The Toasters are one of the original American second wave of ska bands. Founded in New York City in 1981, the band has released nine studio albums, primarily through

Moon Ska Records Moon Ska Records was one of the most influential ska record labels of the 1980s and 1990s. The label operated from 1983 until 2000, and during those seventeen years, only released ska and ska-influenced music. Originally named ''Moon Records'', as ...

History

Englishman

Robert "Bucket" Hingley Robert "Bucket" Hingley is lead singer and guitarist for the ska band the Toasters. Early life Robert Hingley was born in Weymouth, Dorset in the United Kingdom in 1955. His family relocated regularly due to his father's career in the British ...

relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1980, where he managed that city's

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

comic book store location. Hingley formed the Toasters in 1981 after seeing the Beat perform at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. The venue, according to its website, accommodated ...

. The group's first live show was supporting

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this ...

at A7 in 1981. One of the original second-wave ska bands, the early Toasters lineup included other employees of the Forbidden Planet store. The group self-released their first single, "Beat Up", in 1983. They recorded their Joe Jackson-produced debut EP, ''Recriminations'', in 1985. After failing to find a label to release it, Hingley formed his own label Moon Ska Records. The group collaborated further with Jackson on later albums and in live shows. Jackson had known Hingley since 1978, and appeared on some Toasters albums under the pseudonym Stanley Turpentine. Then later the group expanded with the addition of a brass section. Their first full-length album, ''Skaboom!'', was released in 1987. The Toasters (2880181052)

Many members

Hingley has been the only constant member in the band. While the band's lineup has seen many changes, regular contributors included Coolie Ranx (vocals), Matt Malles (bass), Dave Barry (keyboards), Johnnathan McCain (drums), Freddie Reiter (saxophone), Brian Sledge (trumpet), and both Rick "Chunk" Faulkner and Erick "E-Man" Storckman on trombone. Veteran Jamaican saxophonist

Lester Sterling Lester Sterling OD (born 31 January 1936),Musicians Bio
", Alpha Old Boys Association, retrie ...

has made several guest appearances, and Deejay Andrew "Jack Ruby Jr." Lindo, son of Jamaican producer

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of th ...

, was also a long-time member.Nickson (February 1998).Nickson (July 1998). Reiter joined the Toasters after playing in the New York Citizens, who had supported the Toasters on tour. Trombonist Buford O'Sullivan joined around 2000 after leaving

The Scofflaws The Scofflaws are a Huntington, Long Island, New York-based third wave ska band that debuted in 1988. Known for their rambunctious live shows, technically proficient horn solos and tight arrangements, the Scofflaws were one of the top third wav ...

. Faulkner and Reiter went on to form the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. The band now consists of a revolving cast of musicians, with Hingley as the central and only consistent member.

After Moon Ska Records

In 2004 Moon Ska Records collapsed, and Hingley has been based in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain. He started the

Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

label, which has since been the band's home. The Toasters still perform around the world, and in 2007 they celebrated their 25th Anniversary with a new studio album, ''One More Bullet''. In 2011 they undertook a 30th anniversary world tour.

Musical style

The Toasters blend ska with pop music, rap, R&B, and calypso.Nickson (March 1998). Their mixed-race lineup has seen them break through with both black and white audiences in the US.

Other appearances

The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the popularity of third wave ska in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Their song "Two-Tone Army" is the theme song for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

show ''

KaBlam! ''KaBlam!'' (stylized as ''KaBLaM!'') is an American animated sketch comedy television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fu ...

''. The song is performed by the 'Moon Ska Stompers' - members of the Toasters and friends. The Toasters song "Skaternity" was used for the end credits of ''KaBlam!'' during most of season 1, while "Everything You Said Has Been A Lie" was used for the end credits during seasons 2-4. Their song "Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down" appeared in the pilot episode of the animated series '' Mission Hill''. The Toasters have recorded background music for many TV commercials, including for

America Online AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

. Members of the Toasters performed on

King Django King Django (born Jeffrey Baker) 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 infl ...

's 1998 album ''Roots and Culture''.

Shows

In 1998 the Toasters were part of the 'Ska Against Racism' tour, along with

the Blue Meanies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Five Iron Frenzy Five Iron Frenzy is an American band formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron was one of the pioneering figures of the Christi ...

, and

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilations

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

: ''T-Time'' *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

: ''Ska Killers'' *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

: ''History Book'' *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

: ''History Book 1987-1998' *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

: ''The Best Of...'' *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

: ''In Retrospect'' *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: ''Ska is Dead''

Live albums

: ''Frankenska'' * 1993: ''Live In LA'' *

: ''Live In London'' *

: ''en Caracas''

EPs

*''Recriminations'' (1985), Moon Ska *''The East-Side Beat EP'' (1987), Moon Ska *''Live In Sao Paulo Brazil'' (2002), Grover

Singles

*"Beat Up": "The Beat"/"Brixton Beat" (1984), Moon Ska *"Don't Say Forever" (1990), Pork Pie *"Chuck Berry"/"Maxwell Smart" (1995), Moon Ska *"Dub 56" (1995), Stubborn *"Dog Eat Dog" (2000), Grover *"You're Gonna Pay!" (2006), Megalith *"House Of Soul" (2013), Megalith ;Split singles: *"Talk Is Cheap" (1987), Moon Ska - split with Beat Brigade *"The Stage" (1997),

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

- promo only, split with

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late ' ...

Members

: vocals, guitar * Tim Karns: bass * Nathan Koch: saxophone

Past members

* Gilbert Covarrubias: trombone * Josemi Martínez: drums * Alex Bochetto: drums * Jon Degen: saxophone * Logan La Barbera: trombone * Carlos "Charlos" Menezes: saxophone & trombone * Robbie "Fancy" LaFalce: Drums * Steve "the Basement" Russo: drums * Chappman "Choppah" Sowash: trombone * Thaddeus Merritt: bass * Jesse Hayes: drums * Arjen "Rotterdam Ska-Jazz Foundation" Bijleveld: trombone * Neil "Lonestar" Johnson: saxophone *Jason "Jah-Son" Nwagbaraocha - bass, vocals *Dan "Duckie" Garrido - drums *Jeff Richey - saxophone (alto and baritone) *Mike "Philly" Armstrong - tenor saxophone *Greg Robinson - trombone *Lionel Bernard - vocals *Adam "Prince Beaver" Birch - trombone, trumpet *Tim Champeau - trumpet *John "Skoidat Sr." Chapman - saxophone *Mark Darini - bass *Sean Dinsmore - vocals *Brian Emrich - bass *Gary Eye - percussion (original member) *Rick "Chunk" Faulkner - trombone *Paul "Spondoulix" Gephardt - alto saxophone *Donald "The Kid" Guillaume - drums *Gregory D Grinnell - trumpet (1985–1988), bass (1988–1990) *Ann Hellandsjo - trombone *Steve Hex - keyboards (founding member) *Scott Jarvis - drums (founding member) *Dan Jesselsohn - bass *Neil Johnson - saxophones *Danny Johnson - drums *Tim Karns - bass *Ivan Katz - drums *Matt Malles - bass *Johnnathan "JMac" McCain - drums *Kashu (Cashew) Miles - vocals *Andrew "Jack Ruby Jr." Lindo - vocals *Fred "Rock Steady Freddie" Reiter - saxophone *Ron Ragona - guitar, vocals *Marcel Reginato - alto saxophone *Nilda Richards - trombone *Mo Roberts - drums *Vicky Rose - bass, vocals (founding member) *Jim Seely - trumpet *Brian Sledge - trumpet, vocals *Erick E. "E-Man" Storckman - trombone *Obi-Ajula "

Coolie Ranx Coolie Ranx (born Obiajula Ugbomah; 9 March 1965) is a British-Jamaican actor and singer best known for his membership in the third wave ska bands The Toasters and Pilfers. He is a long-time resident of New York City. Biography Ranx was born in ...

" Ugbomah - vocals *Big Steve Carroll - vocals *Dave Waldo - keyboards, vocals *Pablo D. "The Professor" Wright - vocals *

Chris Rhodes Chris Rhodes is a trombone player from New Haven, Connecticut best known for playing trombone in several notable ska bands including Spring Heeled Jack, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bim Skala Bim and the Toasters as well as Connecticut funk band ...

- trombone *Ozzy "The Wiz" Cardona - trumpet (1988-1990) *Larry "Ace" Snell - drums *Anthony Vito - drums *Lluís Martínez: Drums *Dave Barry: Keyboards *Ade McSpade- guitar. *Teddy McSpade- guitar. *Woody Bond- drums. *Peter Burkis- great guy.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * *Nickson, Chris (February 1998)
NYC Ska Mob
, ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'', p. 17. Retrieved September 7, 2013 *Nickson, Chris (March 1998)
Toasters ''Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down''
, ''

'' p. 46. Retrieved September 7, 2013 *Nickson, Chris (July 1998)
Ska Against Racism
, ''

'' pp. 28–29, 77. Retrieved September 7, 2013 * * * *

External links

*
The Toasters collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toasters, The Third-wave ska groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups from New York City American ska musical groups