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10. JFK and the Conspirators (w/ Witchpolice Radio)
165 Plays4 years ago
Tell me baby what wrong have I done you and why are you not listening to Checkered Past: The Ska'd Cast? Rob and Celine welcome Sam Thompson of the award-winning Winnipeg podcast Witchpolice Radio to discuss JFK and the Conspirators! They chat about the fertile Manitoba ska scene of the 90s/00s, the legitimacy of Beatles worship and the charm of the Canadian Prairies. Plus the debut of a new game: Boots, Bugs and Bruh We Ain't Got No Label!
Plus: The return of the technical difficulties fairy! You may experience some minor changes in the sound quality through the episode
Hosts: Celine and Rob Engineer: Joey Producer: Arianne Theme Song: OaO by Mad Bomber Society
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Checkered Past the Skycast'
00:00:01
Speaker
On this episode we conspire to mash up titans and mayors as we delve into the legendary Manitoba Tradska Realists JFK and the Conspirators on Checkered Past the Skycast.
00:00:34
Speaker
All right, welcome to Checkered Past the Skycast with Celine and Rob. The show where a check-it Ralph and a Penelope pit scop explore the history and impact of a different band each episode and hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm Rob, and this is my sister and co
Siblings' Banter and Personal Stories
00:00:50
Speaker
-host, Celine. No longer sister after that joke, but co-host, yes. You can't even imagine how long that took me to write. That's canon. I was so thrilled with myself. I was like, oh, yeah. Oh, I knew you were thrilled with yourself.
00:00:50
Speaker
Do it yourself
00:01:05
Speaker
Well, we've got to pick it up where we left off. Pick it up, pick it up. Where we left off. Pick it up, pick it up. Where we left off. All right, Celine, what's new with you? I didn't think about this again. Yeah, working, working, doing stuff. I went on my paddle board. I have a paddle board. I went on my paddle board. Real Berta style. You know, going out, lake him. It's hot. It's hot in Berta. It's Berta hot.
00:01:33
Speaker
Yeah, this is, so I can't convert this to Fahrenheit for anybody who needs that, but we're pushing 40. Right, Celsius? Celsius, yeah. It's bananas. Yeah, Edmonton is the furthest north capital city in the world, and it is hot as shit.
00:01:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's wild, it's bananas, and no one has AC, so just picture that. Yeah, why would we bother? Nobody has AC. Well, it's usually hot one week a year, so nobody needs AC. But yeah, nobody's equipped for this.
Alberta's Unusual Weather and Moving Woes
00:02:00
Speaker
I think it's bullshit, because I think didn't Alberta give Texas a bunch of fucking snowplows or something when they had a thing? Texas has got to ship some AC units to us now!
00:02:11
Speaker
Oh yeah, I don't know what you're talking about, so please explain why- Isn't there engineer Joey, can you confirm or deny this? I think there was a thing that like, they had a snowfall, he said he could not. There was a snowfall, and so Edmonton said, because we send all of our rig pigs down there to drill oil, so we had to send them snow clouds. I think there was a thing that we helped somewhere in the States with snow, okay? And I think that's a thing. Anything goes to Texas. You're being a dick! I don't know, I legitimately have no idea. His eyebrows look suspicious. Color being fragilist, it's just a wicked thing. What's new with you, Rob?
00:02:40
Speaker
Oh my god, I'm living in a sea of boxes right now. It's the biggest pain in my ass in the world. I can't believe how much I've accumulated in terms of just garbage around my house. The move took two weeks, probably, in terms of just going back and forth from the old house to the new house and just ripping up plants. I think that was the thing that took the longest is Ariane, my wife, editor Ariane, taking all the plants out.
00:03:08
Speaker
But you were there. You were helping me move. Yeah, I didn't like it. Yeah, I've learned a lesson. I was listening to a podcast recently and they said if you're over the age of 30 and you're moving, you hire movers. Yeah, it doesn't matter. It's like nobody fucking... I think it was always like when you're 20s, you're like, oh, I'm going to help this person move because I need to build up my move karma because when I move, they're going to help me move and the more I help other people move, the more I'm going to have an army of movers that are going to help me move.
00:03:33
Speaker
And that's not true, people bail, they're just like, sweet, you helped me move, bye, good luck, hire a mover, you're a dick. Like, no, nobody wants to help you move. Or, like, if they were moving, like, helping you move, they were the most useless people ever. Like, anybody who I've ever, like, paid for beer and pizza to move, uh, just, like, would sit around or just be suspiciously ten minutes late to whatever destination I needed them to be at.
00:03:57
Speaker
Hey, we've been unpacking for last 10 minutes. Where were you? Our friend the worst move I've ever helped with was our friend Matt He's gonna listen to this podcast. Hi Matt. He love him and going through a lot at the time but truly nothing was in a box everything was in like a Laundry basket a bag just like so and he has so many little things like the amount of like so I Think he has like two or three of things and it's like a collection. Oh, I have these like Ninja Turtles collection like it isn't it was an insane move
00:04:27
Speaker
That is yeah, I mean you guys have a five-year-old too Who had some I did I didn't move a box of action figures that were not your five-year-olds. Hey now I think the manga collection you have alone How many fucking manga boxes are there And then you and Arianne in your records like cool, but like Jesus Christ they're heavy
00:04:56
Speaker
Arianne had them all because she moved her place of work with records and she had them all in bags. She learned that was the way to go, or milk crates. Because if they packed them in boxes, it was way too heavy. So where were the milk crates on your move day? I did not have any. Interesting. The lesson wasn't learned. It's absolutely a matter of supply and demand. High demand for milk crates, low supply.
Guest Appearance: Sam Thompson on Ska Journey
00:05:24
Speaker
All right, so we're pleased to welcome our guest. He is the host of the twice weekly award winning Manitoba based music podcast, which police radio Sam Thompson is here. Hi, Sam. Hey, how's it going? Thanks for having me. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for being here. We're so excited to have you our first video guest. I'm excited to be on this dumb little podcast. Thank you. Legitimate podcast person. We're doing your stupidity.
00:05:54
Speaker
This is a Canadian fusion of interest. Winnipeg to Edmonton. It's a prayer connection. Prayer connection. Prayer connection. Any Americans listening, it's not a drive. I'll just say that. Yeah, that's right. No, not a couple days. So, Sam, we want to hear about your history with Ska music, which is legendary in Winnipeg. But like, what was your history? Where did you first learn about Ska?
00:06:19
Speaker
I think the first place I learned about Scott was from my dad's record collection. My dad's from England. And when he came to Canada, he brought a lot of his records with him. And it was a pretty wide variety of stuff, but there was lots of Scott and lots of reggae. He had madness and specials and things like that. So I was listening to madness and the clash and some of these bands, you know, getting, absorbing all of that kind of stuff from a young age. And I think that kind of tied in nicely with when the third wave started happening.
00:06:43
Speaker
uh you know obviously over on this side of the ocean and so it was really sort of i was already prepped for it like when i started hearing all these punk bands having one scott song per record or whatever i was already i'd been listening to madness for years so i was already kind of in the in the zone for that so it really clicked with me once that sort of started becoming huge and uh yeah because i was pretty obsessed for for for quite a while on my teens i'd say
00:07:04
Speaker
you were really into ska punk specifically in your teens or both? No actually it's funny because I think that like I got into it through the two-tone stuff when I was younger and then when the ska punk thing happened yeah I was super super into that I played in a ska punk band but then all that stuff but then it eventually like I got super into reggae I feel like ska was a springboard I still listen to it but it was a springboard for me to get into other Jamaican music and then I fell down like a deep reggae hole that I've never been able to crawl out of and
00:07:29
Speaker
And that's the real obsession. Like Scott has something that I love and that I was super into, but it really, for my musical listening tastes, it definitely served as like, this is the entry point to this just huge, much deeper, much broader Jamaican pile of music.
00:07:46
Speaker
yeah so you got into more of like the original roots of it so you like two-toned like third wave ska punk and then and then backwards yeah i just think that's an interesting journey through ska it's not that uncommon right like i feel nowadays like once third wave was like toast in the post 2000s right i think people yeah i mean not for me it wasn't but like you know people like started to like really like a segmented
00:08:11
Speaker
Right. And so you're like, this is the type I really get drawn to. And then you go down that rabbit hole. And I mean, it's like, you know, 60 years of history. There's so much there. Right. But go ahead. Sorry. I was just saying, I dropped you on your own show. Yeah. No, there is still, though. I mean, as much as it seems like it died and it seems like there's a renaissance happening now, which is great. But there's always been diehard fans who have been around and the Internet helps to make to make those connections still happen, even though it's not in the mainstream right now.
00:08:40
Speaker
But it's interesting too, because Jamaican music is still happening. Of course, that never stopped, but you don't have penetrating the North American market Jamaican artists that aren't dancehall. I was like, dancehall? Dancehall's big. But it is just a couple. No, it's not that much dancehall. What kind of reggae music in dancehall are you listening to nowadays?
00:08:59
Speaker
Um, well, I'm kind of a nerd about it. Like maybe that's not, I guess, obvious, but, um, I really have a soft spot for late seventies, early eighties, um, like early dance, all the gender laws, like volcano productions. And so that's like artists like ekemos, Barrington Levy, um, you know, Michael prophet, there's a Michigan and smiley, there's a whole like 81, 82, 83 sort of vibe. And, uh, this one label had just all these guys who are just unbelievable, uh, DJs and vocalists. And I get stuck in that.
00:09:28
Speaker
I listen to lots of different Jamaican music, but that's sort of the sweet spot for me, is that early 80s, early dance also. You're not listening to pop cam?
00:09:36
Speaker
I'm not listening to popcan. I have a hard time with autotune. I really want to like this stuff, but I'm too old. I'm almost 40. Autotune is not... I love this new dancehall. I love Beanie Man and Popcan. There's this new dancehall that's with Trap. I don't know. I'm not that young, but I do love youth culture.
00:10:00
Speaker
I can't get past the autotune. I try really hard and I like a lot of elements of it, but it's just, especially when it's someone you know can sing. Like it'll be some guy who, you know, 30 years ago, but not, but like Michael Rose, right? Michael Rose has been showing up on some dance hall stuff and he's probably 50, 60 by now, but he can sing. He's been singing for decades and I have a lot of his records and then suddenly he shows up with autotune and it's like, no, you don't need this. You're a great singer. It's a fair comment.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, but maybe I'll, maybe I'll get it. I don't know. I think I have a mental block. No, I like, and I'm not trying to be offensive, but like, I like it when it just sounds good. Like I don't need it to be like musically impressive. I'm just like, Oh, it's catchy. I like it. Good enough.
Exploration of Winnipeg's Ska Scene
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah. But you can also have a little bit more integrity with what you like. And that's fair.
00:10:44
Speaker
I guess so, but it kind of, it's not as feels like being a snob, but there's nothing. Yeah. A lot of things to go back to, um, to Scott, though. I mean, I don't know if you want to keep talking about this, but, um, I figure I'm on a Scott podcast. I might as well. Right. Um, so the first time I got into it, like in terms of actually seeing, seeing it live and getting into the Winnipeg scene, which, you know, got pretty big for a while there, um, was seeing a whole lot of Milka.
00:11:08
Speaker
And I love Hole in the Milk, a great band. Greg Crow, all the music he made since then is also great. They're just awesome. And I saw them as many times as humanly possible back in the day. But I remember being told about one of their shows. The guy I knew when we were in grade nine was playing a lot of bar shows, like all ages bar shows, and with some punk band. He told me he saw this ska band called Hole in the Milk, and he explained it, the suits and the horns and everything.
00:11:34
Speaker
that seemed like something I'd want to see, so I checked it out. Yeah, it was amazing. And from that point on, it was like, I'm going to go see every show I can find with Whole Lotta Milka. And then they were playing with JFK and the conspirators all the time. And then when the Planet Smashers came into town, they'd be playing with the Planet Smashers. So I saw them as much as I could. And you know, all these bands, the Kingpins and stuff, and they really just sort of, Whole Lotta Milka was the entry point, I think, as far as going to shows for seeing that whole Canadian 90s sort of sky universe.
00:11:59
Speaker
And JFK specifically was like an entry point as well. Oh, totally. Yeah. JFK definitely was. Yeah. Yeah. Because JFK was doing the traditional stuff, right? Hold on. I look, it was doing, I mean, it wasn't really Scott punk. They had some punkier parts, but it was definitely third wave. It was fast. It was upbeat. And JFK was way more at that point anyway, doing the very traditional root Scott thing. So.
00:12:19
Speaker
Whole lot of milk. There's American comparison. I'd probably say they're like MU 330. I know they did like a call out to them on one of their songs too. You can tell that there's like a bit of an influence there. So it's like weird. Like they're just making a lot of weird jokes and like having a lot of like puns and jokes in the songs. Like it's awesome. Great Crow is genius. Wedgewoods were another band that he was in that was sweet.
00:12:42
Speaker
And after that, he was in the Scarlett union, which I don't know if you heard them out there, but they were, they were also good. That was after the third wave had kind of died and he was still, he was still doing it. Um, but like, so at the time, holding Milka and JFK and all these bands were coming up and Winnipeg. And so I started a Scott band with my terribly also untalented high school friends. And, uh, none of them, none of them really knew what Scott was. So, I mean, I kind of.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, Grandpa's Army. So I forced a lot on them. A lot of them turned out to be way better at music than I was, which is great because I mean that helps when you're in a band when you suck and everyone else is talented. But I kind of forced them into it. And the good thing was we knew a lot of people who played horns in this swing band. There was this weird swing band in Winnipeg that like
00:13:24
Speaker
I don't know how so some fun some adult was like getting all these it sounds creepy to say it like this but he was getting all these th kids to play horns for him and he was training them and it was like really traditional everyone wearing suits fancy like you know swing standards and so a lot of those guys people music teacher who was this guy I just like
00:13:44
Speaker
I don't know. I remember he came to the classes one day and he said like, hey, I'm doing this program. It's outside of the school. It's extracurricular. But if anyone wants to do it, sign up. And I remember thinking at the time, I already know how to play guitar. I don't need to do that. Who wants to do anything lame like that? And, you know, now I would have loved to be playing a horn if I could have learned. But so anyway, I knew people in that band and they knew us. And so our terrible rhythm section of like, you know, people trying to figure out how instruments worked.
00:14:07
Speaker
joined up with these people who played horns, and then it was a ska band. And our first big show, we played some small ones, was Royal Albert, which is a notorious Winnipeg venue, with JFK and the Conspirators, whole lot of Milka, and the Racketeers, who were another young ska band. And so the posters, I don't know who made them, but our name is the biggest on the poster, which is hilarious. Like, I still have it to this day, because it's so funny, because it's like, JFK and the Conspirators, whole lot of Milka, the Racketeers, also knew, is a little bigger, and then us, Grandpa's Army, huge letters. Grandpa's Army!
00:14:39
Speaker
at that show maybe yeah at that show the racketeers played first and we had heard they were also young like us they were teenagers and we thought okay they'll be probably as bad as we are but they had matching suits they were incredibly tight they obviously had like real musical skill and they blew us away and so then we come up with like our ragtag value village you know uh suits and jackets and pants that don't mix and like we had some replacement members because people couldn't show up we learned the songs that afternoon and there's a guy there's a guy in the front of the audience because
00:15:02
Speaker
That's an amazing name.
00:15:08
Speaker
even during the all ages shows the regulars would be there playing vlt's or drinking or whatever and some guy in the front just screaming play some fucking motorhead like after every song and we're like 16 you know terrified of playing in a bar with these bands that are way better than us and so yeah it's it was memorable it was bad in a ska cover improv of asa spades and no we didn't know your name and it was amazing i wish i really wish that it happened yeah
00:15:36
Speaker
You know, so in Edmonton, I was in a band called the Edmund Tones, which is really embarrassing. That was my college stop band. Whatever, that's an incredible name. That was my idea. It's actually a pretty good name, yeah. And I played bass and I like, I like, I learned to play bass by myself. I didn't have any like teaching, but I hooked up with all of my, like from Slinn's high school, a bunch of like musicians.
00:15:56
Speaker
Celine went to like an art school. So all these musicians were like insanely good. And they could not be bothered to teach me how to play, but they really wanted to be in a ska band. And so we just had this revolving door of horn players and guitar players. And then all of a sudden they're like, oh, another band is going to come over to our jam space. And then we're just going to all jam together. And it was the utopian skank who was like a local Edmonton band at the time.
00:16:19
Speaker
fucking ripped so hard. And I just sat there with my bass and they were like jamming. And I don't think I played like three notes. I was like terrified. I was like, these people are so good. What am I even doing with my life right now? Like I couldn't, I was like, I think I walked out on that whole project after that. I've definitely fake played the flute and band. I'll just look like I'm playing. Look how good these people are. Like, oh, yeah, it's just crazy. I was miming playing the flute for all you listeners.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah, right, people aren't seeing that, obviously. Hey, all you check your heads. Just so you know, Celine was maiming the flute. I need to talk about something that we talked about on Twitter that I was very passionate about. Sure. We need to talk about how much you hate the Beatles. Oh, I hate the Beatles, too. Excellent. I got so excited because it's a passion. I've lost some friends over it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it happens, yeah.
00:17:10
Speaker
the people are really upset yeah i even like i made a state facebook status that was like um like i understand the historical influence and like the like what beetles has meant to
Musical Preferences and The Beatles Debate
00:17:22
Speaker
music but i just don't enjoy the songs yeah and like man that's controversial what's your it shouldn't be it shouldn't be any other band no one would care but you mentioned that about the beetles and people act like you're you know blaspheming or something it's ridiculous
00:17:34
Speaker
I once said that to somebody at the record store I worked at, and I was like, oh, they're like, Beatles or Stones? And I was like, oh, no, thanks. Yeah. No, I'm good. I think I said, no, I'm not hungry. This is my favorite joke to do that. But then they're like, oh, what do you listen to? I'm like, I listen to ska music. They're like, obla di obla da za ska song. And I'm like, you can't ska Beatles that way. You can't just be like, oh, they had a song? No, that's not how I get into music. Sorry, man. The offspring figured that out.
00:18:04
Speaker
I'm sorry, they stole that. The Beatles thing though, just to clarify, because I feel like I always need to explain myself whenever this comes up. No, I love it. Please, go deep. The issue I have is not that they're bad. They were great at what they did. I don't like what they did.
00:18:22
Speaker
The idea of calling them the best band ever, when they weren't even remotely the best band of that era by any measure, like you can name it basically, if you say the Beatles are the best band of that era, you're ignoring everything that happened in the United States. First of all, I mean, like there's so many, you know, you're ignoring all black people making music. They just like completely, right? You're ignoring everything outside of pop music. And it's like, yeah, they were great at making pop songs that are memorable and people love, but they're not.
00:18:45
Speaker
the best at it. And they weren't the most influential at it either. Like I've heard people saying, you know, oh, they were the first ones to have orchestration in their music. No, they weren't. Like there's stuff from the fifties that has this country music from the forties that has strings in it. There's Ray Charles was doing that shit in the fifties, right? Like the fact that it's just an erasure. It is. Yeah. It's just like focusing only on this one style and era and putting it up as the only thing that matters. And it's it's just kind of it's lazy. I think it's lazy.
00:19:12
Speaker
It's the Victor's rewriting history, right? It's the same idea. They sold more records than anybody, therefore they get to lay claim to everything, right? That's what it really is. I think the history and the tragedy of it all kind of amplified it too. Well, it's more so because they were so visible going on like Ed McMahon and that kind of stuff. It's more about them, the people being so public that got them so popular. It's not even that they're the best musicians, they're just the most public musicians of that time.
00:19:42
Speaker
I don't have any beef with people who like them because most people I know love them. They've never done anything to me. All of their songs sound like they're written. Everything is where it should be. All the notes are where they should be. All the choruses are exactly. They come in at the right time. Everyone's on pitch. Everything's safe. I like to hear music that sounds a little bit broken. I'd rather hear something that, if there's a mistake in the song, leave it in. Sometimes that's the best part.
00:20:06
Speaker
And the Beatles op ivy and that was like that's part of for sure it is yeah yeah yeah and it's raw and it's like the only Beatles stuff I actually like is the really early stuff where they're trying to sound like the Isley Brothers and stuff because they're screaming and there's like passion in it and I don't want to hear some travel pop song about like you know I want to hold your hand there's it's the safest possible thing and
00:20:29
Speaker
Just because I have to bring everything back to Winnipeg because I always do. The guess who is that for Winnipeg? And I hate them. That's the who, though. I'm talking about the guess who. Burton Cummings. Yes, we had a great checkered past moment. We got to take the Canadian card. Wait, what did the guess who sing? They did American Woman. American Woman. They did like
00:20:54
Speaker
Randy Bachman. Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. And so they are basically, they're treated like absolute like God.
00:21:02
Speaker
Winnipeg because they're from here right and so like you can't say anything bad about the Guess Who but it's like when they um they had a big campaign to get them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year they always signatures it was a big deal in Winnipeg and I was really happy when they didn't make it I was like you know I think I love supporting local faves I love supporting local music but there's this I don't know if it's like that in Edmonton but there's this weird thing in the music scene here where there's a certain
00:21:26
Speaker
group of people from that generation who refuse to acknowledge that any music has happened since or before and they basically will and they have they have a lot of you know a lot of uh a pretty good platform to to spread this stuff and so you hear about the Guess Who and Burton Cummings and
00:21:43
Speaker
constantly and it's just like they were okay but again like there's so many better bands even from Winnipeg like they're playing shows with early Neil Young who is way better like I've listened to Neil Young for like a month straight rather than hearing one Guess Who song right like so Randy Bockman's on the radio right not anymore he's shows getting cancelled he's gone so shows getting cancelled yep yep taking care of Christmas in his slave oh my god have you heard taking care of Christmas
00:22:08
Speaker
Oh, I can see how it would work, though.
Sam's Podcast Evolution and Ska Music in Manitoba
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah. It is a real Rondi Bachman song. I'm sure. Oh, yeah, that's right. He did. He did. Yeah. Yeah. There was a Christmas. And it's just it's just taking care of business. And it's taking care of Christmas. Where's Turner? He did a Jets one, too. There was a Jets album that came out in the 90s. It was like shitty, like, you know, those kind of bands like Winnipeg playing songs about the Jets. And he had a version of that song that I can't remember what it was about, but it was about the Jets.
00:22:33
Speaker
So we should talk about your show a little bit. No, just Randy Bockman. Mild plug time, but yeah. Let's talk about how that relates to Ska music. You've had Ska musicians on the show, which is amazing. Which police radio? Yeah, so talk to me about how your history with Ska got you maybe into doing this show and you cover so many different kinds of music. How is it so eclectic and how are you able to connect them all together?
00:22:59
Speaker
Um, well, I started doing the show around the time I had kids and I was in a band at the time, this is when I'm wearing my shirt, the most boat, which was like a weird, um, noise punk experimental noise punk thing was all about our space and robots and stuff. And when I had my first daughter was born, it was like, I don't know.
00:23:18
Speaker
I can't do this. I have a baby. I can't do a band anymore. So I just decided I'm going to have a couple of my friends come over once a week and we'll just hang out and listen to records together. And then I had recently learned what a podcast was. This is like 2012. I had recently learned what a podcast was like the week before. I was like, we can record this. This is going to be great.
00:23:35
Speaker
We recorded this three hour conversation, which is just it's unlistenable like it's really not enjoyable to listen to, but that's the Genesis the podcast it's like this is this conversation about music, and eventually it just started started turning into more of an interview show because
00:23:50
Speaker
We had, there was three hosts and one of them, they're all people I've been in bands with and musicians and stuff. One of them went on tour to Europe. So there was just two of us and we thought for some reason there needs to be three. So every week we would invite a new guest host and it was always a musician because that's our friends. So it just sort of slowly started turning into.
00:24:08
Speaker
what it is now, which is like a one on one kind of sit down interview thing. And so when I started the show, I was also not I was not playing music because I had a kid. I wasn't going to many shows. Same reason. And I'd also recent like my backgrounds in journalism. I went to journalism school, worked in print for a long time. And then it took about 10 years off to work in corporate communications, which was soul sucking. And so during that time I was doing that and I wasn't playing music and I wasn't doing journalism. So the podcast doing interviews and talking to musicians really filled both of those
00:24:37
Speaker
of those holes and so now I'm back thankfully out of communications hopefully forever back working in journalism full time as a career again and so but this keeps me I still haven't stopped like I still want to do the podcast as much as possible that's awesome it's great you're at like over 600 episodes at this point yeah yeah it's ridiculous yeah that's awesome about two a week right is that what it works out to two a week now yeah yeah yeah that's how do you like get connected with these musicians like it's just so you're all over the place it's awesome
00:25:05
Speaker
It started out, like I said, just people we knew when we had the three hosts and they were all musicians and it, I guess I know a lot of them just from having been in bands and stuff. And so that, that's just kind of grown. And then then word of mouth and then people hear it and they like, you know, and at this point I have so many people messaging me to be on the show that like, it's almost too much, which is great. It's a great problem to have, right? So yeah, it's, but it's all word of mouth and friends and stuff. I don't know if it works for us so much, but yeah.
00:25:35
Speaker
How many Ska bands have you kind of had on the show, like quite a few? We lost your JFK episode? Yeah, not many. Just because, I mean, Ska is really
00:25:45
Speaker
hopefully it will be soon again, but it's not really a huge element of the Manitoba music scene right now. I had JFK on and that was kind of a retrospective, just talking about the band and stuff like that. I had Greg Crow on in a very, very early episode, which was like a different format. It was with the two hosts and stuff. But he was on, I've had a few newer ska bands on. I don't know if they're around still. We had one called the Ragdolls, which was, it was all Filipino immigrants who had a ska band. And they brought some of their own cultural stuff in there. It was cool.
00:26:14
Speaker
And so I don't know if they're still together, but, uh, they did it. Yeah, they were cool. Yeah. And so they were all into, it was kind of like a mixture of third wave with sort of their own cultural elements. So it was stuff I hadn't heard before and they're not singing English all the time. So that was cool. Um, there was a band called minus 40. I, again, I don't know if they're around still. It was again, the third wave Winnipeg band minus 40. That's funny. Um,
00:26:38
Speaker
and I did an episode with my old band we got everyone together 20 years after the fact and uh just had a fun grandpa's army yeah yeah yeah grandpa's army it was like grandpa's army oh good I'm glad it was like nine of us it wasn't the whole band because you know there's so many people over the years it's a ska band they come in and out but yeah and then so like really there's been a few reggae artists too we have uh
00:27:00
Speaker
I actually grow maybe to rewind a bit I was on the organizing committee for the Winnipeg Scott and Reggae Festival. It ran for about four or five years. It was first one was probably what 2005 maybe 2005 2009 or 10. And the reason they ended is because everyone had kids all around the same time like everybody on the committee, but it was me it was people from the local radio campus radio stations.
00:27:24
Speaker
Matt Henderson from Bacteria Buffet Records was involved. He was kind of running the whole thing. There's people from bands. It was a really cool group of people who were just sort of trying to get more ska shows happening in the city. So we had the festivals and that helped too, open a lot of doors to a lot of bands and meet new people in the scene and stuff like that. So I've been involved as much as I can with promoting that kind of stuff. But yeah, it's hopefully coming back. I mean, I'd love to see more ska artists.
00:27:49
Speaker
Yeah, in Edmonton, it's all but gone. I'm sure there's a couple of young bands that we're not familiar with, but really, it's just Mad Bomber Society comes around. Every New Year's. Every New Year's, and then every time a big band comes around. But otherwise, they run a record store out here, and that's their full-time gig.
00:28:05
Speaker
King Muscoffa has a residency at the Blues Place here and they play and I think that's like the two kind of bigger draw bands but since then I mean it's all but dried up too so it's too bad but hey there is like a lot happening on the social media and like everyone's over quarantine it seems like a lot of labels and bands have started coming up
00:28:24
Speaker
And I hope that's a good sign, even if it's not a wave per se, but at least it gets interest in the genre that people are totally with just globalization and social media. Like niche things have an audience because you just can have a global reach. It's really interesting. What I've learned from like Instagram is like is the global reach of Scotland. It's huge in Brazil, specifically Brazil. Huge in Brazil. It's cause huge in Japan and Mexico. Indonesia as well.
00:28:50
Speaker
huge. Yeah, Scott punk is huge. So yeah, and Indonesia too. Anyways, it's just really fascinating. It's weird. Yeah. Cool. That's neat. Like, and I, I mean, I wish, I guess this could be in many languages, but, uh, I could barely speak this one. All right. So with that, uh, we're going to go to a quick break and then when we come back, we entered
JFK and the Conspirators' Musical Journey
00:29:14
Speaker
the time. And we talked about JFK and the conspirators 9 11 didn't happen. Oh my God.
00:29:22
Speaker
It didn't happen or it was a- It's an inside job. I like that it didn't happen better. That's a better conspiracy. No, it didn't happen. If I go to New York, the towers are still there. I like that so much better. It's a much better conspiracy, yeah. And there's no political opinion attached to it at all. No, it just didn't happen. Just, I don't know, convince me otherwise. I don't know if we're going to keep this in, but I kind of like it. It's pretty funny, yeah.
00:29:59
Speaker
Okay, so before we get into the time, Scott Sheen, we're gonna play our absolute favorite game show in the whole wide world. Oh, except for my music is not cued up. Oh, here we go. It's time to play Guess That Horn. Third wave, two-tone. Just give me that sweet trombone. Trumpet or saxophone. It's now time to play Guess That Horn. Guess That Horn. I like that song. You need to make that a full song, isn't it?
00:30:25
Speaker
All right, Celine, guess what?
00:30:28
Speaker
I probably don't have the answer to this one, but guess that horn section. It's gone ahead, changed over the years. All right. So Sam's here to confirm or deny the horn section of JFK and the conspirators. Well, it's changed a lot. Like, but I know. I know definitely what the horn section was on the last album. So let's say on Mashup the Dance, Mashup the Dance, I know exactly what the horn section was because he told me so sweating. I'm sweating. Like my stomach is in knots and I'm sweating. OK, like I really.
00:30:56
Speaker
feel like, because now I'm getting confused about the different albums. I definitely heard a trombone. Yes. I heard a trombone. The trombone player was on. He's been on my show a few times. He was involved in the festival too. I knew that really confidently. Okay. Moving on. I don't think there's a trumpet. There's no trumpet, though there was. I think there was a sax.
00:31:25
Speaker
Nope. Nope. We're talking about mash up the dance. Smash up the dance. Okay, wait. Okay, I'm going to... Okay, you have two choices. Is it a trumpet or is it a saxophone? Okay, I have two choices. Okay, there's a trombone. I'm totally going by your guys' faces. And I think it was a trumpet and a trombone. Yes. Because he looked real sad about the saxophone. I would have said saxophone. You got it. My face is giving it away. But your face is, yeah, your eyeballs are crazy. I should have been more deadpan about it, but I get really excited. You should have had a poker face when I get the horns wrong.
00:31:54
Speaker
yeah i think they changed the horn sections across the whole thing because he said he had a few different versions of the thing is there a sax on mayor of gondar city yes there is yeah thank god i saw where i pulled a sack because i was trying to think at first i okay i'll be completely honest i was trying to figure out what a sound was and i was like accordion i was like no so the saxophone yeah it was dark it was a dark moment those are very different like sounding instruments yeah and then i was like so i was trying to picture like the accordion i was like nope that can't be it
00:32:22
Speaker
Uh, you were listening to Skopi. No, they just, Skopi does have an accordion. Yeah. Yeah, they do. I know if he's going to fuck me over in one of these games. If we ever do a Skopi episode, I'm going to own on it. I'm going to be very excited. Uh, okay. So, uh, Sam, Celine, come with me into the time, Skoshine, to 1995 to explore the checkered past of JFK and the conspirators. All right. So.
00:32:49
Speaker
Oh no, I'm shot. Our friend JFK, AKA Dave Adams, Winnipeg born and raised. So the stuff that I used to get a lot of this information was the which police interview as well as the last FM bio because he wrote it. And so it's all in his words and it's, that's kind of awesome. Cause you can hear him saying it, but I also used an interview in Manitoba music, all music discogs. Those are my favorite place to find stuff. There's no Wikipedia, but I would have done that too, if it was there.
00:33:15
Speaker
So, he was very attracted to reggae music at a young age. He didn't like music. That's kind of like a thing that he was saying is when I was a kid I don't like music, but then he got into reggae, and it was like a life altering music, like change to him and then when he tried to approach other people about it they were like,
00:33:35
Speaker
Oh, that's like not fit, like popular music. And he's like, well, whatever. It sounds like he was like really into like the feeling and the soul of it, like from his interview with you, that he just like something like clicked and connected when he heard that style of music.
00:33:52
Speaker
which like it seems like that's kind of the running theme of him that's like super important just like having soul in his music and the feel of it as opposed to like actual technical ability it's about having that soul and feel that seems to be like such a huge just in his interview with you that seemed to be like his his thing
00:34:09
Speaker
Totally. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that was like what I guess he heard when he was listening to those records. He talks about the pocket, right? Like he wants to be in the pocket. It was just a jazz term to be just like grooving the melody. Okay. And like, that's why he's okay with doing like two chord songs, right? And he's like, that's fine. As long as we got the groove and we got the melody.
00:34:27
Speaker
Well and he's played drums and various instruments for so many people like often when this probably happens where you guys are too but often when kind of bigger name reggae or just come through town instead of paying for an actual band to show up there's just a local band that gets put together and he's always in the JFK where he's playing drums or guitar or whatever he's always involved in the band so he's got that like he can play the rhythm like
00:34:49
Speaker
that you know it's a classic sound system setup right where it's like the rhythms you like and oftentimes it's the same one that's being played in like multiple songs so if an artist comes through they're like oh yeah and we're gonna play this rhythm and they're like oh yeah i got that one i know which one i got that because it'll be played in like 100 songs right and yeah it's awesome
00:35:07
Speaker
It's one of the things about reggae and dancehall that's kind of nice is like a person, a DJ can come in and just like, you know, toast over top of it. Right. He seems to have like natural, a natural musical ear and ability. Like it just seems to come to him. And even the way he was talking about other musicians, like, and how difficult it was to get someone on the same page. Like he just had the ear for it. Like anyways, I found him pretty like in his interview with you, I found him like quite an impressive musician. Yeah.
00:35:33
Speaker
He really liked the dub rifle. That was a band he mentioned. They were great. Great band. Which is funny because it sounds like they're like pretty classic, but there's a band called the Dub Pistols that came out later. And I don't know how that's connected or if that's just. I think it's a coincidence. I think it's a coincidence. There's a Dub Rifles and a Dub Pistols. Yeah. And they can absolutely go on tour together and that'd be amazing. I love guns and I love dub. There's actually a really great, just speaking of the Dub Rifles, there's a really great compilation that came out by a local label.
00:36:00
Speaker
three or four years ago it's like a CD of all their all their recordings and it's uh it's worth checking out its own sundowning records oh yeah that's fantastic i i didn't go in and listen to them but i was very intrigued it was like okay this is because it sounds like there's like an edge like it's a like an edgy reggae a little bit like well it's not even reggae a lot of it it's kind of like uh i mean there's that that's an influence for sure but it's he's got the like punk rock stuff in there and it's got the mod kind of stuff in there as well and it's really just kind of a
00:36:25
Speaker
yeah very much yeah okay that's awesome um yeah and he talks about how this connected him into like the jamaican immigrants in in winnipeg and that was really what tied him in right and that that's like influenced everything and it sounds like now not to his and not to his detriment either where he surrounded himself in that like culture and that music and like tuned out the rest of the world and was accepted and loved and embraced it sounded like it sounded like they were like you have it and
00:36:52
Speaker
something that is obviously something important to bring up and something that you both had talked about on your episode was how he doesn't do the fake in Jamaican and he has the best way of doing the melody and the feel and the beat of what it should sound like. He sounds like a pretty boy. But he sounds like a pretty boy doing Jamaican and it's authentic. Spoiler alert, I was really, really impressed.
00:37:20
Speaker
loved it and i have a really hard time with bacon jamaican and he's so he is himself he is real and he puts like it out there and you can you can hear it i like that about it too that i like anything that sounds like where it's from i mean you can definitely take styles and influences from elsewhere but the fact that he sounds like he's from winnipeg in the lyrical content and in the sound even though he's taking something from miles away you know he's he's playing jamaican music but he's very much uh if you did the accent it would be lame
00:37:45
Speaker
Like his voice is what his voice is. He has a prairie voice. And I love it. It sounds great. Yeah, I like it too. And it was this connection with this culture that he first saw dance craze and then got the specials. And then that was what kind of influenced him to do ska more. But then he saw that, you know, like these were like white Cockney people playing Jamaican music and they sounded Jamaican, but they weren't pretending to be Jamaican.
00:38:13
Speaker
And he was like, oh, then I can do that too. Right. And I think that's, that was like a good learning from the two tone. And it was not just the specials, but like, you know, madness was the same way. Like madness is like, like for sure from the wrong side of the tracks. I just read their book and like, you can see how it sounds like where they're from is how they sing too. Right. Totally. You hear the accents there. You hear the accents through all the, which is, and it's, it's crazy, like just off show, like madness. It's crazy that they're a huge single selling band when they sound as English as they do.
00:38:42
Speaker
Totally. We get it. You love madness. I've been doing way too much research on madness in preparation for something in the future. He started a reggae band, JFK did, very chaotic. He bought in whoever was willing to play and he admitted that they were all pretty not great musicians. In a lot of cases, he had to
00:39:02
Speaker
figure out the music like that's how you became a multi-instrumentalist is by like listening to the records and like figuring out how to play and then you'd go back to the band and say okay you hold your hand like this to play the chord and they'd be like oh okay that's what i'm saying like how does he just get it like that's wild he just gets yeah it's just it's just a natural inclination but then he surrounded himself with this music all the time like it's the only thing he was paying attention to and so it just like ingrained it's a lose in the pocket and the rhythm on the reggae and the ska all the time that's awesome yeah yeah that's how you can hear it
00:39:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's like ingrained. He doesn't sound like he's trying and it sounds good. And so this helped him to become melty instrumentalist. He found it difficult to find drummers and singers. Yeah, so he just did it. Yeah, so he just did both. Yeah. Well, that's a that's just a baller move because it was like the musical ability mixed with like the like being able to rely on someone. You get someone really totally bail. It sounded like he was having trouble with, which I'm sure is like every, you know, local bands issue.
00:39:59
Speaker
That's like if Frost from Satyricon never found a singer and he was like, I'm just going to sing now. And he also drummed. With his Blaspie. He found Satyr Satyrfodim. I think what you were saying earlier though about the songs being simple and being kind of, you know, you can use two chords or whatever. I think that helps with doing something like playing drums and singing at the same time.
00:40:22
Speaker
because he's not doing overly complicated fills. He's basically just keeping the beat, right? And then singing on top of that. The singing is the focal point and the drumming is just, it's stripped down and basic. He's really good at it, but it's nothing, you know, there's not some weird solo in the middle of it. He's just really steady at keeping the rhythm.
00:40:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's all about the skank, right? Like that drives the song. It's all about getting women on the dance floor. That's what I like. I like. I loved that. I was like, I loved how like just how he was like, it's not about music, like just whatever, basically jerking off for other musicians. Like it's about like getting people on the dance floor, like having a good time. And that's how you know, like you're making music, like you're making a feeling you're making. OK, JFK and the conspirators is vibes. It's about vibes and it's vibes. He says it himself.
00:41:06
Speaker
And so that brings him to his band. So he's getting sick of all the reggae stuff where he's like, okay, nobody's doing what I want them to do. JFK forms the group, The Operatives, which was formed to play two-tone covers at a very famous, apparently, in Winnipeg as the way he wrote it, eviction house party that got him a little bit of
JFK's Record Deal and Band Evolution
00:41:28
Speaker
clout.
00:41:28
Speaker
And from there, he got hooked up with Stomp Records who was looking to sign some bands for all Scandinavian clubs or looking around Canada, trying to get some new bands on the compilation. And even though his band, he wasn't really into the direction they were going, sounded like they were going more third wave. And he was like, I don't know if I want to really do that. If I'm going to write original songs, I want it to be the kind of I like.
00:41:55
Speaker
Um, so he was still asked to do the compilation, but by then he had decided I'm going to do a completely different band. Was that when he was like, um, again, going back to your interview, was that when he was like trying to be set up with like the kingpins? That's a later, yeah. He did join the kingpins. I shouldn't know things. This is why I shouldn't know things. I got my notes. I should never research things.
00:42:19
Speaker
So the operatives fizzle out, but his band ends up forming. So by 1995, that's where we really get started. JFK and the conspirators. He said it's named after a, the people he took out of the band were conspiring against his old band is how he words it. I don't know if this is ironic or not, but the movie JFK has a song called the conspirators on the John Williams score. So I don't know if that's connected. I like to think it is. Oh my God.
00:42:47
Speaker
Well, I mean, that seems like a stretch because there's lots of conspiracies around JFK assassination, right? So I feel like conspiracy. This is my conspiracy. Rob has a stupid little finger up to his chin, his smug ass chin. That's insane. Sam is seeing live action. How smug I am.
00:43:06
Speaker
uh paid in tribute to traditional ska so this is the first time we're talking about a trad ska band on the podcast which is really exciting it's good for us everybody's been a ska punk adjacent band up to this point i really realized i was like oh this is like real ska yeah yeah it's like that's what i thought to myself like oh this is like real ska okay yes
00:43:24
Speaker
So the, the song that ended up on the compilation, the compilation is all Canadian club, volume one, legendary compilation. Anybody listening to that, that hasn't listened to that first one, especially got to get it in you. That's like, the second one's great too. Yeah. I mean, I would argue all, all, I think there were four or five, right? And they're all amazing. All 600, which please do that. Please do that. All the checker pass this podcast and then listen. I mean, what do we got with this? Obviously six. So, so like what? 606. Yeah. There you go. That's a,
00:43:54
Speaker
Take a weekend, take a weekend. So the song that appeared on there is Boomshalala.
00:44:02
Speaker
Yeah, that's a jam. It's so good. So it's got the looping horns, right? Which is like a big part of like classic song music. He's on this one, but also in the next release, really channeling Prince Buster. Yeah. I mean, he covers, um, he covers madness on, on Marabonja City. So definitely like directly. Yeah.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's a standard as it is, but I think that's good. Like, I don't know why there aren't more of those standards that people aren't just like picking up and playing again. Like, I feel like they were going that direction with two-tone and then the early third wave. There's so many good harmonies at the early GM game, right? The backing harmonies are just fantastic. It's one of the things that separates it from the later release, but yeah. Well, and the later stuff is arguably not Sky, except for a few songs either, too. The later stuff is definitely more kind of early dancehall and definitely heading more towards Regan, right?
00:44:57
Speaker
And the singing is very like sing-songy too, and he's just hitting like high registers. I can't imagine him singing this and playing it live. It just sounds like... He does not look like his voice. What did you think he would look like? What is the perception about your hearing? I thought he'd be kind of hot because he sounded like my ex-boyfriend's like a shitty furry boy. And when I say shitty, I mean like...
00:45:20
Speaker
i mean like a good prairie music i dated a lot of musicians okay and he sounded emotionally unavailable i mean emotionally unavailable i mean he seems to he seems to he seemed a little emotionally unavailable in his lyrics and i was like and then i looked up i was like oh like he's like he just looks like an average dude the lyrics on the on the first album i'd say like a seven
00:45:40
Speaker
The lyrics on the in the early JFK are also so like different than the later ones, right? Like a lot of songs about girls and like end of list and about reggae and about sky and about playing ska music and yeah, yeah. Very sweet or the honey. Oh, that's on the side of the other album. But yeah, that's it. Yeah. Yeah. So, OK, back to Boom Sha Allah. We just finished up it on the All-Canadian Club.
00:46:07
Speaker
So Stomp puts together a tour then with all their bands that were doing really well on that compilation. So it was JFK, The Undercovers, and Gangster Politics. Gangster Politics is sweet. Good band, Jay. They're like a kind of like a spy, like ska type of thing. I like them. They're really good. You know my little spy ska? Yeah, so good.
00:46:29
Speaker
And that tour is in 1997. The timing is perfect. Sky is as big as it's ever going to be. And this is a band that was popular on a compilation in Canada. So it's the perfect time for them to be going on tour. And they were selling out shows left and right. It was probably very surprising for them, but also helped to legitimize what they were doing.
00:46:54
Speaker
And so they use that momentum to get the record deal with Stomp and release Mayor of Gonja City. What a name. That's what they call me man. Yeah, that's an insane name for an album. But hey, it's good. It's a fun name. Yeah. And as we're 420 friendly on this bug is
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, sure. Rob, you rock that CBD oil. It's a nice night's sleep, don't you? I'm like the lamest ska guy. You drink a lot of beer. I drink a lot of beer. That's cool. My bandmates used to get so mad at me. And you're sad sometimes and you hate capitalism.
00:47:43
Speaker
I guess that's part of it. Is that part of it? I don't know. So it starts with the title track, Air of Gondja City. His toasting is really good, right? I think that's like... He's the mayor of Gondja City. Great. And we talked about how he's using his natural accent or whatever, but lowering that is cadence and rhythm of toasting is pitch perfect.
00:48:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's good, yeah. He talks about, um, he compares himself, maybe unfairly, but to King Jango and Dr. Ringding, who are other white guys that do something similar. But they do the full-on accent, though. They really go off. Ringding, especially. Yeah, definitely. That's almost his hook, is like, I'm a big fat white guy. And watch me do some Jamaican toasting.
00:48:34
Speaker
but you know he he does a lot in jamaica he's there all the time like that's kind of hard it is a whole band is from here yeah it's also an insane trombone player yeah it's good yeah yeah that song is a total jam when you saw them live like was it touring for this record it would have been
00:48:57
Speaker
I want to say 97 98 when I first saw them live. Oh yeah. Um, so it would have been like, they would, this would have been, they had this a version of this lineup of the band anyway. I don't know if it was the exact lineup that was on the record, but it was, uh, yeah, they were, they were really good. It was, they were really tight. Sounds like he was rotating his lineup. Right. That was kind of, I think so. I think, I think he always has like it's just, yeah. Yeah. It sounds like they're really about their live show from like, it sounds like that was like the big draw. I'm assuming were you like immediately like I'm into this as soon as you saw them live.
00:49:25
Speaker
Yeah. Um, I think that I'm trying to think of the first time I saw them. I think it was at a rock against racism at the rendezvous, which is no longer existing. It's been torn down. Now it's condos, but, um, it was different characters. It was propaganda, um, malfunction, mood rough. It was just like this, this really mixed bag of artists. And, um, it was packed solid, obviously propaganda right around the time of let's talk more rocks. So they were, you know, any Winnipeg too. So it was huge in Edmonton too. They're huge everywhere. And then deservedly. So yeah.
00:49:55
Speaker
Yeah. So JFK was, I think it was the first place I saw them and it was at this really big venue and it was packed full of people dancing and stuff. So it was a good first impression for sure. Yeah. Well, I think it was that the show he brought up on your episode that he said kind of like he was talking about like the other bands, but everyone was like dancing for his band. It might've been that one. Yeah. Anyways, he just sounded like
00:50:15
Speaker
He just brought up that show specifically and how important that show was to him because he was with these other bigger bands but like everybody was on the dance floor and there was like a vibe and a feel with their band. So anyways, it sounded like he was really excited about that show.
00:50:28
Speaker
And so far we've talked about like their mid tempo stuff, which is kind of like where they live in a lot of this stuff, but they can really like drive like the rhythm, like they can just drive like a really fast song. The one that I queued up was called, it was the last track, The Fight, which I think this is as close to like two tone or third wave as they get, or like even borderline ska punk, but like this is not. Borderline maybe, yeah.
00:50:53
Speaker
I don't know, that was never one of my favorite songs in the record, actually. I know, I was thinking the same thing. But I think it stands out. It's not my favorite either, but it stands out. I know you mean speedwise and stuff, yeah. I think the real standout track on the record has always been Tell Me Baby, though. Tell Me Baby and You Were Leaving. You Were Leaving is on the next Oscar dating club. Yeah. And those two always, like Tell Me Baby was always the song that I wanted to hear when they said live. Tell Me Baby, you were long have I done you.
00:51:16
Speaker
That was the, I mean, the hit, I guess, like, it always seemed like the biggest reaction. And when he came back, I know I'm skipping ahead here, but when he came back as the singer of the Kingpins, they played Tell Me Baby. And there's actually a video on YouTube of the Kingpins with him on lead vocals, which is bizarre, doing that song.
00:51:32
Speaker
and uh okay you got me rob it is kind of fun yeah you got this it is kind of groovy i'm enjoying it but i mean like every song on there is really has its own feel i really found liar stood out i'm like i that is on my pulley list like the way her like the voice sounds i just like i thought it's like i love liar i'm gonna play tell me baby just underneath though while we talk because like i have that cute up too and i love that song great song yeah
00:51:59
Speaker
This is like, yeah, again. My reaction is like, oh yeah, like real Scott, cool. He's tapping into the escapism that was kind of like part of the 70s Scott stuff that seems to be where he was really dialing.
00:52:16
Speaker
He talked about Byron Lee and the Dragon Air since like another band he was really into. As opposed to like the more political or social political stuff that maybe came out of like the reggae later in the 70s or in the early 80s. Like I'm going into the songs that are about girls and love, like unrequited love. Yeah. It's about getting people to dance. That's what it is. Yeah, I mean it's his little bag, right? Women to get sweaty on the dance floor.
00:52:44
Speaker
I didn't write that I liked Liar too. I thought it was really dark. It's spooky ska? You know I love spooky ska. Liar's my favorite on that one. I think the only song that jumped out at me on the opposite side was there's a cover of the Odd Couple theme. Yeah. But the skunks also do a cover of the Odd Couple theme.
00:53:04
Speaker
And that's the one I listened to a lot growing up was the skunks version.
Nostalgia and Musical Covers
00:53:08
Speaker
I like it a little bit more It is what it is my nostalgia speaking it's also what you hear first like this was the first time you heard madness Like it might be your favorite version of it. Yeah. Yeah, he's been covered like
00:53:20
Speaker
It's a very good cover, but yeah, it obviously doesn't doesn't really hold up to the some of the earlier ones and the original two, right? The other the Prince Buster original, the madness cover or the out of your mouth cover of now I'm forgetting the Madonna song they covered. What? Remember that? Yeah, no, I don't even remember this band. Hey, Mr. Deed, I was good. Yeah, we also talked about your. We also talked about Hollywood Undead doing a cover of Bad Town. Oh, really? That's bizarre.
00:53:49
Speaker
we played a bit of it it's not good don't recommend i can't imagine it's good no no it's a great song originally but i can't imagine that being a good version yeah um so anyway this
JFK's Time with the Kingpins and Musical Shifts
00:53:59
Speaker
This record is a barnstorming success for JFK. He wants to go on a tour like right away, but his band has other commitments like, well, that's so fast. Give me some time. And he's like, no, I want to go now. But so he puts the band on a hiatus, and then that's when he gets his offer to go join the kingpins in Montreal. This would have been post, let's go to work, I guess. Yeah, pre-plan, plan of action.
00:54:25
Speaker
Cause he's on plan of action. He's on a couple trucks on plan of action. So he joins up with them right as they were doing probably their most like trad album that they've ever done. So the kingpins, for those who don't know are like, you know, top three Canadian Scott band, like in terms of popularity, like got them got king apparatus, got planet smashers are probably the most popular in, in, in Canada.
00:54:47
Speaker
Well, in that timeframe, too, from the stomp bands, they would have been probably number two after the Planet Smashers, right? Yeah. Well, and they help form stomp, right? The bass player. Yeah. They help form stomp, right? So, he goes over there and he's really excited because they're like, you know, really popular and they're playing semi-traditional ska music, the kind he really likes. And he goes to play guitar, but as he gets there, it's right as they were kind of changing their sound a little bit.
00:55:11
Speaker
to not even a little bit. It's quite a bit. They make a pretty left turn on their third album. It's I'm going to blank on the name Lorraine. That's the singer, right? She kind of takes over as like the main vocalist and they kind of go in a new wave direction or wave like third wave direction. It sounded like and it sounded like on your episode. He doesn't sound like he likes third wave, which is fine. No, he doesn't think he does. So there's no shortage of people who do not like third
00:55:38
Speaker
Well, there are a lot of terrible third wave bands, like having been in one, there's a lot of them. I like bad third wave bands. I'm like, you do you boo. He did get two songs on there. And they're like, and then the better songs in the record too. So what happened? Sorry, did he leave partway through or was it after? No, it was during recording. It was during recording.
00:55:57
Speaker
Yeah. And there's, there's like some promo stuff. Like I was saying, there's videos on YouTube of him fronting the Kingpins at some showcases and stuff. And it's really weird to see because like, I remember seeing them live. We opened for them actually the Kingpins when they, when they came to Winnipeg with the Kingpins with JFK. So it was really jarring because we kind of knew JFK and we'd like seen him play a bunch of times. And, um, yeah, they did tell me, baby, this is a bunch of JFK songs. I don't know if it was just because it was a Winnipeg audience and they would know them, but it was really weird. And I like, I like both of those bands, but I think it was a terrible,
00:56:25
Speaker
It wasn't a good fit, I don't think, as a listener. Interesting. Yeah, I know. It's also a matter of fit. That's a really good point. I think bringing in a guy who's really into old-school reggae and traditional stuff, and you're wanting to go in a very different direction, you can almost see the writing on the wall there. One, the vocal styles too. The previous Kingpin singer was a lot more
00:56:50
Speaker
I don't know if the word animated is right, but JFK is always kind of just like chill, right? He's always kind of laid back when he's singing. And the other guy was very kind of almost gruff and growly apart and he'd get really like super into it. And it didn't really, I don't know. I love both bands, but it didn't fit. Like having this guy doing this like Prairie dancehall thing over top of these songs where that's not at all what the sound is. It just, yeah.
00:57:11
Speaker
And, uh, so while he's out in Montreal, he, so he leaves the King pins and he sticks around and he extra tries to penetrate the reggae scene there, but it's way more hardcore. So the reggae scene in Montreal was not accepting of white guy toasting. They're like, you're not from Jamaica. You're not going to show. Well, there's like way huger, like there's probably way more Jamaicans in, probably there's a hundred percent, for sure, more Jamaicans in Montreal.
00:57:36
Speaker
So what he did instead was he DJ drum and bass, um, which was, so he found an in there because drum and bass is very English. And so that was, uh, we were in 2001. I'm just thinking about, I like drum and bass as I know it now versus drum and bass at 2001.
Revival of JFK's Band in Winnipeg
00:57:53
Speaker
Yeah. That's very different. I'm right. He's more tied to the original like grime and reggae and dub. Yeah. It's all connected. It's all part of the same continuum, right? Right.
00:58:03
Speaker
And so this is where he really got his like dance hall chops, like he was able to actually earn earn his stripes here. He mentions in his last FM bio that he had some personal matters couldn't stay in Montreal. I know he wanted to actually was enjoying himself out there and he liked the culture.
00:58:19
Speaker
But he had to come back to Winnipeg and he thought, oh, I'm not going to do my band or anything. But in the following year, he actually does get convinced to restart the band again from from Rusty, I believe. Right. Rusty Farai. Yeah. Rusty is Rusty is the owner of bacteria bacteria. Yeah. Also known as Roger Shank and some of the credits.
00:58:44
Speaker
I love all the little JFK names. Well, JFK is Metro Rotanto, too. If you see that credit on there, that's JFK. And then Al Capone was, oh, I can't remember which member of the band was, but yeah. He was the keyboard player in there on the first record, I think. Yeah, yeah. And Chi Chi was the longtime bass player. And yeah, they all have, yeah.
00:59:02
Speaker
Which is, that's also like, like Fishbone, it's a classic Scott thing, but Fishbone used to do that too and give their band members like crazy, crazy names. Dirty Walt, still calls us on Dirty Walt, Fishbone here.
00:59:14
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, gold finger, the guitar player, which is what the band named themselves after. Um, so infamously hates, hates fishbone. I love fishbone. One of my all time favorite bands, maybe top three. I will not bone in any bone yard. You have not listened to that EP. Like that first EP is life changing and you'll love all fishbone. It's seriously.
00:59:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what's going to happen. You should check out the reality of my surroundings. That's that's the I think that's the good starting point. Yeah. Yeah. That's the first record I heard too is reality. Skip, skip, skip. They're really cheesy like super Scott stuff and go to where they start doing the weird funk and weird like, you know, heavy stuff. And yeah. So I'm just going to tell you now, I don't like Primus.
00:59:53
Speaker
Yeah, but that's fish bone, not prime. They're separate. I can see, I can see how you find a connection there, but yeah, fish was better. So basically, Rusty is the guy who convinced the JFK to get restart because he just started bacteria very recently before that.
01:00:09
Speaker
Right, and he was in RWPO. He was the guitar player for RWPO, so. Which is exactly what happens next. Royal Winnipeg Porn Orchestra, RWPO. An awesome name for a band. Great attitude. And so they did a split together. It looks like, and I bought that split in Winnipeg when I was out there. Right here. In Osborne Village? Yes. A music trader?
01:00:34
Speaker
I cannot remember what the, it was like 15 years ago. Yeah. I, but I remember getting it and I was like, so stoked. I got that. I got the Barrymore self-titled or no, I'm not the self-titled, the second one. And then, uh, personals by the afterbeat. I bought all three of those, like so stoked.
01:00:51
Speaker
I don't want to take any credit for this whatsoever, but I was very briefly in the Barrymore's. Like when the Barrymore's first started, it was grandpa's army had ended and the racketeers had ended. There was a couple of us from grandpa's army and then the guy from the racketeers that started the whole thing. I was playing bass for some reason in that band and I'm not a very good bass player and I just wasn't into it. And so I kind of like phased myself out by just not being good.
Royal Winnipeg Porn Orchestra's Impact
01:01:11
Speaker
and they obviously made the right choice because they replaced me with Ian who has gone on to a lot of really great bands like Sub City and Noble Thieves and stuff but and he's a way better musician and wrote a lot of their songs so they made the right choice for sure but yeah I was very briefly in that and then I was kind of that was my last real involvement as a musician in the ska scene except for an outer space skinhead reggae band I played in for a while which was like just also weird but yeah
01:01:33
Speaker
Those are the outer space themes in here. Yeah, I like that kind of theme. Also, me being bad at this podcast hasn't fazed me out yet. I've been trying and it's not worth it. I want to play a little RWPO now just so that listeners can understand how awesome they are. One of the best live bands ever. I love their live bands. They sound like they would really live. They're amazing. I haven't seen them. It sounds like it'd be fun though. Well, they're long gone now, unfortunately. They're definitely defunct.
01:02:06
Speaker
not like they were a band to see at the Albert when you were really drunk and like that maybe played a lot of shit like a lot of shows but it was mostly just to drunk at the Albert which was a great place to see them but yeah I don't think we ever got particularly huge the name might have been a barrier
01:02:21
Speaker
I was like, this is fun, I like it. I first heard about them on Jump Up The Ska, the internet radio station. Okay. Yeah, which was, that's such a big myself there, but yeah, they were so good. And I like how this is also like, distinctively, like, prairie. Yup. Maybe more so in like, they sound very small town. Like, this is what a small town ska band would probably sound like.
JFK's Evolving Musical Style
01:02:45
Speaker
But stark contrast to JFK.
01:02:48
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, for sure. It's more, it's more, and I think what happened is too, the combination of those guys getting together is you kind of hear JFK getting more goofy and more like kind of leaning right into the word just bumps in the prairies kind of thing. Cause mash of the dance has all kinds of songs about that and it's more tongue in cheek and sort of that whole, I'm not Jamaican, but I'm doing my own version of it. I think that becomes more kind of pure by the time they get to the last album, because it's like more with a wink and a smile. Yeah. It's more fun. It's less like, this is really serious. Sky is a big, important thing. Totally.
01:03:19
Speaker
He's taking himself seriously. We're smoking weed and doing ridiculous things and let's record it because it's fun and like, yeah, yeah.
01:03:26
Speaker
And this is released on bacteria buffet. I believe it, I had the number, but I believe they've only released 13 records. Is that right? Something like that. Like overall, you mean? Yeah, but I think that they had, they had a few, they had, I'm not going to count them all, but they had three Barry Mars records. They had probably two after beat. They had this, they had the other JFK album. They had the wedge woods. It sounds like a bunch. I know I kind of.
01:03:54
Speaker
A bunch of those pixie skank compilations, which were great. They did a bunch. And they had a few other ones that weren't necessarily SCA that were just kind of like weird things that they added on the label too. And so the JFK side, so it's only a few tracks of each on this split. It's four and four. And how will I ever is the track I pulled from JFK?
01:04:18
Speaker
And I feel like all the songs they chose, again, lean on that Prince Buster kind of element. More so, I'd say, even then, Mayor of God just did it. It's just like a steady escape all the way through. Yeah, it's interesting because we're talking about the Kingpin's thing. I mean, they do the Ten Commandments of Scott at the end, which the Kingpins famously and excellently did on their first record. Which is a riff on the Ten Commandments of Prince Buster. That's right, that's right, yeah. So it all connects.
01:04:45
Speaker
Which, and that cover is fantastic. It's a good cover, yeah. Because I think Lorraine is singing on there. I think he's in there. Yeah, I think that's who's doing the female vocals. It might be, yeah. I have to, I have to line it up for him.
01:04:57
Speaker
No, it's the Keyword Player Rock season. Oh, okay. I love the artwork that's on the split. It's pretty great, yeah. Yeah, it's pretty funny. I don't know if you've seen... Do you still have the CD? I do, it's at home. I was going to pull it out, but I have to try not to. You probably can't see this, obviously. I know people listening can't see this, but it's a picture of a guy taking a dump in the middle of a weed field and says, you can't shit on the prairies until you shit on the prairies, which I think is fantastic. That's amazing! That's the whole inside liner notes. All you have is this picture. That's amazing. That's actually amazing.
01:05:25
Speaker
So the goofiness is there, right? It's already there on the prairies. If you're not from Canada, they fucking shit on the prairies. You don't want. I love. OK, Saskatchewan sucks, but Alberta, Manitoba, Sweden. Yeah, we're cool. Yeah, it has some decent lakes. That's all I would get. It would be a great place to take a shit in a wheat field, though. Probably as well. You know what? Because it'd be so flat. Everyone would see you from a mile away. Manitoba, same thing, though. We got the same time here. Driving through Manitoba and Saskatchewan is a real nightmare.
01:05:53
Speaker
It's not very exciting, no. No, but I actually like, Hey, I am a Edmonton apologist and I am a Winnipeg apologist. I think Winnipeg is super fun. I love Winnipeg. I mean, obviously I do, but do like Edmonton and Winnipeg do, I find her like little baby twin cities almost. I can see that. Yeah.
01:06:12
Speaker
So we get to 2003 and then they actually start production on the follow-up, the true follow-up. So the split is like a stopgap release and now JFK wants to release the next album. And he's very aware that he's gonna do something different. Cause he's very, he grabbed ahold of all that reggae and dance hall that he was kind of DJing and toasting and wants to incorporate that, which is his true love. Like he likes Scott a lot, but reggae is his real love and dance hall.
01:06:41
Speaker
Um, he actually takes forever and his band, uh, bugs him constantly. And, uh, Rusty, uh, is constantly poking him because he joined the band, uh, to replace his old guitar player. And JFK, I remember, I think it was in the interview said, uh, well, Rusty was like, Oh, I don't play that kind of ska music. And he's like, no, you'd be fine. And he's like, Oh, he turned out to be really good. Or he said like something like, Oh, I really think like you can, you can pull it off the style of like what you play it would translate directly into this.
01:07:08
Speaker
It's interesting that he has that headspace. That's what I'm like, how do you figure it out? He's like, oh, like, like, we heard that Prairie Town song. Like, who could have been like, oh, yeah, that guy could also play like hardcore traditional Scott. That's what I'm like, how does he have the ear to hear that? Like, oh, no, I know what you play and you can play this. Like, there's something that he has, you know, just completely natural that I don't think you can teach.
01:07:29
Speaker
Yeah. And so that brings it to the next album, mash up the dance. We've alluded to it already before. Yeah. That's the only one available on streaming. Guys. There's a lot of thumbs up.
01:07:44
Speaker
it's so it's a wild left turn so if you like the very traditional style of the first one this this follow-up has a couple of those as sam said but it's really rooted in reggae and and dancehall and like you can tell by the names of the songs like it opens with wada da which i'll just play a little bit right here
01:08:02
Speaker
which is bizarre like it's it's so different it's it's like the with the weird uh like digital rhythm and stuff and yeah it's it's it's that's the tone but he's not drumming and singing right he's another he's got a drummer oh yeah i'm pretty sure he drums on this record oh he does oh i thought he said he was he was hoping to pull himself up to the front but he might have drummed on the record
01:08:19
Speaker
He's the only drummer credited on the record. But no, he was. He wasn't this time though. He was singing. He was singing at the live shows. Yeah. And that made it very different. That made it very different because you're used to him just being at the back and, you know, you can see him, but not really. And he's just kind of doing this basic drumming and singing like we were talking about before. And this kind of era as someone going to their shows was a lot more doing that goofy prairie thing because you see him and he's kind of gangly and like, I don't know. He's kind of awkward almost like and he's up there doing this dancehall thing.
01:08:49
Speaker
doing it like a style of music that's very very um it's almost like you've got to be like a braggart you got to be like you really really you really cold really confident right a lot of deaf artists are just in your face and i know me yeah it's cool makes it less cool but there's like a natural fucking ease and like cool yeah yeah and then you got this like dorky white guy with glasses like you know that's why i was like he was not i was like google was like are you jfk is daddy and then i was like he's just a guy
01:09:16
Speaker
But he has the confidence of like, oh yeah, you know, like I'm, but it's also awkward though. It's like, it's like, I'm confident that this is, it's like confident. This isn't sound and he's putting it out there, but he's still kind of like, yeah, it's, it's weird. I don't know if you ever see a video playing live, but as a performer, maybe the performer. Yeah. Yeah. This song is a video, which I looked up, like it's like a,
01:09:34
Speaker
Yeah, someone made it at Red River College. I don't know what the situation was, but yeah, it's interesting. It's very interesting because it does emulate him being very weird and awkward and grinding with ladies who jump on the stage and dance with him. Wearing a Team Canada hockey jersey, right? Yeah. I think JFK can get like not for like two-door giveaway, but I think he gets, he's got this. I'm sure he does very well for himself. Nobody is, yeah.
01:10:01
Speaker
He knows what he's doing, yeah. He knows there's a one, two, three to what he's doing. I live to listen to the music. Guess the women's sweaty on the dance floor. And to your point, the kind of goofy humor and the standout track, I think that for a lot of people was that the Rizzla Skank, which is his ode to rolling papers.
01:10:20
Speaker
And then driving down the highway. Dropping. And I think he drops like Portage and lately drops up with a bunch of like local Winnipeg references in a like really chilled out W reggae song. Yeah.
01:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, Lynn just took a hit of her CBD pen. She's chilling out to the Rizzla skank. I know Celine's coming at you with the Rizzla skank. You don't, you're not allowed to write a song. You're not allowed to write a song called the Rizzla skank and not make it like a like a smoke up song like it. Yeah. Like there's no way.
01:10:56
Speaker
But it can't be taken too seriously, right? I don't think that's the way it's fun because it's so ridiculous. You can't sit around and just start like... I don't know, talking about Harper. I'm trying to... Yeah, yeah. It would have been Harper, yeah, it would have been Harper. No, Harper would have been 2002.
01:11:17
Speaker
Or where did it have been Paul Martin, so I don't know. I don't know. Hey, it's too late. Too late to remember this song. Fuck Canadian politics here. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So interesting. Hey, we're going to talk over this really good song, but did you want to do it with a Prime Minister? I don't know what to do with it. Arianne, feel free to, like, cut our bullshit out and just play that song. Arianne, don't.
01:11:38
Speaker
um but yeah like there's um i found that all that uh the the songs aren't about like the the girls and stuff like yeah the only thing that's kind of interesting is he throws stuff and stuff
01:11:55
Speaker
I was trying to cowl through my thoughts, and I was talking, and it wasn't going anywhere. But there's a couple songs where he's definitely talking to people who are talking to him about being a white guy singing reggae. Yeah. Well, he goes over the whole story. The whole story about him learning how to do dancehall and stuff is in one of the songs. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Which one, sorry? I think it's in the Holawea family.
01:12:20
Speaker
And he talks about like, he even mentions the street address. He lived on Beaverbrook street in River Heights in Winnipeg. And he talks about like, you know, people realizing he could actually do this shit. I usually look up the lyrics, but like, I don't think you can find these anywhere. These are probably not. Yeah. No. So I didn't quite catch that. That's really interesting.
01:12:38
Speaker
I do feel like there is like a bit of a punk edge to some of the songs too. Like there's some edginess in some songs like that he lets in. It's not as clean as the first, did I find that? I found like, even though it's like produced in a different way, he lets a lot more warts in and it's got this like, to your point where it's like, it sounds better when you just don't overproduce it. This is not as heavily produced as the first record. And I think- He's having more fun with it for sure. Like you can tell.
01:13:05
Speaker
Yeah, to your credit. Yeah, this is like an exact representation of your point. It sounds a little bit more natural. It's a little bit more rawness and it's in more, in my opinion, a little bit more enjoyable. Yeah, it's more genre fucking too. Like it's less purist. Like if you're wanting to see somebody like play around with style and just like weave it together, he's doing a little bit more of that.
01:13:24
Speaker
Well, think about the date, too, right? This is after Ska's had its heyday. It's almost a decade after the last album. Like, after the first album, it's, you know, why not just fuck around and do something fun? Yeah, right. Fair point. The next song I queued up was Walk and Talk, because I thought that was kind of like the edgiest that the album got in terms of like the dancehall. I love this song. This is one of the songs I jumped at. It's him.
01:13:48
Speaker
I don't want to say like old man talking, but he's definitely like talking to a younger generation and like I don't care what you're, I don't care for what you're doing. But like I'm thinking about myself in the same year and I'm like, that was me too. Walk and talk is youth culture, am I right?
Hip Hop's Influence on JFK's Music
01:14:06
Speaker
Walk and talk is drink control. Yeah.
01:14:35
Speaker
I've been listening to it all week at work
01:14:41
Speaker
The last one yeah, it's good. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you told me that today. I didn't I didn't have time to get it cute I know yeah, there's some lines in there that you really yeah. I do have a cute up, but you're playing Oh, yeah, I'm listening to code of sound this does sound like this is again. I always like to pull up the one song like almost like there's a Tim Armstrong a man it's more to John cuz he does like
01:15:10
Speaker
Oh yeah but also just like this to me that was the most third wavy like if it was sure yeah as much as he's gonna do third way exactly like so
01:15:22
Speaker
I thought his flow in like the, oh, I know. It's fun to say out loud. It's not. I get embarrassed every time I say it, but there's like a modern hip hop flow. It's like on the level. I am a born rebel. I don't worship no God, don't worship no devil. I don't follow no fashion. I am the general. I was like, what?
01:15:48
Speaker
If I could make my hand do the snap thing, I'd do it. You need a flag to just be waving. I was like, what? He is spitting truth. I was like, that is amazing. Classic DJing, right? I am a foreign rebel. I don't worship no God, don't worship no devil, don't follow no fashion. I am the general. That is like, fuck you, I'm the boss. That's so toasting. Yeah, he's like right in a rhythm right there. Yeah, I was like, that is incredible lyricism right there.
01:16:14
Speaker
but that goes back to like even like 50s ska stuff like Jamaican music is full of that right that just like I'm the best like yeah I'm the champion kind of thing well that's where like hip-hop got it from right totally totally that's the roots of it all and I like I love that in hip-hop like it's obviously maybe gone too far sometimes yeah and like really super modern TikTok hip-hop but
01:16:35
Speaker
Yeah, I just like that stood out to me. I had to like write it down. I had to figure out what he said. There's no way to find the lyrics. And I was like, no fucking rad. That is like so cool. I am remembering this. That is song. I will play over and over and over. I don't know why that song just super spoke to me. It's a good way to end the record too. It's very strong ending. Totally. So we're going to take a quick little break here. And, uh, when we get backward, we're going to finish this off.
01:17:07
Speaker
Welcome back. Now we're going to finish off from there.
Post-Band Activities and House Music
01:17:11
Speaker
JFK was all but done. Like for the conspirators, he's gone on to do his own things, petered off the project. Cause it was kind of a hodgepodge of a bunch of different people. He's mentioned before that he doesn't really love the production side of things. What he really wants to do is just for people to.
01:17:29
Speaker
play music and for him to get up there and, and do the music. That's like his dream. So and make people dance. And so after that, he's just started like kind of making his own music. He has a bunch of stuff on, uh, I think he had some stuff on band camp. I'm not sure if it's still there, but I don't know if it's still there. Yeah. SoundCloud maybe. Yeah. He was doing like house house music, DJ and so forth. Yeah. I don't know if he still is, but he was under the name Dave Rad for a while. Dave Rad. Dave Rad. Yeah. I feel like JFK was a better name, but I don't know. Yeah.
01:17:56
Speaker
Okay You're allowed to change your own evolve. That's true. I guess yeah So now this is the part of the show where we play some games. All right, Sam. Are you ready? This game is called boots bugs or bro. We got no label All right, let's find out how this works. No. Yeah, exactly. Let's find out how this work You rushed through that. Okay, what the fuck? Did you say boots? Oh
01:18:22
Speaker
Boots, bugs, or bra, we got no label. Or bra, we got no label. I don't want to have to say bra, but I mean, let's see. You sounded really cool when you said it. I just said it.
01:18:33
Speaker
In this game, I will list an artist and an album, and Celine and Sam have to guess whether it was released on stomp boots, bacteria buffet bugs, or neither. I tried to make it tricky. Sam is so much more knowledgeable. I don't know. We'll see. It's been a while. I tried to make it tricky. So you just say your name, and then you will say whether it's stomp, bacteria buffet, or neither.
01:18:56
Speaker
okay and uh and then whoever has the most points wins so selenio obviously you can just sam yes sam okay so number one al's diner a whole lot of milka buzz yep yep you said buzz not sam that's okay that's okay i'm giving him a point i'm seeing buzz every time okay the wedge woods buzz yeah damn it
01:19:23
Speaker
I didn't know. Bacteria. Yes. One to one. Gay. I didn't know that. There's no way I'd do that. Losferios warning shot. Wait. Bombs. Salim. Yes. Wait. I don't know, but I like Losfer's stomp. No. Neither. That one was on bacteria. Wow. That was so loud. That was the loudest thing I've ever heard. Okay. Number four. Losferios. Tread lightly.
01:19:48
Speaker
I never really liked that band, so I don't know. Selene. Yes. Neither. That's correct. Yes, because one on back to your one off. Number five, Mad Bomber Society, Atomica Go-Go. Selene. I'm going to get stomp. Nope. Dammit. I don't know. neither. That's correct. See? Selene, you're doing okay. Bedouin Sound Clash, sounding a mosaic. Neither.
01:20:12
Speaker
No, stop, stop, stop, damn it. You didn't buzz. I didn't buzz or say my name. That's okay. Sam, you didn't? Yeah. I just squeal, so they got to turn that volume away. Probably made them a million dollars. Oh, I'm sure, at least, yeah. What was their song? What was better when the sound cost is fine? When the night feels my song or not? Yes. That song was everywhere. It was on CBC Kids, too. My kids used to hear it all the time. Commercial, interstitial. It was huge. It was huge. The Barrymores, all-nighters.
01:20:42
Speaker
Buzz. Yeah. Dr. Buffet. Yeah, there we go. That was an easy one. Sam, it's Buzz not Bub Buzz. Bub Buzz. The Flatliners. Destroy to create. Bub Buzz. Yeah, go ahead. I have no idea. Can I steal the Bub Buzz? I'm going to guess it goes with Stomp. Yes, that's right. They were on Stomp. The Flatliners. Great Awake. It's the last one. Bub Buzz? Yeah. Neither. Trick question. It was on Union parent of Stomp. That's Stomp. That's Stomp. That's Stomp. It counts.
01:21:12
Speaker
Yeah, but you've set everyone up to fail, because Rob likes that. Yeah, I know. That was fun. Celine, you're four to three. No. Seriously. Undeservedly. Well done. Well done. Congratulations. Way to go. Trash. That was very good. You deserve that. Anyway, that was a fun game that I made up at last minute. Oh, just a normal good human being who's just warped into your games. And your horrible sister.
01:21:41
Speaker
For our next segment, Ska died in 1999 and Peter Stormare was caught by Francis McDormand putting his body in a wood chipper. This is Ska Sucks. Ska sucks. Ska repital is equally stupid. All right, Selene, did you get one? Nope. Oh, I did. Forgot about it till just now. So I just pulled this off Twitter. So I have nothing on JFK. There isn't enough social media stuff about it. Yeah, that's not the question.
01:22:08
Speaker
So instead, I just pulled the most recent crazy Twitter thing that I read, which was some guy did a Facebook post on a Scott to network video, just some cover. It wasn't even anything like too crazy. And wrote that was dope until chicks started twerking lol. Sad women go to that move so often. I love it behind clothes. I love it behind closed doors with my lady. But dang, man, whatever happened to being humble and leaving a little to the imagination.
01:22:34
Speaker
Call me crazy, but a proper woman who only shows the goods for her man is far more attractive than a woman twerking like this for everyone to watch. Men should just- That dude jerks off to porn every fucking day, obviously. Men should just start wearing sweatpants with no underwear and just let the sausage do the shoulder lean. Ha ha ha ha ha.
01:22:51
Speaker
Just let the sausage do the shoulder. What does this have to do with anything? Oh, this is horrible. So crazy. He just wants to talk about his sausage shoulder leaning. And then Jer just responds back and says, shame, whenever I twerk in videos, you never say anything. That was good.
01:23:08
Speaker
That's an insane thing to say. That's crazy. The projection, the projection of that comment. That's probably one of your Reddit trolls right there. That's, that's probably the same person. Dan from Reddit, Dan from Reddit again, Dan, you keep coming back. Hard, hard Dan from Reddit.
01:23:25
Speaker
Uh, so now we're going to go to social media for some questions. Uh, so when did you get anything off of Instagram? I told you. Oh yeah. Well, you said, Hey, Celine, go to Instagram for some questions. And then I forgot about you this morning. And then I looked and I saw that you already had, cause I have gotten questions. This is your first time. Yeah. You had good interaction on your Twitter. What is your favorite part of Scott as a culture? And why is it the mozzarella stick meme?
Ska Culture and Community Engagement
01:23:53
Speaker
this is from flipping the combined effort which is abandoned in the US so thanks to them for asking that question I mean you can skip the mozzarella stick me part of it because that's not my favorite part me that I actually don't get that ever and I'm so happy you know about this
01:24:09
Speaker
Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I think that's my favorite part of it or the least favorite part of it. Yeah. Is that your favorite part of it? No, that's my least favorite part. The whole like third wave really big fish were goofy. Look at us wearing stupid hats and Hawaiian shirts. I hate all of that. Like it's embarrassing to have listened to that band, that band particularly and a lot of other ones from that era. I'm just like, there's tons of them to hold up. Tons of bands I listen to that I need to hold up. And we'll just stop and see obviously, but
01:24:37
Speaker
the whole, I don't mean to, she don't really like fish particularly, but their whole aesthetic. And there was a band I loved at the time of just like, hey, kids, we're goofy. I hate it. And I think that's what killed the viability of it as a genre. It's like going forward. Cause everyone saw it as a novelty, right? And that's what people who hate Scott think of. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what people, that is the multi-realistic meme.
01:24:58
Speaker
No one, yeah, no one thinks about, they think about the teen movie soundtrack with like the boss tones on the sound and the real big fish and all this stuff. And it's like, oh, the goofy background music for some guy, like getting a pie in the face in the commercial. Like it's not, yeah. I'd say that's what gives it a bad rap is that type of scar. Totally, totally. Even though I unapologetically like that shit.
01:25:17
Speaker
I mean, I played in the band and did that kind of style, right? I mean, so I can't complain too much. But I get it. When people don't like that type of ska, like, I think it's valid. And like, yeah, again, this bringing it back to JFK and the conspirators, I was like, right. Like, real ska is like good. Like, it's just like good music. Like, it kind of brought me back where I was like, right. Like, I think it was a bit of an eye opener where I'm like, I really need to like focus back on the roots a bit more anyways.
01:25:43
Speaker
So what is your favorite part of the culture then? Like, that's the part we hate? Yeah. What's the thing that you like? I don't think I like anything about the culture. I really like the music. And I think it goes for anything. I think it goes for hip hop culture or punk culture.
01:25:59
Speaker
I want to just be a guy wearing a t-shirt and jeans in the back of the show. I don't have to wear a uniform. I don't like the idea of there being like a costume. And I did this too. I had pins and stupid hats and shit when I was in the Scott Band and everything too, right? But Rob, I mean like, I still wear pins. But you know what I mean, right? Like, I just don't like the idea of a uniform and it being like, this is my lifestyle. I always hated that.
01:26:21
Speaker
I love the music a lot and the music is still the important part, but that part always rubbed me the wrong way. Like whenever I wore suits in my band, partially because I was cheap and lazy, but I wear like a suit jacket and then just t-shirt under it. Like I had a clip-on tie, one of the times I was kind of forced by the other members to wear a tie, it was a clip-on because I just don't, like the whole, you know,
01:26:40
Speaker
I don't know. I resent being told what to do in any place. I like the uniform. It's the uniform. Or expectations of you have to be this if you're this. Yeah. Or fit into this box. We talk about that all the time. That was the thing that I had an issue with penetrating here in Edmonton is that there was definitely uniform, especially the punk scene. Yeah, totally. And if I didn't have the studded belts and the jean jacket and all that stuff, I wasn't welcome there. Or I wasn't allowed to hang out. I like dancing.
01:27:09
Speaker
That should be what it should be all matters, right? It should be all matters. Dancing is my favorite part of the culture. Honestly, I realize it sounds stupid, but like sincerely, dancing is my favorite part of it. And I think that was like what brought me into seeing live shows that were like, I dance. That should be important. Like I was like, oh, I don't have to fall over and get punched by a skinhead. I can just dance. That's so great. Oh, this is music I can dance to. Like for sure. Rad. And it's also alternative in counterculture. Even better.
01:27:38
Speaker
That's a much better answer than my like old manuals at clouds. I'm going to just take that out. That's my answer too. I'm going to just steal yours. That's my answer too. You just brought it back to a Simpsons referencing. I have to be all in. Old manuals at clouds. Robert, what's your favorite part of the skull culture? I agree. It's the dancing. You said I agree. It's the dancing. What else do you like? You like checkers.
01:28:01
Speaker
I do like checkers. I like the puns. I love the puns. I love the puns. The puns is my life. And I like that now on Twitter. I can put these puns out there. People are like, yeah, that's a good pun. My wife doesn't have to. The worst part of this podcast is that Rob has an audience. Isn't that the worst part of anyone's podcast though? Yeah. He gets so much external validation that I'm not a fan of. They're like, that's funny. Say more. And I'm like,
01:28:30
Speaker
Mm-hmm. All right. That's as good a place as any. Thanks for listening to Checkered Past. Hit us up on Instagram and Twitter at checkeredpasspod or send us an email at checkeredpasspod at gmail.com. Ask a question. Suggest bands. Bring us ska puns. Checkered Past is engineered by Joey, produced by Arianne. Hey. Our theme song is OAO by the Edmonton's Own Mad Bomber Society. Ooh. Sam Thompson, what would you like to plug?
01:28:54
Speaker
I would like to plug which police radio the podcast. You can find it wherever you get your podcast is 600 plus episodes to go through. You also go to which police.com, which is being remade, but the episodes are all still there. And it also like to plug the Manitoba podcast festival, which is happening this September. And it's not only for people from Manitoba, because we're doing it virtually again, like we did last year. And it's a good resource for up and coming podcasters and established podcasters. We want to insert ourselves in that.
01:29:21
Speaker
Well, can we come? Thank you so much, Sam, for for joining us this. This is a late record this evening. It is. Yeah, I really appreciate you taking the time. You have a child and a dog and a life and a family. Oh, that sounded like and I'm blue. Debbie, do you have? But we appreciate your time so much. You have a real podcast and you see the real podcast. So there's no podcasting is the Wild West. You can do whatever you want. The fact that you're doing it makes it a real podcast. That's right. There you go.
01:29:51
Speaker
So until next time, I'm Rob. And I am Sa Lin. And in the immortal words of JFK and the conspirators, I love to hear when ska music is playing ain't no sound like ska around in the town.