| Redlight | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Ska | |||
| Length | 46:53 | |||
| Label | Hellcat Records [1] | |||
| The Slackers chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Gazette | 8/10 [2] |
Redlight is an album by the Slackers, released in 1997. [3] [4]
The band promoted the album by touring as part of the NYC Ska Mob Tour '97. [5] The opening track is a tribute to Tommy McCook. [6]
The Washington Post thought that the Slackers "are clearly as interested in ska's jazz roots as its R&B ones." [7] The Gazette concluded that "the ska tempo is slackened, proclaiming Jamaican independence while lowering tariff walls for reggae, dub, R&B, soul, jazz and boogaloo." [2] The Dallas Observer wrote that the album takes the listener on a musical tour "of the studios of Jamaica, the tiny clubs of London, the streets of New York, and the barrios of Los Angeles." [8]
The Deseret News listed the album as one of the best of 1997, writing: "Outside of the Skatalites, the only band that can do traditional ska." [9] The Orange County Register also considered it to be one of 1997's best albums, writing that "Married Girl", a "Double Indemnity-style tale of lustful revenge, is a killer." [10]
All songs written by Vic Ruggiero, except where noted.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North and South America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.
Wasted Days is an album by the ska/reggae band The Slackers, released on February 21, 2001 on Hellcat Records. Unlike other releases by the Slackers, the songs on the vinyl LP version of the album differ significantly from their counterparts on the CD release; additionally, there are several tracks unique to the vinyl release. The CD edition of the album features a cover of the Bon Jovi song, "Wanted Dead or Alive".
Stubborn All-Stars are an American, New York City-based ska band led by King Django, front man of Skinnerbox and owner of Stubborn Records.
King Django is an American bandleader, singer, songwriter, arranger, engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, especially in the genres of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall, rhythm & blues and soul. Other influences in his music have included traditional jazz, swing, klezmer, hardcore/punk rock, hip-hop and electronica.
Better Late Than Never is the debut album by the ska/reggae band the Slackers. It was released in 1996 on Moon Ska Records. It was remastered and re-released with three additional tracks from the original recording sessions on March 19, 2002, through Special Potato Records.
Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City who has played in reggae, blues, ska and rocksteady bands since the early 1990s, including The Slackers, Stubborn All-Stars, SKAndalous All Stars, Crazy Baldhead and The Silencers. He has also performed with punk rock band Rancid, both live and in the studio. He has released four solo acoustic albums and continues to tour and record worldwide. Ruggiero is known primarily as a singer and organist, although he also plays piano, bass, banjo, cigar box guitar, guitar, harmonica and percussion.
Peculiar is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Hellcat Records in 2006.
"Disco" Dave Hillyard is a tenor saxophonist originating from San Diego, California. He has performed in groups such as The Slackers, The Rocksteady Seven, The Donkey Show, Hepcat, Stubborn All-Stars, and has guested with the likes of Rancid, Victor Rice, Skinnerbox NYC and Alexandra Lawerentz. He is a skilled improviser and composer/arranger with more than thirty album credits to his name.
Ska jazz is a music genre derived by fusing the melodic content of jazz with the rhythmic and harmonic content of early Jamaican Music introduced by the "Fathers of Ska" in the late 1950s. The ska-jazz movement began during the 1990s in New York and London, where pioneering avant-garde jazz and reggae musicians pushed the boundaries of reggae music. They were combining traditions with modern tendencies, using the reggae beat along with high improvisation and jazz harmonies, primarily by horns and percussion.
Japanese ska is ska music made in Japan. It is, along with its counterparts elsewhere in the world, part of what has been called the "third wave of ska [that] combines the traditional Jamaican Club sound with metal, punk, folk, funk, and/or country."
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.
Jayson Nugent is a guitarist and DJ from New York who plays in the style of several Jamaican music genres.
The Rocksteady 7 or "David Hillyard & the Rocksteady Seven",are an American Ska and Jazz band from New York, New York that formed in 1992. Since the early 1990s the group has consisted of tenor saxophonist and band leader Dave Hillyard as well as percussionist Larry McDonald. In live performances, they are supported by a rotating cast of musicians, including drummer Eddie Ocampo and Dave Wake on keys among others.
Crazy Baldhead is a side project of The Slackers headed by Jayson "Agent Jay" Nugent. Crazy Baldhead plays an innovative style of music that mixed reggae, ska, dub, rock and dancehall. Members of the band include Eddie Ocampo, Victor Rice, Vic Ruggiero, Dave Hillyard and Glen Pine.
The Boss Harmony Sessions is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Special Potato in 2007.
Glen William Pine is an American musician and songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts. He is most known for his role in The Slackers where he plays the trombone and sings. Pine joined the Slackers before the release of The Question on which he contributed with the song Mountainside. Glen was an original member of Boston-based reggae outfit The Pressure Cooker. Along with Vic Ruggiero, he has performed under the name the Redlights.
Self Medication is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Indication Records in 2008.
The Donkey Show was a ska band based in San Diego that played Ska during the eighties. The band was formed in 1985. They introduced many people to ska music and were in the unique position of being one of the founding bands of the "California Ska Sound", a precursor to what some would call the third wave of ska. At one point they even received radio play on major radio stations such as KROQ-FM.
The SKAndalous All-Stars are an American ska band, composed of members of The Slackers, the Skatalites, Mephiskapheles, the Stubborn All-Stars, Agent 99, Ruder Than You, Sic & Mad, The Excalibur, Cocktaillica, The Hurtin' Buckaroos, Living Colour, Perfect Thyroid, the Cycle Sluts from Hell, and The Klezmatics, and is led by Slackers frontman Vic Ruggiero. Considered one of the first ska supergroups, the Skandalous All Stars built their reputation on ska and reggae stylized versions of popular rock and pop tunes. Their first two albums—Hit Me, released in 1997, and Punk Steady, released the following year—included dance-inspiring interpretations of songs by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blondie, Patti Smith, the Ramones, Kiss, Nirvana, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, and White Zombie. With their third album, The Age of Insects, released in 1999, the group began focusing on the original songs of keyboardist and vocalist Ruggiero.
