Crab's Biggest Hits

  Man I woke up this morning with the biggest mortal fear of going to work, couldn't deal with co-workers and unable to cope with the thought of dealing with customers ... so I stayed in bed moaning and crying at the fact that I eventually have to rise and face the day.  As I finally rose to make coffee and breakfast, I needed some mellow tunes to soothe my tortured soul.  I grab Crab's Biggest Hits knowing that it's smooth Reggae sounds were just what the doctor ordered ... and damn sometimes the best medicine is going to work late, making grub, listening to killer Rocksteady that exercises your chill muscles and helps the day work out fine!

Sublime -- 40oz. To Freedom

  Yes Yes I'm so sorry he's passed on but this group is up there with Jock Day, Jockspring and Jockvana for killing Punk ... I'm not entirely sure which derogatory jock term I should use for this painfully bad band: Jocklime, Jocklame, or better yet because they mixed Ska with Punk Jockperation Ivy ... oh and thanks guys for sh*tting on my favorite Descendents song ... poseurs!

Operation Ivy -- Energy

  The only band in my opinion to successfully incorporate hardcore punk and ska music.  These guys may have only lasted two years but their influence has spanned decades, although I'm not too crazy about the bands they influenced!

Madness -- One Step Beyond ...

  What you've got here is a three faceted album, part killer Ska, part way too British New Wave and part borderline Baggy music -- all in all a pretty good record.

The English Beat -- I Just Can't Stop It

  Ska/ New Wave outfit The Beat are one of the best of the revival bands that came out of England.  Now I'm not just tossing them into New Wave gang because they're from the 80's, I have evidence to support my case.  Exhibit one, the song Best Friend is a basic New Wave song and is almost completely Skaless; exhibit two, is the large use of flange guitar which goes hand in hand with the New Wave Sound.  This record is filled with wall to wall classics, form the start, Mirror In The Bathroom, to some cool covers, including my personal favorite track, the most authentic Ska sounding tune, Can't Get Used To Losing You.  Plus they have a resident Sax virtuoso Saxa who is a luminary player from the old days in Jamaica playing with the greats, Buster and Dekker, just to name a few.  Call up the Special Beat Service 'cause Hands Off ... She's Mine!

The Clash -- London Calling

  The ultimate Clash album London Calling, some say they sold out, abandoning punk rock, I think that's a load of crap, unless selling out means you made one of the greatest records of all time?  The album is a mish mash of styles, but all Clash music, a sorta World Punk, making the movement accessible to everyone, speaking to them all in song, just like the greats, Dylan, The Beatles, etc, can do.  London Calling is such a good record that if you meet someone who doesn't like it, run away, because they're probably not from Earth!

Desmond Dekker -- Black and Dekker

  Ok I put this album on, it opens with Israelites it starts like the original but then the band kicks in, and I, out of shock, had to toss the needle right off the record.  Before you get you're panties all in a bunch here's the deal, this record is a 1980 comeback album on Stiff records, so instead of rocksteady it's ska, but that was the popular genre in his field at the time.  At first I thought it was a best of album because it featured a slew of his hits tunes, but nooooo, they're terribly updated versions of the old songs.  After hearing the new Israelites I was ready to give up on the record entirely, it was that bad, but I gave it a second chance, and two numbers were pretty good, It Mek and Why Fight.  From what I hear Dekker was backed by The Rumour, a sh*tty new wave rock band, and Akrylykz  (what the hell does that mean??) a ska band, I can only assume that the two good tracks were recorded with the ska band.  Other than that I can't recommend to get this one, just get the old stuff with the original songs, because most of these versions, well, suck, the big one!