Deal's Gone Bad
Encyclopedia
Deal's Gone Bad is a band from Chicago
, Illinois
. Their sound mixes reggae
, rocksteady
, and ska
music with American soul. They have been together since 1994, with numerous lineup changes over the years. The current incarnation has been mostly stable since 2003. The band hews to a more traditional ska-reggae sound while many others working in the genre morphed into a more punk
variety.
The band has shared the stage with performers such as the Skatalites
, Toots & the Maytals
, Desmond Dekker
, The English Beat, Hepcat
, Chuck Berry
, The Slackers
, Flogging Molly
, The Toasters
, Mustard Plug
, Voodoo Glow Skulls
, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
.
film A Clockwork Orange
and was heavily influenced by 1960s reggae and ska musicians such as Prince Buster
, The Skatalites
and The Wailers; it prompted Allmusic to call them "one of the most intriguing bands on the scene." The album also incorporated soul
into many of its songs, an element which would remain an important part of their sound for many years. The follow-up, Overboard, followed in 1999, which featured more prominent organ parts due to the addition of keyboardist Julio Herrera. Both Large and In Charge and Overboard featured songs dealing with pirates as subject matter.
An EP and a full-length arrived in 2003 from the group, followed in 2005 by a compilation disc, The Longest Happy Hour, which also included two previously unreleased songs. The group performed on the Vans Warped Tour in 2006. In 2007, Megalith Records
released their next album, The Ramblers, by which time only Dave Simon and Mike Corcoran remained from the group's original incarnation. Shortly after the release of The Ramblers, The group toured with Voodoo Glow Skulls
, The Toasters
, and Mustard Plug
on the Ska Is Dead tour in 2009. In May 2011, the group released its first new material in four years with an EP entitled Far From Home.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Their sound mixes reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
, and ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
music with American soul. They have been together since 1994, with numerous lineup changes over the years. The current incarnation has been mostly stable since 2003. The band hews to a more traditional ska-reggae sound while many others working in the genre morphed into a more punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
variety.
The band has shared the stage with performers such as the Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
, Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic, "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music...
, Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group, The Aces , he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 " and "It Miek"...
, The English Beat, Hepcat
Hepcat
Hepcat is a ska and reggae band formed in southern California in 1989.Their soulful harmonies and mellow rhythms were unlike those of contemporaries and more akin to musicians from the heyday of 1960s Jamaican ska, also referred to as the first wave....
, Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, The Slackers
The Slackers
The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Brooklyn in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz...
, Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
, The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
, Mustard Plug
Mustard Plug
Mustard Plug is a ska punk band from Grand Rapids, Michigan.Formed in 1991, the band's original members were Dave Kirchgessner, Mike McKendrick, Colin Clive, and Anthony Vilchez. Currently the band consists of Dave , Brandon Jenison , Jim Hofer , Nate Cohn , Colin Clive , and Rick Johnson...
, Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California by brothers Frank, Eddie and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill...
, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
.
History
Deal's Gone Bad formed in 1994 and played locally in Chicago for several years, releasing their debut in 1996. They then signed to Jump Up! Records and released Large and In Charge in 1998. This album featured cover art inspired by the Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
and was heavily influenced by 1960s reggae and ska musicians such as Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
, The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
and The Wailers; it prompted Allmusic to call them "one of the most intriguing bands on the scene." The album also incorporated soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
into many of its songs, an element which would remain an important part of their sound for many years. The follow-up, Overboard, followed in 1999, which featured more prominent organ parts due to the addition of keyboardist Julio Herrera. Both Large and In Charge and Overboard featured songs dealing with pirates as subject matter.
An EP and a full-length arrived in 2003 from the group, followed in 2005 by a compilation disc, The Longest Happy Hour, which also included two previously unreleased songs. The group performed on the Vans Warped Tour in 2006. In 2007, Megalith Records
Megalith Records
Megalith Records is a ska record label founded on August 22, 2002 and located in Norman, Oklahoma. It is owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley of The Toasters and the defunct label Moon Ska Records, and managed by Jeremy Patton, current webmaster and graphic artist for the Toasters...
released their next album, The Ramblers, by which time only Dave Simon and Mike Corcoran remained from the group's original incarnation. Shortly after the release of The Ramblers, The group toured with Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California by brothers Frank, Eddie and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill...
, The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
, and Mustard Plug
Mustard Plug
Mustard Plug is a ska punk band from Grand Rapids, Michigan.Formed in 1991, the band's original members were Dave Kirchgessner, Mike McKendrick, Colin Clive, and Anthony Vilchez. Currently the band consists of Dave , Brandon Jenison , Jim Hofer , Nate Cohn , Colin Clive , and Rick Johnson...
on the Ska Is Dead tour in 2009. In May 2011, the group released its first new material in four years with an EP entitled Far From Home.
Current lineup
- Todd Hembrook - Lead vocals
- Dave Simon - Guitar
- Karl Gustafson - Keyboards
- Mike Corcoran - Drums
- Mike "Spider" Hobson - Bass
- Aaron Hammes - Bari & Tenor sax, vocals
- Andrew "Pedro" Hernandez - Trombone
Former members
- Mike Park - Lead vocals (not to be confused with Californian ska/punk musician Mike ParkMike ParkMike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name...
) - Brian Garibaldi - Bass
- Doug Corcoran - Trumpet, keys, organ, vocals
- Marty Madera - Bass
- Denis McQuinn - Tenor sax
- Danny Johnson - Alto sax, backing vocals
- Tom Riley - Tenor sax, vocals
- Julio Herrera - keyboards
- Aret Sakalian - keyboards
Discography
- Orgasmico (1996)
- Large and In Charge (1998) (Jump Up! Records)
- Elephants/ Mad at the World 7" (1998) (Jump Up! Records)
- Overboard (1999) (Jump Up! Records)
- Fire! EP (2002) (Jump Up! Records)
- Guide to Boat Drinks and Cruise Cocktails (2002) (Jump Up! Records)
- The Longest Happy Hour: 1998-2003 (2005) (Jump Up! Records)
- The Ramblers (2007) (Jump Up! Records/Megalith RecordsMegalith RecordsMegalith Records is a ska record label founded on August 22, 2002 and located in Norman, Oklahoma. It is owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley of The Toasters and the defunct label Moon Ska Records, and managed by Jeremy Patton, current webmaster and graphic artist for the Toasters...
) - Far From Home EP (2011) (Self-released)
External links
- Deal's Gone Bad Website
- ChicagoSka
- [ Allmusic.com]