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Madness March 2025 - The Trojan War Round 1 Part 2
160 Plays22 days ago
Madness March is upon us with another 32 song bracket to crown a winner! This time its to determine the greatest Ska standard of all time! In Round 1 Part 2 Joey, Celine and Rob eliminate 8 more songs of classic Jamaican Ska to advance to Round 2 making some tough, enraging and probably wrong calls.
Spotify Playlist
Madness March predictions are closed! Follow the bracket here
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Cutman
Theme Song by Keelan and Joey
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
Special Thanks: Mega Michi and Adam the Ska Mailman
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
In the spring of 2025 came classic ska to Edmonton. Checkered Pass took the music from the genre and put it to the pod, and came up with this bracket and called it, Hep, hep, hep, hep, the Trojan War!
00:00:13
Speaker
two two, three, four!
00:00:43
Speaker
Oh, what the fuck you doing with yourself?
00:00:53
Speaker
What up, Checkerheads? Welcome to Checker Pass, this podcast with Lynn and Rob. The show where a rock steady as she goes and a long shot kicked a lobster bucket. Explore the history and impact of a different band each episode. Hope to bring in new fans along the way.
00:01:06
Speaker
I'm Rob Marley and this is my sister and co-host, Salim and Dodd. I did kind of miss what you said. Rock steady as she goes. Okay. Long shot kicked a lobster bucket. What's that? Lobster Buckets and Aquabats. Okay. Yeah. So still old ska mixed with new ska? Yep.
00:01:21
Speaker
Yes. Okay. and Yep. Okay. That's the thing I'm doing.
Emotional Impact of Kids' Movies
00:01:25
Speaker
And this is my co-host with the most toast, Joey Cliff. Yeah. Whoa. there and I have done the most well now you're being the brave little toaster that was really those two brave and little I'm bigger than you though yeah but you did it little so what were the other characters you had the blanket you had the lamp that lamp you had the lamp too sad of a movie big schnoz but it was his bulb Too depressing. There was a blanket. Wasn't there like a heated blanket? It's an electric blanket. That was the saddest story. Yeah, yeah, yeah. strategy I'm getting stressed. and I can't. yeah you can't talk My nervous system is activated. triggering on the brave level Almost as sad as Dog Man.
00:02:05
Speaker
like dogs sobbed You cry the dog? Yeah, when Lil Peaty gets abandoned, I lost it. Oh, poor Lil Peaty. Lil fucking Peaty. They really drive it home in the movie. They make it so sad. Okay, so you got Lil... So is the villain the fish? The psychic fish?
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah, gab but like honestly, almost Petey's dad. Oh yeah. grand He's low-key the biggest villain. well he's He's the villain in the books too. Okay, because in my opinion, he was the worst one. Petey's dad is pretty bad.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, bad guy. Is ADHD in there? Yes. ADHD is awesome. He's an egg robot that they play with? Yeah, he's great. And it's like 8-0-HD. So it's like, that's funny.
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah. Because god Dav Pilkey, the creator, he has ADHD. And so he's like a big like ah proponent of like normalizing neurodivergency.
00:02:59
Speaker
yeah um He's the realist. He's actually like legit. That's fun. Yeah. I just didn't expect to sob at Dogman. Yeah. ah what are what is What's a kids movie that you've cried at? Oh my god. lyn All them. Every single one that Selim watches. She literally will not watch.
00:03:17
Speaker
She will not watch kids movies these days because she doesn't want to have to cry in the middle of them. And I'm like, that's just a story arc. It just has a sad part that gets resolved to do a happy part at the end. That's the act two conclusion. Sometimes it doesn't. The dark night of the soul. yeah That's on the hero's journey. Sometimes it's kind of neutral.
00:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, so everyone. All of them. Not all of them. yeah you guys like Trolls. i don't cry in trolls. i didn't cry in trolls world. I do not cry at minions, and I do not cry at trolls.
00:03:52
Speaker
Yes. It's pretty hard to cry at Minions. Yeah, that's true. And re-watching all of the Illumination movies recently, I've not cried at a single I don't cry at Space Jam. No? Not a tear. No, okay.
00:04:03
Speaker
Okay. okayt Etc. Spice World, though. I don't cry. Cry every time. No. You guys watching Win or Lose? The Pixar Disney show? No. no Fucking awesome. Will that make me cry? Yes. Okay.
00:04:17
Speaker
That's the thing is they do it on purpose. like Disney and Pixar, they like do it on purpose. yeah like They tug at your heartstrings. And they know how to do it better than ever. They can do it in like a five minute short.
00:04:28
Speaker
yeah And I'm sobbing. That stupid ah little bird. Yeah. The the volcano. Yeah. Messed me up. Yeah. The bird, the volcano messed me up. have no idea what you're referencing. Two different shorts. Pixar shorts. That made me cry. I used to make fun of our mom for crying at Homeward Bound.
00:04:46
Speaker
And now I'm... And you're there. It's full circle. Yeah. All right, let's do it. we have ah We have a bracket to get to.
Ska Music Bracket and History
00:04:56
Speaker
This is Madness March. All month long, we're doing a March Madness-style bracket to pit 32 classic Jamaican ska songs in head-to-head battle to determine once and for all the greatest ska standard of all time.
00:05:06
Speaker
Thanks for everyone who voted their predictions. If you want to follow along, the bracket is at challenge.com. Challenge. Slash the Trojan War. Here's how it's going to work. Today is round one, part two. If you haven't listened to the pre-show round one, part one, you should go back and catch yourself up.
00:05:22
Speaker
And the next three weeks, we'll have guests eliminating half the tracks each week until an ultimate winner is crowned. In the event of a tie, we'll go to Discord to break it with the loyal checkerheads. What is Jamaican ska, you may ask? I can't believe it took us over three years to talk about it.
00:05:38
Speaker
Formed in Jamaica in the late 1950s by combining the local sounds of Mento and Calypso with the R&B and Jump Blues imported by American soldiers in the aftermath of World War II. Thanks to DJs and sound system operators such as Prince Buster, Cox and Dodd, and Duke Reed, the style was brought to the forefront by hiring local musicians to create a style that was definitively Jamaican, which coincided with the liberation of the country from the English in the early 60s.
00:06:02
Speaker
This culminated in the release of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop in 1964 that exploded internationally, becoming Jamaica's first commercially successful song. Studios on Orange Street, such as Studio One and Treasure, became hotspots for local bands to record.
00:06:15
Speaker
With slower soul music becoming more popular in the U.S., the Scott Sound slowed to create Rocksteady in the late 60s before slowing further to the more African-forward reggae by the seventy s Many Jamaicans began immigrating to the UK in the 1960s, including the legendary Duke Reed, who founded Trojan Records and imported numerous Jamaican releases that exploded in popularity, creating the crossover hits that we are talking about today.
00:06:38
Speaker
Hence why we're calling it the Trojan War. All right. Do you remember, and and since this is the second record of the day, what your criteria is for what you're looking for in a Jamaican ska song?
00:06:51
Speaker
Joey Woods. Yes. Maybe. I know. We just... like just wrote No, but I don't remember mine. Groovers in the Heart. Yep. ah Piano. Yep.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah. And I wanted a hook. day Yours are easy to remember. Yeah. yeah Mine was like anti-authority, a little edge kind of gri little grit. And then I said, yeah, not...
00:07:16
Speaker
all white people. Yep. And then catchy. Yeah. And then you also said lady vocals. so Sometimes. Because there's some songs that are still good. And I said I like it better when it's an instrumental.
00:07:30
Speaker
I prefer the ska rock steady stuff over the reggae stuff. And I like when the production is shitty. Yeah. That's what I like. I like the one take. I've been voting right in line so far. I've been feeling very pretty good about it.
00:07:43
Speaker
Usually I don't. Usually I'm been going on vibes. Yeah, that's true. Usually you're... ah Would you say this time is more with your heart or is usually the vibes more with your heart? Vibes are more with my heart because i I'll stray from the criteria. Right, right, right. But this time around, I feel like a'm more like, like pointed.
00:08:01
Speaker
This is what I'm Right, this is a more intellectual bracket for you. That's right. That's why I'm wearing this monocle. Yes. um And the way it works is we're going to play two songs back to back and ah we will decide which one is the ultimate winner. We'll say three, two, one, say our choice altogether and the majority rules and that song will progress.
00:08:21
Speaker
So let's start with the first track.
Influential Ska Tracks Discussion
00:08:23
Speaker
This is Rocksteady, recorded in 1967 by the godfather of Rocksteady himself, Alton Ellis. It is backed by Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, credited with naming the up-and-coming genre, but did not chart overseas, Alton Ellis' Rocksteady.
00:08:45
Speaker
Minor Hell yeah.
00:08:54
Speaker
That's good stuff. That's that's good chillin' tunage. You know? Chillin' tunage. Good chillin' tunage. It's rockin' pretty steady.
00:09:07
Speaker
Just like Uncle Freddy. Yeah. I think he just was like, what rhymes with steady? Freddy.
00:09:17
Speaker
My high is heady. What else you got? I'm snuggling with my teddy. There you go. I'm snuggling with my Betty.
00:09:28
Speaker
Whoa. but For those who can see on the Patreon, there's a Betty here. A Betty dog.
00:09:39
Speaker
That is a fun That's a jam. It is like hot summer night type oh Sorry, guys. Sorry. a Hot summer night, chilling out type of jam, for sure.
00:09:49
Speaker
We said it on the previous episode that there's going to be very few whiffs. like It's just like... yeah And it's going to get tighter and tighter as the as it goes on It's just like we're going to get having a tougher and tougher matches. First round eliminations are like good songs. Yeah.
00:10:05
Speaker
Like the second ones are like going to be classics. I think no no winner is going to be a controversial one overall, I think. yeah it could be justified i guess maybe it could be justified maybe i've been wrong before smoked a little weed before this record but my tolerance is low because i've been coming back so much but it does change the experience of the music does it yeah that's good because before the same before part one yeah i was not high and now i'm a
00:10:37
Speaker
fairly high so that song was like you were like hell i was yeah was in the zone yeah i was in the zone i was locked in you know a little more locked in yeah that's fair it's just something to think about it's really nothing to think about throwing a curveball to the listeners who try play the game You know what mean? There's just like a different experience in two halves of round one. It's to keep it interesting. Yeah, that's right. you on your toes. They can't predict if move so over or high.
00:11:07
Speaker
over her eyes
00:11:10
Speaker
Maybe I'll have a drink. Be a little tipsy next time. It's going up against Monkey Man. Oh yeah, baby. Recorded in 1969. It's a track about a spurned love in Toots' amalgamated style.
00:11:21
Speaker
Hit number 47 on UK charts and is covered by everyone from the specials to Amy Winehouse to Real Big Fish. This is Toots and the Maytalls with Monkey Man.
00:11:42
Speaker
Joey's locked in. Yep. Your favorite song ever, out of all time. It's pretty up there. Yeah.
00:11:52
Speaker
I mean, that last song was real fucking good, but this is Monkey Man. This is Monkey Man. You know what mean? Yeah, I do. You know what I'm talking about? I do know what you're talking about.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, I think everyone knows what you mean. tough. Tough to beat. Yeah.
00:12:13
Speaker
Yeah. So do you think pressure drop should have been in here instead?
00:12:20
Speaker
Or 5446 was my number? I think pressure drop is my favorite of the three, which is like tough to say. But no, I think you made the right choice. I'm pretty sure Monkey Man was the right choice.
00:12:35
Speaker
Goddamn pressure drops the fucking dirt belt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Someone will be mad. Yeah. I'll guarantee that. For sure. I don't do anything expecting everyone to be happy.
00:12:48
Speaker
I'm really enjoying my life right now, you guys. It's great. yeah Life's good. Life is life is good. yeah What was that accent? Yeah, what was that?
00:12:58
Speaker
Oh, that's from... What is that from? Futurama? Life is good. Yeah. it's from I think from Futurama. I'm just like, random reference. That makes no sense that was just locked in your brain. That's super fair. yeah i would Relatable.
00:13:16
Speaker
Relatable. um I know how I'm voting. Yeah, me too. Three, two, one. Monkey Man. Yeah, again, Rocksteady's only problem is that it's not Monkey Man. Yeah, 100%. So that's going to be tough for other songs, being not Monkey Man. Yeah, it's really hard for every other song on the branch. Joey, should have been one of your criteria. Is it Monkey Man? But I don't want to. Or is it not Monkey Man?
00:13:41
Speaker
I don't want to heavily favor Monkey Man that far. You are but That's not something you can control. don't Some of the songs from the last episode are competition for Monkey Man. For sure. so And there's even a couple on this episode that are competition for Monkey Man.
00:14:00
Speaker
Whoa. This next matchup is going to be a couple clean production songs. So the first one, recorded in 1970 and penned by Jimmy Cliff himself, covered by Desmond Decker shortly after, which hit number two on the UK charts.
00:14:13
Speaker
This is Jimmy Cliff's You Can Get It If You Really Want It, ah which became very popular when it was featured in the 1972 film The Harder They Come. The original song did not chart, but obviously the soundtrack to The Harder They Come exploded. And this is where people remember it from. So this is not the Desmond Decker version. This is the Jimmy Cliff version. You can get it if you really want it.
00:14:41
Speaker
This song, I think, of all the songs we're going to play, has the most streams on Spotify. You can get it if you really want. You can get it if you really want.
00:14:53
Speaker
But you must try, try and try.
00:15:02
Speaker
It's crazy good. 110 million streams on Spotify. Wow. Wow.
00:15:12
Speaker
hundred and ten million streams on spotify wow That's crazy. Yeah. But Jimmy Cliff has a song with more streams. 200 million. Do you know which song that would be? No.
00:15:25
Speaker
No. It is I Can See Clearly Now. Oh, yeah. That would make sense. Yeah. Not a ska song. So not in the bracket. what it like Is it just from several movies? No.
00:15:40
Speaker
But I can see clearly now. Was it an ant? Yes. Okay, that's what I know it from. I was like, oh well, I just know that I knew it as a kid. And I was like, well, why did I knew it like as a kid like so poorly? But I'm like, maybe ant? Did that movie make you cry like when the one ant's head gets chopped off?
00:15:58
Speaker
No, a little. My nervous system was activated, but not crying. yeah All right, it's going up against... Rudy got married recorded in 1980. This is the latest song on this list. Okay.
00:16:13
Speaker
Yeah. No, do the thing. You should go first by the godfather of Scott. Laurel Aitken released 20 years after he began making music. He began making Mento music before he made Scott, but it's his only charting single.
00:16:27
Speaker
He hit night. It was number 60 on the UK charts just because Scott was big at the time and he was able to kind of sneak himself in there. So, But he recorded hundreds of songs before we got to this stage. it yeah So many. Well, didn't we talk about that on the the Techniques?
00:16:44
Speaker
Yeah. episode like man So many songs. yeah what song So many songs. yeah the number The number one, he's the godfather of Scott, Laurel Aiken. Wild.
00:16:55
Speaker
Sorry, you had something you were going to say Yeah, this is my ah Conspiracy Theory song. okay wella And I think that... the Bedouin sound clash. No, sorry, of magic.
00:17:10
Speaker
Yeah. Marry that girl. yeah That Rudy marriage song. I think that's a prequel to this song. Whoa. Interesting. I think that the guy in that song. Yeah.
00:17:23
Speaker
uh asks the dad and the dad says no and he's like i'm gonna do it anyway and then and then he got married he got married anyway very interesting yeah but one happened so far after the other ah it's prequel prequel trilogy came out after the original star wars yeah come on now it's all tied together yeah right all tied together so yeah all right well this is laurel akins rudy got married
00:17:48
Speaker
You know how I said the reason was the worst song we played on the podcast? That magic song would be worse. What's wrong with that magic song? I that song. I said it on that podcast. Yeah, you were in a fan. I get like it's not really a good song, but... I know people love it. But it's catchy.
00:18:07
Speaker
That's fun.
00:18:11
Speaker
Just made like a two-tone song. Like it sounds like a selector. Yeah, it's true. Like...
00:18:19
Speaker
This a tough matchup. Yeah. This is a skank and clean. Clean versus clean.
00:18:33
Speaker
I like Wurlitzer or whatever. sounds pretty cool in this song. Sweet trombone. Hell yeah.
00:18:45
Speaker
Just honking away. Busy.
00:18:54
Speaker
yeah oh yeah um h I don't know. what Do you guys know? I'm locked in. Joey has been the the tough match person. yeah But Selene this time is the one.
00:19:08
Speaker
Okay, what's the second one called? So it's called rudy got married rudy Got Married. And you can get it if you really want it. ok Okay, okay, okay. Three, two, one.
00:19:20
Speaker
You can get it. Rudy Got Married. Whoa. Okay. but You can get it if you not don't want it. Honestly, you know, in theory, Jimmy Cliff's song is the one I should have picked.
00:19:32
Speaker
but rudy i But Rudy Got Married is very good. It's very like tough. that's why it was That's why I was struggling. And I'll be honest, you can get if you really want it.
00:19:42
Speaker
really want it. It's okay. yeah It's a classic. I get it. There aren't any flops. There's no flops. Maybe it's a little overplayed for me. Maybe it's why I'm kind of a little checked out of it.
00:19:55
Speaker
And actually... You know, I don't love it to be so Motown-y. I think I'm a little like... I like Motown, so maybe that's why it... And I will say, this song in particular is probably the hugest production yeah out of any song on the entire 32 songs. Right.
00:20:13
Speaker
And one of your stipulations is that you want shitty shit production. yeah So, I mean, and it's literally the opposite end of what you're looking for. so yeah It makes sense. Okay.
00:20:24
Speaker
feel okay about it. That one might be spicy. I think people are gonna be mad about that. Yeah, it's true. But Rudy got married. Rudy got married is great. I just was like, I had to go with my gut. That's what my gut said. Rudy.
00:20:36
Speaker
Rudy. Yeah, it's good. It's very good. It is good. All right, next we got Carrie Go Bring Come, recorded in 1963 in one take and produced by Duke Reed, as Duke Reed was wont to do.
00:20:49
Speaker
ah Predated Simmer Down by two months. Chart topper in Jamaica, but never a big hit in the UK until it was covered by The Selector. Justin Hines in the Dominoes. Carrie Go Bring Come. is an early ska track.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah, this is one of the ones where you do the old skank to. That monkey thing? Yeah.
00:21:14
Speaker
I mean, you could do that to any dance song, though. Yeah. But this one makes you want to do it. You know? Like, it feels right to dance that way.
00:21:27
Speaker
Yeah, right? You'd be being fucking obnoxious. Yeah, this is a hell good song. This side of the bracket has a lot more older ska songs. Yeah.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:51
Speaker
Hell yeah.
00:21:53
Speaker
just so good.
00:21:58
Speaker
And as much as i like the selector version, like I think the OG's a little bit better. Yeah. it hits a little harder. Like it's more of a party, I guess. The selector weren't really a party they so mad. Right. Yeah. Which fair. Yeah.
00:22:15
Speaker
Yeah. Fair. Totally. Relatable. And it is going up against Stranger Cole, a.k.a. Strange Ja Cole, Rough and Tough, recorded in 1969 and backed by the Scatolites. It is a reworking of his old song that he recorded with Duke Reed in 1962. So this is the second version because the Scatolites are backing him.
00:22:37
Speaker
ah Did not chart in the UK, but both versions are held in high esteem as genre classic. This is Stranger Cole, Rough and Tough.
00:22:55
Speaker
These ones are both very like swinging swingy kind of
00:23:25
Speaker
Is there like...
00:23:50
Speaker
Very evenly matched songs. Yeah. This is a tough choice because they're pretty similar. Yes. And if we had the old version of the song, it would be even more similar.
00:24:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah For sure. They would sound almost identical. Yeah. Okay. Give me a name of first one again. So there's Carrie, Go Bring Come. Yeah. And then Rough and Tough. Okay. And Tough.
00:24:14
Speaker
Okay. I think I know how I'm voting. Okay. Yeah. I think I'm locked in. Yeah. yeah Okay. Let's do this. Three.
00:24:22
Speaker
Carry-go-bring comb. Yeah. I just like that song better. I was like... yeah we we were locked in i like Rough and Tough, I i think, is like beloved ah by a lot of people. I think it's a little more boring. yeah I don't mean to mean about There's just something about it that was just a little more, yeah.
00:24:43
Speaker
I don't know. little less pizazz. Not like it's bad. No. No flops. No flops. Just no pizazz. Yeah. Or no pizzas, as I like to call it. No pizzas.
00:24:54
Speaker
um let's uh let's go into the next matchup we have okay this a this is two pretty big songs uh we got derrick morgan's housewives choice recorded in 1961 this might be earliest my housewives it's one of the earliest sky hits and was the impetus for a long battle between derrick morgan and prince buster ah who would make songs about each other over and over and over again.
00:25:22
Speaker
it's the old Kendrick and Drake. Yeah, because Prince Buster accused Derek Morgan of stealing his ideas. And then it just like they just kept writing songs about each other. i will say, the Prince Buster songs are very weird and kind of racist. And the Derek Morgan ones are kind of like high high scale. like He took the higher road when he did it.
00:25:44
Speaker
ah Okay. Whereas Prince Buster really dug deep. um The production was by Leslie Kong, and and it's a one of the most iconic ska rhythms of all time. This is Housewives Choice by Derek Morgan.
00:25:55
Speaker
Got that bounce. Yep. Pianney? How's it going? See? It's about the housewives marrying rich, but not really liking their husband to be wealthy. Housewives Choice.
00:26:13
Speaker
Yeah. Or almost dead. Oh yeah, i guess. inherit <unk>s my choice My choice is to to marry someone who's about to die. That's not really how it is anymore on the show. no and I'm not unfortunate. Unfortunately. Unfortunately, they're not just offing. They're not all just like, marrying all these ghouls.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, this is like, um...
00:26:42
Speaker
this is like a A song that if you weren't in the know, you wouldn't know who did it before, but you probably heard it on some compilation at some point.
00:26:54
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:26:59
Speaker
Like, I don't know where recognize this song, but as soon as it came on the playlist, I was like, oh, yeah. It does have female vocals sometimes. I think it was very sometimes. Yeah. I also think that song predates the electric bass in Ska, too. I think they're still using it. Yeah, right yeah it did sound like upright piano. Sounded like pretty ah old school accompaniment.
00:27:20
Speaker
Yeah, the whole thing with like electric basses came later because they were sick of carrying around ah the double basses when they had to perform because they're too heavy. Yeah. That was the only reason why they changed it because they're like, too heavy, give me a lighter one. They didn't even have the first guitar amps or bass amps because they didn't need to amplify guitars, they just needed to amplify the bass. Right.
00:27:40
Speaker
Good job. Gear in your bedroom. your bedroom. Gear in your bedroom. But it's going up against Long Shot Kick DeBucket, recorded in 1969, a sequel to Long Shot.
00:27:52
Speaker
It is a song about a shitty racehorse dying on the racetrack. The original song is about a shitty racehorse, so they really were like, okay, well. Poor horse. yeah And it's about a real horse, apparently. Poor horse. I did not realize that the song title was so literal.
00:28:09
Speaker
Yeah. It's... long shot kicked a bucket there's a lot of subtlety in old ska there really isn't no but sometimes when i see a phrase like that i'm like oh that's like a yeah a phrase that means something right elsewhere or something you know what i mean like i i don't expect it to be literally about a horse horse died yeah that this horse sounds like a kids movie
00:28:34
Speaker
Long shot, colon, kick the bucket. This was the second iteration of this band called the Pioneers, who had immigrated over to the UK, and this song hit number 21 on the UK charts.
00:28:46
Speaker
Let's listen to it. The Pioneers' long shot, kick the bucket. How do you think they got those covered wagons from Jamaica to the UK? Those are pioneers. Yeah. Let's see what you're doing.
00:28:59
Speaker
They did it on on the water. They just put some pontoons on it. They forded it. They just forded the pond.
00:29:13
Speaker
Oh, there's a guero or whatever that is.
00:29:19
Speaker
Yeah. That thing.
00:29:30
Speaker
harmony female vocals more times well not really just high i thought i heard a lady harmony but it's just high maybe there's a lady harmony in there maybe
00:29:47
Speaker
think i think there is yeah nice selen's ear sometimes not so bad lady singer sometimes
00:29:59
Speaker
gaslit myself. Man, you know? No gaslates you as I was like, no, couldn't be. Idiot. Hot damn. Long child kicked a bucket. Hey, yeah what a song. What a song. Going up against an iconic song.
00:30:16
Speaker
But I know how I'm voting. what did you Really that fast? Oh yeah. me too Housewives Choice versus Longshot Kicked the Bucket. Okay. Three. Two. One. Longshot Kicked the Bucket. That song is like incredible. That song is really fucking good. Yeah. Like a classic. Sorry Derek Morgan in Housewives Choice. yeah But that you went up against a banger man. Sorry dude. It happens.
00:30:39
Speaker
And that's going to take us to the break. And when we get back the last episode. Quarter of round one. Whoa.
00:30:58
Speaker
Welcome back to Checkered Pass. The CPSC crew is here and we're going through the last little bit of round one, part two of the Trojan War.
Danceable Ska Tunes
00:31:07
Speaker
And so next up we have Girlstown Ska, released in 1965, produced by Duke Reed for Treasure.
00:31:14
Speaker
It became an ongoing hit for the Baba Brooks Band, who became the house producer for numerous Ska releases. So if the Scatolites weren't the house band, probably the Baba Brooks band was. It wasn't a charting song, but it was covered by Derek Morrigan and re-released by Baba Brooks himself in the 2000s.
00:31:30
Speaker
This is Girlstown Ska. Hey, Styx, where are you going tonight? I'm going down by Girlstown. Girlstown Ska! Oh, yeah. That's a dancey tune.
00:31:41
Speaker
Yeah, this is right my alley.
00:31:47
Speaker
Their horn section is just so fucking tight. Oh yeah, that's a party. Yep. Yeah, this is good stuff.
00:31:57
Speaker
It's a good time. Yep.
00:32:10
Speaker
It's good dog petting music. Hell yeah. I'm grooving, man. You've been
00:32:21
Speaker
giving her on that cowbell. Or woodblock, or whatever the fuck.
00:32:39
Speaker
I'm grooving. I'm moving and I'm grooving. Hell yeah. Little ripping soul there. Not bad at all. Girls Town Ska.
00:32:50
Speaker
but there was no no to yeah But was it Girls Sometimes? Yeah, in the song title. yeah i guess third A third of the song titles. I guess we'll have to take it. us gals it's going up against red red wine released in 1969 it's a cover of the neil diamond song and predates the ub40 version by over a decade big hit in jamaica and the uk where it hit number 46 on the charts this is tony tribe red red wine
00:33:23
Speaker
Is there like LGBTQ plus representation within a lot of this music? Probably not. Yeah, no. A little bit of a homophobic occurrence that goes through some Jamaican music. You gotta kind of watch out for yeah Especially this time, I would assume.
00:33:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker
It just bounces so much harder this version than in the UB40 one. Oh, yeah. UB40 version is like mom grocery store version of this.
00:34:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:22
Speaker
This is a fun matchup. Yeah. Girlstown ska red, red wine. think I think where I'm going to vote though. Yeah. Yeah. stuff But I, yeah, i think I'm, I think I'm good. Yeah. Okay. Sure.
00:34:35
Speaker
yeah Your vibe is different. Your vibe is so much cooler. You're like, um cool. I got this. What was my vibe before?
00:34:46
Speaker
imp Pensive. pensive intent You're like, hmm, what should I do? Now you're like, I'm cool. I'm cool, guys. yeah i got it. yeah I don't want to waste time. You're not wasting my time. The clock is ticking at a respectable rate. and no Wait, the clock ticking my... Roughly one second per second.
00:35:06
Speaker
Respectable. Three, two, one. Girls Town Ska. Fair. It's good song. girl And also girls. Girls.
00:35:20
Speaker
Girls, girls, girls. That version of Red Red Wine goes real hard. It does go super hard. Superior to the UB40. But I think I'm also colored by the UB40 version a a little bit. Yeah. So it kind of like takes the sting out of that version a little. and Yeah.
00:35:34
Speaker
I don't know. Again, i just little like of just a skanky tune. Boba Brooks is doing it. Yep. All right, next we got ah Liquidator. Released in 1969 as a classic of the skinhead boss reggae genre with its distinct keyboard line.
00:35:51
Speaker
Reach number nine on the UK charts and its reissue in 1980 hit number 42. This is Harry J All-Stars with Liquidator. Liquidator.
00:36:04
Speaker
but
00:36:09
Speaker
that
00:36:15
Speaker
Me being in this chair, look so small. Compared to you two, like, being so, like, really good. Yeah, way down there. tiny. I look like I'm so small. I will say, your guys' chair situation is so much cozier than mine. was hurting my back. What do you got? Nothing. Just the shitty... Like, at home.
00:36:33
Speaker
Oh, no, no, that's what I'm talking about. you just mean in general. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was complaining because my back was hurting. but I'm not... Do you want something better? No.
00:36:43
Speaker
Not at all. to get you a better chair. No, actually, I need the ergonomic support because I'm leading the pod. The Ikea support. Ikea ergonomic support.
00:36:55
Speaker
Well, I'm on the haunted chairs. This is a fucking jam. Yeah, Liquidator is crazy good.
00:37:06
Speaker
pretty hard. Boop, boop. Boop, boop, boop, boop,
00:37:16
Speaker
Just iconic, you know? Like, I can't get tired of that keyboard line. It's just so good. So good. And it's going up against I'm in the Mood for Ska, released in 1965. It's a cover of the American Songbook song from 1935 and was a local hit in Jamaica.
00:37:33
Speaker
Had a surprising resurgence in 1990 when it was featured in an ad and reached the number 58 on the UK charts that same year. I'm in the Mood for Ska Lord Tanamo.
00:37:52
Speaker
The original is not I'm in the mood for Scott, though. It's I'm in the mood for love. In the American songbook. In the American songbook. It's called I'm in the mood for love. And he doesn't say I'm in the mood for Scott at all in this song, but it's implied in the title. I don't know Maybe it's in class.
00:38:14
Speaker
I believe there's a version... ah The Scott Lights featuring Laurel Aiken on this CD that I have right here is a live version of this. Oh. And it is so good. And he says Scott. Oh, nice. Because he's the godfather of Scott, that Laurel Aiken. Yeah. He's got to he's got talk the talk. It's not just about Rudy getting married.
00:38:34
Speaker
No. But yeah, that's a version of that song. This song that I know better than this one.
00:38:43
Speaker
I'd say this is closer to the original. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:49
Speaker
Especially the way he's singing it. Yeah. More of like an old, old school, like pop yeah music. In the other version, he takes some liberties. For sure. I did have a little yawn.
00:39:03
Speaker
Oh. That's fair. i am tired. Yeah. So that was it was a non sequitur. But no, more like, but it i like it but it I'm just saying it could contribute, but but I also did John.
00:39:16
Speaker
You know? Yeah, yeah, I got you. I think it was column A and column B. Ah, yes. see what you're saying. Yeah. I do know how I'm voting. I know how I'm voting. It's the first one. We got liquidator and I'm in the mood for Scott. Okay, okay.
00:39:30
Speaker
Three.
00:39:33
Speaker
Liquidator. Yeah, definitely. Didn't you find the second one just like a touch boring? I don't love the vocal delivery in it. it yeah It is a classic. Like, I've heard that song a bajillion times. not saying it's a bad song. just saying it might have been a touch boring. I've heard Liquidator a whole bunch too, and I'm just not as sick of it. I could listen to that song like probably on repeat for a while.
00:39:56
Speaker
But will say, like, the the skinhead melody or the skinhead medley from... um uh from the special aka every song that was in there is moving along it looks like whoa oh did skinhead moonstomp progress yes yes yes then yes then every song from that so guns of navarone liquidator ah skinhead moonstomp and long shot kicked a bucket are all in round two i feel like we made good choices yeah i'm okay with so far i'm i'm very okay we only have four tracks left Byron Jamaica Ska released in 1964 It's a song about Ska By one of its originators It was attempted to cross over To the US but that failed And But it did make a chart Appearance in Canada Weirdly enough This is the Canada connection It became famous when Fishbone covered it for the film Back to the Beach This is Byron Lee and the Dragonairs Jamaica Ska
00:40:57
Speaker
um I also yawned when you were talking. so That also could be you. I see. I'm not sure how to take it. This is pretty on the nose.
00:41:10
Speaker
Byron Lee is on the nose all the time. He has played literally every style of Jamaican music. Has he done songs in every style about the style? i think so. i think he has one that's called Jamaica Calypso, Jamaica Mento, Jamaica Reggae.
00:41:25
Speaker
exactly sweet jamaica dance hall he has a shtick love
00:41:37
Speaker
it and uh byron lee is of mixed race descent is uh chinese and jamaican i believe cool swing arms shake your hips got it
00:41:52
Speaker
Do a dip. Do a dip. Ska, Ska, Ska. Ska, Ska, Ska. So many Ska's. Yeah. If you didn't know you were listening to Ska.
00:42:03
Speaker
It is nice to be reminded. Yeah. You're just like, what genre is this? Ska, Ska, Ska.
00:42:11
Speaker
I mean, rock talks about rock a lot. Metal talks about metal a lot. That's true. It's fine. Metal I listen to talks about metal. A lot. All the time. Yeah. um It's going up against Snoopy vs. the Red Baron released in 1973. It's a cover of the Royal Guardsmen novelty song from a decade prior by an all-white UK reggae pop group called Hot Shots. ah oh Song was a surprise hit and reached number four in the UK, Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.
00:42:45
Speaker
So, my dad had this record when I was a kid. The Hot Shots version or the old one? Nope, had a record 40 Funky... forty funky There's another F word. Hits.
00:43:01
Speaker
And it was like all novelty songs. no It was like Snoopy and Red Baron and Purple People Eater. All those songs. The bikini song. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the chip and I fucking love this song. yeah And I love this version of this song.
00:43:17
Speaker
It's so good. Outside of Weird Al, I think my favorite novelty song is They're Coming to Take Me Away. That's a good one. It's an incredible song. To the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time. They're not faking Jamaican.
00:43:32
Speaker
No. They're just straight up doing... Yeah.
00:43:37
Speaker
But this does have a beat that does speak pretty closely to the Judge Dredd beat. Oh yeah, yeah. It's no surprise of what the all-white bands are sounding like. I feel like i never really like understood the story like as a kid, and I kind of still don't.
00:43:56
Speaker
It's like World War Okay, well, i already bummed out. The Red Baron is like the fighter ace from Germany. Yeah, and what does he have to do with Snoopy? last Snoopy shoots him down.
00:44:07
Speaker
Like the Snoopy? Yeah, like Snoopy like flying around on his little house. And no one sued him? the songwriters yeah i don't think charles m schultz is just like highly litigious i'm pretty sure i mean if it was now it might be no it might be different in uk law but like over here that's like fair use like singing about a thing because it's like satire too yeah but it's not murder and it's a children's doesn't matter character done that war it's for you I guess it's like Watership Down as war and murder. yeah
00:44:40
Speaker
Also, like I seem to recall seeing like an animated version of the original song. Yeah, I think so too. In the original animation yeah style. So I assume they were all in on it. Everybody was making money off of this thing, I think.
00:44:55
Speaker
Okay, I'm ready to vote. Chuck Schultz. Chuck Schultz, not Charles M. Chucky Schultz. No, that's why I call him Chuck. You're close. I'm ready. ah Yeah, I'm ready to it. Three, two, one. Jamaican sky. That's the biggest mistake you guys have made.
00:45:11
Speaker
You're going with nostalgia. What a terrible choice. You're going with nostalgia. And like that's why I think I can't do it. been played too much and... It's pretty goofy. I don't know if I like i have it in me to progress like a silly song like that.
00:45:24
Speaker
like and That's a novelty song. You'll feel the wrath of the listeners, I'm sure. From Snoopy versus the Red Baron? Yep. If you're a listener and you think that this is the biggest injustice of this whole bracket, at Checkered Past on all the socials. Let's see who put Snoopy versus the Red Baron the way end. like people will be happy we chose Jamaican ska. I'm not.
00:45:45
Speaker
I'm We have successfully eliminated all the white people. They're all gone. So i mean that it good now now it's... Now it's... Yeah. yeah Now Solon's criteria is all collapsed on itself. okay Not collapsed in on itself.
00:46:01
Speaker
It's more like... Consolidated. Hit me up Snoopy and the Red Baron heads. But we should do a Snoopy and the Red Baron shirt. No, it does it dot why because Toaster is a good one.
00:46:17
Speaker
brave little toast brave little toasters so much big little toasters a good one yeah All right, here we Last matchup. this is This is one of the big ones. Israelites, released in 1968. It's a Ska Rocksteady monster hit about Desmond Decker's favorite topics.
00:46:33
Speaker
Nuh-uh, Rudy. Don't do it. No, no, It is the first Jamaican Ska to hit number one in the UK, spurring an interest in reggae and Ska in the country, and even hit number nine in the US.
Reggae and Ska Crossovers
00:46:43
Speaker
Desmond Decker and the Aces Israelites.
00:46:50
Speaker
And it was hard to not put 007 Shantytown. This is a wild matchup. Very difficult. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is crazy. Realize.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah, that little low yeah thing is so cool.
00:47:11
Speaker
I just love that Desmond Decker just always had songs about how he was like upset that all the rude boys were acting like fools. And they're all like, yeah, this is about us. We love it.
00:47:30
Speaker
Yeah, that bass singer. Crushing it.
00:47:36
Speaker
Normally I like a more horn-forward ska song, but... Hot damn this song, man. That little run.
00:47:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's very cool.
00:47:55
Speaker
The Mill and Colin cover of this song is so weird. I may have blocked it from my memory.
00:48:03
Speaker
Me poor. Me poor. He goes like that int that. That's not and's so good Or... It's going up again.
00:48:14
Speaker
Tide is High, released in 1967. Rocksteady. This is Rocksteady v. Rocksteady. Written by John Holt. Produced by Duke Reed. Performed by the Paragons. like These songs were released about a year apart from each other.
00:48:27
Speaker
Crossover hit gained traction the UK when it was DJed by U-Roy. And from there, it got covered by Blondie. And the rest is history. This is the Paragons with the Tide is High.
00:48:37
Speaker
It's been interpolated and covered and covered and...
00:48:45
Speaker
And one of the covers is the intro to the Hilary Duff movie. Really? Yeah.
00:49:03
Speaker
I think the the way that they did the harmonies here where it's like, it's a three-part harmony, but they're all at different tempos yeah of the lyric, which is super cool.
00:49:45
Speaker
It's got the hook.
00:49:51
Speaker
It's sung very well. dang Yeah. there's damn Because for something that's kind of played a lot, that version is still kind of like, you know, special enough that...
00:50:02
Speaker
It sets it apart, I guess, because of you hear so many other versions of it. that's true. Yeah, for sure. yeah The original. So it doesn't feel overplayed because it sounds... I don't know.
00:50:12
Speaker
It's kind of a timeless ah element. yeah Yeah, and I would say, like, you the more... The more modern versions that you hear of it are probably takes on Blondie's version of it.
00:50:23
Speaker
So to go this far back, it's like even more surprising because the version that we hear is already from a different version. Yeah. You know what i mean? Yeah. Yeah. Cause it's cover of a cover is usually what we hear. Yeah. Yeah. Totally.
00:50:35
Speaker
Yeah. little bit of a musical telephone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I know how voting. Me too. Excellent.
00:50:45
Speaker
I don't know. Whoa. This is a tough one. You think or no? I think it's a tough call for sure. It's a tough matchup, but I'm happy with my choice. Yeah, me too. I'll go.
00:50:57
Speaker
Three, two, one. Israelites. Me poor. And that's it. So let's do a quick recap of this part of round two We're going have Monkey Man versus Rudy Got Married. well Carrie Go Bring Come versus Longshot Kickedie Bucket. whoa Girlstown Ska versus The Liquidator.
00:51:20
Speaker
Jamaica Ska versus Israelites. Oh, man. Oh, boy. There's so much. All right. How do y'all feel? We feel like we made the right calls.
00:51:32
Speaker
me yes Yeah, sure. We had to. We had to. Because we we made it. We made it there for It was correct. i I feel like I locked in with my intuition. Yeah. The second round was more you were in the zone. In the zone. More in the zone. Yeah.
00:51:45
Speaker
I love it. So after this, we got round two, and we're going to bring in some guests. Oh, yeah. so Thanks for listening to Checkered Past. Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky, YouTube, and TikTok at Checkered Past Pod, or send us an email at checkeredpastpod at gmail.com.
00:51:57
Speaker
To support the pod and get bonus content, including a full-length and unedited video of this episode, sign up for the Checkerhead Patreon at patreon.com slash checkeredpast. We also have merch available at checkeredpast.ca.
00:52:09
Speaker
This episode is edited by Cutman and engineered by Joey. Special thanks to Chris Reeves, Megamichi, and Adam Neska, Mailman, for making this podcast happen. Thanks also to Keelan and Joey ah for making the Trojan War theme song. wo You can follow along the bracket at challenge.com slash the Trojan War. and And until next time, I'm Rob. ah soin Or whatever my name is now.
00:52:33
Speaker
In the immortal words of the Paragons, we want to be your number one podcast.