ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #048

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#048: Laurel Aitken & The Ruts – ‘Rudi Got Married’ (Peel Session ’80)

Hello friends,

yes, it’s Ska-time again, I know you’ve all been waiting too long, right? And today’s pick is well worth listening to, believe me, even if Ska is not your preferred dish on the menu. Why is this, you ask? Well, because Laurel Aitken isn’t called “The Godfather Of Ska” for nothing, that’s why! In his lifetime (1927 – 2005) he has made numerous fantastic records, played together with numerous bands and, perhaps most importantly, has been an inspiration to numerous new bands interested in the genre. This chap was a pioneer, period!

He was born in Cuba, moved to Jamaica as a kid, and then to London in 1960. In fact, many of the original first wave Ska-artists moved from Jamaica to the UK in order to enjoy the benefits of their growing popularity. But contrary to many of those, Laurel Aitken did not only record in the UK, but also in Jamaica throughout the 1960s. This cemented his position as one of ska’s leading artists and gained a loyal following not only among the West Indian community, but also among mods, skinheads and other ska fans. He had hit records in the 1950s through to the 1970s on labels such as Blue Beat, Pama, Trojan, Rio, Dr. Bird, Nu-Beat, Ska-Beat, and Dice.

In the mid-1970’s Aitken thought about retiring from the business, and he moved to Leicester with this wife. But then the 2-Tone ska revival kicked in, thanks to bands like The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat etc. Aitken, then in his 50s, found himself hailed as the elder statesman of ska. During the 2-Tone era, Aitken’s career was rejuvenated and like other first wave artists (Prince Buster or Desmond Dekker) he aligned himself with 2-Tone, mod and punk bands to help increase his audience. He performed with quite a lot of bands, mainly pure Ska-bands, but also with Secret Affair, a mod-outfit, which released records on their own I-Spy label. And it was I-Spy who created one of the most interesting pairings of old and new blood: punk/reggae band The Ruts backing Aitken on a single “Rudi Got Married” b/w “Honey Come Back To Me”, which was released in May 1980 under the moniker “Laurel Aitken and The Unitone” (a play on 2-Tone).

The Ruts are a familiar name, of course – everyone should know at least a few of their singles, ‘In A Rut’, ‘Babylon’s Burning’ or ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’, for example. If the vocalist, Malcolm Owen, hadn’t died so young, they probably would have become big big big … who knows? But anyway, one month before the single for I-Spy, Aitken and The Ruts were offered a BBC Session from Peel (the first one for Laurel and the fourth for the Ruts), which ended up in being one of the very finest Peel Session ever, at least as far as I’m concerned. You see, the I-Spy single is mighty fine, but this version here is a real belter!!

‘Big Fat Man’ (which could well be my signature tune currently, I’m afraid) is pretty faithful to the terrific studio recording, but also the B-Side is packed with gems: ’Jesse James’ is an extraordinary dubby version of Aitken’s 1969 single whereas the wonderful mash-up of B.B. King’s ‘Rock Me Baby’ and Louis Jordan’s 1945 ‘Caledonia’ even comes with the horn riff of Henry Mancini’s ‘Peter Gunn’ as an opener.

But the highlight for me is this, another song that tells us a story, and what a story it is, friends:

mp3:  Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Rudi Got Married

Perfectly brilliant stuff – and if this didn’t get you dancing, nothing will. I have never been a fan of bootlegs, mainly because of the missing sound quality (nothing at all to complain about this here) – but I am so happy that some true fans made the effort to issue this 7”, it surely is a most treasured item! They even shamelessly stole the Strange Fruit Records design, as well for the sleeve as for the label. Do I care? No, not the slightest!

Also, I’ve told you before about this before, I think, but a mate of mine was into Ska-management in the 80’s and as I was always skint, I often worked for him. On one occasion in 1989 I was responsible for the backstage for a Ska-allnighter, and I’m a bit proud to tell you that one of the artists I had to take care of was the Godfather himself, Laurel Aitken: what a nice fellow, to be sure!

As usual, please let me know what you think, okay?

Enjoy,

Dirk

JC adds…….

This one was completely new to me, and I loved hearing it.  I was also inspired by Dirk’s obvious passion for the entire session that I went digging for the other three tunes so that I could, without our dear friend from Germany knowing, add them as a small bonus.

mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Big Fat Man
mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Jesse James
mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Rock Me Baby/Caledonia

As the great man himself would say…..Enjoy!!!!!!