Transcript
Speaker: In the spring of 2025 came classic ska to Edmonton. Checkered Pass took the music from the genre and put it to the pod, and came up with this bracket and called it Hep Hep Hep hep hep The Trojan War!
Speaker: two, three, four!
Speaker: Smooth. What up, Checkerheads? Welcome to Checker Pass, the Scottcast with Celine and Rob. The show where a return of King Django and a skinhead Moonstomp Records, CanCon, explore the history and impact of a different band each episode, hope to bring in new fans along the way.
Speaker: I'm Rob Marley, and this is my sister and co-host, Salem and Dodd. Hell yeah. Hell That was awesome. What the fuck? What did you say? Rob Marley. Who Rob Marley?
Speaker: just for sir rob mark Rob Marley's good. Robert Marley. I guess that's his name. That's his name anyway. I just took his name and then just made it my name, which is his name. know. I know. It's a good.
Speaker: that's that's the That's what I love about you third wave livers that y'all y'll love a good Scott pun. I wasn't there for that. So I see a Scott pun and I'm like, ugh. Somebody's talking here and he hasn't been introduced yet. Hold your thoughts.
Speaker: We'll also welcome our co-host with the most toast, Joey Cliff. Hey. Oh yeah, it was it was waffles, not toast this morning. yeah we What do you put on those bad boys?
Speaker: We ordered them. yep i put some I put some syrup on there. I put some whipped cream on there. I had some Canadian back bacon on there. I got whipped cream and strawberries and butter.
Speaker: and i work moan's bomb Double smoked bacon. yeah I'm picking a away at it still. Her bacon smoked joints. I gotta i gotta to take my time to eat my breakfast.
Speaker: Yeah, I need like an hour and a half and I just want to chill. Yeah, for sure. Chill. You're so European. like That's like a like eat dinner at 8 o'clock right up until 12 kind of a thing, right? Ideally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. Ideally. That sounds good for this household.
Speaker: British people, am I right? You're not wrong. having We might as well introduce you. might as well oh yeah yeah might as well he's returning to the podcast band leader for the marijuana brass it's el homie javi's here hello javi how are you doing buddy hello hello gang hello gang hello gang i'm here what this counts as your third appearance i would say oh my god three times oh yeah that's true huh yeah yeah damn what when was the last time it was in uh the three-year anniversary
Speaker: And what what a year that happened? And I'm, it's been a fucking crazy few months for me. That would have been May. That would have been beginning May. Right. Last year. So 10 months ago. so yeah Fuck.
Speaker: According to my calculations. Yeah. There's 12 of those things, right? Yeah. Yeah. Cool. A lot has happened. It's been a long ass year. I'll tell you that much. Fuck. Preach. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. goodness guys You guys psyched to be the 51st state of America? Jesus, come on. You mean Alberta? it doesn't work it it doesn't work as a country, you guys. It only works as a state. know Haven't you heard? It only works as a state. just the Just all of Canada just cool just like sucked up into Minnesota.
Speaker: Well, it's not a real and country, even though it's fucking way bigger than the state. Just an entire landmass that's like the same size as the entire U.S., just like absorbed as a single unit. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense. The economy's not good enough. The economy's not good enough for... to be a...
Speaker: 59 or however many states are in there. i don't know I don't know. I don't know shit about Canada's territories. How many provinces do we have? We got 10 provinces and 3 territories. or even though mexico How many states or provinces Mexico has? fucking They got a lot, don't yeah lot they? got like That's a lot.
Speaker: It's a lot. It's a lot. Somewhere between Canada and US, s I feel like. Over 13, under 51. Something like that. Something like that.
Speaker: So let's catch the listener up. you you You said it. 10 months since the last time you've been on. Talk to us about your musical journey in the last 10 months. What's new with the marijuana brass? What's new with Tavi? What you've been up to? Oh, God, dog. Where do i fucking begin?
Speaker: um The start. I moved back in with my parents um yeah because of school. um I'm going back to school, so I'm planning on finishing my BA in music breath studies at California State University, Northridge.
Speaker: Go Matadors. Go Matadors. Yeah. Marijuana Brass. We actually lost our lead singer ah in, I think, like September of this past year. So we've kind of been on a hiatus, but we just released a Snoopy.
Speaker: a little bit ago it's a it's a rough live recording along with some instrumental demos but it's up there um yeah it sounds good i listened to it a couple times hell yeah oh thank you thank you it's a it's a good little song uh yeah marijuana brass original um all of the dem all of the instrumentals on that except for mr walker that's a jazz standard um just a little s snoopy ep just a little demo ep see what we got and other than that um i just recorded something for hans gruber and the diehards i've spi fest i played with but like maybe one every four acts i think i don't know yeah yep 25 percent of acts
Speaker: That shit was so much fun. i was so fucked up for that. i was Everyone was like, I got to smoke out El Homie. I got to smoke out El Homie. Yeah, everything blurb. People kept giving me blunts, and I was like, I have never smoked this much nicotine. So like by the middle of SPI Fest, I had like really bad nicotine. poison i'm Not poisoning, but really bad nicotine sickness. So was super nauseous playing of the sets. Get get down with the niceness.
Speaker: Yeah, they had crazy edibles there. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't actually. I'm also sober. I'm sober six months. um on the That's awesome. Oh, yeah. um Because the the way I was smoking was a little too tough. They're going to kill me. um Yeah, I was. yeah They were going to come after you. They're like, you can't smoke. The killer. You see those clips of Wendy Williams being like, oh, I'm afraid of, you know, the killer is going to come and get me. The killer.
Speaker: Yeah. I'll send it in the chat If you know, you know But Wendy Williams has this archive Of this so-called killer That she keeps alluding to As you all know, I don't like Halloween Because, you know, the killer The killer's gonna come get you The killer I do know what she's talking about It's the killer It's the killer It's gonna come get And they are out to get you
Speaker: Yeah. So you got cut back on the weeds. Cut back on the weed or the killer's going to get you. It reminds me of that. Do you remember that cartoon from the like early 90s, late 80s? That was like it had like every cartoon property mixed together. And it was about the evils of drugs.
Speaker: And then it was there. Yeah. And the one kid turned green. Yeah. That that video, um i like it had like every IP, and all of those companies were like, yeah, we'll we'll just do that because like so smoking and drugs are bad.
Speaker: You know what I mean? And then they did it, and nothing like that will ever happen again. Oh, and they used to rent that for free at vh like at the video store. Yeah, yeah, it's free. I remember the only one of the only reasons I've seen it multiple times is because they would let you take it for free.
Speaker: And I was like, there's Ninja Turtles on this. And Muppet Babies. And i care about the Ninja Turtles. Have you guys seen that? And this is another reference to another video. There's a video of these two kids doing like a presentation at their school.
Speaker: And I love this video. I quoted i quote it all the time. It's like they're doing a cover of Animals by Maroon 5, but it's titled Don't Do Drugs. So there this one kid that's like, don't do drugs, don't do drugs, don't do drugs. And then the other kid's like, what are drugs? Let me tell you real fast. They come in the form of a pill you pop or a thing you smoke. If you think about doing drugs, just don't.
Speaker: That's just informative. It's totally just like some kid just being, like, imagine, like, you're addicted to crack and kids are like, dude, you think about doing drugs? Just don't. Just stop. Just don't, man. Just don't. Stop it. Addiction isn't disease a disease or genetic. You just have to just don't. just come You just gotta thug it out. You just gotta to thug it out.
Speaker: but
Speaker: I'll get out. just You got this. I want to circle back to your last appearance really quickly. oh and there was a There's some controversy because um your episode was number two last year for our top episodes.
Speaker: Because there was some shenanigans. We talked about the shenanigans. Oh, shenanigans, Bananigans. Yeah, Banana Man came and rallied up his banana folks to get to the number one spot.
Speaker: i I just want to know, do you have a message for Banana Man about his asterisk victory? Banana Man, I don't know who the fuck you are. Who you think you're playing with?
Speaker: You think you're spicy? Yeah. You think just whenever you you least expect it, the killer is going to come and get you. So you better watch out, Banana Man. Brandon Flowers?
Speaker: Who's Banana Man? Brandon Flowers is the guy from The Killers. guy Oh, lead singer from The Killers. He doesn't look a thing Jesus. But you left in the world.
Speaker: It is funny because like your episode was like so heartfelt. And then the episode that got number one was the dumbest thing we've ever done. the show which Which episode was it? My first appearance or my second?
Speaker: Your second one, the one with Kaylee. but That one, yeah, that was a fun episode. um Honestly, one of the reasons why I became sober is because of that whole clip where I was like, you're listening to this joint right now, hit a blinker. hey' And then people just kept saying that to me.
Speaker: And I was like, man i'm right I don't know how many people I've gotten like ah addicted to weed ever since then. So I had to reevaluate some things. you you You realized you're a bad influence. I was like, I'm being a bad influence. Yeah.
Speaker: I come back a lot. yeah like so much yeah yeah so lynn's doing like a little hoot before bed mostly these days yeah that's pretty much it and then i've gone down to likea i like for me i'm not like i'm not like oh we're doing it again but you know yeah yeah it's good to have a healthy boundary overlieving you know having boundaries exactly exactly better sleep hygiene it can mess up your sleep That's kind of how I am with drinking.
Speaker: I haven't really had any drinks. I've had a couple of beers this year. But I haven't been drunk drunk in forever. I'm just not grateful. The last time I was drunk drunk was at SPI Fest. Now I was fucked up.
Speaker: I mean, we were all fucked After finished Kaylee's set, I was like, God, that was such a terrible set that I just played. going get drunk. And then Matamoska went on to play and I was like, let's go. Home field advantage.
Speaker: from got Then Rob got a punch in the eye. i think you might have gotten an elbow by famously I think you might have gotten elbowed by me. I'm sorry. Yeah, I believe so. for We're all friends.
Speaker: Rob's got two eyes still. yeah That's what they call me They call me two eyes. Two eyed Rob. Two eyed Rob. There's just a Cyclops Rob running around that we have to differentiate you from. Just keep bringing up Trojan War stuff. Just Cyclops. Trojan um That's called a segue. On note.
Speaker: On that note. Okay. Let's talk about it. Trojan War is upon us. Javi, I'm sure you have thoughts. So before we get into the actual bracket, and we need to table set a little bit.
Speaker: So okay first, is there any song that you feel we should have included in the bracket that wasn't there? Yeah, I got a few fucking words for you. First of all, i um Uptown top ranking, that should have not.
Speaker: I think it was better than. We're jumping right into you guys fucked the bracket. Okay, let's start. You guys fucked up the bracket. like You weren't here. here yeah Sure. How did we fuck up the bracket? That's the new question.
Speaker: Okay, I don't, okay, I don't, I fill out the bracket a while ago and I don't remember how I filled it out, but Uptown Top Ranking at least made a pass. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. It's a good horn line. That's sick.
Speaker: It's a good horn line. I love it. It's an earworm, but I could listen to Uptown Top Ranking and fucking, I'm still in love with you, boy, every, like, every day of my life and I would die happy.
Speaker: i am baffled that that song is so popular with people. yeah People love Uptown Top Ranking. It could be Yeah. Yeah. Couldn't be me. I don't know. I remember what I voted. did say it. I don't know.
Speaker: Also, ah Django smoking the weed. I was like, man, this is giving me vibes of like that one German guy that was on Eidos. That was low key like, well, fuck cancel culture. Cancel culture is is ruining Ska. And because he was faking Jamaican like super hard.
Speaker: ringing i got ringing There's only one. Yeah. And I was like, this song's corny. Hi, yeah yeah you know, fucking. Hi, you head ass. Fucking annoying. Annoying. as song you Yeah, im I'm very biased towards Lauren Atkin because he's Rasa. Honestly, Ska in Mexico would not be where it is um without Laurel, if that's how you pronounce his name. Laurel Atkin. Rudy got married. Big favorite of mine. um I'll also say this. I'm a student of a New Tone. So this playlist that y'all curated was like some of the first times I was listening to a lot of these tracks.
Speaker: Oh, nice. Yeah. Um, you know, you guys got fucking, our dad is move in on I was like, Oh, that's a cover of this. I didn't know that.
Speaker: Um, a lot of songs that i was like, oh these are, these are the originals. Um, Let's see. i'm not i'm I'm pretty biased against the Motown influence. I'm like, I'm sick of Motown.
Speaker: Get it out of my ska. um I like what I see. I have a soft spot for Motown. But it's a fair opinion to have. yeah I'm like, get the Motown out of my ska. It makes for more interesting chord progressions and instrumental arrangements, but like if I hear strings in my ska, I'm like, come on.
Speaker: You're going to bring those string players live? Get the fuck out of here. You're going to fucking... string players, like bowed instrument players, like get out of here. I'm sick of hearing you. What the cool? What about Apocalyptica?
Speaker: Also harmonica. I'm super anti-harmonica in ska. I don't a fuck. Okay, that's fair. I don't like I think we can all agree there. We caught strays when we said that about the harmonica. There's a couple comments. Okay, the reason why is because the motherfucker that's... I'm anti-harmonica, pro-toasting.
Speaker: Toasting, if you gotta do toasting. pro-toasting. Yeah. um I'm pro-horn lines, but if the horn lines are annoying... um like And there are some horn lines that are pretty grating. um You know, but I can only be so cool. that's so yeah and that You can only take so much of that.
Speaker: You know, you you pick that over fucking uptown top ranking. I'm like, shaking my damn head. You can only handle so much of that.
Speaker: I can handle The reason why I'll give it a pass though, is that it sounds like it's really fun to play on horn. i right i havent tried to on like one thing that you gotta know about me if you don't know who i am is i'm a horn player that's my number one thing i'm a student of new tone but i'm also a student of trombone classical jazz uh salsa um cumbia rock steady reggae that's that's like my bread and butter but like i'm super ignorant on like a lot of history because there's so much fucking history to catch up on there's a lot yeah
Speaker: So that's that's three things. It needs a good and needs a good dance ability, good sing ability, and earworm, if it's an earworm.
Speaker: Those are his things. there's things You got your being got three already. ability I'm writing them down. Sing ability and i never going to remember what mine were danceability singability catchability Catch 22.
Speaker: good See, I know how to make puns. Come on, guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got it. ah Joey, what are your things? What are you looking for fuck i don't and an old school Scott song? I honestly do not even remember. Dancing?
Speaker: ah Maybe... ah No. maybe no Dancing? um You're just saying what Javi said. I yeah have no idea. I don't remember. Groove is in the heart. Piano. And hooks. Yes, hooks. Yeah, piano.
Speaker: really like the... yes yeah ah oh man yeah no yeah piano i really like the amount of piano on all these older songs.
Speaker: Like, I love organ on newer stuff, for sure. And I even more so love, like, more modern stuff that, like, mixes. Like, one part of the bubble will be on, like, a piano and the other part will be on the organ. I love when they do that, too.
Speaker: But these older ones, like, that piano in there is... what I love a piano playing chops. I can't lie. Yeah. oh yeah clean in cho I'm also, I'm super jazz. I i think I mentioned jazz influence. um If the shredding is good too, like how good are the solos? If people are soloing um sometimes you can tell like, okay, this was not the best take you could have given that guy. But as as a jazz listener, you're kind of just used to that. Like you listen to fucking, what's that song called that everyone knows? Yeah.
Speaker: Fucking... Exactly. You don't even fucking know. I don't fucking know. Nah, if you're a jazz head, you know what I'm talking about. I'm just blanking on the song. I'm on no sleep. I respect jazz, but I know zero about it. and Yeah, jazz. For me, jazz can feel like homework sometimes. It can feel like Yeah, it feels like work. It's like too... It's like...
Speaker: But sometimes you listen to a song. It's like, I'm smarter than you. And I'm like, that was not the best take you could have gotten out of that. You know? And for a lot of, especially like if you listen to Scottelite stuff, like it feels like that a lot where it's like, huh, you guys are kind of figuring the song out as you're going, huh?
Speaker: like this is likere like we We paid for one hour of studio time. We need to get this song done in one hour. i feel like it's similar to improv. Improv at a really high level can be really good. yeah but when it's like not on a high level, it's like secondhand embarrassment. Is that what it's like for a musician? Watching jazz? That clearly what does that makes sense.
Speaker: like if If I hear like a hornline a horn player play a sour note and he just never recovers from it, yeah um It's probably the same like thing as a joke. is on laughing Yeah, like a joke not landing. And then the guys, I don't know what that's like. So folkss these are the jokes.
Speaker: These are the notes. These are the jokes. These are the notes. Yep. That's how it feels sometimes. It's like you get secondhand embarrassment. You're like, oh, yeah. You don't get that a lot.
Speaker: um I think one of my things was like no white people. Yeah. I think the specifically not all white people. yeah Yeah. Not all. Well, that's weird. Yeah. um I wrote.
Speaker: Not all white people. Yeah. yeah like fuck you got i dread Fuck you, Adam Davis. Fuck you, Aaron Carnes. And fuck you, especially Judge Dredd.
Speaker: um I have no idea what my other things were. It was a little grit. advocate yeah And lady vocals sometimes.
Speaker: Because I admit that there's some songs that are still good without lady vocals. I can admit that. Yeah, yeah. That's fair. I said I prefer an instrumental with toasting.
Speaker: um I definitely will take Ska and Rock Steady over reggae. And i like the I like the one take. I like the shitty production. i like the one and done aspect of it. um yeah So I'm definitely going to pick the ones where it sounds like shit.
Speaker: That's part of what I like about it. Yeah, I love, I don't mind like a little dirt on my on my masters. as you If you've ever listened to the marijuana brasses shit that's up right now, there's a lot of mud. There's a lot a lot of mud.
Speaker: And me sometimes my musicians don't like that I am so okay with that. you know they're okay with that yeah I mean as so national um to yeah and as as someone who like is kind of came I guess more from the punk world like am I listening like I'm that's I love that shit you know i mean like I like a little more off the floor type of sound yeah but I mean i like I like a nice crisp production as well but like I appreciate like a more live sound totally that's one thing that I wish that um
Speaker: that's something I hope dies with new tone is that, uh, the crisp audio, um, you know, people, the super poppy punky, um, what's the word? What's the word? Um, production aesthetic is what we'll call it.
Speaker: The production aesthetic of something that's like, you know, super polished, but it's still punk rock. I'm like, well, why is it still punk rock at this point is pop music.
Speaker: you know We're not playing Scott Punk, we're playing Scott Pop now. You know what i mean? and True. true yeah that's my So that's my hot take. You know, i feel like that might have something a little bit to do with like ah like in the last, say, 10 years or so, home recording blew up, right? Like it was insane.
Speaker: And I think people were... pushing as hard as they could to like make that home recording sound like studio recordings and now we've surpassed that and we're like well now everybody's home recording can sound as polished as they want you know and it's like oh and then you kind of lose a little bit of it so it's and then nobody can and you don't dial it back a little you know you forget what your arrangements go like and all of a sudden you play you play those arrangements in your studio and you're like, okay, I have as many takes as I want. And then people are like, now we want to see you live. was going to say, reproduce it live, what's the point?
Speaker: ah Like you could just be a home recording person, but. Yeah. I don't know. like so much of ska is like, it's The beauty of it is the live aspect. So much of music is. And I'm just experiencing that now versus recording song and just starting play live shows. Shout Femme Voyage or however you pronounce it.
Speaker: Wait, Femme Voyou? Voyou? We just played two shows. Two shows in a row. Yeah. and It was so fun. And just to like start making like community and like last night was all women fronted bands and like ah drag performer. and like it was just very like diverse and it was just fucking awesome. There's just all these witches being witches.
Speaker: ah it was, yeah, building. I got a question for you. soli I got a question. yeah Now that you're a fucking now you're a rock star. what do you think of the new Lady Gaga album? obsessed but a little not what i expected because i thought it would go more goth i do still think disease is number one uh-huh garden of eden is a banger you're a little monster in the chat hit a blinker if you're little monster pause little monsters uh love drug really good there's some disco e tracks and then there's like that i like my language prince there's like a prince song
Speaker: Oh, that's cool. Well, like a Prince style song. Yeah. Yeah. Killer. With an A-H. Oh. Ah. That's scary. um do do What do you think, Javi?
Speaker: I only listened to it once in passing. It was a really good album to listen to in passing. And it reminded me a lot of her older stuff. I feel like she's really like getting to like her nostalgic bag. Like it felt like it could have released in the twenty ten s You know what I mean?
Speaker: Her videos are just like, she's just being so fucking weird. Like in disease, she's being so fucking weird. i haven't seen any of the videos. Oh my God. haven't seen any of the videos yet. We're back to meet Dress Gaga.
Speaker: We get like what Abracadabra nuts. And she has all these like, again, very diverse, like queer, vogue like voguers in it. And like just incredible dancing, being a freak, being mother. She's mother's mothering.
Speaker: We're so lucky to have mother mothering right now. So true. Yeah. Yeah. Like literal mom. All right, let's do it. Time to get into it, y'all.
Speaker: Yeah. All right. This is Madness March. All month long, we are doing a March Madness style bracket to pit 32 classic Jamaican ska songs in head-to-head battle to determine once and for all the greatest ska standard of all time.
Speaker: Thanks for everyone who voted their predictions. If you want to follow along, the bracket is at challenge.com. long Slash the Trojan wo War. the matchups are based on the or or The matchups are based on nothing. they I just made it.
Speaker: Here's how it's going to work. Today is round two with our very special guest, Javi. If you haven't done so already, go back and check the pre-show in parts one and two of round one. In this episode, we're only listening to the first couple minutes of each song.
Speaker: We will have two more weeks with guests after this, eliminating half the tracks until an ultimate winner is crowned. In the event of a tie, we'll be going to Discord to break up the tie with our loyal checkerheads.
Speaker: What is Jamaican Sky, you ask? I can't believe it took us three years to talk about it It was formed in Jamaica in the late 1950s by combining the local sounds of Mento and Calypso with the R&B and Jump Blues imported by American soldiers in the aftermath of World War II.
Speaker: Thanks to DJs and sound system operators such as Prince Buster, Cox and Dodd, and Duke Reed, the style was brought to the forefront by hiring local musicians to create a style that was definitively Jamaican, which coincided with the liberation of the country from the English in the early 60s.
Speaker: This culminated in the release of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop in 1964 that exploded internationally, becoming Jamaica's first commercially successful song. Studios on Orange Street, such as Studio One and Treasure, became hotspots for local bands to record.
Speaker: With slower soul music becoming more popular in the U.S., the ska sound slowed to create rock steady in the late 60s before slowing further to the more African-forward reggae by the 70s. Many Jamaicans began immigrating to the UK in the late 60s, including the legendary Duke Reed, who founded Trojan Records and imported numerous Jamaican releases that exploded in popularity, creating the crossover hits that we're talking about today.
Speaker: Hence why we're you're calling it the Trojan War. Let's do it. Here's the first matchup. Hell yeah. Return of Django, recorded in 1969. It's an instrumental track written by band leader Lee Scratch Perry in the band's signature pre-dubbed style.
Speaker: Its B-side was Dollar in the Teeth, and it peaked at number five on the UK singles chart. This is the Upsetters' Return of Django. Hell yeah, there it is. You can't hear it all day, never get sick of it.
Speaker: It's nasty. It's a nasty horn line.
Speaker: It's a slutty horn line. but If a horn's gonna be slutty. This is a slutty-ass horn. I picture, like, a little train, like, slowly just kind of chugging along the track. Chugging along. Yeah.
Speaker: That's a big... That's another thing that goes into danceability. It's strollability. Can you just go outside and just stroll to this song? This that was like this is rockin' music. Yeah. Like, the meters knew what was up.
Speaker: Half their songs had strut in the second half of the title, and this is a similar vibe, for sure. Can you walk down the street feeling cool listening to this? Hell yeah. This is good. Come on. i have no regrets. No, it's a great song. It's a great song.
Speaker: Ha ha ha ha.
Speaker: People loved Optown top ranking so much. Yeah, people were really upset about that one, but its sorry. Not it sorry. Sorry.
Speaker: Yeah. That's a stone cold classic. That is yeah a great song, y'all. That's a classic. I can't even fucking lie. That's classic. It's just so different. But the last bracket, the real Big Fish covers.
Speaker: yeah yeah yeah Yeah, it's just so different. It's so different listening to this versus that. The the Real Big Skirmish? Did you cover that song? No.
Speaker: No, I'm just It covered Monkey Man. bracket pe yeah Well, everyone fucking covered Monkey Man, so... Every September, we ruin Slim's life by doing the third waviest bands ever.
Speaker: that Can we start a petition to get Monkey Man in the like American Songbook? Can that happen? Well, I think. Well, it's not American, so no.
Speaker: That's the thing. Okay. i i'm like We need a rude boy real book. We need a rude boy real book. There go. That's 100% what we need. but It'll just be the 32 songs from this bracket.
Speaker: Exactly. Honestly, it's a good bracket. like This is a good-ass playlist. I put the playlist on just to like walk around and do my shit, you know. It's a good little play. yeah yeah are you Are you as upset that you're wondering now is not in there as some other people are?
Speaker: ah no I don't give a fuck.
Speaker: i also I also don't give a fuck. You're wondering now what to do. you know Just because Amy Winehouse did it. We get it, bro. We get it. There's a lot Amy Winehouse songs.
Speaker: Monkey Man's here. fucking looking men's here yeah that's what i'm saying dem brits dem brits they love it they love the shit dem brits it's true it's true it's going up against yeah everything i own recorded in 1974 it's a reggae rock steady cover of the bread song picked at number one on the uk singles chart this is ken booth with everything i own
Speaker: different vibe yeah this one's pretty chill
Speaker: I don't know about the twinkles. No? What makes the twinkles? A keyboard? I'll tell you what. Overproduction.
Speaker: No, it's a great... Vocally, it's a very, very fun song. Yeah, I remember saying that because vocals are nuts. The vocals carry this song.
Speaker: Yeah. Man, if I sing like that, I'd be like that annoying person who sings all the time. I like you have to put up with it because I sound so good.
Speaker: My voice this is too cohesive. For me, this is more Motown-y than Skala would get. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's fair. And it's also like closer to reggae. Oh yeah, i forgot how good this is.
Speaker: It's really beautiful. Yeah, the chorus is real good. Bassline's fun too. Something you could play at your wedding. Your mom would love. Imagine having that vibrato. Aaron Bear could never. she couldn't Maybe he could. lasts and You guys didn't even ask him if he could. Come on.
Speaker: Give us vibrato. Come on. That's enough, though. Imagine relaxing your vocal cords that much. Okay, so we got to pick between those two songs? Those two songs? yeah guys Is that what you're asking me? Yeah, i got an answer.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. I think I'm locked in. Yeah, I'm locked in. Flynn, how are you feeling? yeah Yeah, you know how I feel. Three, well we don't we're gonna find two, I don't even know. the second a Turn of Django. The second one.
Speaker: The second one? mean, I was outnumbered anyways, but... Yeah, that's fair. and music I don't always agree with Rob and Joey. Yeah, I obviously... That one was just a like...
Speaker: Like, I really like both of those songs, but one's just more ska than the other. so True, true, true. yeah yeah I can definitely see I'm more... what's what are your what's what what What determined your choice, Javi?
Speaker: um Singability. don't know. It's definitely a singable fucking, you know. sang that shit a lot already. Singability. Yeah, yeah but but versus everything that I own. You know, that's lyrical. That is beautiful. Lyrical, spiritual, you know I mean? Hell yeah.
Speaker: You know, it's a very sweet song. And the return of Django now. But, you know, also a lot of these are based off the title. Like the title alone, the return of Django, you're just like, God damn.
Speaker: That's honestly low-key, like almost what told me. I was like, but that just feels right. The Twinkles, honestly, if it wasn't for the Twinkles, I might have gone everything owned. Twinkles is what put you out? Yeah, I really don't like the Twinkles. I don't care for the Twinkles either.
Speaker: yeah i think the groove itself is just not to my liking. It's just it's all vocal. The vocal carries that entire song for me. Stunning vocals. yeah Yeah, fantastic.
Speaker: but over for kind of I do want to listen to that song again. You know what I mean? I do want to listen to that song again. yeah but not as much as i mean mean but Classics against classics. you know It's hard to fucking and put them against each other. We said it through both of the last episodes where it's like it's all of these songs fuck. but that but okay but Return to Django over Uptown top ranking? Come on.
Speaker: Okay, we gotta let it go. We all gotta to let it go. Nah, it's not coming back. Nah, nah, come on. It's not coming back. Some people had it win. The whole thing. That's crazy. Like a lot of people. Those people were mad.
Speaker: More than one. I kind of want to listen to it again. i'll you know what? I'm going to in. I'm just curious now. I'm like, well, I don't know. Was that when I was high or not high? There was one episode was high. No, that the not high. That was the not high.
Speaker: That's probably my authentic self. Also, a shout out to Chip, who got ah all of the wrong choices on the first episode, but then Selene smoked some weed and picked all of his choices the second episode. It was like, my bracket was fucked until Selene got high.
Speaker: Amazing. It was a different experience. It was very eye-opening. Honestly, one of the reasons I cut back, I was like, I'm a different person.
Speaker: that's It's true. when When you listen to this music stone, like it has a different effect on you. It does. right, we got the next matchup here. all right. Guns of Navarone, recorded in 1965. It's an instrumental cover of the theme song of the movie with the same name. Features toast from Roland Alfonso and Scratch Perry.
Speaker: Only peaked at number 34 on the UK singles chart and is still the only charting Scatolite song. This is the Scatolites with Guns of Navarone. Now these two, these two, this is a matchup. This is a hell a matchup.
Speaker: This is like, who's got the better toasting in my opinion? This bracket has made me a better toaster. have one thought that I'm a brave little toaster. I love toasting. I love toasting.
Speaker: I was like, oh, i need to step up my chicka-choo. God damn, this is good baseline.
Speaker: This is fucking cool.
Speaker: Do you do any Higgies? Do you do any of those? can't. No, you can't do a Higgie? Higgie! You know what I mean. I've added a Higgie.
Speaker: Like somewhere in between Fatboy V-Boxing and Toasting? That's my favorite when you're like about to pretend to V-Box and you're That's stupid.
Speaker: yeah so it's stupid and love it Not for nothing, that was a bit on the Brack Show in the musical episode. That's totally where I got it from. where Where dad comes in and does he just does that part of the beatbox. That's 100%. That's why it's a core i mean the big core memory. Hosting in general is just beatboxing and then sometimes you just say the name of the song or like you just you just spit shit out. You're just spitting shit.
Speaker: You're word vomiting. You're just doing whatever the fuck with your mouth. It's like a, what do they call Like stream of consciousness. just Exactly. It's like speaking in tongues. It's a spiritual experience. If you're not toasting, then what are you doing?
Speaker: i do You're just like reaching into like the song and pulling out sounds that shoot out of your face. When people toast, like the people in the audience start doing the like crazy religious whatever. Healing them? Yeah, healing them. and they're like You've never been to an LA star show.
Speaker: It happens. i'm not i'm not ah not the most I believe it. street billiards you that' That's what happens in the audience. That's what happens at Hans Gruber and Die Hard shows when they play.
Speaker: Al Capone's next. Come on, guys. Yeah, it's going up against the one and only Al Capone. Recorded in 1964. It's a straight-up ska song. Written and toasted by the one and only Prince Buster.
Speaker: Backed by the Baba Brooks Band for the Blue Beat label. Picked at number 18 in the UK a full three years after its release. This is Prince Buster with Al Capone.
Speaker: I love that intro. So good. Unreal.
Speaker: And literally every random thing he says is amazing. For real. That's some good tips. Yep. He's the originator. you want this is but This is what I'm modeling my chookas off of in the song. I've improved. We could not pick a better person to pull from. Yeah.
Speaker: How much better have my picket is done? Yeah, oh yeah, your toasting is... Come a long way. The piano in there? Fuck yeah.
Speaker: So good.
Speaker: I feel like if people think like third wave ska, like ska is lame and they write off all ska, like they should hear this. Yeah. You know what I mean? And then they're like, oh, that chicka is pretty cool.
Speaker: You know what i mean? And then he says, don't call me like... Also, you you have the bias of Gangsters by the Specials. That's ah that's a very clear bias on mine. I love that song.
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love Al Capone, essentially. Yeah. Borderline to cover. Yeah. An interpolation one would say. That's the word. Oh, early interpolation. Yeah. ah Ava Max could never.
Speaker: I think I know how I'm voting. I think. I know. Yeah, I'm locked in. yeah Okay. yeah Javi, are you in? Do you know what you got? ah Damn, this one's tough. Yeah, man. This one is tough.
Speaker: I would be happy with either of them winning, but I think I know what I'm going vote for. overthink it. Okay. In honor of Femme Voyeux. Trois, deux, un. Al Capone.
Speaker: What did you say? obviously Al Capone. Al Capone has it. These guns don't argue. I love Guns of Navarone so much is why I probably picked it. And actually my favorite version is the... It's a great-ass title. It's a great-ass title. Guns of Navarone. What the fuck is a Navarone? In the shootout, Al Capone won.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah As far as guns go? Yeah. yeah Al Capone's didn't argue. and or argued No, didn't argue? The guns don't argue. Guns don't argue. you speak You shoot first, ask questions last.
Speaker: Alright? Guns don't argue. I think that's a terrible motto. Why not? But not you not if you're Al Capone, though. Al Capone. My name is Capone. You gotta say it like that, too. Capone.
Speaker: I love the way he says it. I just love it. It's so good. It's way better than me, poor. was gonna say, is saying Al Capone weird like that, should fake him Jamaican? Does that count? don't think that counts.
Speaker: Not like that. No. ah the whole own i'm canceled. That's fine. All right. It was bound to happen. This is like the fifth time I've been canceled this year. You're like Trisha Paytas.
Speaker: You know what? I think this is actually a good time to take a break just looking at the time. And then when we come back, let's polish off this bracket. Hell yeah.
Speaker: Welcome back to Checkered Past. We're here with Javi of the Marijuana Brass, and we're going through the Trojan War. Here's the next matchup. Young, Gifted in Black, recorded in 1970. It's a cover of the Nina Simone song with vocals by Bob Andy and Marsha Griffith, the latter of which, who would write the electric slide almost 20 years later.
Speaker: Peaked at number 11 on the UK singles chart. This is Bob and Marsha, with Young, Gifted in Black. This is another tough-ass fucking... Yeah, this is ah this is a tough matchup. Black V Black.
Speaker: Yeah, the last one was Own vs Own. True. Because it was Navarone vs Elk. Oh, I just that. This
Speaker: is a banger. Yeah, this song's great.
Speaker: Strings and everything. I still really like it. Bob and Marcia are great. True, true, true. I don't know if I like the strings. But the chord progression is so nice. And the vocal progression. Oh yeah, fucking the fucking harmonies.
Speaker: And it is a hook. This shit gets stuck in my head when I hear for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, if if it was Pied Piper, it's it's no contest, because i i I like that song a a little bit more, but like this song is still also just a jam.
Speaker: Man, that guitar player is just like the whole time. wild
Speaker: um Cool. Hell yeah. yeah it's Yeah, it is cool. i agree. It's cool. It's like a cool song, right? Guys, can't we just agree that all the songs are beautiful in their own way?
Speaker: Yeah. Somebody at the show last night on the side stage yelled like, so fun! and I was like, so spooky. Spooky. Spooky song. And it's like, i don't know why. So fun!
Speaker: So spooky. So spooky. And they're like, oh! That's a good to that's a good ah ah toast. ah she themselves So spooky! Very grudge ready.
Speaker: ready
Speaker: All right, it's going up against Black and White. Recorded in 1971 to cover of the Pete Seeger standard and became much more famous when it was later covered by Three Dog Night. 1971, two bands, Greyhound and the Maytones, both recorded a version of the same song at the same time.
Speaker: But the Greyhound one was the winner, peaking at number six on the UK singles chart. This is Greyhound with Black and White.
Speaker: What instrument? question is, what instrument is this? what Is this like an English horn? It sounds like an English horn. No, it's like a key. Is an actual horn? It's a key, I think, yeah. It's almost like a harpsichord, but not quite. Yeah. It's kind of weird. relax is' Or maybe it's like an organ setting. First thought, best thought the lyrics.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. thought best thought on the lyrics yeah yeah yeah
Speaker: It almost sounds like a parody. You know what mean? It's not. But it's almost like... That's one thing I don't like about this song is that it sounds like a nursery rhyme. And when my Scotch wrote nursery rhyme... It's a Pete song, right? Pete Seeger was very... don't know. It was very folky. Americana. Americana is a good word for it.
Speaker: Also the strings. Get the strings out of here. Get the strings. So many strings. Both of these songs. And now it's almost gospel. Yeah.
Speaker: Very gospel. Yeah, this would go well in church.
Speaker: True. it it does It reads as like a song that you, like, if I was teaching ah a choir or directing a choir, i would definitely put this in like the repertoire. Yeah. Yeah, totally.
Speaker: Yeah. all right. I know how i'm voting. I would love to be a composer. I'm locked in. ah shouldt again You and it can be a composer. Oh, you mean a conductor. and and That's what I meant. Yeah, I was like, you can be a composer now. like a like he just I things. things you were you tried to i could i could have been a conductor. That was the joke. Edit all that out. Edit all that out. I could have been a conductor. Oh, oh, oh.
Speaker: and joke i make sure yeah but Oh, oh, whoa. Pizza. Because it's fun. I feel like conducting would be fun. Did you have to do a conducting course? Yeah, I've done a bunch of conducting courses. And? As in like three.
Speaker: so yeah, as I've actually, I've actually, um my first year out of high school, I conducted my high school band. That's cool. And we got a superior rating, the second one in the school district's history. Hell yeah. Nice.
Speaker: um That's fun. Do you feel powerful? I'm an experienced conductor. um It kind of feels like acting. its It's like you're you're acting, you're pantomiming to the kids. like You're like, okay, are we are we in tempo? Are we in tempo? If we're in tempo, then let's let's add more feeling.
Speaker: I feel like it's kind of witchy. It looks like you're casting a spell on them. Exactly. It's very I'm forcing them to play music. it can It can feel like that. I don't know how else to explain it to the to the audio listeners because I'm just waving my fucking hand like an idiot. Yeah, like and figure out I'm not going to lie. I was just thinking, i was like well, that's a cutout of a moment where he's doing a thing with his hand. I was in this song, it would be like... bunking got gain game that game bunking And then you point at the horn players when it's their turn.
Speaker: Alright, horn players. Alright, ready. three four you know and then you know i as someone who's never played in like a like a band like a like a lart you know like a band band like that um i feel like ah someone conducting me would be helpful yeah feel like i'm watching them keep time and like yeah i'm often the conductor for the marijuana brass like as we're playing like i'll i'll just waving try and bar a little a bit like Like, on we on and and and and and yeah, yeah. Kind of call in the changes and stuff. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Or like, like we'll do a lot of abrupt changes. So like, you know, like go at the end of our our solo section and lady fingers, we do a dead stop.
Speaker: um Sometimes it's it comes off as a retardando where, you know, it's like, but bu bu bu but but be but you that's the tempo. da but be i du think that and and and and and and
Speaker: That's a very conductable line because it's technically the upbeat or the, um the, it's like a pickup. That's the word. It's a pickup. So you can dictate the tempo with that.
Speaker: And that's the downbeat. That's where you, the rest of the band comes in on the downbeat. Goddamn, I love that song so much. I just learned something today.
Speaker: Fuck yeah. Yeah, this is an educational podcast now. Damn it. I feel like there's one in my head. like there's one of the choices that's more in my head, but I don't even know if that's the better. I'm just going to go with it. Yeah, just okay go with your heart. Yeah.
Speaker: Yep. Three. Two. One. Young, gifted, and black. and black okay i don It's in my head. It's the
Speaker: an earworm. It's a really good earworm. We're going to learn how to read and write. yeah I'm the only one who said black and white. oh Which is fair. I didn't even know. But I had to go with my heart. Got to your heart.
Speaker: yeah Black and white, i i the lyrics are just so bad. i just can't. They're so bad. very nice that The big crescendo in the chorus is sweet. like I love that shit, obviously. It's a great musical moment. All of these songs have really good musical moments. The stuff that leans more towards like gospel and Motown.
Speaker: um great you know String arrangements can really add a lot. The way that they layer, it's really well good songwriting. It's great songwriting, but is it what I think about when I think of like Trojan, Reggae, Rocksteady, Ska?
Speaker: No, it's not. um Very fair. Very fair. oh Sorry, the next matchup. That's okay, I already know. Alright, let's save it. Okay, we got this song.
Speaker: Skinhead Moonstomp recorded in 1970 in the UK. It's a more overt skinhead reggae reworking of Derek Morgan's Moonhop and a celebration of early 70s skinhead culture. Failed to chart but was reissued later after being covered by the specials and hit number 54 on the UK singles chart.
Speaker: This is Simirep with Skinhead Moonstomp. I want all you skinheads to get up on your feet. Put your braces together and your boots on your feet.
Speaker: And give me some of that old moonstomping. And skinheads just must love this so much. Drumroll. Yeah.
Speaker: That Pixgrape? Pixgrape. It's a great intro. It's an iconic intro. It's like a rockabilly song being like, get that flower in your hair and get in your hot rod.
Speaker: I want all you emo kids to put your shoes on and cover one of your eyes with your hair. put on here Put on your vans. Fuck you to your mom.
Speaker: i want all Go to the mall to visit Hot Topic. Yeah. And then when you're sick of Hot Topic, go to the other store. What's it called? Box lunch. Spencer's Gift. Yeah, Spencer's Gift.
Speaker: Damn it, this is tough. I don't even know anymore. Yeah, this is this is a tough lineup. Matchup. The bass line is just so fucking good. off The bass line is yeah life. Like I could listen to this. That's that's another thing.
Speaker: The chord progression loop ability. Like you could i could imagine like just horn players going for like 10, 20 minutes just over that chord progression. And then just coming back, we we cut the horns off by just singing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Like it's very much like a singer led song. there's ah There was a moment in time there when I was just like obsessed with like King Tubby and like just dumb like old school dub stuff. That was nickname in high school.
Speaker: so yeah um But it's like, that's kind of the the whole that's the whole thing with that era of dub was like they would take a song like that that just had a fucking banging bass line and just help dump everything but the bass line.
Speaker: you know what i mean it would just be kick drum and bass line for like eight minutes and then like weird echoes and stuff and it's so fucking good that and that in music we call like jam ability like how or vamp vamp ability can we vamp this chord progression or does it like for example young gifted in black and black and white very much feel like they're through composed as in The chord progressions move and they're meant to take you on like a journey in that aspect before it starts to repeat itself as opposed to skinhead moon stomp.
Speaker: And even my boy lollipop, it's very much like a, you know, very predictable chord progression. And sometimes that's all you need to dance. Sometimes you just need a groove. Hell yeah.
Speaker: Sometimes it's nice to know what's coming next for once in our lives. yeah For real. In these kind times we're in. You kicked it off. This is my boy Lollipop. Recorded in 1964. It's a full-blown ska vocal cover of the Barbie Gay Doo-Wop Classic.
Speaker: It is the first true breakout hit from Jamaican pop star internationally. and It peaked at number two in the UK and the US. s Only getting beaten out by i Get Around by the Beach Boys. This is Millie Small with My Boy Lollipop.
Speaker: Female vocals sometimes. Yep. Now this song swings. This is a... Yeah.
Speaker: This was a controversial pick from us. Some people were not happy that it progressed. I like people don't like it that much. I feel like people don't like it. love this song. It's a good song. It's definitely been in my rotation.
Speaker: People that don't like my song, thought probably haven't seen Spiceful that shows. What'd you say, Javi? Like when the chord changes, ah like the chords changed right here.
Speaker: Yeah. I'll never let you go away.
Speaker: good, it's a good ass song. What can I say? I don't like the harmonica in it though. It just sounds like, you know, but I don't like most harmonica, you know, it's too yeah it's such a sound font that I'm like so sick of.
Speaker: Yeah, it kind of almost, the way it's played also makes it sound like a juice harp a little bit, which is not my favorite instrument either. Yeah. yeah yeah this is ah This is hard.
Speaker: I feel like i almost want you guys to like vote me out, but I have i have to vote one. Nah, know which one to yeah after me too cause I want. Yeah, me I feel like there's a song that like should be here like on the chart.
Speaker: ah But also... so are we and it's like Do I pick the one that's more iconic? is that Yeah. Or do I pick the one that's like a song I would go back and listen to?
Speaker: I go back and listen to both of these songs pretty often, if I'm being honest. like these are These songs are in my ska, rock, steady, reggae playlist. Both of them. I don't want people to quit listening to the pod based on this decision.
Speaker: This can only take so many walks. okay i I just mentally justified my choice. I know i know what I'm picking. Yeah, okay. You don't give a fuck if Chris is walking.
Speaker: Chris can walk home for all I give a damn. What a burn. You can walk home for all I care. Never recover from that. Get out of the car. Alright, I think I'm ready.
Speaker: I'm ruining this for for for your next two guests. I already know. because like got my I got my horn player fucking banana monkey brain fucking logic to these. Yeah.
Speaker: You got it, Celine? Do want me to start counting? Do the countdown. Yeah, you just have to. 3, 2, 1. Moonstomp. feel like could almost win.
Speaker: but like i think you because what it had moonstomp could win i think it can go up very far and i like i mean john like like i still got yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah right i prefer that i prefer that over like too much weird or not weird um too much word wordy lyrics like i prefer like a nice chant and it's hard to write a good chant like have you ever tried writing a chant for the audience to get get into like it's yeah tough like that's ah that's songwriting right there my boy lollipop it's a song about nothing it's about fucking your your boyfriend that you want to
Speaker: perform fellatio on kind of i don't know that's the vibe i i like i guess i don't know what if she was just like licking his face like a lollipop yeah that's so that's even weirder so that's weirder yeah little on like madam um I love the noise. oh you know fuck Oh, I thought we were done. But she's got like a lot of heartburn. No, we got four more matches. Those are those songs.
Speaker: That's crazy. yeah Okay. I'm having fun. I'm having fun. we all Let's get to it. I'm having fun. I just thought we were done. uh i so my my choice for skinhead moon stomp was because like i said this on the last episode that uh when when there's reggae night at the black dog here in edmonton i always request skinhead moon stomp um it's just a song that i'm just like yeah yeah yeah I'll sleep well then knowing there's more songs So we got Man recorded in 1969 It's a track about a spurned love in Toots amalgamated style Hit number 47 on the UK charts was covered by everyone from the specials to Amy Winehouse to Real Big Fish This is Toots and the Maytalls with Monkey Man Now what can you say about this? It's a classic You can't fucking argue with the classics No
Speaker: Some classics you can argue with. Like Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall or something, you know? Yeah. Humpty Dumpty. That shit sucks. Yeah.
Speaker: Or like coming around the mountain when she comes. i don't like it. Grandma getting run over by a reindeer? don't want to hear about that. Grandma got run over by a monkey.
Speaker: don't suck getting run over by a monkey.
Speaker: I think the monkeys are getting guns. I actually should know what's going on at White Lotus this season. Fucking love White Lotus this season. It's so good.
Speaker: When I first heard... Walter Goggins. I remember when I first heard this song. When did you first hear this I first heard the Amy Winehouse version when I was a kid.
Speaker: Who's the monkey man? Who's the monkey man? Her ex. He's the bouncer. Right? That's who the monkey man is. In the special song, that he says it's the bouncers, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. I had this had this little plush toy when I was in like college that I hung on like my rearview mirror in my car, and his name was Changoman, which is just monkey man in fucking Spanish.
Speaker: That's cute. You didn't even know. it one of those little monkeys that had the Velcro? Yeah, yeah, the Velcro. Those are classic. I miss those. See, that's a classic that doesn't die.
Speaker: yeah yeah Yeah. We all love those. his name He i had a lanyard that Changoman. You had to say like Changoman. Changoman. Well, I can't say it with that accent. but I can. Changoman. You can. Changoman.
Speaker: It's going up against you. You were talking about this one. It's going up against Rudy Got Married. According to 1980, the latest song on the list by the godfather of ska, Laurel Aitken, released over 20 years after Aitken began making music.
Speaker: It is the only charting single he ever had, hitting the number 60 on the UK charts. This is Rudy Got Married by Laurel Aitken. Now, this song is just cute. What cute little song.
Speaker: and enough when I still-
Speaker: I still say it's linked to, uh, I feel like that's tied in somehow. are so It's a good call and response. Like, you can get the the audience in on that call and response, you know? Yeah. I'm going to sing this to the dog. Yeah.
Speaker: bet if you sang if you know if you say the first one to her, she might woo-woo back to you. She might do the return. The last time i had a client and she was like dressed up cute and I went woo-woo and then the dog literally went woo-woo. It was so cute because we were all shocked.
Speaker: It was crazy. Rudy. Rudy.
Speaker: Rudy.
Speaker: I love that bass. The bass vocals. They're clearly like pushing their voice like so far down. yeah yeah It's like the opposite of a false setup, whatever you call that. yeah orville Only Orville Peck could be so low.
Speaker: He should do some ska. He should do some traditional ska. I don't think so. There'd be vibrato. like i said Like I said earlier, I'm biased on this one. I love i love Rudy Got Married. It's such a cute little song.
Speaker: It is a cute little song. I'm also biased. ok Yeah, I know how I'm voting. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Alright, three, two, one.
Speaker: Rudy Got Married. Whoa.
Speaker: said chongo man oh I the You guys are cancelled. I'm cancelling you. I know. Monkey Man though, you can't deny. money man yes It's a classic. You can't argue with it. can't be mad. it's a fucking Monkey Man's a classic. What can I say i got it i'm going to say? I'm going to just quote Joey from the last episode that the biggest problem with Laurel Aiken and that Rudy Got Married song is that it's not Monkey Man.
Speaker: That's a problem. Oh, I thought you just don't like Cuban people, Rob. No. Probably. Probably. problem That was aggressive. That was aggressive.
Speaker: I assure that it's not like I don't like anything. It's that I do like... and You love Monkey Man so much. Yes. The other thing, too, is that I like Rudy Got Married a lot.
Speaker: It's a two-tone song, though. I don't know if I would call it a classic ska song. like it It sounds like the selector. yeah Yeah, that's fair. I think that just like it cuts against my criteria of it sounding like crap. Production aesthetic is definitely like feels newer than like the stuff that's been out on the rest of this list.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah So that's my justification for it. So I just had a thought. But i the thing is that I would listen to Rudy Got Married a lot. like that's That is a good song. but Yeah, i love Rudy. that That's a song that I was like, this is the first time I'm hearing it on this playlist. I'm like, oh, that's a cute song. i'm going put that on my playlist.
Speaker: you know Oh yeah. ah yeah The fact that we're ah showing that this show is showing anyone it's some of these classic songs that they never heard before is fucking awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, i I agree. I'm i'm into it. I concur. So we got Carrie, go bring come recorded in 1963 in one take and produced by Duke Reed predated simmer down by two months was a chart topper in Jamaica.
Speaker: Never hit it big in the UK until it was covered by the selector. This is Justin Hines and the dominoes. Carrie, go bring come. What happened to simmer down? Did we vote out with it on this? Skinhead Moonstomp voted out simmer down. Really?
Speaker: Simmerdown's a great. Y'all were like dead confident on that. You were just like, yeah. Skinhead Moonstomp's so much cooler.
Speaker: I stand by my choice. it just tell Yeah, I miss Simmer Down. Gang vocals on this are great. Yeah, yeah this is fucking good. It's awesome. Trombone playing the bass lines. I love a trombone playing the bass line. There should never be one person singing.
Speaker: There should never be only one person singing. Yeah, yeah needs yeah you can't not. If we're just going off recording alone, like great fucking gang vocals.
Speaker: This makes me want to dance. We are dance. Danceability. Danceability. The groove is great. It is funny because this song has like no chorus. No. It just... If you think about it, this song has no chord progression. It's just a bass line, really.
Speaker: That's the thing against it, I would say. is it's like on It's like a two chord song. yeah Yeah, that's what that's how funk is written with two chords, right? So yeah predates funk. i mean If you can't handle songs that are just two chords, then get the fuck out of here. You know what i mean? Whoa, whoa. Hey, bye.
Speaker: car sometimes songs can that's called a vamp. called a vamp. Come on. jazz i um um i have such a bang over from last night My neck hurts so much.
Speaker: The system of a down cover band was too good. It's hard when other people are like whipping their hair around because i love whipping my hair around in the metal show. Hair whips at metal shows is the best.
Speaker: It's the best. And I got all this hair and it's fun to whip around, but then I'm old and my neck hurts. go against Longshot Kickedie Bucket, recorded in 1969, and a sequel to the hit Longshot tells the tale of a horse dying on a racetrack.
Speaker: Marked a revival for the band who then emigrated to the UK where the song reached number 21 on the UK charts. This The Pioneers with Longshot Kickedie Bucket. The song title makes me laugh just knowing that what it's about.
Speaker: It's a great song title.
Speaker: You're never going to not remember it. like Also, the horn intro is like, oh, it's the fucking... The horse race thing, yeah. Yeah, bugle call. It's a bugle call. It just seems like horse racing seems unethical. It bums me out.
Speaker: Apparently they loved it in Jamaica. Yeah. Enough to make a bunch of songs about it. They probably loved it in Jamaica because it was probably brought over from the UK because the UK yeah fucking loves horse racing. Or back in the day.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Longshot kicked the bucket. What happened to Longshot? Well, he kicked the bucket. Longshot? He kicked the bucket. favorite horse? Longshot, the one that never won.
Speaker: He died? I'm just hearing about this right now. they're the They're the original Horse Girls? Yeah. They were Horse Girls. Also great gang vocals.
Speaker: Yeah. Also a sick bass line. Yeah.
Speaker: ki mebook This is a really tough one because these songs are kind of similar. Yeah, they are. this is This is another one of those ones where it's like they're in the same vein.
Speaker: I think I know which one that I would rather listen to on a regular basis, though. I'm ready. Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, I think I'm okay. This is a tough one, but it's not i think i don't I don't love either of these songs. Whoa.
Speaker: oh i don't Those are words. I like one. like and I respect one. Yeah. But. Okay. All right. All right. ab we go You locked in.
Speaker: All right. Three, yeah two, one. Carry. on ringroom Bring come. Yeah. Yeah. What'd you say? i go brink I said, carry go bring come.
Speaker: Whoa. I got, i got knocked out. I got knocked sideways. the bucket. Yeah. yeah rob kick a buck it i know that was real tough for me i like i i think i like the bass line in long shot kick the bucket more but i like the horn work in carrie go bring come more so i think i think carrie go bring come is a catchier song to me it's more of a ah song too like it's a it's a ska song ska song you know what i mean like it's yeah it does it does the thing One thing that I don't like about Longshot Kick the Bucket is the guitar work. I think it's very monotonous.
Speaker: get Yeah, pred that's fair. A little repetitive. yeah I mean, yeah, but you know i like I said, you can have fucking two chords and that'll be it, but you know if I don't want to sing along or dance to it, then fucking what did you do?
Speaker: I just think Carrier would bring comedy. What did you do What did you do? But Longshot Kick the Bucket, like, come on. That's just a good-ass title. I would have been fine of that.
Speaker: that one All right. Here we go. Girlstown Ska, released in 1965, produced by a Duke Reed for Treasure, became an ongoing hit for Baba Brooks, who quickly became the house producer for numerous Ska releases. It wasn't a charting song, but it was covered by Derek Morgan and re-released by Baba Brooks in the 2000s. This is Girlstown Ska by Baba Brooks and the Baba Brooks Band.
Speaker: Hey, Styx, we're going tonight. I'm going down by Dark Star. Dark Star, Ska! Girlstown Ska!
Speaker: toasting we haven't had toasting in a while yeah no like the baba brooks band is just like so underrated like the scott the scatolites are amazing but the baba brooks band is like in their own right incredible right like they did they did al capone man like come on yeah so good
Speaker: There's that woodblock. Now this sounds like a horse. They should have put this Longshot. There's Longshot. That was right before he died. They're they're taking Longshot to Girlstown.
Speaker: because they had tos get the girl out a woodri long shot They have The the coconut.
Speaker: He's wearing a boat up..........
Speaker: What a groove.
Speaker: Maybe not female vocals sometimes, but females. There's a great solo in there. If you haven't listened to that song, go listen to it. There's a great solo. If it makes it through, that's the middle section. And then that's what's going to be that's going to be in the next episode.
Speaker: It's going up against Liquidator. Released in 1969. It's a classic of the skinhead boss reggae subgenre with its distinct keyboard line. Peaked at number nine on the UK charts. Reissued in 1980 where it hit number 42. This is the Harry J All-Stars with Liquidator.
Speaker: Liquidator.
Speaker: but
Speaker: It's hard to deny that. And that's between guitar and bass too. That's hard to coordinate. Yeah. I will also say like, because it's not that fast, like I would have no
Speaker: Yeah. This is a keyboard heavy song. We don't got a lot of those on the list. No, we knocked out Double Barrel, so this is the lone representative of that style.
Speaker: Do we know why it was called Liquidator? Do I know why it's called Liquidator? Yeah. i I actually don't, no. I'm gonna guess the gangster thing. I was hoping he would know too.
Speaker: I'm gonna guess that it's like the guy that he said to go kill somebody. This is the song about the guy that comes and fucking liquidates your shit. It's a killer. It's a song about the killer. kill God, how could I be so blind? It was about the killer.
Speaker: It was about the killer the whole time. Man, that's tough. like i i Liquidator is kind of closer to like a boss reggae type of jam, which I love.
Speaker: But Hot Damn Girlstown Ska an upbeat ska, dancey... Yeah, I know. Yeah, I think I'm locked in. Yeah, I'm locked in too.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I'm locked into... Okay, we got this. Okay. Three, two, one. Girls Townsend. Girls Townsend. Whoa, unanimous. Unanimous. Unanimous. That's wild. And the thing is, is like I think Liquidator is way more of a true classic.
Speaker: But man, Girlstown's ska is good. Holy moly. Do you think that will upset people? That may be. i don't know. i have to change i after I would have been fine if Liquidator made Yeah. I'd be fine with most things making it through. like I've been wrong a couple of times. Ladies, you're all beautiful.
Speaker: That's not what the Discord said. all right. We've got one last matchup. Let's do it. Jamaica Ska, released in 1964. It's a song simply about Ska by one of its originators.
Speaker: Attempted to cross over to the U.S. but failed to make an impact despite having mild chart success in Canada. It became more famous when covered by Fishbone for the film Back to the Beach. This is Byron Lee and the Dragonairs with Jamaica Ska.
Speaker: I have a story about this song. there's a there's a bone There's a Banda version of this song where it's like regional Mexican music, just like brass band. It's like, ah my scar but it's like bo iss it like in a mambo.
Speaker: It's like, sky school let make and That was the first time I heard it. This is swinging. Yeah, this is is very swung. bob Very swung chops.
Speaker: Yeah. I do love an instructional dancing song. Me too. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: i do love a instructional dancing song me do um i
Speaker: It's like, how how come nobody knows how to do the ska anymore? They tell you in the fucking song. you Right? That's why I love the cha-cha slide. Because it tells you how?
Speaker: Time warp. There's Benny.
Speaker: Yeah, but I'm talking about the bangers.
Speaker: Hokey Pokey sucks. thats Fuck you, Hokey Pokey. Macarena wouldn't explain it. Doesn't explain it, though.
Speaker: No, doesn't explain it. Mambo number five. Is there a dance to Mambo number five? think it's the Mambo. It's the Mambo, but it's not even a fucking Mambo. Fuck you. Whoa, Lou Bega called out. Fuck you, Lou Bega.
Speaker: We're going to hear from his people. luber guy It's going up against Israelites released in 1968 as a ska rock steady monster hit about Decker's favorite topics. Rude Boys, not Rudy.
Speaker: It is the first Jamaican ska song to hit number one in the UK, spurring an interest in reggae and ska in the country and even hit number nine in the US. This is Desmond Decker and the Aces with Israelites.
Speaker: So I haven't heard the lyrics to this song. So like it's it's about it's like him it's a call out song.
Speaker: don't even know. It's, uh, in general, it's about, like... They not like us? They not like us? Man, this pretty cool.
Speaker: Yeah. The vocals are crazy. Desmond Decker is just the realest man. I love that little ascending doot doot doot doot. It's so good.
Speaker: doesn decker is just the real as man i love that i love that little ascending do do do do do do do do think do so good
Speaker: bass.
Speaker: Probably one of my favorite songs from the playlist that is primarily like one singer and then the gang vocal um call and response. Yeah. And this one's got like a little more of like a like a driving bass line almost more than some of the other songs do.
Speaker: I think it's because it's like straight Rocksteady, which is that's kind of typical of that. Right. It doesn't have that like chillness that reggae has. Rocksteady still has like a little bit of a punch to it. Right. so I ah thought I was going to go one way and then I listened to and I'm going a different way.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm locked in. This one's an easy one for me. versus Me too. I'm all in. Javi, what about you? Damn, this one's tough. Fuck. um I don't know why I'm like, this could this is a toss-up for me. This one's the biggest toss-up I've had.
Speaker: That's fair. Okay, I'm ready. Yeah, I'm ready. Alright, let's do it. Three, two, one. Meet Israelites. What did Javi say? yeah what did hobby say I said the Jamaican ska. Okay. on yeah yeah It is hard to vote like out of like a basically Jamaican ska bracket. Jamaica ska. Jamaica ska got knocked out of a Jamaican ska bracket.
Speaker: Israelites, though, is like is like just if I was going to pick, say, a top three songs from the whole playlist, it's definitely my top three. For sure. It's it's one of my favorite songs. Like traditional songs. like Jamaica Sky a little bit more because of the horn line and the the vocal harmonies. It's just so cheeky. It's a cheeky little song. And I love the that swings.
Speaker: I love so yeah like they really like one theory as to why how Sky even got made was that all the Jamaicans were musicians were seeing what they were doing in America.
Speaker: And they're like, I want to do that. But we got to do it over here. And it it replicates jazz of the most. it's a nice jazzy song. with a fucking fun jazz color to it.
Speaker: Horn line's nice and easy, fun to play. But Israelites, like, damn, that's a fucking, one of one of the better vocal performances on off of what, like, we have, what we've had in the second part, I would say.
Speaker: Yeah, I would agree. Like, the the vocals in Israelites are bananas good. Yeah. Hell yeah. Banana man good? Banana man good. Spicy like a banana? Chongo man good? Chongo man good.
Speaker: So this this is the round three matchup. So we got Jango versus Al Capone. Young Gifted in Black versus Skinhead Moonstomp. whoa Monkey Man versus Kerry Gobrinkum.
Speaker: And Girlstown Ska versus Israelites. I already know what I'm voting on all of those. this is katie's gonna be so mad when she sees this shit yeah katie i'm literally texting her right now uh so that so that she can prepare herself over the next hour she's gonna be like what the fuck it's good she has time to yeah uh so that's it that's the bracket we did it uh so before we wrap up javi uh what have you got to plug
Speaker: Huh? ah Fucking um ah follow me, i guess. I'm going by HomieCore Studios with a core spelled C-O-R-P-S. That's a horn line thing.
Speaker: Don't worry about it. Or you can follow me on El Homie. Check out the Marijuana Brass, the Third Rates, Major League Skankers, fucking Speakeasy, all my associated acts. um And if you're in l L.A., Southern California, oh the Marijuana Brass will be back very soon. But we're on a hiatus right now.
Speaker: ah Band members got jumped in December. and We're still kind of recovering from that and we lost our singer. um Everything's good though. It's still all good. We, the marijuana brass will return. um Other than that,
Speaker: Uh, yeah, guys, uh, that's the end of the video. Um, thank you so much for watching. Uh, and if you listen this far, leave a comment in the discord as to what your favorite part was.
Speaker: Thanks for listening to checkered past. Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter, blue sky, YouTube, and Tik TOK at checkered past pod, or send us an email at checkered past pod at gmail.com to support the pod and get bonus content, including a full length and unedited video of this episode.
Speaker: Sign up for the checkerhead, Patreon at patreon.com slash checkered past. We also have merch available at checkeredpass.ca. This episode is edited by Cutman and engineered by Joey.
Speaker: Special thanks to Chris Reeves, Megamichi, and Adam the Ska Mailman for making this podcast happen. Thanks also to Keelan for all his work on the pod and for helping sure Joey record the Trojan War theme song.
Speaker: You can follow along the bracket at challenge.com slash thetrojanwar. Next week, it's round three of the bracket with return guest K-Moy. Until next time, I'm Rob. In the moral words of the pioneers, all the money has gone to hell, but this long shot has not kicked D-Bucket.
Speaker: No, Halloween's not my favorite thing, because I always feel as though that's a free pass for the killer. Don't let the killer get you. like Halloween. I think it's for ghouls and goblins and for the killer in disguise to choke you out. Regular scarves have the ends where the killer can come and just finish off. I don't want to play music in the shower because I want to hear if the killer is coming. Don't you keep a bat from Yankee Stadium in your night table drawer?
Speaker: They're so convenient. All you have to do clunk one time with the killer. I've been aware of the killer. Since birth. Now, I hear that you don't you think people are always going to come and get you. No, the killer. and Well, what was she doing in the stairwell? Because that's where the killer is. And now we live in North Jersey. Where?
Speaker: But you're in Hasbro. Well, the killer. You know, I believe in a lot of things, including the killer. You never know who you can meet online. the killer. He's the killer. He's the killer. The killer is everywhere. He sounds like he's the killer. The killer is on the loose.
