Tag: The Uptones

I co-founded The Uptones in 1981, and have been a member for every show and recording of our long strange Berkeley ska trip. This is my blog category about some Uptones doings, past, present and future.

Out of the Outback, with The UpTones and Berkeley Cat Records

What did I do this summer? Oh, I started a record label! Here’s the true story. In 2015 I start recording some songs of my own, and releasing them online in Bandcamp and to the streaming services thru Distrokid. Now, when you put stuff out through Distrokid, they assign a unique number which becomes your default label name. Mine was “676723 Records DK” and that was fine for a few releases, but at a certain point I wasn’t having it and wanted to name my label. So I upgraded my Distrokiddie and set out to come up with a good name. I asked on FB and crowd-sourced for fun, and some really cool and creative names came in! But I didn’t feel any of them enough and I was flummoxed and stopped thinking about it for a while.

Berkeley Cat Records popped into my head one day and I knew instantly that was it. I immediately called Shannon Wheeler and asked can he draw me a cat, sleeping in a circle as they do, on a record player? Done, couple days later he sends me the logo and voila, a label is born.

What does a record label do in 2019 and beyond? Well for me, we upload stuff. I don’t want to print CDs or vinyl because it’s a hassle and we cats must have our naps. Besides, “hard product” is very hard to sell if you’re not on tour, and I’m not on tour, and touring costs a lot and because naps. The basements and mom’s attics of the world are filled with boxes of CDs and LPs from artists who pressed ’em up with high hopes. I don’t have storage space for that.

Do I miss physical media? Am I nostalgic for it? Well, yes. But the wonderful thing about digital product is that it doesn’t exist. I mean it does but it doesn’t. It is created on-demand only when someone wants it. And there’s no shrink-wrapped chunks of plastic to eventually choke some poor dolphins.

The song that made me want to make my own label is “I Can See It Now.” Not sure why, but that was it. And I’ll release whatever of my own stuff thru Berkeley Cat that I feel inspired to, and I don’t know exactly what all that’ll be! Which I find entertaining and exciting.

More recently, my UpTones mates and I were talking about re-releasing some of our early stuff, which has never been on iTunes or even on CD. Just vinyl and cassette. So this record, OUTBACK, a six-song puppy from 1986, we re-mastered and got ready and now it’s coming out. Rescued from the oblivions of time.

Paul Jackson took his original cassette artwork – which was a photo of a painting of his – and recombobulated it into the new cover image. Paul also joined me at Coast Mastering for the transfer from analog and mastering job, which, was a bit suspenseful at first! Will this work, we wondered? Worked beautifully by the sure hand of Michael Romanowski, record mastering master.

A rare Paul and Din sighting, clearly up to no good

After this appointment, Mr. Jackson and I repaired to the Missouri Lounge for pints. It’s right by Fantasy Studios, where Michael now has the room which was the legendary Studio C. Studio C was also one of the first rooms the UpTones recorded in 1983, and by gosh I have some tapes from those sessions which I hope/plan to release by and by. It’s a bit more of an endeavor because they need to be mixed.

Sitting in the lounge there as countless other musicians have done pre- and post- sessions in the Fantasy building, we reminisced a bit and howling laughter ensued. And, we agreed that after getting OUTBACK out into the wilds, we’d revisit some other material we’ve made, within and without the UpTones, and release that too. Why not?

There are also a few records in the brewing that I didn’t make, that friends of mine made, or are making, which also will likely come out on Berkeley Cat! I have to remain mysterious about these for now, but dang, I am thrilled about it.

Buy the OUTBACK! Share the OUTBACK. Pick up a Berkeley Cat Records two-tone coffee mug. Follow us in the Facebonk. It’s all on our site:

https://www.berkeleycatrecords.com/

Thank you! And Happy Caturday.

Pink Section Cover Story on The Uptones by Joel Selvin

When SF Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin interviewed Paul Jackson, Moose Lethridge and myself for his article about The Uptones’ reformation in the 2000’s, we had no idea it would be part of a cover story in the Sunday Datebook. Shortly after the release of our Skankin’ Foolz Unite! CD, there it was next to the morning coffee and we were gobsmacked. Pat Johnson took the cover photo and Katy Raddatz got some fun color action shots of the band in rehearsal in West Oakland. You can read the saga in SFGate. Thanks Joel, and thanks everyone who has enjoyed this long, strange, ska trip with us.

uptones-pink-section-cover

The UPTONES – "East Bay Orbits"

This is a compilation featuring each of the six people (so far!) who have performed lead vocal duties in The UPTONES: Erik Rader, Charles Stella, The Rev. Paul Jackson, Moose Lethridge, Emily Jayne, and myself. The most recent recording (“T.V. Guns”) is from 2010,  and the earliest (“Out To Sea”) is from 1983! We did a show in 2011 in which we got all these characters onstage to perform their signature Uptones songs. It was an epic bit of cat-herding but definitely worth it, the show was a blast. That probably won’t happen again, but you can still get the record from iTunes, or order a CD from uptones.com – I think we have like 2 left!

The UPTONES – "Live!! 924 Gilman"

Playing the Gilman Street Project as it was then known, is unlike playing any other venue. It’s all-ages and volunteer-run and there’s no booze inside. All of the energy of the audience pours onto the stage and is amplified by the band and launched back in a way you don’t often find in mainstream clubs. There’s a sign that says “NO STAGE DIVING” and that’s pretty funny. We played two sold-out shows in August of 1989. Beserkley Records got ahold of a recording of the 2nd night, mastered it up and released it! You can pickitup at iTunes.

Nate Seltenrich’s East Bay Express Story on Skanking Fools Dance Contest

The headline says it all:
At the Uptones’ Skanking Fools Dance Contest, Ska Reigns Supreme

When the Uptones finally appear after 11 p.m., the energy in the room seems to peak. “Y’all ready to skank? ‘Cause that’s what we’re here for,” announces guitarist Musashi “Moose” Lethridge. …Again the dance floor is abuzz with energetic young skankers, a flurry of flailing limbs and bobbing bodies.”

Read the whole story at East Bay Express.

Thanks Nate, and thanks everyone who skanked it up at our shows.

T.V. Guns, Block Off The Streets To Shoot..

This song is about guns, media, and idiocy. It’s from the UpTones’ “East Bay Orbits” alnum, you can get it at iTunes or Amazon, or stream it in various streaming places. Here are the lyrics. My bandmates all really came through on this track, and patiently put up with about 100 re-writes before it felt ready. In the end, I’m happy with how it came out. I wish the subject matter never even existed, but, as the song goes, “It’s always on.”

UP-Fest in Berkeley, Friday, August 9th!

The UPTONES are doing a one-night-only midsummer show at Ashkenaz on August 9th, with The TITAN-UPS (the best Jamaican Rocksteady style band in San Francisco) and The RAVEUPS – an awesome band with guys from The Rubinoos, Santana, Psycotic Pineapple, and other bay area rock champs. It wasn’t until we had the show confirmed and the bands booked, that I realized all three bands have “UP” in their names. So I’m calling it an “UP-Fest.” ‘Cos I can.

If ya don’t know already, Ashkenaz is ALWAYS All-Ages, and they serve beer, wine and excellent food, AND they have a fantastic wooden dance floor AND a great sound system! Fact is, you can count the number of remaining venues in the east bay that can say ALL that, on one finger. I’m proud to bring The UPTONES show, with all my skankin’ foolz, to our stalwart hometown dance hall again, and I hope you will join us!

The Strange Saga Of A Ska Monkey And Some Pelicans

I have had the pleasure of collaborating with some fine songwriters over the years, including the unique and completely original Paul Jackson. As a keyboardist, singer and composer in The Uptones, Paul has always pushed the envelope, lyrically and musically. “Bested By Pelicans” is right out of Paul’s head; I just helped bring it to life. I watched the idea grow from the initial moment of inspiration at the beach (all of it really happened, including the cheese-food-stuff!) to the rehearsal where he passed out the parts. After we recorded this, our friend, cartoonist Shannon Wheeler made some images for a lyric sheet, which Paul later animated in this clip. It’s on the Uptones’ Skankin’ Foolz Unite! album.