Arthur Kay before 2tone
July 11th 2006 12:02
I recently bought as part of a collection, a 45 by artist Arthur Kay, titled Ska Wars. For starters, go and find it. Fantastic tune. It has a British sound, released in1979 in the UK and that I suppose is what I find so interesting.
In 1979, The Specials released Gangsters, which was a huge hit and began a ska revival that was huge in the UK. A number of bands such as Madness, The Beat, The Selecter etc were part of this revival and found great success. Many of these bands are still together.
The story about Arthur Kay is linked to the release of Gangsters. The story goes that due management fuck ups, the release of Ska Wars was delayed and therefore missed the boat so that Gangsters came out first.
Kay was a mod in the sixties apparently and so the ska was known by the man. He thought it was time for a comeback so recorded this track with two other guys. Unfortunately he was somewhat lost in the swarm of other acts the public cottoned on to perhaps due to their connections and budgets. A shame for Arthur.
He continued to perform with his band the originals and often still pops up today.
In 1979, The Specials released Gangsters, which was a huge hit and began a ska revival that was huge in the UK. A number of bands such as Madness, The Beat, The Selecter etc were part of this revival and found great success. Many of these bands are still together.
The story about Arthur Kay is linked to the release of Gangsters. The story goes that due management fuck ups, the release of Ska Wars was delayed and therefore missed the boat so that Gangsters came out first.
Kay was a mod in the sixties apparently and so the ska was known by the man. He thought it was time for a comeback so recorded this track with two other guys. Unfortunately he was somewhat lost in the swarm of other acts the public cottoned on to perhaps due to their connections and budgets. A shame for Arthur.
He continued to perform with his band the originals and often still pops up today.
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