The Allstonians
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The Allstonians | ||
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![]() The Allstonians play 'The Haunt' - Ithaca, NY - May 8th, 1999 - Photo by Dr. Awkward
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Background information | ||
Origin | ![]() |
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Genre(s) | Reggae, Ska | |
Label(s) | Moon Ska, Fork In Hand | |
Website | allstonians.com |
The Allstonians are a third-wave reggae/ska music group formed in Allston, Massachusetts in 1992. They have released three albums, two under the Moon Ska Records label and the latest with Fork In Hand Records, and have appeared on countless ska compilations in the U.S. and internationally. The band has been featured on MTV's The Real World and can be heard often on US college radio. They are influenced by The Skatalites, Laurel Aitken, Madness, The Specials, and The English Beat.
After splitting in 2004 the band has since reunited to play several shows, and in 2007 the Allstonians announced that quintessential ska hipster and former front man "King K" had returned to the fold. The band now features original members Nigel T. Knucklehead, Darrell 'D-Train' Morrow, Ken 'King K' Knucklehead, Steve!, as well as longstanding members Tom 'Buns' Quartulli, Kurt "Luke" Wahlstrom, Eric "Merv" Bridson, Matt Maloney, "Father" David Roy, Jim Zavadoski, Mike Quartulli, Bob Place, and Tyler "T-Bone" Oulton. The group is notorious for its extremely high number of ex-members, as well as of its love of alcohol. Their level of glib intoxication approaches that of Dean Martin on good nights; on bad nights alcohol-fueld stage antics have featured a band member vomiting over his instrument onstage before passing out, and a member drunkenly quitting the group and storming offstage mid-set at the Middle East nightclub in Cambridge, MA.
The Allstonians supported and served as backing band for the late ska legend Laurel Aitken on his last tour of the U.S. in 1999, playing five weeks' worth of shows across America. They are one of the few ska/rock steady bands besides the Skatalites who continue to play in an old-school Jamaican style.
The Allstonians offer a few sample songs for download on their official website: "Mikey Dee" and "Sean Connery" from their 2003 release "Bottom's Up," and two unreleased songs, "Ordinary Day," and their cover of "Secret Love", inspired by Lord Tanamo's version which was inspired by Doris Day's version.
[edit] Discography
[edit] External links
- The Allstonians Home Page
- The Allstonians collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Interview with Nigel Knucklehead, 2001