Must The Specials Record A New Album?

October 1, 2010

The party started in April 2009 – that’s when The Specials went on their 30th Anniversary Tour with sold-out shows around the UK. Gigs in Australia, Japan, the USA, Canada and festival appearances throughout Europe followed. On the way the 2Tone heroes picked up an Inspiration Award by Britain’s quality music magazine Q and regained [...]

Read the full article →

6 Reasons To Be Excited About The New London International Ska Festival – A Strictly Personal Selection

September 24, 2010

Since the return of the London International Ska Festival has been announced by Sean Flowerdew the excitement cannot be bigger.  More than 2800 fans on Facebook and 300 applications from bands convey a clear message. Anyone who has been into Ska for more than just a few weeks seems to be thrilled. Four days with [...]

Read the full article →

The 7-Step-Program To Becoming Part Of A Legendary Ska Compilation

September 9, 2010

Did I promise to tell how Mark Brennan from Link Records found out about The Braces in 1988? Then I better deliver. At the end of this text you will know even more. You will have learned the 7 steps that were necessary to get on “Skank – Licensed To Ska” – and make the [...]

Read the full article →

How The Braces Got Their First Record Deal

August 25, 2010

“What’s up with the band?” At times (in the late 1980s) I got wary of the same old question when meeting people around my hometown Krefeld. On the tram, at the chips shop or “At The Watch”, the hangout for the local subcultures and bottle collectors: Whenever I bumped into someone I knew, the question [...]

Read the full article →

My First Time: What It Was Like To Be In The Studio With The Braces In 1987

July 15, 2010

Ska music today seems to be all about sound. Even new bands know exactly what effects they want and which equipment to use. They plug their Telecasters into their Twin Reverbs, hook up their Jazz Basses and make no mistakes. Producers like Vic Ruggiero and Victor Rice offer their services globally and set standards in [...]

Read the full article →

6 Special Posts From The First 6 Months At Joescholes.com

May 4, 2010

You know what day it is today? The 4th of May 2010. It has been 6 months exactly since I published the first post on joescholes.com. I have been thinking about preparing a jubilee post for today. Never came along to starting it. Not much time is left now. So let’s cut it short: I [...]

Read the full article →

Should All Ska Music Be Free? Two Sides Of The Same Coin

April 13, 2010

Here is something I am undecided about: “What to make of free Ska music offers on the Web?” That’s why I asked two experts on the subject for their opinions: a label owner and a blogger. As you can imagine they have views very different from one another. But there is evidence that both love [...]

Read the full article →

Interview With Blogger Toneandwave On The Fun And The Politics Of Sharing Free Ska mp3s

April 13, 2010

This interview is part of the story “Should All Ska Music Be Free – Two Sides Of The Same Coin”. For the introduction to the article go here. If you like to read Matzge Broeckel’s (Pork Pie Records) stance on the subject, follow this link. 1. When did toneandwave start sharing mp3s/links to mp3s? What [...]

Read the full article →

Interview with Matzge Broeckel from the German Ska Label Pork Pie Records about the effects of free downloads

April 13, 2010

This interview is part of the story “Should All Ska Music Be Free – Two Sides Of The Same Coin”. For the introduction to the article go here. If you like to read the blogger toneandwave’s stance on the subject, follow this link. 1. Since the foundation of Pork Pie (1989) more than 20 years [...]

Read the full article →

Ska – Rocksteady – Early Reggae: Which Online Radio Stations have it?

March 30, 2010

Could you please help me out again? It’s easy to spend tons of time uploading your songs to all those music websites. Just to make sure that as many people as possible have the chance to hear it, provided that they are interested. You may start with myspace and Soundcloud, but where do you end? [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →