Description
Nick Welsh Is KING HAMMOND – he is a SKA musician, producer, and songwriter from the UK. JUMP UP RECORDS is proud to release his first vinyl full length album since 1987’s “Revolution ‘70” – a skinhead reggae rarity released on Buster Bloodvessel’s resurrected Blue Beat label. What? Vintage 60s/70s skinhead reggae revival sounds in 1987? That’s like 15 years before THE AGGROLITES man! Can that be true?
“FLOORSHAKER!” is the hottest sound from reggae’s past, taking the best from KING HAMMOND’s “KING AND I” and “JACUZZI” CD releases- creating the finest vinyl release of 2011. MARCO ON THE BASS blog calls it “a startling crisp and addictive collection of skinhead reggae tracks that pay homage to the originals that inspired them but retains a contemporary pop feel”. It’s 14 tracks dripping with piercing organ, vintage disco-era keyboards, powerful brass, JUDGE DREAD / PRINCE BUSTER style chat/sing , and hypnotic guitar and bass – it truly is a FLOORSHAKER! KING HAMMOND pays homage to the skinhead scene on “THE RUDEST GIRL IN TOWN”, “RETURN OF THE KUNG FU SKINHEAD” , “COOL DOWN YOUR TEMPER”, “TATTOO GIRLS” and ““MONKEY BOOTS” – but also speaks of how little has changed politically with “MR EASY TALK” and “RIOT IN LONDON TOWN”. You also get the best classical music skinhead reggae tune since THE CATS’ “SWAN LAKE” from 1969 (which was then adapted by MADNESS you know….). Composed in two movements for your pleasure: “REGGAE MOVEMENT #1” and “REGGAE MOVEMENT #2”. Intense organ led 60’s go go ska instrumentals your bag? Check out “HAMMON-DELIC”, “BONGO SKA FEVER” and the title track “FLOORSHAKER!”. And what’s “CHICKEN & CHIPS” about? Find out! “MR D.J.” is an ode to the brave disc jockey who has spun oldies reggae all these years – hey, that speaks to me! Nick Welsh has worked with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Dave Barker, Rico Rodriguez, and Judge Dread as well as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry with whom he worked on the Grammy Award winning album ‘Jamaican ET’. Nick has also been the bassist and song writer in post 2-TONE era Bad Manners and The Selecter, and also fronts his own band SKAVILLE UK. Nick also writes music for U.K. and U.S. television shows and video games from his home studio in the UK. Limited edition yellow/orange vinyl 500 copies! Artwork by the world famous CHEMA SKANDAL!
Do you remember the fake bio we wrote a few years ago?
The mighty King Hammond was a seriously overlooked late 60’s / early 70’s skinhead reggae artist who was always on the verge of chart greatness – his two TROJAN backed singles were bumped from the UK charts by label mates THE UPSETTERS ‘ Return of Django” in 1969, then two years later by Dave & Ansel Collins’ “Double Barrel”. Bad timing, or a conspiracy? Nevertheless, KING HAMMOND was a perennial star on the Music Hall men’s club circuit in Great Britian throughout the 1970s, his rubber banded facial hair made for fantastic gig posters that still fetch serious sums on eBay today. At this time, the KING was also breaking out into film, his specialty being “one of the gang” in heist flicks – most notably a car mechanic in The Italian Job (1969). But after years of trying to get out of recording contracts he signed the 1960s at TROJAN, KING HAMMOND disappeared into obscurity while his music sat shelved and unreleased until the late 80’s – when it was obvious that the 2 ½ wave of ska was firmly taking the world by storm….
