Cherry Red (label)
23 June 2023 (released)
10 July 2023
A 3CD boxset for a band that were seen mainly as a live band, and a novelty one at that, seems a little excessive but actually Bad Manners were incredibly prolific through the eighties and this set includes all the singles released in the eighties plus a CD of all the extended 12” mixes.
If you know the band and their material, then this will be no shock and a great way to replace all those 7” singles currently in storage (in the loft) with a brand new and sparkling digital remaster. The shock may come in the sheer quantity of familiar numbers.
If you are a Bad Manners neophyte then Bad Manners were an eighties Ska band, much in the manner of early Madness and fronted by the larger than life Buster Bloodvessel.
The original band were all students at Woodberry Down school in North London and followed closely in the heels of Madness whose members were also from North London although Camden Town rather than Manor House.
Bad Manners were always a band with a sense of humour at the core of the music and the singles are eminently danceable but always with a touch of fun in the lyrics and the performances. There are tracks that touch on more personal matters and some that beggar definition and their biggest hit ‘Can Can’ is a predominantly instrumental which features Bloodvessel dancing the Can Can!
Their handle on Ska reggae is excellent and it is surprising that they never signed to TwoTone Records as most of their contemporaries did.
It is a pretty fine collection of the band at their most prolific and well worth the cost admission.
