Thanks TP for finally including an overview of The Toasters' catalogue! For years, the only acknowledgement of their existence was found in the Unity 2 entry (look it up, kids), and I always thought they deserved better.

As a fan of the band since the late 80s, who also worked at Moon Ska (director of promotions/marketing) for most of the 90s, I'm pretty familiar with all of The Toasters' output, from a to zed. So believe me when I say that Delvin Neugebauer gets it all right in a big way...

Many thanks for the shout-out, Fam. I'm glad you approve!

I've been a big fan since This Gun for Hire. After seeing the Toasters last February, and enjoying yet another visit with Buck (who, as usual, was working the swag booth), it occurred to me that they deserved a TP review.

I'm grateful that a person who's been in your position feels I did right by them.

I got to see the Toasters live on the Skavoovie tour in 1993 at the Palace in Hollywood. They shared the bill with Hepcat, Selecter, Special Beat and the Skatalites. I took my Harry Connick Jr. loving girlfriend (now wife) with me, it was one of our first dates. She was a little disturbed by the dancing (which really devolved into slam dancing) and wondered who this guy was she was dating who listened to all this odd music. She married me anyway.

Delvin:

I sent Buck the link to your review/overview and he seemed pretty happy with it. He was surprised by your focus on This Gun, since that's the album in The Toasters' catalogue that usually throws people off a bit (at the time, Buck was positioning them as more of a pop band that happens to play a lot of ska...though that obviously didn't last long).

Jothoma:

You're a brave man to take a lady to a ska show on a first date (though in all fairness to you, that tour really helped galvanize the American third wave ska scene, so you just had to take her). It seems like women are a pretty forgiving lot in general. I caught the ska bug in college and a year or two after graduating (and living with my college girlfriend who became--and still is--my wife), started running the Moon Records promo department out of our apartment. For years, Moon employees, interns, CDs, skazines, and all sorts of mass mailings flowed in and out of our humble home (we even had a freakin' Pitney Bowes machine in our bedroom!). Good times!

This Gun for Hire didn't throw me off at all. To me, it showed that the Toasters had a lot more depth than just 2-Tone worship.

I'm glad Buck is pleased. I've gotten to visit with him each time I've seen the Toasters, and he's always impressed me as a real down-to-earth fellow, who's in the music scene for the love of it. Thanks!

Yeah, with all the crap that has gone down over the last 25+ years (and there have been a lot of bright spots, too), Buck really has to love the music and performing to keep on doing what he does (just the touring alone is brutal).

I worked with him for about nine years at Moon and have nothing but the utmost respect for him as a musician, businessman, and human being. And the man can write a catchy tune--The Toasters' catalogue is filled with them...