THE way in which many parents get their offspring to behave at this time of year that Christmas doesn’t come to Bad Manners.
For Reading-based lovers of ska, nothing could be further from the truth – Buster Bloodvesel is bringing his world-famous two-tone band to Sub89 on the Sunday before Christmas.
And the star, famous for his large tongue, can’t wait. Not least as he’s living on a houseboat.
“It’s filled with large plastic snowmen, Father Christmases and reindeer,” he says between boxes of decorations, ready to be pressed into use on the Bad Manners Christmas tour. “We collected them. About six months ago, we wentg to a show ad they were all throwing them out, so we’ve got all these plastic things ready.
“What makes this different from previous Christmas tours is only the fact that we’ve got some decorations… It’s the style of Bad Manners – Christmas is always fun. Go crazy, dance, enjoy yourself, do whatever you want to do.
“Christmas is party time.”
The Bad Manners Christmas show is a staple for Friar Street-based venue Sub89, and this year takes place on Sunday, December 19. Expect some of the favourites from the two tone kings including Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu, Lip Up Fatty, Special Brew, and Can Can.
“Sub89 is a wonderful venue,” he says. “Anytime we’ve played Reading I’ve really enjoyed the response. It’s such a little, hot, sweaty club. I love that, especially on the Christmas tour.
“Festivals during the summer are wonderful, they’re big and open and thousands of people, fantastic… but I feel at home when I play a small little venue like Sub89 and go down so well.”
Bad Manners has been around, in various forms, since 1975. Why does Buster think ska has endured?
He doesn’t even pause to think – in fact, he barely pauses during our chat, such is his enthusiasm for performing.
“It’s fun music,” he says. “You can’t kill it, it’s been so strong. Two-tone had been going for 20 years, so it’s not music of its era, it’s music that will continue, I’m sure.”
Buster says that ska is big businesses across the world: “South America is so hot for ska, there’s so many ska bands over there doing it. We’ve just come back from there and it was amazing, absolutely amazing, the response that we got.
“Then there will be somewhere like Canada, where it suddenly springs up and everybody wants ska music live. Then it’ll be Germany, France, Europe. It’s a music that keeps going around.
“And we’re very keen on it in Britain, because of the two tone era, which sort of captured everybody’s imaginations at the time. Everybody loved it, the young and the old. It’s a music that’s people have got a lot of affection for.”
Buster is a big Christmas fan, and said that he was lucky as a child. Being adopted meant he had two mothers and was very spoilt as a result.
“I was lucky enough to have you know, most presidents that I wanted because the mothers were fighting for my affection I suppose. Wonderful times always the best of memories for me,” he says.
Of course, the Bad Manners Christmas tour means Buster is creating new memories of “hot, sweaty nights” that “give me a sauna every night”.
He jokes: “my skin should be so perfect”.
The show features special guest Max Splodge, of whom Buster says is: “He’s an important part of the Bad Manners’ story, it’s all part of the fun.”
And Buster says that there will be some crowd pleasers that he’s not released on vinyl, yet.
“Our version of You’re Too Good To Be True really gets the crowd going. I just said in a soundcheck to do it. We’ve never released it as a piece of vinyl, but one day we might. It’s become one of the bigger songs for the crowds, another is Sally Brown, we perform that well and the crowds love to singalong with it it. It has that sort of tempo to it that is very Bad Manners, fast tempo ska music.”
With lots of events, carol concerts and partying going on, why should people spend the last Sunday before Christmas in Buster’s company?
“I want to get them sweating, I want them plugged into our music and I think there’s enough people in Reading that would have known a Bad Manners gig from previous, so I think it will be a sell-out gig.
“To miss it? They must be mad. Or they must be so boring it’s untrue. What have they been doing for the last two years? I’m sure it’s not a Bad Manners Show. Come along if you want a night with a difference.”
Bad Manners will be at Sub89 on Sunday, December 19, from 7pm. For more details, or to book, log on to sub89.com or visit www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/bad-manners
