SPECIALZED THE BIG ONE 12 WELCOMES…UK SKA STARS THE POTATO 5 !

We are extremely honoured to announce that 80s/90s UK ska stars THE POTATO 5 will headline FRIDAY 3rd NOVEMBER at THE BIG ONE 12!!

The Potato 5 are an extraordinary Skatalites-styled ska group from London that featured a rotating line up during its original tenure and remains that way today.
Formed in 1983, “SKA EXPLOSION” ft. Floyd Loyd, was the name of a 12“ EP released by a young London band called The Potato 5 in 1985. Produced and released by Gaz Mayall as the first release on his new Gaz Rockin`Recordings label, the record and the four horn-driven tracks on it – Spin On Your Head, Jesse Jackson, Tear Up and Big City – were the founding stone and gave name to what became known as the “Ska Explosion“ in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This wave soon swept all over Britain, Europe and the rest of the world and laid the ground for the global ska scene we know today.
Two Tone has gotten the band into Ska but it had just petered out but the band found there were stacks of old records that were brilliant to get into. They all loved the original Jamaican Ska and were starting to listen to some Studio 1, Treasure Isle and the Skatalites. One of their first covers was Man in the Street – and that sounded better than anything they played before. So afterwards, in the pub, they decided to be a Ska band and started writing a lot of songs in the old style.

In 1986, Potato 5 released three singles simultaneously, which together became singles of the week in the NME, which was quite something at the time. The first one was “Ska Danger (Dub)“ produced by Mad Professor. The B-side was “Dead Boring” and it was on Drolltone Records. The other two were collaborations with a legendary Jamaican singer: Laurel Aitken aka the “Godfather of Ska“, a title given to Laurel by exuberant producer Gaz Mayall.
The band teamed up with The Specials’ Jerry Dammers when he formed Artists Against Apartheid, and were one of the first bands to play a gig under the AAA banner in London.
The Potato 5 also played a later gig at the Brixton Academy with Madness and Dammers guesting which music legend Gil Scott Heron attended. They went on to tour the world and recently recorded with the Dub Pistols.
THE POTATO 5 ARE A LIVE EXPERIENCE AND A SERIOUS GOOD TIME.
Their driving rhythms in old skool ska style will have Specialized rocking, so don’t miss this fabulous occasion – Get your tickets for The Big One 12 NOW!