Cities: Night Boat To Cairo

Madness: Night Boat To Cairo

[purchase]

Although they lost their way later in their career, Madness was actually a really cool band in the beginning. Absolutely and One Step Beyond, along with The Specials and Special Beat Service, are a couple of the coolest examples of the early 80's 2 Tone Ska revival.

I was a total wannabe when it came to the whole ska thing, but I have a few really cool memories of backyard concerts with local ska bands, skanking on warm summer nights in Fresno, the town where I grew up.   To this day the genre still puts me in a good mood.