DigiMix Records

Arthur Kay & The Clerks – The Night I Came Home

(Released on Grover Records - Germany)

A local band from Cologne joins forces with a legendary Londoner for a top-class ska album. That’s only one of the extraordinary tales written by the international ska community these days.

In this here story, the Freedom Sounds festival (based in Cologne) plays a major part. With much patience and persuasion, its promotors were able in 2016, to haul Arthur Kay out of retirement back onto the stage, in Germany. For those who don’t know: Arthur Kay is an Original rude boy, who started his career already in the 1960s as a session musician for the Trojan label. In the 1980s, he spread his Cockney charm on a number of albums whose production unfortunately couldn’t live up to Arthur’s qualities as a fascinating storyteller.

What followed was a long downtime. Until last year, when Arthur showed up in finest thread, supported by The Clerks who had offered to be his backing band for a weekend. Arthur Kay was so blown away by their shared performance that, as soon as he was back in England, he sat down to write new songs and vowed to record them with The Clerks.

The resulting album, which was mixed by Nico Leonard in the Belgian Pum Pum Hotel, comes with an air of the local pub. It’s a knockout how Arthur delivers catchy slogan refrains like in „Don’t Give A Damn“, and then again takes the listener on the intricate ways of his story in „Wide Boys & Cowboys“. And between all that, The Clerks seem to always find the best musical expression, from soundscapes to stompers. The Clerks proof their status as the most complete, versatile ska band far and wide, when they shimmer effortlessly between serious reggae and merry ska. That’s top class.

Arthur Kay is the artiste name of the singer songwriter Arthur Kitchener, who has also released various albums as a wordsmith musically different from his legendary Ska performances with THE ORIGINALS and most recently with the Geman ska band THE CLERKS. Other bands Arthur has worked with are: Second Hand, The Next Collection, Artur Kay's Originators. Arthur Kay and the Originals went for nearly thirty odd years on and off. At their height, they were Judge Dread’s backing group. Unfortunately, Arthur thinks the band died with Judge Dread death.

Arthur suggests the difference between his legendary band The Originals and other Ska bands was our influences. His influence was Rock and Roll, Dion, Fats Domino, all those sort of guys. Later on, Bruce Springsteen. The Originals was more a cross between the East Street Band and The Specials. It had all that power with the Hammond organ. Arthur's Ska albums are not three cord tricks. They’re engineered in their arrangements.

Arthur is now recording and perfoming with the Geman band The Clerks, and what a great album "The Night I came Home" is

Photos: courtesy of Arther Kitchener aka Arthur Kay

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