#155
April 1980
Bad Manners
Ska N’ B
Genre: They’re no Madness
2.75 out of 5
Highlights:
Special Brew
Requisite 80s covers:
“Monster Mash” & “Magnificent 7”. The former is an unnecessary remake of a novelty classic which only serves to make this band sound even more like a novelty act. The latter is a goofy piece of fun which accomplishes the same but ends up being one of the best cuts on the record.
Also “Wooly Bully”. The Residents did the definitive cover of this. Also 1 billion other bands.
I had been warned.
When I was younger and I was talking about how much I loved Madness’ 1st album a friend of mine said that I would also like Bad Manners. Almost immediately another friend told me that, no, they are nowhere near as good.
The second friend had better taste in music so I never pursued any Bad Manners.
He was right.
Ska, too often, can sound like nothing more than revved up Reggae. I think it’s more than that. It’s also really cheeky when done right. These guys wanna be cheeky but they come across as uninterestingly dull. Guys who think they are funnier than they are.
Only when they get to “Caledonia” do they show any real energy and, also, the real cousins of Ska, which is Big Band Swing. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies understood this and made this their raison d’etre. Go pick up a CPD album and bypass Bad Manners altogether.
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