Due for release on the 23rd January is 'Ska Madness 2' which is another one of those collections of classic Ska and Rocksteady sounds that helped inspire the 2-Tone movement that rose to prominence in the UK in late 1979. 

As you will derive from the title this is the follow up to 2010’s 'Ska Madness!' which collected together a selection of the original tunes that the 2-Tone bands, such as The Specials, The Selecter and The (English) Beat had covered during their time. This time however the collection, compiled by Rhoda Dakar (The Special A.K.A and Bodysnatchers), focuses more on tracks which influenced the original bands, were favourites on the tour buses during the various Two Tone package tours and were used to fill the interludes between the bands at these gigs. Amongst the 20 tracks featured are 7 Top 10 UK Chart hits including Desmond Dekker’s #1 Israelites from March 1969, a #9 from June 1970 Love Of The Common People by Nicky Thomas and from an artist who recently ventured some way back to his roots with his ‘Sacred Fire’ E.P is Jimmy Cliff’s excellent Wonderful World, Beautiful People which surprisingly only peaked at #6 in October of ’69. Also there are some tunes that maybe aren’t so well known from these type of compilations such as Wear You To The Ball from The Paragons, Ali Baba by John Holt, The Jamaicans Ba Ba Boom Time and UK act Symarip’s Skinhead Girl.

This may just sound like more of the same to some but the original 'Ska Madness!' has now sold over 115,000 copies and was the 4th biggest selling budget album of that year and at last count was the 6th biggest selling budget album of 2011! So it just goes to show that there is still, thankfully, great interest in these old songs. So if you are one of the people who brought volume one then this is its must have companion and if you are new to these sounds then this is as good as place as any to start and explore what drove these great bands on….oh and don’t forget to give volume one ago while you’re at it!

Full Track list
01. Israelites – Desmond Dekker
02. Monkey Spanner – Dave & Ansell Collins
03. Pressure Drop – Toots & The Maytals
04. Elizabethan Reggae – Boris Gardiner
05. Cherry Oh Baby – Eric Donaldson
06. The Tide Is High – The Paragons
07. Sweet Sensation – The Melodians
08. Ba Ba Boom Time – The Jamaicans
09. Wear You To The Ball – The Paragons
10. Ali Baba – John Holt
11. Return Of Django – The Upsetters
12. Skinhead Girl – Symarip
13. Red Red Wine – Tony Tribe
14. Tighten Up – Untouchables
15. If It Don’t Work Out – Pat Kelley
16. Wonderful World, Beautiful People – Jimmy Cliff
17. Young Gifted And Black – Bob & Marcia
18. Love Of The Common People – Nicky Thomas
19. Black Pearl – Horace Faith
20. Wear You To The Ball – John Holt & U Roy