Ska Band Of The Week (28): Hepcat

From Southern California, The Soulful Ska/Reggae/Rocksteady Sound Of Hepcat. The Band Started Around 1989 By Vocalists Greg Lee And Alex Desert And Keyboard Player Deston Barry. In 1993, They Sign Onto The Now Defunct Moon Ska Records And Release Their Debut Album "Out Of Nowhere." It Wasn't Until Three Years Later That They Made Their Second Album, "Scientific," In 1996 Under Their New Label BYO Records; The Single "Bobby And Joe" Became A Music Video. The Band Left BYO And Got Sign By Hellcat Records And In 1998, They Release They're Third Album "Right On Time." The Album Became A Big Hit And Was Listed As Number 7 On Time Magazine's "Top Ten Albums Of 1998." It Also Landed Them A Spot On The Warped Tour. In The Year 2000, They Released "Push 'N Shove," It Was Their First Album Without Raul Talavera (Alto Saxophone) And Desert (Although He Was A Guest Vocalist On Two Tracks On The Album). That Same Year, It Was Announce That The Band Is Taking A Hiatus. During The Time Of The Hiatus, Lee And Barry Made A Guest Appearance On An Album With The Japanese Ska Punk Band Rude Bones, Along With The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Vocalist Dicky Barrett. In 2003, The Band Got Back Together And Began Touring. The Band Members That Came Back Were All From The "Scientific" Lineup. The Members Are Lee, Desert, Barry, Efren Santana (Tenor Saxophone), Kincaid Smith (Trumpet And Flugelhorn), Lino Trujillo (Guitar), David Fuentes (Bass Guitar) And Greg Narvas (Drums). In 2004, The Band Re-released "Out Of Nowhere" Via Hellcat Records. The Album Features All Of Their Tracks Remastered And Added Two New Tracks, An Early Version Of "Nigel" And "Club Meditation." Outside Of Hepcat, A Few Members And Ex-Members Went On To Do Some Other Projects. Smith Form A Five-Piece Funk Band Called Soul Traffic. Fuentes And Ex-Drummer Scott Abels Play With The Reggae/Ska Band The Aggrolites. Ex-Tenor Saxophone Player Dave Hillyard Moved To New York And Join The Ska Band The Slackers And Form His Own Band, The Dave Hillyard Rocksteady 7. Desert Made A Living As An Actor, Making Appearances In Movies Like "PCU," "Swingers," And "High Fidelity;" Along With TV Appearances In "Boy Meets World" And Was One Of The Main Cast Of The CBS Show "Becker," Starring Ted Danson. Desert Have Done Some Voice Acting As Well, Doing Characters Such As Nick Fury In "Wolverine And The X-Men" And "The Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes" And Skelly In "Lego: The Adventures Of Clutch Powers" And "Lego Clutch Powers: Bad Hair Day." In 2007, The Band Left A Message On Their Myspace Page Announcing That Dave Fuentes Have Passed Away, No Details On How He Died But They Ask The Fans To Let Them Grieve To This Untimely Passing. The Band Did Not Release An Album Until 2011, When They Release A Live Album Entitled "Live At The Whiskey A Go-Go." Currently, There Are No Tour Dates For Hepcat Except For One. On May 27th, The Band Will Be Playing At Downtown Las Vegas.

Disc List:
Out Of Nowhere (1993) Re-released In 2004
Scientific (1996)
Right On Time (1998)
Push 'N Shove (2000)
Live At The Whiskey A Go-Go (2011) Live Album

Ska Band Of The Week (27): King Apparatus

From London/Toronto, Ontario, Canada: The 2 Tone Influence Sensation That Is...King Apparatus. The Band Started Around 1987 In London, Ontario With A Then Unknown Chris Murray As The Vocalist And Various Members Coming In And Out. The Members Included Guitarists Sam Tallo, Paul Ruston, J. C. Orr And Paul McCulloch, Bass Player Mitch Girio, Organ Player Mark LeBourdais And Alex Dmitrovic, Conga Player Greg Clancy, Saxophone Player Bruno Hedman and Drummers Brian Christopher, Dave Kennedy, Mike Southern And Anton Cook. In 1989, The Band Signed Onto Raw Energy Records And Release It's First EP "Loud Party." A Year Later, They Release Their Self-Titled Debut Album. The Album Was Such A Success That Their Label Sign A Distribution Deal With A&M Records. The Single "Made For TV" Became Popular In Various Radio Stations And It's Music Video Has Constantly Play On MuchMusic (Canada's Equivalent To MTV). In 1993, The Band Released It's Second Album "Marbles" Unfortunately, The Album Didn't Became Much Of A Success. The Band Left Raw Energy And Sign Onto Cargo Records, But The Band Broke Up Shortly After. The Reason Of Their Departure Was Unknown Until Murray Was Asked During An Interview About His Breakup. He Stated, "I never left King Apparatus. What happened was that other member started to leave, for different reasons, until the folks that remained decided that it didn't feel right to keep on going with so much having changed." After The Breakup, Murray Produce Several Albums For The Montreal-Based Ska Punk Band The Planet Smashers. He Also Collaborated With Other Ska Musicians Such As Laurel Aitken, The Specials And The Slackers. He Release Several Solo Albums With The Help Of His 4-Track Tape Recorder. Today He Is Currently Residing In The Los Angeles Area, Playing With His Acoustic Ska Band The Chris Murray Combo And Playing Solo In Various Gigs. He Reissue His King Apparatus Albums On Asian Man Records For The Americans And Stomp Records For The Canadians, This Causes His Band To Reunite Several Times. The Band Recorded Six Brand New Songs, Information About Releasing It Is Unknown.

Disc List:
Loud Party (1989) EP
King Apparatus (1990)
Hospital Waiting Room (1992) EP
Marbles (1993)

Ska Band Of The Week (26): Mad Caddies

From Solvang, California: The Ska Punk, Reggae And A Little Bit Of Everything Else That Is...Mad Caddies! Around 1995, Chuck Robertson (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Sascha Lazor (Lead Guitar, Banjo), Todd Rosenberg (Drums), Carter Benson And James Malis Started The Band During Their Time In High School Under A Different Name Called The Ivy League. Along With Keith Douglas (Trumpet) And Ed Hernandez (Trombone) The Band Began Playing In Gigs Around California. In 1996, The Band Changed Their Name To, What We Now Know Them As, Mad Caddies To Avoid Confusion With Another Band Who Carried The Same Name. That Same Year, The Band Was Signed Onto Honest Don's Records And Release Their Debut Album, "Quality Soft Core." The Band Was Then Sign Onto Fat Wreck Records, In Which They Release The Rest Of Their Albums Under The Label. Although They Are A Ska Punk/Reggae Band, They Tend To Put In Other Genres Into Their Music. Genres Such As Dixie, Jazz, Surf, Rockabilly, Country, Sea Shanty And Swing Are Injected Into Their Particular Brand Of Rock. Several Members Have Come In And Out Throughout The Years, Mostly The Bass Player And Drums. The Current Members Are Robertson, Lazor, Rosenburg (Who Left In 1999 But Came Back In 2010), Douglas, Hernandez And Graham Palmer On Bass Guitar. Currently The Band Are On Their European Tour, Journeying Around The UK, Germany And Switzerland.

Disc List:

Quality Soft Core (1997)
Duck and Cover (1998)
The Holiday Has Been Cancelled (2000) EP
Rock the Plank (2001)
Just One More (2003)
Songs In The Key Of Eh! (2004) Live Album Taken Place In Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Keep It Going (2007)

Very Sad Day For The Skatalites: Lloyd Brevett Passed Away At Age 80 (May 3, 2012)

On May 3, 2012, One Of The Founding Member Of The Legendary Ska/Rocksteady/Reggae Band The Skatalites Has Passed Away. Contrabass Player Lloyd Brevett Died At The Andrews Memorial Hospital Where He Was Treated For A Series Of Seizures And Complications Due To A Recent Stroke. The Stroke Happen Around March, Two Weeks After His Son, Okine, Was Shot By A Gunman Outside Of The Family House. Okine Just Came Back From Accepting A Jamaican Music Industry Award On His Father's Behalf. His Son's Death Took A Toll On Lloyd, Landing Him At The Hospital As His Health Worsen. It's Such A Sad Day For The Ska Industry, Since Brevett, Like His Other Band Member Lloyd Knibb Who Passed Away Last Year, Has Been With The Band Since The Very Beginning Of Ska Music. My Deep Condolences To The Family And Band Members, I'm Very Sorry For Your Loss. Lloyd Brevett Is Gone But, Like His Band Mates Before Him, He Will Not Be Forgotten.

Much Respect, Mr. Brevett (1931-2012)

Edd Gould (The Man Behind EddsWorld) Passed Away

Edd Gould, The Creator Of The Web Cartoon "EddsWorld," Has Passed Away On March 25, 2012. I Heard About This Tragic News Through YouTube. Chris "Bing" Bingham Posted A Video Talking About Edd's Passing To His Past Self. There Was Another Video Uploaded On Edd's YouTube Channel. Thomas "TomSka" Ridgewell And Matt "Lobster" Hargreaves Were Explaining Edd's Passing. According To The Two, Edd Passed Away After Six Years Of Batting Cancer. It Is A Very Sad Day For Not Only His Friends And Family, But To His Fans As Well, Including Me. The Future Of EddsWorld Is Unknown But According To TomSka, A Two Part Cartoon That Edd Was Working On Will Continue Until It Is Finish And It Will Be Uploaded For Everyone To See. As A Fan Of Edd And His Work, I Am Completely Devastated About The News. To Show My Love, I Drew A Picture Of Him. I'm Actually Bad At Drawing Anything, But I Did This Just To Show My Gratitude To Him.

My Last Words To Him: You Have Been The Most Funniest People I've Ever Watched. A Great Animator, A Very Funny Guy And Such A Big Inspiration To All Artists, Including This Amateur. I Love You And I'll Miss You. Goodbye, Edd.

Edd Gould (1988-2012)

Ska Band Of The Week (25): The Chinkees

Ladies And Gentlemen: The All-Asian, Organ Driven Ska Punk Band Of The Chinkees. The Band Was Created Around 1998, Releasing Their First Album "The Chinkees...Are Coming." In Their First Album, Former Skankin' Pickle Member Mike Park Provide The Vocals Along With Members Of The Pop Punk Band Tuesday. Their Second Album, "Peace Through Music," Was Released With A New Line-Up Of Park (Vocals, Guitar), Miya Zane Osaki (Bass Guitar, Vocals), Greg Alesandro (Drums, Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar), Jason Thinh (Guitar), Steve Choi (Keyboards, Guitar, Drums) And Richard Morin (Drums). Often Times, Members Tend To Switch Instruments. The Main Purpose For The Chinkees Is To Raise Awareness Of Racial Discrimination Along The Asian Community, Writing Lyrics With Positivity And Addressing Important Issues In Order To Improve The Future. The Band Tour Around Mexico With Skacore Band Voodoo Glow Skulls, In San Diego With Buck-O-Nine In 1998 And In Japan With Kemuri In 1999. In 2000, They Went Back To Japan And Tour Along With MU330 And The Tokyo Native Ska Punk Band PotShot. In 2001, They Release A Split Album With Punk Rock Band The Lawrence Arms Entitled "Present Day Memories" (Now Out Of Print). That Same Year, The Band Tour Around Japan Again With PotShot And Punk Rock Band The Suicide Machines And In Europe With Ska Punk Band Lightyear. In 2002, They Release Their Last Album "Searching For A Brighter Future" And Decided To Go On A Long Hiatus. It Wasn't Until The Band Reunited For A Special Show Celebrating The 15th Anniversary Of Asian Man Records.

Disc List:
The Chinkees...Are Coming (1998)
Peace Through Music (1999) Album With A New Line-Up
Present Day Memories (2001) Split Album With The Lawrence Arms
Searching For A Brighter Future (2002)

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