind of the thing, right? This is a message to you, Rudy, the fifth single on the label and legendary song. A cover, mind you, of the Dandy Livingstone classic. More associated with the specials nowadays, especially as the opening track to their debut album.
00:53:49
Speaker
Produced by Elvis Costello in 1979 with Nightclub as the B-side, message to you, Rudy. I've never heard it. I don't know what it is. Sounds kind of like a theme song.
00:54:02
Speaker
It should have been a nightclub. It should have been a nightclub. Yeah, a nightclub tour. Yeah. Spend in money. On. I'd like to do that part. Spend in money. On. And then not sing beer. This is pretty great though. That bass part is so sick though. I feel like children like this song. This song? Yeah.
00:54:22
Speaker
I don't know, I think the kids would like it. Yeah, well I mean they're learning a good life lesson. You know, stop messing around, better think of your future. Just think about this, but an Elmo voice, and it's a total necessity song, for sure. I'm Elmo, I'm messing with you, Rudy!
00:54:49
Speaker
And then fucking Joe Biden reshared it and everyone was like he wasn't talking to you Whatever Republican to get in next Elmo this guy bothering you
00:55:07
Speaker
Elmo, is this guy bothering you? Definitely is. Oh, Elmo, I never want to get the fuck away from Elmo. We don't have a lot, but we have Elmo. Can't have anything here. No. Remember when you'd tickle him?
00:55:22
Speaker
What a bottle and a paper towel roll. That's not even actually Elmo, though. That's like a tick tock. No, that's it. There is. Those tick tocks are from scenes on Sesame Street where Elmo got like a little, quote unquote, urban. So there's like black on scenes. Yeah, it sounds like. So he goes like balsamic vinegar. And then there's just a couple of times where he just gets a little straight about it. A plastic bottle and a paper towel roll.
00:55:52
Speaker
It's really good. Hello, guys. A cast, a canceled cast over here. That was an Elmo send, not a black send. It was a mop send. It was a mop send. I'm sure the puppeteer for Elmo is a black guy. Oh, yeah, he totally is. Well.
00:56:13
Speaker
All right. Well, we all grow and learn. We all grow and learn. It's going up against rat race. The 1980s single from the album, more specials. Yeah. It's specials be specials supported with rude boys out of jail on the B side lyrically. It's actually about rich kids in schools getting away with trying. Well, get away without trying. Well, everyone else has to work rat race.
00:56:45
Speaker
This one's good. Is it better than a message to you, Rudy? Yeah, tough competition. In some ways. In some ways. In other ways, not so much. I feel like, yeah, this is a tough and amazing one. This one, that bass is really getting some cardiovascular work out. Walking like crazy. Walking all over the place. The great Horace Panter. Walking. Probably the best bassist in two-tone.
00:57:31
Speaker
I don't know if I talk about it, but what's his name? Roddy radiation. Uh-huh. Doesn't know how to play Scott apparently. Oh. That's why he always does little noodles like that. Noot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot. He's like the baby king of Scott. Baby king doesn't know how to play Roddy. Rat race, message to Rudy. How are you feeling Esteban?
00:57:36
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Hey, I'm right here.
00:57:49
Speaker
It's hard. But I know how I'm voting. Yeah, I'm I'm locked in. I'm I'm locked in. I'm three, two, one. Message to you. Oh, oh, my God. I'm pulling my fighting. Yeah, I'll take you. Hey, I do. I do yoga. I don't know what that'll come down March 18th, 5th of the century. So leave your assessment. I feel like I could avoid a swing.
00:58:19
Speaker
All right, let's take a break. And then when we get back, we'll finish off the bracket. Here we go.
00:58:46
Speaker
Welcome back to Check Your Password here with Esteban Flores, and it is round two of the two-toniment. Let's head into the next matchup. It's The Selector by The Selector, a 1979 instrumental featuring Neil Davies and future specials drummer John Bradbury, sans Pauline Black, and the rest of the band. It is a double A-side with the aforementioned gangsters, The Selector. How does the double A-side work?
00:59:14
Speaker
Both are issued to the radio. Oh, okay. Yeah. So the radio gets both. That just seems more efficient. Because they need to send one record, but it's too single. Well, they would have done it. The only reason why they did it is because it's too banned. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So it gets split. Yeah, basically. This is pretty groovy in the five. Yeah, like the new Jack's Split meetings of it is pretty badass. JB, man. He likes to do a little like Funk drum. James Bond? Yeah.
00:59:42
Speaker
That's also a selector. Yeah. Double odd seven. Yeah. What do you think about the keys Esteban? What do you think about those keys?
00:59:55
Speaker
I mean, the keys are cool, it's just the beaks, like, come on, whatever. It's like the poison. It's kind of whatever! Poison. Poison. Yeah, I know. We were talking about New Jackson. Poison. Yeah. That's what I do appreciate, that you do the same poison impression that I do. I don't know if that's a good thing. I don't know. I don't ever go. Not unfortunate. This girl is poison. I go, poison. Poison.
01:00:24
Speaker
fun to do. I confused that song poison song for do you remember the time like that's the Michael Jackson jam. I confuse those. Oh, I know. Oh, I know. Shimon. I wish he wasn't such a terrible subject.
01:00:51
Speaker
It's not the Brothers Johnson's fault. Man, there's some good songs, man. There's some undeniable, incredible Michael Jackson songs. And he didn't write half of them, so it makes you feel better. That does actually make me feel better. He wasn't responsible for writing half of them. I can't stop enjoying those songs. I tried.
01:01:06
Speaker
Can't stop until I get enough. That song fucking rules. Alright, here it is. The 1981 single that took Scott of the Streets dark and moody and speaking to the degradation of urban life it was the last single of the original lineup of the specials supported by why and Friday night Saturday morning this is the one that broke the band up it's Ghost Town. This is really good.
01:01:32
Speaker
This song? It's gonna make it pretty far. This song's gonna make it pretty far. This song might make it far. I bet anyone have it in their number one spot. I can't see who's number one right now. It might make it far, you just said. Maybe. Unless you vote for Parker right now. I won't. You can knock it out. I do like it, but this is incredible. This is maybe one of my favorite, like, songs. I want to cut into it.
01:02:20
Speaker
I went to the two-tone museum, and the two-tone museum has the original organ that had this on this track. The ghost genre from Jake Damers had it there, and I played with it, and that was cool.
01:02:50
Speaker
I know I'm voting. Yeah, me too. I feel like this is pretty obvious. Three, two, one. Ghost Town. Ghost Town. Yeah. And he's going like a ghost town. That sounds good. Could it have been anything else? I'm happy. I'm feeling glad I got a sunshine.
01:03:14
Speaker
Yeah. This is not the Gorilla's cast. This is not Gorilla's cast. Man, don't tempt me. That sounds awesome. Don't tempt us. Don't tempt us. Gorilla's cast. Ask the fans. Do you guys want us to make a Gorilla cast? Yes or no?
01:03:27
Speaker
They're going to say yes. Yeah, they're going to say yes and try to figure out how it's gone. Javi will. Javi will. Next matchup, Too Much Too Young Live. Some call it a single, some call it an EP, but I call it technicality. The ultra fast 1980 version of the classic song from a live act at its best. The song is about settling down with a family at a young age and made the then salacious suggestion to use condoms, which made them controversial at the time, supported by, honestly,
01:03:55
Speaker
supported by the guns of Navarone. God will tell you how many kids to have. Exactly. This is Too Much Too Young. Too much too young. You're done too much. Too much too young. You're married, will you kill me? This is the fastest. Faster. I might like it better. Whoa. Is there somewhere in between? Is there somewhere in between? Yeah, maybe. I'm actually alive like that.
01:04:26
Speaker
Honestly, that song, top three drumrolls in terms of- That was- That was drumrolls and shit! Drumrolls. It's good. Top three drumrolls? Tell me your top three dinner rolls. This is their only one.
Cultural Impact of 'Ghost Town'
01:04:41
Speaker
They're all Hawaiian, so. I love Hawaiian. Silly, you looked at me like, oh, what's up?
01:04:47
Speaker
I was like, well, I was like, we're talking, I was like, tell me about these dinner rolls. I was like, I like dinner rolls. Well, you guys ever had fronds? What are they? Oh, what, what are they? You're like, fronds, they still have delicious wine rolls. The label is called fronds. Fronds is like a, like a, like a product. They do a bunch of rolls in this Hawaiian dinner rolls.
01:05:05
Speaker
I've never had them. I've never had them. They're delicious. I want them. I'll pick some up. I'll pick some up at the grocery store. We can have like wine dinner rolls there. That sounds awesome. I like the fast version. Yeah. I just have heard it so many times in my life. I know it. I guess I haven't listened to that before. Then the flip with the Guns of Navarone and then they do the medley. It's a good one. That's a complete set. That's a complete set.
01:05:32
Speaker
Uh, how do you feel about too much to young? Do you like that EP, that live EP? Yeah, fuck yeah. I love that EP. I grew up with that shit. I line wired that shit when I was a kid. Okay. Yeah.
01:05:44
Speaker
It's going up against Let's Do Rock Steady, another cover. A 1980 single by the Body Snatchers supported on the B side by Rooter Than You and is a cover of a Dandy Livingstone classic. The same Dandy Livingstone that originated a message to Rudy. Let's Do Rock Steady, arguably the Body Snatchers song. Let's listen to it. And if we eliminate this, then Body Snatchers are gone? That's right. I do like this song.
01:06:14
Speaker
I like the song a lot. Joey, last time you said you weren't a fan of the rock and roll. I listened to the playlist since. And I got more into it as I was like, so the last time I heard all these songs, it was pretty much blind listen. I'd listened to like a few of them before. But then today I listened through the playlist provided by H-town Skank Department.
01:06:41
Speaker
And I, like, smoked a bong and then I, like, put it on and I, like, shaved and showered and stuff. And, uh, much more enjoyable to listen to music, I will say. So, I have a more favorable outlook on it now. Like this. That's fun. You know? And I like her toast? Yeah. I wrote a toast in.
01:07:10
Speaker
This sounds like white folk going like, let's try and do like rock and roll with this guy, you know? Like some dude named Zachary or Cody. Zachary, Cody. Definitely Cody. All Cody's are gay, so. High as fuck, let's just do like rock and roll.
01:07:30
Speaker
And Scott, man. Like, just vibe out. Just vibe this shit out. Stock and roll, man. Let's do it. Think about it, bro. It's the 80s. No one's going to think about that right now. Come on. That's how it sounds to me. All right. So we're locked in. I am locked in. Yeah, me too. I'm locked in. I'm interested to see where this is going to go. Are you locked inside? I don't know.
01:07:55
Speaker
What is the second one just let's it's a let's do rock steady and too much too young live Just forgot about like what are we doing? We were just talking over it the whole time. It didn't it didn't Yeah, but I know a song by heart like I just noticed this like background music Three two
01:08:22
Speaker
one. Let's do Rex. I love women. So I do too. Like it doesn't seem like it.
01:08:42
Speaker
Here's the problem. I know that if we're putting the B-sides on, I'm going to change my vote. I already know. Well, that's the way you should go. Do we want to play those B-sides just to kind of get a feel? So what's happening? This is the tiebreaker. This is the tiebreaker. So let's see if it changes your mind.
01:09:04
Speaker
Special AKA live, just for posterity. Specials are heavily represented and it's too much too young, better. What other special songs are on, have gotten in so far? Gangsters. Gangsters and Ghost Town? Ghost Town. Okay, those are both better than too much too young. That's my argument. I agree. I think that's fine. But now. Those two are better. But now.
01:10:33
Speaker
Okay, so what's the B side of Let's Do Rock's Day? The B side to Let's Do is Rooter Than You. This is the body side. Rooter Than Who? Rooter Than You, like the band. The band named themselves after this song. Whoa!
01:11:33
Speaker
Take care.
01:11:59
Speaker
Rhoda looks great still and did, but she looks great. Scott Mommy meter. Ten. Ten out of ten. Yeah, no doubt. Ten out of ten. Let's clap. OK, so those are the B sides. So we had the guns of Navarone. Yeah. And we had the gruder than you. Oh, yeah. Does that change? Yeah, I like that. I like the body snatchers B side better. I thought that's like obvious.
01:12:12
Speaker
I was more of a promote you guy
01:12:22
Speaker
I like Guns of Navarone. Okay. Well, what are we doing about it? So let's, okay. What if this just ties again? Well, then we'll have to go to discord. Oh my God. It's going to get real complicated. Let's get this done. Okay. So again, the B sides are Guns of Navarone and Rooter Than You.
01:12:39
Speaker
Yeah. The last one we listened to was Rooter Than You. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Three, two, one. Rooter Than You. Rooter Than You. I thought we were stuck on the last one, but Rooter Than You would be the one. Yes. But it's like, I don't know, compared to the latter two, it's counterpart, it's not the strongest one. On the other side, Rooter Than You is actually pretty good.
01:13:06
Speaker
So we'll put it in the disc or we'll come back after the other two brackets. Yeah. Okay. So we'll have to put, well, maybe they'll get back to us today. We'll see. So no, no, no. I mean after the next two choices. Oh, next two choices. Yes. Okay. So we'll put it in the discord now. So we have a few minutes.
Discussion on Madness
01:13:23
Speaker
All right. Yeah.
01:13:24
Speaker
A 1979 single by we have two more matchups. A 1979 single by madness that kicked off their career with the song madness on the B side. It's madness only single on two tone before heading to stiff. And the A side is about Prince Buster while the B side is a Prince Buster cover. This is The Prince by madness. Oh, yeah.
01:13:49
Speaker
Here's one thing I'm gonna tell you, Mexicans love madness. Just no matter what. That's fun. That's fun. Yeah, the Spanish version of What's That Beyond? And that's like, even my mom knows that song by heart. What's fun? Yeah, Mexican madness.
01:14:09
Speaker
that's sweet who doesn't we love madness i don't know if canadian's like i don't know if that's like a thing but there's a lot of like uk canadians love ours i guess because the coffee comers only yeah i did say i love how unapologetically British they are
01:14:33
Speaker
Who's a better frontman? Thugs or Terry Hall? Terry, Thugs, Thugs, Thugs.
01:14:42
Speaker
Suggs? You take Suggs over Terry Hall? Yeah, sorry. Terry does, Terry does hold a sad boy thingy, like, and I get it, that's cool, I understand, he got fired from the job or whatever. But Suggs is just like, fuck yeah, fuck it, you know, I'm fucking British, let's fuck this fucking dance. I like that, I like that. You know what, that sold me on it. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that did agree. I'm British as fuck, let's dance. Check, check. The print is in a- They're so British.
01:15:07
Speaker
If you had the time, check out the biggest big festival, and that's the one I'm playing with Paramore in March. But they played one in 2012, I think. It's Madness at Viva Latino. And you can see the whole performance on YouTube.
01:15:20
Speaker
And they started off with One Step Beyond. That's like the first song they opened up with. That's pretty rap. You just hear the entire crowd just block them over with just the singing along the melody. And it just sucks coming in. He's wearing like a giant mariachi hat. And yeah, we're just having fun with it. I saw it. I'm like, bro, like this man is so they're amazing.
01:15:41
Speaker
That's rad. They're amazing. So is it because they have fun? Like the specials don't look like they have a lot of fun. Well yeah, the madness are like cheeky monkeys and the specials take themselves fairly serious. And they took themselves more and more serious over the career as they went on. They took themselves even more seriously. Right. So does madness just play like big festivals now essentially? Oh yeah.
01:16:05
Speaker
yeah and they still release music and they're still a band yeah like they're still i'd love to see them no other two-tone band is the same band i don't know where this uh the funniest thing that i thought i took a picture of it i i got to find it and i said i'll send it to one of you guys i'll send it to joey um hopefully they can find it but i i was we're playing this 80s festival and it's like
01:16:28
Speaker
like Culture Club and all those kind of 80s groups in Wales. I think it was in Wales. And there's bathrooms, and then there's bathrooms for the bands, and then there's bathrooms exclusively for madness.
01:16:42
Speaker
Cause I understood the night before and there's just like just toilets and then it just says for madness only. And I'm just like, damn boy, George didn't even get from no George. Whoa. And I'm just like, I want to get like madness level. I want to have my own. Yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. I wish I was Chaz smash other members. Yeah. Um,
01:17:11
Speaker
That's fun like that one Now we're going okay Liz we got to take it down a
01:17:19
Speaker
Okay, we've been talking about this single. This is really gonna fuck us up. Okay, so this is a 1982 single, the first to feature Rhoda with the specials before, in the studio, and after the mass exodus of the Funboy 3 and the body snatchers disbandment.
The Impact of 'The Boiler'
01:17:37
Speaker
This is the song, The Boiler, which is a graphic, very graphic song about a real life sexual assault with one of Rhoda's friends. So let's listen to it a little bit. Here, this is the first minute or so.
01:17:41
Speaker
couple
01:17:50
Speaker
Yeah, I finally read all the lyrics. It's a bummer. It's a bummer. I listened to the whole thing. It's a bummer. And the last, I'd say 30 seconds of it is fucking scary. Yeah. Yeah, it's a bleak, bleak song. This is about as dark as Ska songs get. Yeah. Totally. And what year was this? 82. 82.
01:18:16
Speaker
that was pretty i'm like surprised it got radio played to the extent it was a radio single that's crazy till yeah that's really i think that's crazy it bombed on the charts but that was kind of on purpose it bombed on the story it didn't do well yeah i as i was listening to it i was thinking that it had to have been released as like uh
01:18:38
Speaker
like a piece of art like there's a reason they chose to release it as a single they wanted it to be heard yes they wanted the message yeah because it had to be played on the radio right they said they should never be listening to it once they said only listen to it once that's why we're listening to it second time yeah
01:18:54
Speaker
H-Town said that this song is technically the best two-tone song, but I can only listen to it once every five years. Do you think that's technically? Yeah, I don't think he actually voted it as number one, but he said technically it's the best because it's
01:19:11
Speaker
very powerful it's powerful it's the way it's constructed was to deliver a message and yeah it doesn't check any of my boxes no no no it's a very good and important song do i want to it's a fucking bummer it's a massive bummer yeah yeah esteban thoughts the boiler
01:19:36
Speaker
It's pretty sleepy. It's dark and it's powerful and it's five and a half minutes long. I couldn't imagine listening to the B-side, which is an instrumental you were saying. Yeah, the theme from the boiler. I couldn't imagine wanting to play that on and listening. Yeah, you're like, oh, just wiping beads of sweat off of your forehead after listening. You know what I need is a real come down. Let's listen to that whole thing again without any of the lyrics.
01:19:59
Speaker
10 minutes of my life. I think we got this one locked in. Yeah. It's up against the prince. The prince. Oh, yeah. Well, that's crazy. I'm sorry. That's sad. Like, you know, we're not. Hey, we're not misogynists over here.
01:20:17
Speaker
But I think in the criteria of what we're trying to do. No, I know. The boiler doesn't. I know. The optics aren't great is all I'm saying. We're choosing a prince, a male monarch, a huge feminist message. The song sucks. Hey, I've got to vote for the prince. I'm just saying, the options are bad. If we were liking things for personalities, the world would be a lot better. But the song is just not good.
01:20:46
Speaker
It means well. It means well. Three, two, one. The Prince. Yay. This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Yeah, the Prince. The Prince, I got it. Now a matchup I've been waiting for. Tears of a Clown, the one and only beat single on two tone, the 1979 single. I didn't know there was a song about you crying, Rob.
Cover Songs and Unique Interpretations
01:21:16
Speaker
I'm a clown. You're not a clown. This is the one and only beat single from Two Tone. Ranking Full Stop is the B-side. I love that song because it's ranking Roger School. The song itself is a cover of Smokey Robinson classic. The B-side. It would be. Oh, I already said that what it is. Okay, let's play it. Let's play it.
01:21:45
Speaker
Some new wavy, some new wavy, but got a one drop. Yeah, true. It's a bit of, I like the song, it's a good song, it's one of the only two songs that I like, but just like, putting it amongst the identity of those guys, like, oh, I like this one. I have it on my Spotify, on my Spotify, like 23and3 playlist, so I play that song to learn it. And every time I hear it, I'm just like, I don't want to hear it, but I like the song, it's a good song, I want to hear it. Yeah, totally.
01:22:14
Speaker
when you're sick of a song, but you're like, ah, but it's so good, though. Dang it. Yeah. It's like, to be up in 2019, when my 2018 playlist came on, and out of here, she's kerosene for a whole year, and I'm just like, oh, this one. But that's also a really good song. I know. I do like that song. When she's kerosene comes on, I'm like, oh. She's kerosene is a banger. I know. I'm like, it's a good song.
01:22:40
Speaker
Yeah, I know I yeah my friend's band covers it I'm like I'm like I'm not I'm not gonna do and then I'm like I am gonna go skate times and I'm gonna sing along yeah in an anthemic way after your middle finger in the air and shit yeah crying her problem tears of it and that's where tears of a clown is about just vaguely towards a Where's Kevin Kevin
01:23:07
Speaker
Flipping you off in the abyss. To Alex Jones. We're throwing the middle finger to Alex Jones. Of course. And God. And God. Tear the whole thing down. OK, the Higgsons are back. Let's see if they can dethrone the beat.
01:23:25
Speaker
Here we go Punk funk band that issued a couple singles on two-tone had a wide-ranging career in their own right This is a pretty punk song about tearing shit down Ylang ylang is the b-side, but this is the single tear the whole thing down by the Higgsons
01:23:49
Speaker
It's pretty fun. Rob's going in. It is really fun. Rob turned out to just go Rob. Just go Rob's here. Just go Rob came to play. Just go Rob is a different Rob. It's a specific Rob. He's happier than regular Rob. Big smile. Look at the big smile. He is happier and danceier than regular Rob. This is good. Yeah. This has got some talking heads energy.
01:24:17
Speaker
This is yeah, we and what was this band again? And I went back and I listened to their two Okay, cuz I like really good new I think do the new waves Wow
01:24:35
Speaker
It reminds me of the talking heads were a lot more pissed off and punk rock. And their bass player, who's great? I love the talking bass player. This is the best punk disco song that was on the docket. But then the question is, is it better than Tears of a Clown? And does it deserve to go on to the next round? Those are questions that we're going to answer very shortly. Okay. I feel... What do you think about it, Esteban? Tears of a Clown is a good song. It's a really good song.
01:25:05
Speaker
So really, this is a matchup of tears versus tears. Yeah, you got it. So this is really a matchup of tears versus tears. The English language is stupid. It's really confusing. It's spelled the same way too. Are you sure it's not? Yeah, that's really stupid. Are you sure it's not tears or tear?
01:25:51
Speaker
Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king. Tears of a king.
01:26:05
Speaker
What was the movie, I know we have to do a vote, but what was the mood where the dude got bisected upside down? I watched that and it was disgusting. Like split him up and then just like split him up. I can't remember what that was. I want to say a song. Okay, I know how I'm voting. Yeah. Three, two, one. Tear the whole thing down.
01:26:14
Speaker
Terrifier one. I haven't seen it. I actually just read the Wikipedia about it.
01:26:30
Speaker
Did we really do that? I was just bored of Tears of a Clown. It's not my favorite beat song. I said, I said tears of a clown. Did you say tears of a clown? What do you mean? Oh, you just fucked me up by saying that. Okay, so you said tears of a clown. Estefan said tears of a clown. I said tear the whole thing down. I said tear the whole thing down. Oh, another, another. This is it. This is the last one. Also, I have a result on the last one. We have a definitive answer for the other one.
01:26:58
Speaker
Okay. So the B side. Okay. Here's the problem. Cause the B side to tears of a clown is ranking full stop. Okay. Uh, which is a fucking awesome.
01:28:20
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. So it's going up against Ylang Ylang.
01:29:16
Speaker
I think it's free. Yeah, unfortunately, I know how I'm voting. Yeah, those two. The first one. Yeah. Ranking full stop versus the labeling. Yeah. Raking full stop. OK. Three, two, one. Raking full stop. Full stop. So so Tears of the Clown made it through. And then what's the answer? So the answer is we had several people in Discord ring in and they all basically they all said, yeah, we got we got to the same point.
01:29:44
Speaker
And we all said it was close. But they all voted too much too young. Too much too young unanimous from the Discord.
01:29:58
Speaker
So be mad at everyone. No, I'm mad at every man. Was there any ladies voting in on that? So the Higgsons and the body snatchers are both voted out. OK. So here's here's where we're at. This is what next round is going to look like. Gangsters versus three minute hero.
01:30:20
Speaker
on my radio versus a message to Rudy, Ghost Town versus Too Much Too Young Live, and the Prince versus Tears of the Clown. This is a pretty two-tony final. Pretty two-tony. Yeah. All right. Place your bets over here. I got 500 on gangsters. Place your bets over here.
01:30:38
Speaker
that's that's to Tony Tony thinks gangsters we have to build this character over the next two episodes make it and I'm gonna be like oh my god Tony's gonna break my legs
01:30:57
Speaker
I had a game but we don't have time for it so that's fine. Esteban, thank you so much for doing the bracket again. What have you got to plug?
01:31:09
Speaker
Uh, one of those dropping again, this is dropping in the 15th, like mid-march mid-march. Yeah. How about that?
Upcoming Shows and Merch Promotion
01:31:14
Speaker
So if it's the 15th, I'm playing in Mexico city, uh, this weekend at Viva Latino, we're opening up for mana, paramour, scorpions, uh, gogoro bodello. Uh, I'm one of the, one of, I'm one of the only two Scott acts playing there with out of control army. And then I'll be coming back and, uh, getting ready for the SPI fest. And then in April, Matamosa is playing in Mexico city, the Luca Mexico. And we're playing in.
01:31:38
Speaker
I believe Guanajuato, something like that. So I don't know if we have any Mexican fans over there. And yeah, I think that's about it for right now. I got a couple singles coming out. Hopefully it'll be out by then. One's coming out. I mean, that's a lot of stuff. Yeah, I know. And it's a cover of the Drifters under the Boardwalk in Rocksteady. Oh, hell yeah. Featuring members of Steady45, Inspector, Yajasquina, and a couple other groups. And that's about it.
01:32:03
Speaker
And yeah, I guess our plug, we will be at SPI Fest in May. We might as well be plugging around shit. So buy your tickets now that you know we're coming. Yep. If you weren't already going, now you're going to Connecticut. Scott, Connecticut. And you'll see a whole lot of us. We're going to be doing all kinds of shit. We'll be around. We told Chris, put us in, Coach. So you'll see a whole bunch of the SPI crew, the SPF. The best PI crew. The best PI crew. What am I? What am I? What do I represent? I have a plug. Yeah, go for it.
01:32:33
Speaker
Yeah, I have a video that's going to be on YouTube. Well, this is already it's already on YouTube. It's not on YouTube. It's not a no. Oh, when this comes out. Yes, this is the video to Black Cat. I did it. So yeah, I feel like talking about it, but it's good. It's objectively kind of my favorite part. My favorite part is when you miss the pool shot. Yeah, it's very good. It's a pool party. So there's a pool party and we're playing pool.
01:33:04
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Checkered Pass. Set us up on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok at checkeredpasspod, or send us an email at checkeredpasspod at gmail.com. To support the pod and get bonus content, including a full length and unedited video of this episode, sign up for the Checkered Head Patreon at patreon.com slash checkeredpass. The entire bracket is available right now on our Patreon feed if you want to get a glimpse of what things are to come.
01:33:27
Speaker
We have brand new merch available at checkerpass.ca. Joey. Yeah, we have more Ska. We have them in hoodies. And pullover hoodies. And pullover hoodies. And t-shirts. Yeah, buy it. It's cool. I've designed it. Yeah, Joey designed it. And I think everyone should pick up. They're cool. They're in Canadian dollars. They're two-tone. Get them for the two-tonement. They're checkery and Ska-y. Help us afford our trip to Connecticut by buying a couple hoodies. Yeah.
01:33:57
Speaker
This episode is engineered by Joey and edited by Arianne, I think. To follow along with the bracket and head over to shalange.com slash madnessmarch2024 to see how the match-ups are progressing. Next week, we'll continue madnessmarch with round three and first-timer Andy B of the world. Until next time, I'm Rob. And in the mortal words of the Higgsons, burn the whole thing down before the Yanks do.