I think there comes a time in every young teenagers life where they realise this whole music thing is really, really cool. You'll have some out there going on about how they listened to their Dad's Beatles cds from the age of 3, hey for me it was The Beach Boys but you didn't know it was cool, not like you did when you hit adolescents.
The natural progression of course is going out to your very first gig. Mine was a weekend of Penrith's finest All in Favour & Faux Pas followed by Grinspoon at Panthers Leagues, combined ticket prices less than a cd. Priceless. After a while finding the right gig to attend was as easy as logging onto Bombshellzine... no facebook, not even myspace really.
Now while the remnants of the pop punk scene has lagged on largely due to the feelings of nostalgia the now 20 somethings get from going to a best of set from New Found Glory or The Ataris, unfortunately the equally as enjoyable ska scene hasn't enjoyed the same level of continued success in my opinion. I think the real shame is that on the Aussie front, I think our Ska bands were and still are amoung the finest in the world.
I think when you look at the top eshelon of Australian Ska music, look no further than the ridiculously prolific The Porkers. I was stunned to learn that The Porkers have been going since 1987!!! Even more so what I loved was that in hearing some of their newer material, line up changes have not lost that rich Porkers sound like the unrecognisable Unpaid Debt or watered down the ska element to go with that wave of "rock with horns" bullshit like Bagster. Clearly a testament to how The Porkers have well and truely out lived and out played some of their formerly worthy adversaries.
In a stroke of PR genius, The Porkers track "Swinging Like Tiger Woods" was recorded well before the Tiger Woods scandals but provides insights into the future... or... The Porkers were privy to top secret information... I'm sure they would have met quite a few cocktail waitresses in their time.
What I love about "Swinging Like Tiger Woods" is that it gives me the same warm nostalgic feelings I got from tracks like "Skankin Car Park Blues" and "Two Big For Your Boots" when I was 16. And while sadly the Ska Scene appeared to have a clear used-by-date, The Porkers thankfully will continue to kick on with aplomb. My skanking shoes might not fit me as well anymore, but I along with many keep them polished ready for the next frontier.
9 comments:
The time when we were going to those gigs, seeing those bands and listening to those tunes still remains some of the best days my life. Thanks for bringing back the memories mate, these guys are heaps of fun!
yeh im going to follow this up with a best of my teenage life mp3s with all old school local stuff
just need the time and energy to go through the hundreds of data cds
im hoping to have like antiskeptic, faux pas, original lead singer unpaid debt, bagster, lucretia, aif... so anything you got would be awesome
Haha, Antiskeptic. I remember when the singer Andrew would take me to gigs when I was year 9 and i'd like help carry his guitar. I thought I was rad.
wow someone who enjoys ska as much as i do. it's funny how a lot of the good bands are still around it's just that they tend to stick to their hometown shows an shit. i just saw skatalites 2 weeks ago.... they're gettin ready to die pretty soon.
that's all right we can get it back though.
http://www.justnorman.blogspot.com
the blog that no one knows about.
ahhhh the skatalites... man now there is a band with some serious legendary status
top comment and i agree there r plenty of those bands going around but not venturing quite as far... im sure it will have its day again
mind you i probably enjoy it more now there aren't the hangers on that you get with anything good
I too was one of those guys at all the gigs. Talkin to the sauce we reminisced several gigs that we were both at. Small world. Saw the porkers too. At the roundhouse i think. Just wanted to throw that out there :)
Anyone remember for amusement only. That was an all too brief period in my life!
yea all the genre hoppers are long gone. its kinda cool to see all the traditional skins still doin their thing. no rudeboys though.
you go enough and you get to know everybody. its a nice lil family.
http://www.justnorman.blogspot.com
the blog that no one knows about.
Good post and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you seeking your information.
Hi
Very nice and intrestingss story.
Post a Comment