Let's Go Bowling is an American third wave ska band hailing from Fresno, California. Since the band's inception in the year 1986, the band's traditional ska style, barbershop harmonies, wisely crafted instrumentals, and its frantic live performances, helped set the standard for dress and culture for West Coast Ska, which in turn, set the groundwork for the Third Wave Movement in 1995.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly which was the first of the Third Wave Bands to come about in the mid '80s. The clash between who were the "First" remains a topic of controversy to this day, but no one can deny that the roots of US Ska were deep on the West Coast. One such band, Fresno/Kingsburg's Kyber Rifles, was founded by Mark Michel, who on bass, were playing shows and recording EPs as early as 1983. (Norwood Fisher credited Mark as being an influence on his playing in the 1980s.) The Rifles' sound would become instrumental in bridging the gap between LGB's original line-up: guitarist David Molina, keyboardist Darren Fletcher, drummer Jerry Mora, trombonist Mark Berry, alto/tenor saxophonist Martin Stuart, trumpeter Pete Nicholson, toaster Javier Molina, and Michel on bass. Soon, Mora and Nicholson departed, making way for future frontman/trombonist David Wiens, tenor saxophonist Dean Olmstead, drummer Jason Ellam, and Jason Boyte on trumpet. This was the nucleus of the Music To Bowl By era of Let's Go Bowling.
Music To Bowl By was recorded for Moon Ska Records in the winter of '89 - winter of '90. This captured the band at its pioneering stage, with emphasis on style and songwriting, unheard of in its current central valley contemporaries. (Fresno is home to some of the most influential Ska outfits of the later century, including Let's Go Bowling, as well as Kyber Rifles, Checkmate, and Los Hooligans). The band blended three-part vocals, infused with a Latin vibe inherent in its frontman/vocalist David Molina, and a pinch of Warner Bros. zaniness. David Weins acted as the MC - as the boisterous trombone playing ruffian. "Music To Bowl By" is considered to be a Classic in all ska circles and a credit to the genre.
LGB, in support of their album, pressed for then-new label Moon Ska in NY, went out to tour, in support of their record, with labelmates that included The Toasters, Hepcat, Dance Hall Crashers, and the Slackers. Let's Go Bowling got the call to be the opening act for Bad Manners in 1991, which led to them being "the" chosen US opening band by all the original Two Tone acts, including The Specials, and The Selecter. After such success, the band disbanded briefly for a period of time, as members went their separate ways, to pursue other career avenues, leaving the band defunct for 10 months in '92 - '93.
Mr Twist era 1993 - 1997
Mr. Twist was recorded the Summer '95 in Fresno, CA. The band went back to their old catalog, with songs like "Hot Buttered" "Mayhem," and the single "Spy Market," finding new life with a new line-up. The new line-up included drummer Adam Lee (who, with Fletcher in 1994, was briefly a part of Toronto's ska masters, King Apparatus), trumpeter Patrick Bush (a heavy influence on the new LGB sound), M. Rey DeLeon (trombonist prodigy, at the age of 18), Gilbert Lopez on the tenor saxophone, rounding-out the horn section & giving weight to the low end Erik Dvorak playing baritone sax, and guitarist Chris Ridge. This also was the proper introduction of Paul Miskulin, who had replaced David Molina, and now had a forum to contribute his Soul-heavy, blues rhythm guitar to the already potent mix. This line-up of the band would enjoy the most critical success of the band's career in the Third Wave Explosion of 1996.
On the eve of the release of their second studio album in almost 5 years, LGB was dealt a tragic blow when news that original guitarist, David Molina, had passed. The band, which included Javier Molina, David's brother, were about embark on a 6-week independent tour of the US.
By the end of the tour and LGB's arrival to its home turf of Fresno, CA, No Doubt's single, "Just A Girl" was breaking the radio airwaves for the first time. Things started to happen fast, and the new band had to act quickly, recruiting a lead guitarist, Lincoln Barr, formerly of the Santa Rosa Ska outfit The Conspiracy. Barr added a much needed edge in the guitar department.
In the summer of 1996, LGB released the single "Spy Market", which the video for was in heavy rotation on the new rock affiliate, MTV2, and was prominently featured on a special for MTV's 120 minutes, entitled "The Third Wave". Along with the Toasters, Let's Go Bowling was then dubbed, on national television, one of the flagship bands of the genre. The energy at the shows, from the audience and the band itself, was at an all-time high.
The band was touring the US as a headliner, whose national prominence had given them greater control over their live shows and opening acts. Ska was exploding in the West where Sublime and No Doubt had become KROQ-FM darlings. The OC, home to Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and The Aquabats (with the then unknown Travis Barker on Drums). Let's Go Bowling was the original West Coast ska band, and enjoyed the laurels bestowed upon them by these bands, who had cited Let's Go Bowling as an influence in interviews, and also in record releases (No Doubt thanked LGB in the liner notes of "Tragic Kingdom").
LGB, whose tourmates included The Specials, Bad Manners, and The Selecter, recruited ska/swing auters Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Reel Big Fish for a tour of the US in 1997. It was at this time, that the Ska explosion had opened the door for the Swing Scene, which included the Daddies, who recruited M. Rey DeLeon as a touring Trombonist, and Tom Mattot, who was the LGB soundman since '93, and an Oregon native, as their Front of House Soundman.
Freeway Lanes era 1997 - 1998
With things really going on, Let's Go Bowling released a live record for Asian Man Records (Mike Park's Skankin' Pickle label) entitled Freeway Lanes. This captured the band at its most innovative, with the band performing freely, and capturing golden moments of interaction between the band, and its beloved scene. It is at this time that the band started to become more free form, and detached with the rigidness of its structure, and would routinely stretch out its Skatalite covers into 15 minute episodic affairs. M.Rey's solos over "Man In The Street" and "The Reburial of Marcus Garvey" were highly innovative in its use of delay to create a ricochet of brass, inspired by Dub music. These solos would extend, and lend themselves to Gilbert Lopez's Tenor Saxophone innuendoes, forming huge, parallel, harmonic ideas, completely improvised, and helped break down the barriers of what could be done within a previously stale, formulatic ska medium. Freeway Lanes includes tributes to LGBs predecessors The Untouchables "Live and Let Dance" and The Equators' "More Than A Person". The album also contains a composition by 20 year old M. Rey DeLeon, entitled "Sock Monkey March", a blistering and ominous march, intended to be a send up of old Esquivel compositions, and an ode to their then manager, Richard "Cord" Burk, who some say resembles a sock monkey in flight.
In 1998, Let's Go Bowling was the support act for 3 major tours including The Reverend Horton Heat, The Wailing Souls and for the reunion tour of Men at Work, playing to packed houses all around the U.S. In August 1998, Lincoln Barr left the band to pursue other efforts closer to home. LGB recruited Fresno-based guitarist/singer Glen Parrish to carry on with the lead guitar/vocal duties.
Stay Tuned era 1999 - 2001
Starting in January 1999, after three years of constant and successful touring across America, Let's Go Bowling took a year off the road to record a studio album for its new label Liberation Records. Under imminent pressure to release a follow-up to "Mr Twist" and amidst the great success of their "ska" contemporaries, the band recruited music producer Stoker and, for the first time, turned the artistic reins over to a music pro looking for the commercial success that had eluded the band. Stoker (drummer for Dexys Midnight Runners & General Public, and producer for Hepcat and Ice Cube) took 23 of the band's tour tested new songs and whittled an adventurous 13-song "pop" album called, "Stay Tuned". This album contained diverse contributions from the entire band: Adam Lee providing a healthy dose of new punk infused material "Metal Fingers" "Identity Crises", Patrick Bush lending his Dub sensibilities to the mix "Solar Shock" "Electric Bread", the "radio" pop stylings of Glen Parrish "Fallen Angel" "She's Killing You", and the gritty soul of Paul Miskulin "The Middle" "Saving Sorries". Not to forget Darren Fletcher's classic "Bone Dry", which is considered one of the best tunes the band has ever recorded. But due to polar artistic choices and divergent influences, "Stay Tuned" was far different than the previous two studio efforts, confusing many at the time, and within that confusion, Stay Tuned was released in spring of 2000. The album was met with mixed reviews, and faced harsh criticism from their original "True Tone" fan base. M. Rey DeLeon left the band to pursue his music career in L.A. With new trombonist Rob Ruffner in tow, the band played one one-month tour in support of the album before calling it quits as a touring group.
Current status
The band still occasionally plays their famous brand of ska for adoring fans across California. LGB still has original members Darren Fletcher(keys/vocals) and Mark Michel(bass/vocals), as well as long-time members Adam Lee (drums), Dean Olmstead (sax), Paul Miskulin (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Glen Parrish (lead guitar/vocals), Robert Ruffner (trombone) and the latest addition of Los Hooligans founder Tony Luna (trumpet).
Band members
Founding members
Mark Berry - trombone (1986–1991, 2008)
Darren Fletcher - keyboards, vocals (1986–present)
Mark Michel - bass guitar, vocals (1986–present)
David Molina - lead guitar (1986–1992) RIP 8/15/69 - 12/28/95
Javier Molina - toasting, antics (1986–1988, 1996)
Jerry Mora - drums (1986–1988)
Pete Nicholson - trumpet (1986–1987)
Martin Stuart - alto sax (1986–1991)
Current members
Darren Fletcher - hammond organ, keyboards, vocals
Adam Lee - drums (1991–present)
Mark Michel - bass guitar, vocals
Paul Miskulin - guitar, harmonica, vocals (1993–present)
Dean Olmstead - tenor sax (1988–1992, 1998–present)
Glen Parrish - guitar, vocals (1998–present)
Robert Ruffner - trombone (1998–present)
Tony Luna - trumpet (2012–present)
Previous members
David Wiens - trombone (1987–1994)
Wallace Harvey - keyboards (1986)
Dan Dorval - trumpet (1987–1988)
Geoff Belau - trombone (1987–1988)
Jason Boyte - trumpet (1988–1992)
Jason Ellam - drums (1988–1992)
Scott Abels - drums (1992)
Gilbert Lopez - tenor sax (1993–1998)
Patrick Bush - trumpet, vocals (1993–2012)
Roman Bellick - bowlingball (2008) Rip
Erik Dvorak - baritone sax (1993–2000)
M. Rey DeLeon - trombone (1995–2000)
Chris Ridge - lead guitar (1995–1996) RIP 3/22/71 - 6/9/08
Lincoln Barr - lead guitar (1996–1998)
Adam Theis - trombone (1998)
Dakota Iyall - sax (1998)
Discography
Albums
Let's Go Bowling (9-song cassette, 1988)
Music To Bowl By (CD & cassette, 1991)
"...Does The Spiral LIVE!" (cassette, 1995)
Mr. Twist (CD, 1996)
Freeway Lanes (CD & 12" vinyl, 1998)
Stay Tuned (CD, 1999)
Singles
Rude 69 / Dance Some More (7", Single) Spare Records 1988
You Take Me / Uncomfortable Sidekick (7", Single, Ltd, Cle) Moon Ska 1996
Compilations
"Bitch" Various - Ska Face: An All American Ska Compilation (LP, Comp) Moon Records 1988
"Let's Go Bowling" Various - Mashin' Up The Nation Best Of U.S. Ska Vol. 1 (LP, Comp) Harvard Square Records 1988
"Bitch" Various - Ska-Ville USA Vol. 3 (LP, Comp) Ska Records 1988
"Pinstripe Suit" Various - California Ska-Quake (CD, Comp) Moon Ska 1992
"Esta Noche" Various - United Colors Of Ska (CD, Comp) Pork Pie 1993
"Hare Tonic" Various - Max The Dog Says...Do The Ska! (CD, Comp) Dojo 1993
"Badminton On A Rope" (The Ska Parade Theme Song) Various - Step On It: The Best Of The Ska Parade Radio Show (CD, Comp) A To Y Productions 1994
"Let's Go Bowling" Various - Mashin' Up The Nation • The Best Of American Ska Volumes I And II (3 versions) DVS Media 1995
"Mr. Twist" Various - Keep The Pressure On (CD, Comp) Kingpin Records 1996
"Oatmeal For Christmas" Various - SKAuthentic (CD, Comp) Steady Beat Recordings 1996
"Days All The Same" & "The Cup Rub" Various - This Are Moon Ska (CD, Smplr, Promo, Comp) Moon Ska 1996
"Spy Market" Various - Ska Sucks ◄ (2 versions) Liberation Records 1998
"You Take Me" (Live) Various - Mashin' Up The Nation Best Of American Ska Vols. III & IV Ten Years After (CD, Comp) DVS Media 1998
"Spy Market" Various - Moon Ska, New York, USA (CD, Comp) Moon Ska Europe 1998
"More Than A Person" Various - The Ska Parade: Runnin' Naked Thru The Cornfield (CD, Comp) A To Y Productions 1998
"Oatmeal For X-mas" Various - Mailorder Is Fun! (CD, Comp) Asian Man Records 1998
"Esta Noche" Various - United Colors Of Ska Volume 1-3 (4xLP, Comp) Pork Pie 2000
"Spaced Man!" Various - Still Standing - A North American Ska Uprising (4xCD, Comp) Jump Up! Records, Megalith Records 2003
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz.
Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following".
The Toasters are one of the original American third wave of ska bands. Founded in New York City in 1981, the band has released nine studio albums, primarily through Moon Ska Records.
Go Jimmy Go was an American ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul influenced band from Honolulu, Hawaii. Although chronologically, the band belongs to the third-wave, their mellow, slower tempo sound is reminiscent of the classic style of the original 1960s Jamaican first wave of ska.
Hepcat is a ska and reggae band formed in southern California in 1989. Their soulful harmonies and mellow rhythms were unlike those of contemporaries and more akin to musicians from the heyday of 1960s Jamaican ska with elements of soul, jazz and R&B.
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spanky's Café in their hometown of Riverside, where they played shows with the Angry Samoans, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Firehose, Murphy's Law, and The Dickies.
Catch 22 is an American ska punk band from East Brunswick Township, New Jersey. The band was formed in 1996 by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Tomas Kalnoky, who left the band in 1998 and later formed Streetlight Manifesto. Founding members still in the band are vocalist/saxophonist Ryan Eldred, trumpeter Kevin Gunther and drummer Chris Greer.
Suburban Legends are an American ska punk band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998 and later based themselves in nearby Santa Ana. After building a fanbase in the Orange County ska scene through their numerous regular performances at the Disneyland Resort, a series of lineup changes in 2005 introduced elements of funk and disco into the group's style.
Big D and the Kids Table is a ska punk band formed in October 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college. Their first release was on their own Fork in Hand Records label, but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy. The band has been noted for its strict DIY work ethic, such as engineering, producing, and releasing their own albums and videos and self-promotion of their own shows.
The Scofflaws are a Huntington, Long Island, New York-based third wave ska band that debuted in 1988. Known for their rambunctious live shows, technically proficient horn solos and tight arrangements, the Scofflaws were one of the top third wave ska acts of the '90s and one of the most beloved bands on the now-defunct Moon Ska label, as well as the center and focal point of the once-thriving Long Island ska scene.
The Pietasters are an American eight-piece ska/soul band from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.
Deal's Gone Bad is a band from Chicago, Illinois. Their sound mixes reggae, rocksteady, and ska music with American soul. They have been together since 1994, with numerous lineup changes over the years. The current incarnation has been mostly stable since 2003. The band hews to a more traditional ska-reggae sound while many others working in the genre morphed into a more punk variety.
The Ballistics were a ska band from Ipswich, England. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the U.S., Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The band's first album, Go Ballistic, was released in 2003 in a limited run and sold out quickly. A first full-length album, Allow Me To Demonstrate, was released in 2005. A second album, The Spirit Of Kelso Cochrane, was released late 2006. In early July 2009, The Ballistics announced they were splitting up. They played their final show on 12 September that year.
Brian Kellock is a Scottish jazz pianist.
Roomful of Blues is an American jump blues and swing revival big band based in Rhode Island. With a recording career that spans over 50 years, they have toured worldwide and recorded many albums. Roomful of Blues, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, "Swagger, sway and swing with energy and precision". Since 1967, the group’s blend of swing, rock and roll, jump blues, boogie-woogie and soul has earned it five Grammy Award nominations and many other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Billboard called the band "a tour de force of horn-fried blues…Roomful is so tight and so right." The Down Beat International Critics Poll has twice selected Roomful of Blues as Best Blues Band.
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period, including Bob Marley & The Wailers, on their first single "Simmer Down." They reformed in 1983 and have played together ever since.
Libido is the fourth album by the American ska punk band Buck-O-Nine, released in 1999 on TVT Records.
I Voted for Kodos was an American ska punk and pop punk band, signed to Snapdragon Records.
Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades (HDH) is a band that was formed in 1997 in Tucson, Arizona. Combining various influences from swing music, ska, rockabilly and rock, Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades attracted a local following throughout the Southwest of the United States. They are most associated with the swing revival movement of the late 1990s. The band's musical style, however, transcends any single genre.
Inspecter 7 is an American ska band formed in 1992 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with a sound that combines all three waves of ska
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
