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Madness March 2025 - The Trojan War Round 3 (w/ KMoy)
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The Trojan War continues into Round 3 for another week of classic Jamaican Ska! For the next 4 matchups, CPSC welcomes back return guest Kayleigh of KMoy and Catbie! Kayleigh catches Rob, Celine and Joey up on her busy year of music and touring along with her thoughts on the current state of the bracket. Then the foursome digs in on the next few match ups to determine the Final 4!
Spotify Playlist
Madness March predictions are closed! Follow the bracket here
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Cutman
Theme Song by Keelan and Joey
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
Special Thanks: Mega Michi and Adam the Ska Mailman
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Checkered Past Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
In the spring of 2025 came classic Scott 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 he hep Hep Hep The Trojan War!
00:00:12
Speaker
do three
00:00:19
Speaker
Oh, hey, oh, what the fuck you do in your life these days?
00:00:29
Speaker
What the fuck you doing with yourself? Oh, what the fuck you doing with your life these days? Oh, what the fuck you doing with yourself?
00:00:53
Speaker
What up, Checkerheads?
Meet the Hosts: Rob and Salim
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome to Checkered Past, this podcast with Slyn and Rob. The show where a lost Kung Fu Monkey Man and a carry-go-bring-come-on-Ileen explore the history and impact of a different band each episode.
00:01:04
Speaker
Hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm Rob Marley, and this is my sister and co-host, Salim and Dodd. It's a lemon dawn. That one's going to stick. It's a clean pun.
00:01:15
Speaker
That one's going to stick. It doesn't require a lot of jumping through hoops to understand. no Which often your puns do. Yeah, yeah. It's more of a spelling joke than it is a say it out loud joke. That's for sure. It makes a lot of sense when you see it on paper. And when you say it out loud, you're like, wow, that doesn't work.
00:01:33
Speaker
Audience, write it write it down. Write it down. right and then And then you'll be like... You'll laugh. You'll laugh so much.
Guest Appearance: Kaylee Kamoy Malloy
00:01:43
Speaker
And this is my co-host with the most toast, Joey Cliff.
00:01:45
Speaker
Hi, I'm here. I want to close. Hey, Joey. You know, I don't love the the ah the names that I have. I don't love them. Rob Marley is pretty good. i yeah Rob Marley is the best one.
00:01:57
Speaker
Is it? It's very easy. What about Cylindjerko? His name is Robert Nesto Marley. you know that that is He could have easily been Rob Marley. His name is Robert. Easily. it can be easily In a different world, it was Rob Marley and the Wailers. Or Rob Marley and the Singers. so Probably one of his kids is Rob Marley. There's probably a Rob Marley out there. For sure. I'm pretty sure a couple of his kids are named Bob. at least one of them is going by Rob.
00:02:27
Speaker
yeah there's got to be do you think there's the the second or the third? but Robert Marley the second. Robert Marley the third. What a menace. Robert Marley the third must be a fucking menace.
00:02:40
Speaker
I'm sorry. Fucking landlord. i don't know. this Terrible boyfriend. Terrible boyfriend. Hey, there's somebody talking right now. We'd like to introduce our guest. It's the one and only return guest of, what, a five, six times? I don't know.
00:02:55
Speaker
She's been on the episode ah a whole bunch. ah It's Kaylee Kamoy Malloy of Cat Bite and the Kamoy Band and all that fun stuff. Welcome back,
Touring Stories and Challenges
00:03:05
Speaker
Kaylee. Yeah! Hi!
00:03:07
Speaker
it's It's nice to be back. Wow, and I'm already enjoying myself. I thought it'd be so exhausted, but this is fun. So yay. We're all similar energy. Yeah, yeah we need to we played i we played two shows in a row Friday, Saturday. yeah yeah so we're all two pod in a row, but it's good.
00:03:25
Speaker
It's good. we we' we're We're making content, I guess. so But it's been fun. It's all been fun. Hell yeah. We've had a very ska weekend. very, very, meat well, and metal.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, but we were playing Ska. That's true. We were playing Ska, they were playing metal, right? Yeah. So let's start where we always start. Kaylee, catch the listener up. It's been 10 months since you were last on the podcast.
00:03:50
Speaker
What have you been up to? What's new in the life of K-Moy? Well, let's see. I've been been transitioning um with hormones and shit. That's the first easy thing that I thought of. I'm like, what has happened in the last 10 months? um that i mean That's a big one. i It had been happening before. I remember last time I was on here with Javi and we had just done SPI Fest.
00:04:12
Speaker
So that was cool. And now i'm like, Jesus fucking fuck. what the There's so much that's happened since then. Well, let's just talk about it all. Here's some shit that I remember. um i don't know.
00:04:24
Speaker
I remember that I played a show. i played some shows with Kim Hoy and freaking August with Peach Rings. Wow. Peach Rings, the band slash...
00:04:35
Speaker
woman that I'm always name dropping because she's so great and I think she's an amazing
Trans Healthcare and Support Networks
00:04:40
Speaker
songwriter. We did that little two shows tour with ah those dogs and peach rings back in August and it was so cool and i had such a good time.
00:04:50
Speaker
And I felt amazing because I had four people sleeping on my floor. Four of them, motherfucker. And I felt like such a great, successful band mom, quote unquote. But I'm not in their band, so whatever.
00:05:03
Speaker
But it was great. And I got them gluten-free food items because Ramona has celiacs and it was fun. And anyway, so... That happened. And then I ran away off to tour with Laura Jane Grace, which, wow, that was, yeah i think back on it and like, that was one of the best tours ever.
00:05:22
Speaker
was one of most intimidating tours ever. Motherfucker. Um, I just mean, it was so intimidating because cause like she's Laura Jane Grace. And i when we did the Jeff Rosenstock tour, I was so intimidated also because I do not know how to act around people where I'm aware that they have an immense cult of personality and like super, super, super fans who know everything about them.
00:05:48
Speaker
And I'm trying not to give off the impression that I'm that person. Yeah. Even if I am like 40% that person or yeah only 20% that person.
00:05:59
Speaker
I'm like, hi, Laura Jane Grace. I wish I knew nothing about you so I could pretend that I know nothing about you. But unfortunately, I know some things about you. um One of the things I know about you is Paralytic States is one of my favorite songs. I've easily listened to it already 300 times before meeting you.
00:06:15
Speaker
Whoops. And that just feels weird to me, you know? Yeah, for sure. But you know, we, we had a it was a great time on that tour. That was a great tour to be a transgender woman and to go around the fucking country and be at all these shows where I was not a minority in the audience. That's amazing. For once. Yeah. My population was the majority. It was fucking cool. Yeah. oh yeah It was great.
00:06:45
Speaker
And it was, you know, it was cool to go around. I'm like, you know, this was before, Trump got reelected, but you know, like the, the state of trans healthcare in this country has never been good. And Florida is like one of the worst places.
00:07:00
Speaker
And we did four shows in Florida and I really got to know people there and, know that like a lot of the transgender people out there they uh they use like the diy network they're not going officially through the state uh mandated like hrt network that's not to call people out for being illegal but it's because if you do it the legal way as i spoke to this one person it takes like months and months to get approved for anything, which and it is, you don't have months and months and it's fucking unfortunate. And also it's very, um, what's the word I'm looking for. It's like, it's pro it's obtrusive to your soul because, you know, you have to like go through all these psychological examinations.
00:07:48
Speaker
It's fucking demeaning. So I think it's really great that they have such a great support network out there. I even used a bit of it myself because I had lost, my pills or I thought I did one day. And then, you know, Viviana from Kimoy, the band knew somebody from out there in Florida and cause she used to live there and hooked me up. And then I got a bunch more estradiol and it was just, it was completely free. It wasn't like we were money or anything it's just it's great people trying to help each other out yeah so that's all it is you know that's like it's so nice to hear that even in those places there's like such a strong community and know everyone like wants to protect and like create safe spaces and help each other and sometimes when that like opposing force there it almost like brings people closer together
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, you know, that, that kind of community, that kind of network is likely not even, it's only getting stronger because of ah the condition that we're in right now, because of what we're facing with this government.
00:08:54
Speaker
And I, I feel, i feel very lucky and,
00:09:03
Speaker
I want to help out people myself, and I can. And i'll i'll I'll leave it at that, because I don't want to dox myself, but
Upcoming Projects and Ska Discussion
00:09:10
Speaker
yeah. And so that'll be great. And so that was, you know, that was a fucking fun time. And and the whole Operation Ivy shit...
00:09:19
Speaker
was great. I didn't play except I played saxophone on Bad Town. But like, and the part of me was like, wow, I feel so upset that I don't get to play these shows. And the other part of me was like, I feel so lucky that I get to be in attendance at these shows.
00:09:35
Speaker
It was great to just like, be in the pits. like fucking ah three times one time was at supernova which was like you know bigger and outdoor place and then another time was in this little bar in chicago which was like wow this feels like what it would have actually been like to see operation ivy at gilman and yeah um and the last time was like in uh what was it riot fest where i was just skanking on the side of the stage which was fun yeah it's awesome That's awesome. yeah great
00:10:08
Speaker
Great times, that one. And I could go off, whatever. fucking oh yeah ah should I should advertise myself what we got the fucking vinyl with um the Precure album. It finally has a damn vinyl.
00:10:21
Speaker
and That's huge. Yeah. And my people, Sophia Dupree and Ange Capizzi made the Watashi no Lyric book, which was like in production for a whole fucking year, which was great.
00:10:33
Speaker
um You know, Ange just ah imagining the songs visually, visually, um Because my original pitch was Hey I think it would be cool if you made a comic That could be a lyric insert inside of the vinyl It'll just be one page And you know there's like five panels on this page And five panels on that page And each one represents a song And then Ange decided to make a fucking 10 page fucking thing Where every page is a damn song And it's So good. And I cannot wait to actually hold it in my hands physically. I've seen the shit digitally, but it'll be so cool to actually have paper copies of that.
00:11:12
Speaker
And that's great. And also by the time this fucking podcast comes out, this will be public information. Uh, cat bite is doing, um, what do we call this headline tour?
00:11:24
Speaker
Right. And when we play New York, uh, Catbite, K-Moi, is going to be the opener in the in the New York show. So fi that's going to be fucking great.
00:11:38
Speaker
That's going to be... i i What? I can't tell the future. i cannot predict what the future is, but I already know that shit's going to be fucking amazing. It's going to be so cool. It's going to be cool. That's all I feel like saying. I could go off for a long time.
00:11:54
Speaker
Maybe that's all pretty fucking sick. Yeah. and busy life yeah busy life full of cool shit <unk> so many cool people so many cool things that book looks so fucking cool like i've just seen kind of bits and pieces from the promo stuff but like that book it looks it looks really fucking cool There's an 80 to 90% chance that I will order it as well.
00:12:19
Speaker
Yay. Let's pivot to the bracket because that's that's the name of the game. So two important questions. First one is what songs should have been in the bracket that weren't added in your opinion?
00:12:32
Speaker
um I think I always wanted to. um I definitely love Phoenix City. I talked about that one before. I'm like, oh, Phoenix City. That's one of the top fucking oldie type ska songs goddamn fucking ever.
00:12:48
Speaker
It's great. It's just got a great form. It's a fucking great beat and a chord progression and the solos. ah The solos are so good. You know, sometimes the solos on the ska tracks don't really eat as much as like the melody does, but boy, those things are fucking fantastic. I love those.
00:13:10
Speaker
And maybe that's the only one that I'm going to say just because I love Phoenix City that much. And maybe I sound like an idiot for not bringing up another one. I think like this is one that I would have done just because like I'm niche and weird.
00:13:23
Speaker
would have been like, You know, you don't need to put on Hippopotamus by Desmond Decker and the Aces, which is great. But it's like, I just love that song for like the drumming in particular. So fucking whatever.
00:13:38
Speaker
Nobody needs to go ape shit on Hippopotamus by Desmond Decker and the Aces. But that's just me. That's all. ah We were debating on... So Guns of Navarone I picked because that was like the only charting Scatolite song.
00:13:52
Speaker
And then Desmond Decker, like I was debating between 007 and Israelites. But like, I guess Israelites kind of won out because that was the... Like it has cultural significance, right?
00:14:04
Speaker
That's um true. But Shantytown is my preferred it's my preferred yeah song But I had to kind of draw the line somewhere. I know everybody only gets one representation. I didn't have like multiple tracks by um yeah like one one band, one track.
00:14:21
Speaker
and didn't want to have like too much overlap. Also, that's a good, this is a good point. And i think that Israelites is a good choice just because it creates like some variety.
00:14:33
Speaker
Cause like, you know, that song throws in a couple of curve balls in terms of like the chord progressions and stuff like that. And if you did 007, it's like, that's a classic tune.
00:14:43
Speaker
But also, that's like a same kind of 1, 4, 5 tune that you hear in like, you know, some of these other tunes that we got on here. So guess it would have been a little too samey.
00:14:55
Speaker
Like, you know, you could easily mash up Tide is High and 007, you know, type of
Understanding Ska Music
00:15:00
Speaker
thing. And you already had Tide is High on here. One of the things we talked to Javi about was like lot of these songs, they're kind at one end of the spectrum or the other where it's they're kind of repetitive and groove or they are like the kind of storytelling and they kind of have a whole kind of arc through the song.
00:15:23
Speaker
And it's it's interesting when we get into matchups where like you get two groove songs or two kind of arc songs together. It's kind of tough to pick because they're Kind of samey, but like, ah you know, yeah.
00:15:36
Speaker
Interesting. It's nuances. Yes. Yeah. And so i'll get I guess the more important question, Kaylee, is where did we fuck up in the bracket? i don't know. Give it to us.
00:15:49
Speaker
um God, I can't tell. i haven't even been following close enough to see, wait, what got knocked off when Javi was here? And so what did get knocked off when Javi was here? um What were the upsets?
00:16:05
Speaker
The upsetters. Rob's bringing it up. I can see it. I can see and it in the reflection of the screen. So we knocked out. So we knocked out Everything I Own. Okay. ah We knocked out Guns of Navarone. Damn. That's a big one.
00:16:20
Speaker
Black and White got knocked out. My Boy Lollipop got knocked out. i did i I know everyone will be okay with that except me. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. I get it.
00:16:32
Speaker
ah Rudy got married. Longshot kicked a bucket. Got knocked out. Liquidator and Jamaica's Locked. Longshot and Liquidator are pretty big tunes.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah. They're all big tunes. They're all big tunes. Yeah. Some of them are kind of like dark horses. Like I will say the fact that like Girlstown Ska is progressing as much as it is because it's not like that big of a song. And Young Gifted in Black is a bit of a like it's it popular. and open It's all been what it's up against.
00:17:05
Speaker
Yeah. It does all come down to the to the matchups for sure. Alright, well, let's go. i think As far as what I've seen in this bracket, I only have one difficult choice to make and I won't spoil what it is.
00:17:18
Speaker
Okay! Excellent. excellent Only one? yeah That's scary. It's a little bit scary. All right, let's do it. All right. This is Madness March.
00:17:30
Speaker
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. Thanks to everyone who voted their predictions. if you want to follow along, the bracket is at shalange.com.
00:17:44
Speaker
Shalange. Shalange. Slash the Trojan War. the matchups are ba
00:17:52
Speaker
The matchups are based on nothing. They're just kind of random. Here's how it's going to work. Today's round three with our special guest, K-Moy. If you haven't done so already, go back and check the pre-show plus rounds one and two. In this episode, we are listening to the middle of the song.
00:18:06
Speaker
And next week will be the final, or the semifinals and the finals, where we will crown the ultimate winner. In the event of a tie, we will go to a Discord to break the tie with our loyal checkerheads. So what is Jamaican Sky, you may ask? Well, I can't believe it took us three years to talk about it.
00:18:21
Speaker
Formed in Jamaica the late 50s by combining the local sounds of me mento and calypso with the R&B and jump blues imported by American soldiers in the aftermath of World War II. Thanks to DJs and sound system operators such as Prince Buster, Cox and Dodd, and Duke Reed, the style was brought to the forefront by hiring local musicians to create a style that was definitively Jamaican, which coincided with the liberation of the country from the English in the 60s.
00:18:43
Speaker
This culminated in the release of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop in 1964 that exploded internationally, becoming Jamaica's first commercially successful song. Studios on Orange Street, such as Studio One and Treasure, became hotspots for local bands to record.
00:18:58
Speaker
With slower soul music becoming more popular in the U.S., the ska sound slowed to create Rocksteady in the late 60s before slowing further to the more African-forward reggae by the nineteen seventy s Many Jamaicans began immigrating to the UK, including the legendary Duke Reed, who founded Trojan Records and imported numerous Jamaican releases that exploded in popularity, creating the crossover hits that we are talking about today.
00:19:21
Speaker
Hence why we're calling this the Trojan War. Joey, do you remember what are the three things that you are looking for? we just been only a couple hours. oh ah hooks Hooks. yeah Piano. Hooks, piano.
00:19:37
Speaker
kind of Hooks, piano. and I can't remember the third one. Groove is in the heart. There it is. Celine?
00:19:45
Speaker
cein Not all white people, which I think we've eliminated now. Yeah. Yep. We're good. We're safe. That was going to be easy with this track. It was. it But we we had, you know, I don't know.
00:19:58
Speaker
Judge Dredd maybe could have made it to the finals. I'm just saying. oh wow. Okay. Okay. um Grit. Yep. A little grit and then female vocals sometimes.
00:20:11
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Yeah. Lady already gone lady vocals sometimes. Maybe there's some harmonies. I don't know. Damn it. and Yeah. Lady vocals sometimes. I understand there's some songs that can exist in the world that don't have female vocals that are still good, but, but yeah. What beat out my boy lollipop this? I want to know.
00:20:30
Speaker
That was tough. What was it? Rob skinhead moon stomp. Yeah. I see. I see. I was sad about it. I voted. i see. I voted for the girls. That wouldn't have been that easy for me, honestly.
00:20:43
Speaker
Okay. It was a tough one for me, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we all, like, struggled. I've been trying for the girls. As much as Aaron Carnes doesn't fucking like that song, I think it's a good tune.
00:20:54
Speaker
I do. You all know that? agree. You all know that song? agree. It's great. You can tell hasn't seen Spice World. That is... yeah on the boat.
00:21:05
Speaker
It's such a fucking good scene. Anyway. he was He was too busy with Flat Planet at the time. um Did I have one more, Rob? so No spice. You said catchy that catchy. Okay, well that's not very good. What were yours, Rob?
00:21:18
Speaker
before I said I prefer the instrumentals over the vocal tracks. I do like a instrumental with a toast. um Ska and Rocksteady over reggae. And I like the one take shitty production the Orange Street stuff.
00:21:33
Speaker
ah that's That's my go-to. So the highly produced stuff, some are good. But for the most part, I like it when it's kind of sounds a little crummy. but that's i like a crummy jam myself. ah like a ch cruy jm myself yeah What are the three things that you would be looking for, Kaylee, K-Boy, Malloy?
00:21:50
Speaker
What a grand query. um I like myself some damn harmonizing. i like myself some fucking harmonizing. I like myself a good bass line.
00:22:02
Speaker
And I like myself some drums that go really hard. Yeah, that's one of the great things about like this song. Early ska music, there's just like such power in those drums.
00:22:15
Speaker
They're restrained, and then they do this fill that fucking... rocks your world i love it yeah ah so it's like harmonies and like a really strong rhythm section yeah that's that's what you're going for yeah okay okay me and you are diametrically opposed a little bit and noticed yeah so that's going to be interesting kaylee how would you feel about the harmonies on the the this the traditional version of oo oh my god yeah i I listened to that the other day. i was listening to one of these the other day and I heard that and i was i was amused and I was totally judging the harmonies.
00:22:54
Speaker
it's you I was totally judging it and being like... I would have done it different, but also I think it fits the style.
00:23:07
Speaker
so yeah Thank you. thank I did the two high harmonies and then Keelan did the low one. Tickled but judgy. I love saying that you're amused by Joey's music.
00:23:21
Speaker
bit song like that that is the highest compliment he could possibly ask for yeah it's just good that's a win yeah yeah keelan keelan and i had a lot of fun we just kind of spent an afternoon putting that one together and then when it got to the lyrics part i was like i don't even know maybe like a maytall's kind of harmony thing and i just started singing in this falsetto and it just sort of went it was good Nice.
00:23:44
Speaker
Cool. So we only have four matchups today, so we can let some of these breathe and we can really dig in So yeah, there's only say that's the thing. We're only down to eight songs. We went from coming down the end.
00:23:57
Speaker
Yeah, this is tight. So we can definitely dig in a little bit deeper. But yeah, as I mentioned before, these are going to be the middle sections of the song. And then next week for the semi-finals, it'll be the last minute or two of the songs. So let's start the mid-sections of the songs.
00:24:15
Speaker
Beginning, middle, end. Holy fuck. it's wow This way we can hear some solos, though. usually we get we get to hear soul This is when people don't get mad at Rob for cutting it before the best part. Yeah, yeah because usually when we hear just the beginning, we don't get to the solos. We hear like two notes of a solo. and No one's been mad at you yet for cutting it.
00:24:39
Speaker
I guess we've only had no, they're mad at me for not putting your wondering now in there. god i Andy and Joey. A nice one. Yeah, no, that's a good song. yeah That is a good song. Yeah.
00:24:50
Speaker
I love that. It's fine. oh and that's, why that's hot. That's a, That's a hot take right there. Yeah. Same thing with up. Like we said, like I like uptown
Analyzing Ska Songs in the Bracket
00:25:00
Speaker
town rank or uptown top ranking. Like it's a good song, but is it?
00:25:03
Speaker
<unk> That's the, that's the biggest upset so far. Yeah. yes Yeah. So I don't know, ah but let's do it. Here we go. Let's Terry. No further.
00:25:15
Speaker
Yeah. This is Return of Django, recorded in 1969, instrumental track written by band leader Lee Scratch Perry. In the band's signature pre-dubbed style, its B-side was dollar in the teeth and it peaked at number five.
00:25:26
Speaker
On the UK singles chart, this is the one and only Upsetters with Return of Django.
00:25:38
Speaker
Yeah, this is bear. Such groove, man. Raining and out, raining and That's in my head now. I know.
00:25:54
Speaker
middle. That solo is real good. Yeah, that sax is something else,
00:26:02
Speaker
We're in the cream of the Oreo right now. Oh, yeah. Double stuff, baby.
00:26:10
Speaker
know what to take. that We're in the Oreo cream, baby. That's C-R-E-M-E. Ooh. No milk in it.
00:26:21
Speaker
Yeah, they're vegan. Yeah. And that's Richard That was a whole solo. The whole section was just solo. We got a solo.
00:26:32
Speaker
Y'all. But don't forget about it. We didn't get that part, though. I won't forget about it. No.
00:26:42
Speaker
It's hard to forget about that, honestly. um ah Even if you wanted to. my My thoughts are, okay, I think I like this tune and a little more than I remembered.
00:26:53
Speaker
I was was pretty much going to be like, I looked at the bracket, I can't even remember what the hell it's up against, I'm like, Django's losing. That's like what my original thought was, but like, nah, this good bass line.
00:27:06
Speaker
I like this bass line. It swings. ah It swings in this very tight sort of way or is not so loose. And that was a good solo.
00:27:17
Speaker
So I'm like, yeah, that's that's all of, and I was just like picturing myself, you know, skank into this in like a group with people and like this shit would go hard this would be really fun to dance to so i don't know i think i'm liking it better than i was before so especially judging it from this middle section yeah You were skeptical about the middle section part and now you're realizing yeah the nuance. The cream is the best part.
00:27:44
Speaker
There have been a a bunch of songs where like as we've been going through this, i've I've had to kind of do the same thing. Picture myself like in a live setting in like a hot room dancing with a bunch of people and it kind of like it changes your perspective on a song a little bit when you think about it that way.
00:28:04
Speaker
agree. ah agree I just don't, and just no disrespect to Lee Scratch Perry, man. Lee Perry. Come on. I will not disrespect Lee Perry.
00:28:17
Speaker
but just i can't. It's illegal to do that. Honestly, I can't shot for it. Where would be? the hatchet We wouldn't have boom scratch.
00:28:28
Speaker
We wouldn't have Warshishire sauce without Lee Perry. Wait, what? I believe that's the... Lee and Perrin's?
00:28:38
Speaker
Lee Perrin's the like... The brand of Worcestershire sauce? Lee Scratch Perrin's Worcestershire sauce. ah Hey. Don't be giving away free intro bits like that. Every UK listener is so angry with how we're pronouncing that right now. What is Worcestershire, I believe.
00:29:00
Speaker
Oh, fucking fuck. who Don't spell it like that then, idiots. Worcestershire. That's impossible.
00:29:10
Speaker
That's so stupid.
00:29:13
Speaker
That's stupid. It's going up against the one whose guns don't argue. It's Al Capone, recorded in 1964. It's straight-up ska song written and toasted by a Prince Buster himself and backed by the Baba Brooks band for the Blue Beat label.
00:29:29
Speaker
Peaked at number 18 in the UK a full three years after its release, this is Prince Buster's Al Capone. I'll gather chicks. Toast.
00:29:40
Speaker
Toast. Toast.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah, this is pretty strong. Man, it's sax on sax, hey? Every time you say the Baba Brooks band, I'm like, ah Baba Brookie. Baba Brookie. Baba Brookie.
00:29:56
Speaker
Baba Brookie. That's a fucking good solo too, though. Yeah, this cream is good. The middle's good. Don't do it.
00:30:09
Speaker
Uh-uh, Rudy.
00:30:11
Speaker
I love how you pronounce it. I love spelling in songs, too. Me, too. I'm addicted.
00:30:22
Speaker
If you were playing this song, would you do the hand letters? Yeah, I did it i keep fucking it up, but I do like hand letters for fam.
00:30:33
Speaker
Leave. You spell leave. Yeah, but I haven't been doing it lately because I keep script K-L-E-A-V-E. There you go. got it You got it.
00:30:44
Speaker
What do you think about that song, Kaylee? I loved it. I mean, I was biased toward it already. And then hearing it again, I'm like, I think I'm even more biased toward it. i I think, I mean, I love it.
00:30:58
Speaker
The, you know, it has a lot of forcefulness to the drums. Like, you know, you can just hear that kick on two and four, two and four. And then I love the way that the solos go having like,
00:31:11
Speaker
that thing where you're trading between the motif of, but up but up up but and then doing little solo in between, and, you know, and still having, then the guitar comes back in, going the, it's, ah, and plus, like, Prince Buster toasting, fucking great, doing the classic thing, the classic, like, and that's so good, and like, you notice whenever he stops doing that, it's like,
00:31:41
Speaker
Oh my God, this beat isn't going as hard anymore. that That posting is so essential to feeling like the weight of ska. It's so important.
00:31:53
Speaker
It's so important. Like I wish I, I need more room for that in my own music, but I think I'm the person in the band who's the best at making those mouth noises. And I got to sing sometimes or play the fucking saxophone.
00:32:04
Speaker
You're busy. Yeah. Yeah. Don't, don't do more. You're already a polymath. ah Yeah, I'm a mathematician. no like It's hard to do. It's hard to not have too much... like i have a lot of spit, I feel like.
00:32:17
Speaker
It's hard to do when you have like somebody you have to control your saliva. you just wear mask when i love Prince Buster, by the way. and i love like um One of my other favorite toasting things that he does is like the...
00:32:31
Speaker
That's another one. I don't know if it's in this tune, but I love it when he does that one. He had all these different kind of ways of doing it. It was great. yeah I love this tune for that reason. A wide variety of toasting sounds, that dude. He's the pick it up the first time. He's the pick it up guy. Multigrain sourdough. He's the pick it up guy. why So many toasts. so many du also the He's also the hit.
00:32:54
Speaker
he's the hitbot He's that guy too. he's like He's all the things. That thing, yeah. ye It's pretty cool. hes cool Wow, he's cool. it's not like ah I I think i think like the thing with Al Capone specifically, and and maybe one step beyond to some degree too, is that it's like, you know, a lot of these like old ska songs, they sound kind of crappy and it's first take, best take, and sometimes they miss their cues or some of the songs don't sound very tight.
00:33:24
Speaker
But man, Prince Buster songs sound so tight and they're very improvised. like yeah you're like As a band leader and as a Like, at putting it all together, like, you know, we just listened that middle section, it sounds almost flawless.
00:33:39
Speaker
Like, it's crazy. yeah I also love the vibe of this tune where it's like, there's a lot of there's a lot of power in it, but it also feels calming, too.
00:33:50
Speaker
It's like, the horns aren't playing super loud, but you can also just, like, really lean into that beat when, like, you're dancing. It just... fills me with this kind of like fear ferocious energy but it's also just like kind of like a calm little tune with the horns i don't know i ah god i love that it's yeah it's like what you were saying about like what it would sound like in a club like it would tear the roof off yeah like there's way it wouldn't yeah
00:34:21
Speaker
Plus, at the beginning, I assume they just fired a bunch of Tommy guns like in the club, right? Probably. I assume that's what they did back in the day. Reed had six shooters on him that were loaded.
00:34:33
Speaker
Oh, fuck yeah. I remember this. um I heard a story one time. Fucking the Scotsalites were recording, and he... Dukri was downstairs.
00:34:45
Speaker
The Scotsalites were recording and then like in the middle of them playing, he shoots a gun through the roof to where the Scotsalites are and then comes in and says, don't play an F7 there.
00:34:57
Speaker
Keep that a triad. And then walks back down. It was something like that. And so, yeah, shit was intense. That dominant seventh meant a lot to him. He didn't like it.
00:35:09
Speaker
yes
00:35:12
Speaker
Alright, I know how I'm voting. yeah I'm pretty lucky. I think we gave our hands away on this yeah yeah yeah three two one. really could. It's a big one. That's big track could make it. Yeah.
00:35:27
Speaker
but could it really could i have it's ah it's a big one that's a big track and that could that could make it um yeah Man, and then us listening to it like three weeks in a row, I'm still not fucking sick of that song. God, it's good. no you know good I'm not sick of any songs. I'm going to miss that horn line.
00:35:46
Speaker
All right, let's take a break. And when we get back, we've got three more matchups. ah
00:36:03
Speaker
Welcome back to Checkered Pass. We're here with K-Moy, and we're going through round three of the Trojan War. So here's our next matchup. Young, Gifted, and 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 would go on to write the electric slide almost 20 years later.
00:36:24
Speaker
Peaked at number 11 on the UK singles chart, this is Bob and Marsha with Young, Gifted, and Black.
00:36:40
Speaker
The singing is good. Female vocals sometimes. Sometimes. Isn't the first verse the dude and the second verse is the lady?
00:36:52
Speaker
She's a great voice.
00:36:58
Speaker
Now imagine her telling you to do the electric slide. I'd do it. is Wookiee, wookiee, wookiee, right? That's how that song goes.
00:37:10
Speaker
It's true.
00:37:19
Speaker
So Javi said that we shouldn't have strings in ska songs. What do you think about that? i I agree with him. ta I do. I believe he said bowed instruments. Get those the hell out of here.
00:37:37
Speaker
No, do agree with him. it's kind of That's a little bit spoilering what my reaction to this is going to be. But yeah, like, okay. No, let us know.
00:37:48
Speaker
What's your reaction? there's like a There's a Desmond Decker tune called Where Did It Go? And it like has these strings on it too. And it's like, this is a good tune, but i don't know if...
00:38:00
Speaker
this I mean, the strings on that song work a little bit better because they have like a melodic motif. It's almost like the horn line, but it's done on strings. But with this one, it just feels like it's get it's too soupy and it's just like had has this sweet film score
Final Ska Bracket Matchups
00:38:20
Speaker
type drama that I don't feel like it belongs in the song and it kind of gets in the way of the rhythm. and I'm like, boy, if we got rid of these strings...
00:38:28
Speaker
I feel like I would like this version of the tune a lot more because like the beat is good. The rhythm section is tight. I love the way that organ sounds.
00:38:39
Speaker
I love this kind of, you know, i think it's like, you know, a skinhead reggae type with him with the
00:38:47
Speaker
I love the way that I always liked that kind of rhythm, but yeah, I, i don't know. I think I'd enjoy the female vocals sometimes if we got rid of those strings.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah, I know. It really takes away from the female vocal sometimes. that Yeah, you're not wrong. I mean, it's kind of in the same EQ range, you know?
00:39:11
Speaker
And it is going up against what you guys said is just a cool song. 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.
00:39:26
Speaker
Failed to chart but was reissued after being covered by the special, then hit number 54 on the UK singles chart. This is Simmerip with Skinhead Moonstomp. I remember.
00:39:38
Speaker
i remember Remember, he's the boss.
00:39:43
Speaker
I like that there's a group of people replying to him while he's talking to him, too. Yeah, no, that is great, actually. They're like, uh-huh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, again, it's just such a George Clinton thing, you know what I mean? like Yes!
00:39:56
Speaker
True! Yeah. Because George Clinton would just say some random, you know, so stuff about aliens, and then there'd be like, Bootsy would be like, yeah, man!
00:40:07
Speaker
For sure, absolutely! Bootsy! For sure! Like Flava Flav. Like the early Flava Flav, basically.
00:40:18
Speaker
That gang vocal? Goddamn. That's really catchy. It's a party.
00:40:25
Speaker
It's hard to stand still when this is on. I can't think of a song this early that just has so much weird guitar noises on it. That's true. I like the weird guitar noises. Yeah, like lots of pick scrapes and weird just kind of... that.
00:40:40
Speaker
I love that. yeah Tom Morello was taking notes. Wow. For sure. yeah. May have been. Well, I'd like to believe that he was. Anyway. In my mind, he's, cause he was like an army brat, right? So he was in some kind of military base somewhere.
00:40:57
Speaker
Just like, Hmm. You know, it's like that. You see the guitar in the pawn shop thing. It's like, but he's just like, yeah, what if I only made weird noises with my guitar? Yeah. He was listening to song and heard all the weird noises and he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah you know?
00:41:14
Speaker
that said you know That's so dumb. So dumb. um well old tom wait you Remember when made that... That joke when Jimmy Carter died and you're like, well, it was nice Lil Wayne to make all those albums about him.
00:41:28
Speaker
That was a great joke. I really liked that one. That is a one of my probably top five. Was it a tweet? Yeah. so
Episode Conclusion and Kaylee's Upcoming Projects
00:41:40
Speaker
What takes away from this song for me is like picturing a modern day skinhead enjoying it too much.
00:41:47
Speaker
and And I'm not lying. it's Like, that's actually what makes me, like, keep resisting getting it ahead. But I'm like, it is objectively. And at this time, it was cool. on Anyways, no. No, skinheads are scary.
00:42:01
Speaker
I was listening to this tune, I think, like, in 2020 and listening to it on my headphones and, so like, skanking in my room and going like, oh, my God. That's why it's called Moonstomp.
00:42:12
Speaker
Because the tempo is, like, at such a perfect space where it kind of looks like, you're on the moon if you like skank to this in tempo it's a bit like you know it it almost kind of looks like moonwalking because it's like just that slow enough where you're like zero gravity jumping well not zero gravity that's cool that's how i was like yeah that must why it called the moon hop originally and then you know yeah so like the tempo to the tune is very important to keep that that moonho moon hop moon stomp type of
00:42:43
Speaker
feel to the dance. So that was something that I thought of. Maybe that's true, but I feel like it's true. feel like it's gotten true to me. Yeah, I was, I was all all honestly a little bit curious. Like Rob has said, ah moon hop a few times explaining the song.
00:42:58
Speaker
And every time he says it, something like was sticking in my brain a little bit, but that's exactly, that makes you, Kind of blew my mind right there. Wow. Skimabs love to stomp. Try doing the moon hop a little later and you'll be like, oh, fuck.
00:43:10
Speaker
I really am moon hopping over here. Shit. Yeah, I'm on the moon. You could be wearing those like the little shoes with the trampoline built into them. Sure. Doing the dance. What? Shoes with the trampoline. The moonwalker. Moon shoes or whatever they had in like the 80s, 90s.
00:43:25
Speaker
Okay, old. Anyway, um I really like this tune. It's a great, yeah just a great tune. They were right to cover it. I think they kind of made it better ah little bit.
00:43:36
Speaker
um Yeah, there's I think there's a reason why this one is like the big classic, even beyond the point of like, i don't know, the relevance that like the specials gave it and everything. Yeah.
00:43:49
Speaker
It's great. Like if you listen to the original version, it doesn't have like the moon. It doesn't have the the gang vocals thing of the yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's just Derek Morgan singing that by himself. It's Derek Morgan. Cooler with the gang vocals.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, totally. so yeah this I think I'm ready. yeah Yeah, I'm ready to vote. yeah yeah so it's young yeah it's Just to reiterate, it's Young Gifted and Black against Skinhead Moonstomp.
00:44:15
Speaker
Count it off. Three, two, one. Skinhead Moonstomp.
00:44:24
Speaker
yeah I think Young Gifted in Black just benefited. like It's a good song, but it benefited from ah being able to go up against songs. Yeah, it was all match-ups. I'm kind of happy it made it this far. Me too. yeah it it's it's it is The hook on that song, like whenever I just listen through the playlist for this thing, like the Young Gifted in Black, the little hook,
00:44:43
Speaker
from the chorus does get stuck in my head for a couple its relevance, I think, in the culture is important. Yeah, it's lyrically probably more important than Skinhead Moonstone. That's also true. That's a dark matchup. I didn't feel too bad about this one because I'm like, well, they're both covers.
00:45:05
Speaker
That's why I didn't feel too bad about it. I'm like, right I'm not dissing Young, Gifted, and Black. I am kind of dissing this version of it. But yeah. They were both sang by black people too.
00:45:16
Speaker
that's awesome that yes i yeah yeah that's what That's why I keep pushing skinhead moonsop because i'm like well He's singing it. Yeah. He's singing it. He's singing it.
00:45:29
Speaker
All right, here we go. The next matchup, Monkey Man, recorded in 1969. It's a track about a spurned love in Toots amalgamated style. Hit number 47 on the UK charts.
00:45:40
Speaker
It's covered by everyone from the specials to Amy Winehouse to Real Big Fish. This is Toots Hibbert and the Maytals with Monkey Man.
00:45:57
Speaker
I understand that you're turning a monkey on me. I get it. I get what's going on here.
00:46:08
Speaker
man? Where's monkey woman?
00:46:18
Speaker
where's monkey woman I think, well... Well, I think the monkey woman was the woman that left him for the monkey man.
00:46:30
Speaker
I think so. yeah I don't know. Chimpanzee lady. know, Weezer, what's with these homies dissing my girl? It's just, he's just dissing the man. He's not dissing his girl, I think. don't Whatever. No, there's something there. It's feminist toots. Goddamn.
00:46:53
Speaker
god damn How do you feel about Monkey Man, Kaylee? Oh, well, this is just a fucking incredible classic song that sounds good in just about every version of it.
00:47:05
Speaker
And like I heard the specials version first, and then like going back and listening to this one, like, oh, wow. The specials cover is... is very faithful i mean it's not like it's not the same fucking rhythm and they have like their whole midsection to it but it's like the baseline is intact and it's like a really good baseline it's one of those baselines that you can sing and you yeah already know it and like even those lyrics that you like said back is like those are good lyrics i like now i know that now i understand you're turning a monkey on me
00:47:41
Speaker
I once asked my older brother when I was 15, are you turning a monkey on me just out of nowhere? And he said, yes, several. So he was going to turn several monkeys on me.
00:47:53
Speaker
and Oh my God. Yeah. That threat has not come to pass yet, but he said in 20 years. So yeah, it's going to throw one of those little barrel of monkeys on you. Yeah.
00:48:05
Speaker
I love barrel monkeys. This one's going to be tough for me, this matchup. i But I and feel like if I end up not voting for Monkey Man, that might be a crime against the Scott community. So I'm going to think real hard about this one. But I really love Carrie Boat, Go, Pring, Come also.
00:48:23
Speaker
I really love it. before Before we get to that song, though... I had this debate with Joey, but like, is Monkey Man the choice for Toots' representation? Or should it have been 54, 46 or pressure drop?
00:48:37
Speaker
I think I, boy, think I would have gone with pressure drop. Yeah, I think I would have gone with pressure drop. I think it's a stronger song, even though this one has maybe more like...
00:48:49
Speaker
I guess just whatever. It's a little more popular because it's been covered more. Yeah. yeah I feel like I would choose the specials version over the original of Monkey Man.
00:49:01
Speaker
But like pressure drop is that one's kind of hard to beat. I feel like and yeah nobody's cover of pressure drop is better than the original pressure drop. So yeah. The specials cover is not as good. Yeah. i would Yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
Yeah. It was covered in the 90s though, didn't they? I think pressure drop could won. Yeah, pressure drop would have been... ah Like, that would have would been... Interesting. I would have taken it far. Yeah. But but i think I think you made the right choice, though. I think I said last time, I was like, pressure drop is... ah in my... Like, I prefer it over Monkey Man, even though I fucking love Monkey Man so much. But pressure drop's just so goddamn good. But I think you made the right choice choosing Monkey Man for the bracket.
00:49:39
Speaker
Monkey Man is a harder moral choice, which creates more pressure for the bracket. Yeah. yeah right I guess yeah you're that yeah it makes it more interesting yeah so it's going up against carry go bring come recorded in 1963 in one take and produced by Duke Reed it predated simmer down by two months and was a chart topper in Jamaica but never hit it big in the UK until it was covered by the selector this is Justin Hines in the dominoes with carry go bring come
00:50:31
Speaker
harms on this one too though focus folks real good um this one has a good middle yeah another good middle dang But again, let's like it's catchy, has no chorus, which is still... Yeah, it's great. It doesn't have a chorus. It really doesn't.
00:50:54
Speaker
The only thing that breaks it up is like, I think we're getting a solo, yeah. yeah That's what breaks up the song.
00:51:05
Speaker
The drumming is really good on this, too. Yeah, it's very...
00:51:11
Speaker
It's idiosyncratic to this song. I don't hear many ska songs with this type of drum beat. Yeah, that with those like open hats. Yeah, so satisfying. The whole time. Yeah.
00:51:26
Speaker
Yeah, and the, you know, the kick drum just keeps going, you know, knock, uh, uh, the whole time. Um, boy. i I do really like that tune. I think, like, one time it came on in, like, the fucking algorithm when I was listening to YouTube music, because that's the little streamy thing that I do.
00:51:46
Speaker
And I just got so excited. i was like, open up this fucking pit. Like, that's how excited I got hearing this dusty ass ska song. um And yeah I just, I like it. um There's always something charming to these kind of tunes. And i I like hearing these old songs that use biblical metaphors about fighting oppression.
00:52:09
Speaker
It's a very reggae thing to do. And here we are hearing it in ska. So I always... I always like that. But boy, but and I don't know if it's beating Monkey Man.
00:52:20
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I don't think it's beating Monkey Man. i don't I like this tune. I got to shout out that trombone solo, though. That trombone solo is not only super good, but it's like so like chill and it leaves so much like breathing room, but it's like a really good solo.
00:52:38
Speaker
It is. Yeah, it's chill and it's it's singable. I like a good singable solo. Yeah. Shout out to the trombone solo. yeah Sounds like we're all locked in.
00:52:49
Speaker
Sounds like we know what we want. Yeah. okay so yeah Okay. This one's going to make me feel bad, but I think I know what I want. Three, two, one. Monkey Man. We're having a pretty easy time making our choices. I feel like we haven't had any upsets here. We are unanimously voting.
00:53:07
Speaker
It's true, yeah but I had a hard time with that one. That one made me feel a little bit bad. It's okay. um I'm glad that song made it this far. We're getting to the point where i've so I've picked, like, we've picked all of the songs. You know what i mean? Like, we've all of these songs have won ah matchup already. Hey, what did this one go up against last time?
00:53:27
Speaker
yeah You remember, Rob? i can tell you in a minute. Like... ah just with ah the last episode. Yeah, Kerry, go ahead come. It was up against Longshot Kick the Bucket, which I voted for Longshot.
00:53:41
Speaker
I think I would have voted for Longshot too. That was a close one. Too sad. don't want to think about the dead horse. Too sad. yeah but um That song's a sequel, right?
00:53:53
Speaker
Is that song a sequel? It's a sequel to Longshot. Longshot, he's alive. Longshot kicked a bucket? He dead. Alright, let's do the next matchup. Let's do this. Last matchup.
00:54:05
Speaker
Girlstown Ska, released in 1965 and produced by Duke Reed for Treasure. Became an ongoing hit for Baba Brooks, who quickly became the house producer for numerous ska releases. Wasn't a charting song, but it was covered by Derek Morgan and re-released by Baba Brooks in the 2000s.
00:54:20
Speaker
This is Girlstown Ska by Baba Brooks and the Baba Brooks Band.
00:54:26
Speaker
Coming in on that stick wood block. I know, that's great. That was like the first thing I was going to comment on. That's great. Hot damn this song, man. There's a reason why it got this far.
00:54:40
Speaker
Good middle, another good middle.
00:54:57
Speaker
Yeah, trumpet and Old Sky. Yeah. It was there, but it wasn't like a dominant instrument.
00:55:10
Speaker
Always love that thing where you're like, they're not shouting it into the microphone, you're like far away. Old Sky! Ah! Oh yeah, that's just... Yeah. Do that. I love it because it makes it feel like a live party.
00:55:24
Speaker
yeah Yeah. It feels so loud because, like, I know this probably wasn't the case, but I always like to imagine that they're all in the same room and there's one microphone.
00:55:36
Speaker
Absolutely. And they like have a couple of friends and all of a sudden they're like, yay! Yeah. like that was ah that was ah That was a random choice because I was like, I want to put a Baba Brooks song in here.
00:55:48
Speaker
And he doesn't have like any huge hits because he was more of the backing band. But this one kind of popped up a couple times. so I was like, this one's a bit of a stretch. But it's making its way through because it's fucking, man, it's good. It rips. It's it's so upbeat. It is one of the faster kind of skankin' tunes that we've that we've had.
00:56:11
Speaker
Yeah, because I mean, a lot of the crossover hits, that because that's what we're mostly focusing on, we're a little on the rock steady reggae side. That's This one is giving us that full scoppy, that full party sound that I really like.
00:56:28
Speaker
yeah Yeah, and it really implies the sort of the two-tone. We should prioritize female vocals sometimes next time we do another Trojan Wars.
00:56:40
Speaker
bracket that's i was just thinking about this i was just thinking about uh i think it was norma fraser doing the um first cut first cut is the deepest that's a great little rock steady type tune i love that one i don't know i'm just thinking about female vocals sometimes sometimes that's actually so sick yeah i love that It could be some old and some new too. Like we can have like the selector. That'd be a blast.
00:57:11
Speaker
We can put the boiler back in and see if it can make it past one round without people crying. It's so sad. Yeah. We can put in the fucking dance hall crashers so that I have a song. That'd be fun. That'd be a blast. Yeah.
00:57:25
Speaker
I, I, I'm vouching for it. We could have Wattu and Kaylee even on it. No. Oh my God. Too much bias. Don't ask for trouble. Don't ask for trouble by me having to eliminate my friends' bands.
00:57:37
Speaker
Like, I don't want to have to do this. I'm sorry that I just sidetracked the whole thing from Girlstown ska, but I was thinking about that, and then I was like, oh you know what's a song that has female vocals sometimes that has like a similar feel to this one?
00:57:51
Speaker
Come on, ah simmer down. And I was like, yeah, because that does have female vocals sometimes. Female vocals sometimes. Sometimes. Yeah, it was mentioned sometimes. Yeah, every sometimes every so often I was like, oh, female vocals sometimes. Yeah.
00:58:03
Speaker
Yeah. And so started flashing back to female vocals sometimes. I was thinking, boy we should more here to talk about it anytime. yeah
00:58:12
Speaker
Anyway, yeah. right Great tune. That was good. yeah Yeah. It's going up against Israelites, though. Released in 1968 as a Scar Rocksteady monster hit about...
00:58:24
Speaker
Decker's favorite topics, which is Rude Boys. No, ah Rudy, he says. It is the first Jamaican song to hit number one in the UK, spurring an interest in reggae and ska in the country. And it even hit number nine in the US. This is Desmond Decker in the Aces.
00:58:38
Speaker
Israelites. Midsection. This bracket has made me like this song more. Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:49
Speaker
this bracket has made me like this song
00:58:55
Speaker
God, I just love that. It kind of fucks. It kind of fucks. Israelite. Israelite. Israelite. Israelite Israelite.
00:59:07
Speaker
Israelite Israelite. Israelite Israelite. Israelite Israelite. Israelite Israelite Israelite Israel
00:59:18
Speaker
Like, I know that's just a scale, but it sounds so fucking good. It does. Yeah. It sounds so good. Goddamn, those vocals.
00:59:29
Speaker
I know, right? He's the best. He's my favorite singer. Of this order, he's my favorite singer. 100%. He's amazing. Beautiful. wasnt beautiful And like, a lot people... We bought love voted a lot of good out. Yeah.
00:59:46
Speaker
But there was a lot of fans that were doing the similar, like kind of more high pitched vocal range, but it feels like only Desmond Decker made it sound that fucking awesome. You know what i mean? Like they're all good, but his is awesome.
01:00:00
Speaker
He's very, he just has a very sweet tone to his voice naturally. And the way that he uses it is just so fluid. It's so effortless.
01:00:13
Speaker
It does all those flips and trills and you don't even hear it. It's not show-offy. You gotta pay attention to it to go like, oh, actually, that shit's pretty fucking hard to sing.
01:00:24
Speaker
You know? yeah yeah Yeah, totally. Yeah, man. What a fucking song, hey? Well, and the production, I feel like, has a really good balance of being clean but not too clean.
01:00:35
Speaker
and still has like a little gritty it. It's still gritty, but it didn't do the thing that like... like The young gifted in black did where it kind of had that rougher production, but had too much like studio trickery in it.
01:00:50
Speaker
Yeah. It's like he paired a lot of that back. He just like, he had access to something, but decided to just keep it nice and clean and simple. I think that's what makes it so appealing. Right. yeah Also, shout out to the hook on this song.
01:01:03
Speaker
Shout out to the chorus just being like the last two bars of the verse. you know yeah yeah Oh, Israelites. that's just That's it. you know and That's great. and I love like the bass vocals on the thing paired with the... It's great. I love it. I've always loved the sound of Desmond Decker and Jason. The bass vocals paired with that kind of soaring like high vocal that he does is so fucking good. So good.
01:01:30
Speaker
Yep, that's like that range. maybe um Like all the way there. yeah The Israelites. You're almost there. That was pretty close. That was pretty close. I think I know how I'm voting. The Israelites. Me too. Motherfucker. Yeah.
01:01:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't want to be a basic bitch about it, but I think I have to be. Yeah. Me too. get um and Let's get our pumpkin spice lattes. We're getting our little booties and our infinity scarves and our skinny jeans and we're in autumn and we're going to vote.
01:02:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Three, two, one. Israelite. Yeah. Yeah. Me poor. You were supposed to take the high. I think I just did You did. Yeah, you got it. um Another unanimous one. Four unanimous votes in a row. That was crazy.
01:02:26
Speaker
my fucking fuck This is the one I'm most surprised was New Unanimous. Because Hot Damn, Girlstown Ska is a fucking good song. i when we When I played it, I was like, I might be voting for Girlstown Ska. Me too but Then Israelites came on and I'm like, oh, right, I'm wrong. I was thinking that too. and I'm like, you know what?
01:02:46
Speaker
I'm sick of Israelites. I've heard that tune enough times. yeah But then I'm like, I can't vote against Desmond Decker. I can't do that. Especially not, that you know, like there are like about 15 Desmond Decker du tunes that you can put in front of me and I be like, this is a classic.
01:03:03
Speaker
Nobody's allowed to vote against this one. Desmond Decker all the way. So yeah it's very hard for me to vote against Desmond Decker. earlier yeah So here's the semifinals. It's going to be al Capone skin against Skinhead Moonstomp.
01:03:20
Speaker
ah wow And then Monkey Man against Israelites. i as far as the semifinal concerned... as far as final is concerned Strong. I thought I was going to feel bad at the end, but I don't.
01:03:34
Speaker
Any one of those songs I would be happy with. Those are all smashes. I'm in. This is one of the most satisfied semifinals I think had in long time. No one can be that mad at us. Cool Chris might be able to be. I think he wanted Red Red Wine to win.
01:03:51
Speaker
ah Which is crazy. like i like Red Red Wine. That's a good one. That's really fun. That's fun song. um But it is. what what Better than al Capone, though? yeah to know i don't out I don't think i would vote Red Red Wine over Al Capone.
01:04:12
Speaker
I really like Red Red Wine, though. That would have been a choice for me. I wonder what would have happened. and I think if Simmerdown was still in in here, it would have it would be also in the semis. I don't know.
01:04:24
Speaker
yeah like i don't know Instead of Skinhead. I'm really surprised that Simmerdown has not made it this far. my. But I feel like I was sick of it when I was listening to it, but now I miss it. well Sorry, Simmerdown. I said when I voted it, and you guys voted against me, I said, I'm on the right side of history on this one. Okay, wait, what was it up against again?
01:04:46
Speaker
Skinhead Moonstomp. You can't, thats but come on. Yeah, come on. Like, that does make it complicated. Okay, I would have you were like i wouldve gone with Simmerdown. I would have done it. yeah You said at the time, i just just to remind you what you justified it. You said Simmerdown like...
01:05:03
Speaker
ah too clean and and like good boy. and then he said like, Moon Stomp was like cool and like, this is where all the degenerates listen to Skinhead Moon Stomp. That's that's a little bit unfair.
01:05:18
Speaker
Do you really, like, even Rob brought up that Desmond Decker was doing the finger wag, the sonic pose at fucking Moon Stomp. Not already. He's always doing that.
01:05:29
Speaker
He's always doing that, I guess. Give him a pass because he did it beautifully.
01:05:35
Speaker
ah ah That takes us to end. I wasn't there. I wasn't there. i didn't have to deal with Rude Boys at the time. Maybe I would have made a song saying, hey, I like you all.
01:05:47
Speaker
Just take it easy. I might have done one those tunes also. take it Take it easy. Get out of your shanty town. Put down your ratchet. Right? All that stuff. Stop your messing around.
01:06:00
Speaker
Kaylee, thank you so much for coming on the podcast again. What have you got to plug? I've got to plug goddamn the motherfucking... Okay, that's how i talk about everything. I've got to plug goddamn the motherfucking Precure album fucking vinyl on goddamn Skypunk International with Watashi No Lyric Book by Ange Capizzi and Sophia Dupree.
01:06:24
Speaker
And also the fucking remaster by fucking Beth Rivera and the fucking album art by fucking Clayton Shovaniuk. And you look on the back and he did a whole different fucking drawing.
01:06:35
Speaker
And yeah. And also, uh, Peach Rings is coming out with the first LP, which is called I'll Look Out For You. And I did the fake drums on that. And Beth is in the process of mixing everything. And then she's going to do the masters. I don't know when it's coming out, but it could be like,
01:06:51
Speaker
I don't know, a month or two months from now. And that's going to be very exciting for people who like peach rings, which includes me Hell yeah. That's so many fucking things.
01:07:02
Speaker
Yeah. So many motherfucking things. Thanks for listening to Checkered Past. Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky, YouTube, and TikTok at Checkered Past Pod or send us an email at checkeredpastpod at gmail.com.
01:07:15
Speaker
To support the pod and get bonus content including a full length and unedited video of this episode, sign up for the Checkered Patreon at patreon.com slash checkeredpast. We also have merch available at checkeredpass.ca.
01:07:25
Speaker
This episode is edited by Cutman and engineered by Joey. a special thanks to Chris Reeves, Megamichi, and Adam the Ska Mailman for making this podcast happen. Thanks also for Joey and Keelan for making the Trojan War theme song.
01:07:39
Speaker
You can follow along the bracket at challenge.com. Challenge. Slash the Trojan War. Next week, it's the finals with Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International. And until next time, I'm Rob.
01:07:51
Speaker
And also thank you to Celine for being a great co-host. You never thank me. Aw. Thanks for being a great co-host. Thank you, Joey.
01:08:04
Speaker
Because I thank Joey for engineering. I don't thank you for co-hosting. Okay. I understand. I understand. I understand what you're saying. Thank you, Celine, for co-hosting this podcast.
01:08:15
Speaker
My co-hosting duties are thankless. It's fine. No, I don't thank you for that. Nope. like Until next time, I'm Rob. Selen. And Joey. And in the immortal words of Justin Hines, the carry-go-bring pod, my dear, brings misery.
01:08:32
Speaker
What? What a great ad.
01:08:46
Speaker
call me Scarface.