Thursday, August 12, 2010

The 'Ska Boot Series' Continues with release of songs by Madonna's 80's ska band Emmy & The Emmy's


The fine people at Banquet Records in the U.K. have struck again. They have released a 7" ska bootleg of Madonna's early 80's flirtation with ska music as part of their ever expanding ska boot series. I wrote about Madonna's ska past earlier in the year, and while I'm not the only person who was aware of her rude girl persona, I would like to think that I might have played a small part in providing the inspiration to whoever is behind this release. Other ska bootlegs in the vinyl-only series include: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and No Doubt as well as Jools Holland and Joe Strummer with Long Beach Dub All-Stars covering 'The Harder They Come' by Jimmy Cliff.

While I can't speak to the legality of these bootlegs, which focus on out-of-print tracks and live cuts, I have always appreciated the creativity behind them (design wise they are fantastic: each sleeve is modeled after a 2-Tone single) as well as the consistency with which they have released them. Though most of the songs can be procured one way or another on-line, the notion of having them on colored 7" inch vinyl is very intriguing.

The Madonna 7' features two songs. The first is called 'Love On The Run'. Its a simple demo with skank guitar and syncopated ska drums and Madonna's unmistakable voice which is a bit rough around the edges but has a chirpy and upbeat quality. The song almost sounds a bit like very early No Doubt take on ska. The other is called 'Simon Says' and has a distinctly upbeat ska/ reggae vibe. Have a listen to both songs below.





If you like what you hear and live in the U.S., you can purchase the vinyl from Jump Up Records based in Chicago.

1 comment:

narvolicious said...

Amazing. It's great when you can uncover Ska roots of pop stars. The world's more Ska than we know. ;)

Now I'm just waiting to hear Gillian Anderson's early punk single...she said she was a punk in high school?