The Specials' Drummer John Bradbury Dies at 62

John "Brad" Bradbury, drummer with The Specials, has died at the age of 62.

The ska group tweeted the news: "It is with deep regret that we say goodbye to our great friend, the world's greatest drummer, our beloved Brad. RIP."

Bradbury joined The Specials in 1979, and continued with the reversioned band The Special AKA, who had a top 10 hit with Free Nelson Mandela.
Bradbury took part in The Specials reunion tour in 2009. He also headed up a band called JB Allstars.
The band's representatives said the drummer died in England but no cause of death was given.
In a statement, his family said: "It is with deepest regret that we have to announce the very sad news that our much loved husband and father John 'Brad' Bradbury passed away on Monday the 28 of December.
 
'Ground-breaking'

"Brad's drumming was the powerhouse behind The Specials and it was seen as a key part to the Two Tone sound. He was much respected in the world of drumming and his style of reggae and ska was seen as genuinely ground-breaking when The Specials first hit the charts in 1979.

"He was an integral part of The Specials reforming in 2008 and toured with them extensively up to the present day. His contribution to the world of music can not be understated and he will much missed by family, friends and fans alike.
"It is the family's sincerest wish that they are allowed the time to remember him privately."
The news comes three months after the band's trombonist, Rico Rodriguez, died.
 
The band, famed for their 1960s mod-style outfits, had seven UK top 10 singles including Too Much Too Young and Ghost Town.
Founder and songwriter Jerry Dammers dissolved the band in 1981 but they re-grouped and continue to perform and record without their former leading man.

Billy Bragg was one of the first musicans to pay tribute to Bradbury.: "A bad day for good music. First we lose Lemmy, now news that Brad from the Specials has passed away. RIP."

Bradbury was born and brought up in Coventry where the band was formed in 1977.
Music producer Pete Waterman, also from Coventry, expressed his shock at the news of the Bradbury's death.

Waterman said: "I always had a good laugh with Brad. He was always proud of being in the band and what we'd and he'd achieved.
"He never left Coventry because he always wanted to be part of the scene... he was tremendous."

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Lemmy, Motörhead frontman, dies at 70

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, founding member and singer in the British heavy metal band Motörhead, has died at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer.


The band announced on their Facebook page that Lemmy learned of the disease on 26 December, and was at home when he died.
Lemmy, born Ian Fraser Kilmister, formed Motörhead in 1975 and was its only constant member, as singer and bassist. The band released 23 studio albums and are best known for their 1980 single Ace of Spades.
The band requested fans “play Lemmy’s music LOUD. Have a drink or few. Share stories. Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself.

“There is no easy way to say this … our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learned of the disease on 26 December, and was at home, sitting in front of his favourite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made it’s way down the street, with his family.


“We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness; there aren’t words.
“We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please … play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD. Have a drink or few.
“Share stories.
“Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself.
“HE WOULD WANT EXACTLY THAT.”
The band signed off: “Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister
“1945 -2015
“Born to lose, lived to win.”

 Tributes poured in for the heavy metal giant, with Ozzy Osbourne tweeting: “Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today. He will be sadly missed. He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.”

Former Motörhead drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor died aged 61 in November. “Fast” Eddie Clarke, who becomes the last surviving member of the band’s most famous lineup, wrote on Facebook: “I have just been told that Lemmy has passed away in LA. Like Phil, he was like a brother to me. I am devastated. We did so much together, the three of us.
“The world seems a really empty place right now. I am having trouble finding the words … He will live on in our hearts. RIP Lemmy!”

Lemmy’s public struggles with illness intensified in recent years. The singer underwent surgery to have an implantable defibrillator placed in his chest in 2013, and has cancelled shows in recent years due to exhaustion and a haematoma.
The band had been scheduled to tour the UK and France in early 2016.

 Lemmy was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, on Christmas Eve in 1945. His musical career began in the early 1960s and he was, for a time, a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. He played in several rock bands, including the Rockin’ Vickers, Sam Gopal and Hawkwind, before founding Motörhead (originally named Bastard).

He wrote in his autobiography, White Line Fever, that he had been fired from Hawkwind for “doing the wrong drugs”.
Motörhead’s loud, fast style was a pioneering force in heavy metal. Lemmy’s vocal growl and aggressive bass playing has been emulated by countless other bands, but the singer joked that he largely learned on the job, telling Spin in 2012 that “the volume’s loud so nobody really notices that much”.

The band’s highest-rating record was the live album No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith, which peaked at number one on the UK album charts – a testament to the band’s crushing onstage performances.
Other highlights from Motörhead’s extensive discography include their second and third albums, Overkill and Bomber, both recorded in 1979, and several high-rating singles in the early 1980s. The Ace of Spades album reached number four in the UK charts, and the single number 15.

The band’s early years are credited with laying the ground for thrash and speed metal, but Lemmy consistently refused to categorise their music as either punk or metal, often playing to audiences of both genres.
Despite the band’s success, Lemmy said in interviews over the years that he had made more money from writing Osbourne’s 1991 hit Mama I’m Coming Home than from the entire Motörhead catalogue.

He told the Guardian earlier this year: “I didn’t really want to be in the lifestyle without the music. And I didn’t want to be in the music without the lifestyle.”
Among those to pay tribute to Lemmy after his death was announced were Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine, Gene Simmons, the Kiss frontman, and Motley Crue’s Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx, and rapper Ice T.

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Happy Holidays from Green Day

"Happy Holidays from Green Day," the band's official Twitter rang out to its 4 million followers on the day before Christmas. "Listen to a brand new song now!" Green Day then linked to "Xmas Time of the Year," a festive punk anthem in the spirit of A Christmas Gift to You and the Ramones that finds the Rock Hall act celebrating the last week of December.

Green Day - Xmas Time Of The Year oleh dikgundul

skinhead Melinda “Rude Girl” Rodriguez

Skinhead in Red Fred Perry Shirt Accidentally Works Shift At Target.

 Punks and their subcultures have long expressed themselves through wild and outlandish fashion choices,but area skinhead Melinda “Rude Girl” Rodriguez never anticipated her personal style would result in an honest day’s work. 
Ms. Rodriguez was unwittingly conscripted into service late Tuesday morning by Tanya Bargazzi, a local Target daytime shift manager, when she walked into the store to buy hair clippers while wearing her favorite red Fred Perry shirt.“I was looking for a come-up on some track pants on my only day off this week, and customers started asking me if there were any sales, or if there was anything ‘in the back.’ One thing led to another, and here we are,” said Ms. Rodriguez, quickly putting away a cart of “go-backs.”

 

“Ms. Rodriguez is an exemplary employee,” said Ms. Bargazzi of her unclassified proletarian. “She doesn’t ask for much — just does the job. She seems perfectly built to handle the near-psychotic abuse of retail.

“I don’t think she’s taken a break yet, unlike Johnson over there,” Ms. Bargazzi continued, motioning disdainfully to an elderly man eating a sandwich.

Ms. Rodriguez, despite looking forward to her one day off this week in between swing shifts at the local metal factory, could not refuse the allure of more constant and tedious work.

 “Employment is, like, 60 percent of my identity,” said Ms. Rodriguez while restocking shoe polish. “Plus, I only worked 72 hours at the factory this week and I was starting to get the feeling back in my feet. I’m no slouch — I’m a blue… well, red-collared American.” 

 “She takes this job so seriously,” said teen part-timer Caleb Herman. “Who the hell would run to clean up a broken pickle jar? For $8.75? Not me..  

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Rancid 20th anniversary And Out Come the Wolves

RANCID

Rancid are one of the all-time great punk bands. Album after album, they've delivered tight songs with caustic melodies that you can't stop playing over and over. And of all those albums, guess which one is the best? ...and out come the wolves! I'm not the only one here who says so - just look at some of the other reviews. Try not to enjoy "Roots Radicals", "Olympia", or "Journey to the End of the East Bay". How about "She's Automatic"? The songs are infectious, the lyrics insightful and conjuring up vivid images in your mind during almost every song - can't you just see the guys on that city bus during "Roots Radicals"? Listen to "The War's End" and "You Don't Care Nothin'", and then try to tell me you don't want this album? If you already have it, I'm sure your sentiments are pretty much the same as mine. One of my all-time favorite albums.

Skinheads: a Photogenic, Extremist Corner of British Youth Culture

BOOK

If you are old enough to remember London in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Derek Ridgers' new book Skinheads 1979-1984 is a reminder of the latent aggression that defined youth culture in the capital, and sometimes made the journey home by night bus and tube train a risky business.


On the street, skinheads, who always seemed to travel in packs, were a threatening presence. At gigs, especially during the 2-Tone era, they were disruptive going on violent, often making the dancefloor at shows by the Specials, Madness and the Selecter a place where you had to watch your step even as the music urged you to do otherwise.
Then there was the racism and the fascism, the storming of shows by the Redskins, and the attempted disruption of anti-fascist marches or anti-racist festivals. It was a different country back then: harder, more tribally and politically polarised. Ridgers' images show the skinheads of the time living up to their reputation – Nazi salutes, swastika T-shirts, tattoos, armbands and White Power insignia – but he also captures the mostly male camaraderie of belonging that drew young, mostly white, working class males into the fold. (There are a few photographs of young black men who embraced skinhead culture here, but they tended to belong to the more style-conscious tribe that also congregated around 2-Tone, taking their sartorial cue from the original post-Mod skinhead era of the late-60s, where attention to detail – Crombie, Ben Sherman, cropped jeans, brogues, red socks and matching handkerchief – was all.)
The most arresting mages here are the most disturbing: ultra-racist skinheads with tattooed faces, foreheads – Made In England is one unequivocal stamp of allegiance, but surely Made In Sligo is asking for trouble? – and fascist T-shirts. This is the lumpen, angry skinhead of your worst nightmares, the sort of lads that used to congregate around the Bethnal Green Road end of pre-hipsterised Brick Lane selling National Front newspapers and shouting abuse at the local Bangladeshis.
More intriguing, though, are the prettier boys whose soft gazes seem to contradict the very ethos of skinhead culture. An angelic-looking lad has the words "We are the flowers in your dustbin" – a Sex Pistols' lyric – tattooed across his forehead. Jean Genet, you feel, would approve.
The skinhead girls, so often portrayed as simply an addendum to this most ultra-male of all youth cults, also come into their own: the feather cuts, chunky cardigans, polished brogues, bleached denims and braces. Often, for all their posturing, they look cute. One of them could pass for a model in a style shoot about retro youth cults, her elfin beauty only emphasised by her closely cropped hair and utilitarian clothes.

Skinhead daze-80's photos(scanned from originals)

"I thought they were the most photogenic youth cult of all," writes Ridgers. "Among them were some undeniably beautiful and memorable faces, some of the best faces I've ever photographed."

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For all the pared-down machismo of the look, skinhead was also, when adhered to with a meticulousness that denotes latent obsession, a kind of ultra-minimalist style statement with its roots in the mid-60s' confluence of Mod and Jamaican rude boy culture. As style commentator Josh Simms writes in his introduction to this photobook, Ridgers' street portrait of a skinhead couple on London's Brick Lane in 1980 "reveals just what a carefully assemblaged style it was, however utilitarian, accessible and 'man of the people' its components".
As I have noted before, Ridgers is the foremost visual documenter of London's style culture from the early 1970s until the present day and Skinheads 1979-1984, like his recent photo-book, London Youth 78-87, is another glimpse of his vast archive. It is a less formal, more photojournalistic, book, wherein portraits are mixed with street reportage of skinheads at rest and at play – though the latter usually tends towards the fomenting of trouble as Ridgers' series of skinheads gathering at Southend for the Easter bank holiday in 1979 attests. Trouble hovers in almost every shot.
For all that, there are many shots of skinheads lounging around, doing nothing, bored and enervated. This, too, is a sign of those now distant times: no jobs, no money, no future – the Britain that punk summoned up and railed against was a Britain that skinheads knew all too well, their embrace of extreme nationalism a kind of warped reflection of their acute sense of not-belonging. "When I first ran into skinheads in 1979," Ridgers writes, "I had no absolutely idea of how profoundly resentful they felt about their lot."
Perhaps the most revealing section in his anecdotal essay concerns the first time he exhibited a selection of these photographs in 1980 in an art gallery in Chelsea. Simply called Skinheads, the show caused quite a stir in the media and among the public who flocked to see it. "The exhibition certainly seemed to strike a chord," Ridgers recalls. "Most of the comments in the visitors' book were favourable, but a couple asked why I'd only interviewed those skinheads with very extremist views? That wasn't the case at all. Those were the only views I heard."

SOURCE 

Semarang Ska Festival 2015

Semarang Ska Foundation, Eplaza & Heineken Present :
"Semarang Ska Festival 2015 Welcome Party"
Friday, Oct 16 2015. 9pm - end
Featurings :
-DJ Bobby (Aggroboss Soundsystem)
-Sir ManMan (Lucky Soundsystem)
-Juik Cobra (Rombong Reggae)
-Djoha (Fever Soundsystem)
-Dr. Yess (Fever Soundsystem)
Opening act by: Atlas City Selecta
RSVP :
-Martha: 081393893399
-Astrid: 081325036536
-Vivi: 085200929151

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AGNOSTIC FRONT | The American Dream Died - 2015

Roger Miret and Vinnie Stigma keep AGNOSTIC FRONT's hardcore train rolling full-steam into its third decade, notwithstanding the band's brief hiatus during the mid-Nineties. Though both men have since ceased performing in MADBALL, Miret's half-brother (and MADBALL vocalist) Freddy Cricien remains allied as producer of AGNOSTIC FRONT's seething eleventh album, "The American Dream Died". Cricien also appears in a cameo alongside H20's Toby Morse and SICK OF IT ALL's Lou Koller on "Never Walk Alone". Plus there's a collaboration with former AGNOSTIC FRONT and MADBALL guitarist Matt Henderson on "A Wise Man".

Miret and Stigma are fortified by Mike Gallo (bass), Pokey Mo (drums) and Craig Silverman now in place of departing guitarist Joseph James as AGNOSTIC FRONT begins its campaign in support of the sixteen song "The American Dream Died". The track count shouldn't be too intimidating since AGNOSTIC FRONT plays "The American Dream Died" like a vintage hardcore album, mostly fast in speed and in time. "Enough is Enough", "Reasonable Doubt", "I Can't Relate", "Attack!" and "No War Fuck You" are prime examples.
While a good handful of the songs on "The American Dream Died" delve the tried and true hardcore unification ethos (i.e. "Test of Time", "We Walk the Line", "Never Walk Alone", "Attack!" and "Just Like Yesterday"), expect the equally reliable incendiary tirades against war, the authorities, despotic government, exploitive business and street scum.
"Police Violence" is sure to raise a stink with its horde bellowing of "FTP!" (as in "fuck the police"). The track is reminiscent of old MDC (which changed its acronym connotation numerous times but will always be remembered by hardcore vets as MILLIONS OF DEAD COPS) with its searing pace and hostile backlash in response to recent headlines of American police brutality. "Only in America" and "Test of Time" are equally fast, stuffed with Roger Miret's bellicose squelching, powerful riffs and of course, plenty of gang shouted-choruses.
If it's gang shouts and sing-alongs you're after, "Never Walk Alone" will be your jam. Or perhaps "Old New York", which opens with a quip from "Taxi Driver" and stomps giddily along to the choruses of "The greatest city of them all, but it just don't feel the same, I miss the old New York!" "We Walk the Line"'s menacing chords and marching rhythms are just as infectious as its choruses. Then the reflective ending track "Just Like Yesterday" will have hardcore lions of all ages raging "Death before dishonor!" in tandem with the band.
Roger Miret spitefully snarls "You got what you deserved!" against a child rapist served a citizens' knife party amidst "Social Justice"'s steaming speed. For longtime AGNOSTIC FRONT fans, this album is going to feel like the days of "Victim in Pain", "Cause for Alarm" and the "United Blood" EP with a modern veneer. Miret and company have engineered another blistering, attention-seizing album with nearly as much venom as BLACK FLAG's "My War", still today the angriest song ever laid down by anybody. AGNOSTIC FRONT's acrimonious crusade may ring of the same themes they started out with, but that's sadly testament to the persistent issues they continue to protest. At least they still care. A great deal.
For you vinyl hounds, AGNOSTIC FRONT will be offering a download code inside "The American Dream Died"

Skinhead Culture is Alive and Well On The West Coast

Suburban Rebels zine pulls together the best of the hardcore, punk and Oi! scenes from the Bay Area and beyond.

Pete Markowicz aka Big Skinhead Pete raised hell with his crew of fellow skinheads growing up in Bergen County, New Jersey. They drank, caused trouble and got mean in the mosh pit at hardcore and Oi! shows. Writing about bands nobody else cared about was the only thing that finally got him through high school – after six years of trying and one expulsion. Almost two decades later, and from the other side of the continent, Pete’s giving back to the culture he credits with saving his life. His zine Suburban Rebels pulls together the best of skinhead culture from the Bay Area and beyond, and brings the best punk, hardcore and Oi! bands to the masses in black and white photocopied form.  

When and why did you start making zines?
I wrote for the music sections of both college papers at the schools I attended in New Jersey. It took me six years to graduate, haha. I even got kicked out but somehow talked my way back in and graduated. I failed all my classes but the only thing that kept me there was writing about music that no one cared about and having it printed. I interviewed an Oi! band called Criminal Intent (bizarre to think about an Oi! band being in a college newspaper) and reviewed records like the first Transplants album. I moved to California and started to meet people in the Oi!/street punk/hardcore scene out here and it was a bit quiet with the whole Oi! skinhead scene in the Bay Area. I’ve been going to shows since I was 13 years old. This is my life. I don’t just want to take, I wanted to give something back to the scene that saved my life. Music has gotten me through really hard times in my life and has given me a place to belong with other people who can’t relate to society and think differently. The outsiders. I was never good at playing an instrument, so I took my writing skills and creativity and started a zine. It’s my outlet for the bullshit of everyday life. I guess it’s my calling in life, I don’t know. I like having a zine and Suburban Rebels has grown over the past 5 years into something I am proud of.  

What do you like about the medium?
It’s old school. I would rather have a physical copy of a book than a PDF; a record rather than an MP3. Computers make things easier but in a way, it’s ruining that connection you have with that object you can hold in your hand. I’m taking it back to ’77!

 

What’s Suburban Rebels all about?
Music for social outcasts! It started out as just an Oi! zine but has branched out a bit. It’s still for all the skinheads out there and anyone that likes and respects the subculture.

How do you go about creating each issue and how do you choose the stories and artwork? Interviewing bands gets the ball rolling. I have interviewed (or attempted to interview) every band I love and respect. The artwork is chosen based on how I’m feeling at the time or just what flows and fits the page. I pretty much write about things I care about, I don’t care if people like it or not. I created artwork based on the Zodiac killer in San Francisco once. I used to live in the neighbourhood where he killed the cab driver. The street corner was near my apartment. It’s a very chilling and terrible thing. Some people might be offended by that. Things like that influence my work but it’s mostly skinheads and things I relate to.  

What do you do for a living and how does zinemaking fit into your life?
  I work in a boring office that deals with processing documents. Sometimes it gets interesting when a celebrity comes up but most famous people suck anyways (insert the Anti-Heros song “Fuck Hollywood”). I don’t have much time to work on the zine because of being a Dad and working a full time job. But I do sneak in working on the zine at work, just like I’m working on this interview, hahahahhahah!  

Have you swapped Suburban Rebels for any good zines?
I did once but I can’t remember the name of the zine. It had an interview with my brother Lars Frederiksen of the Old Firm Casuals in it.  

What are your favourite zines?
Quality of my Life by my long time friend, Jesse Gasface. He was maybe the first skinhead I met back in my youth and we caused trouble, drank, had a crew B.C.T. (Bergen County Thugs) in New Jersey that looked out for each other at hardcore and Oi! shows, and had a lot of fun! His zine was a big inspiration for Suburban Rebels. Watch out for Gasface in the pit, he’s a mean one! Oi!

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Ska Duka Bersama #5

 

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