Mark Howard

My latest guest castaway to be washed ashore on a lonely island in the sea is DJ and Radio Presenter, Mark Howard.

Mark and fellow enthusiast Paul Homer formed 'Ska-Beat-Soul' in their home city of Chichester and they have supported top acts such as The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra and The Beat, playing festivals such as 'The Great Skinhead Reunion' and 'Ska Aid' and a performing at their regular residency at Woodies.

Mark & Paul present 'Ska-Beat-Soul' as a weekly radio show on ChiSoul Radio playing the best in 60's Ska, Rocksteady & Skinhead Reggae, all on 100% heavyweight vinyl !

"Bass lines are the thread that connect most of what I listen to and, by extension, how I dress and even my transport.

I took up double bass aged twelve, which became bass guitar and I soon found myself with musician acquaintances I wouldn't otherwise have had and listening to music I otherwise wouldn't have heard. 

African-American music and its derivatives featured ever bigger and continue to be the cornerstone of my life: Vinyl records, sharp suits, Lambretta scooters and co-presenting The Ska Beat Soul every Thursday night with Paul Homer... even my career as a restaurant chef somehow feels tied in."

The Skatalites - Killer Diller

"I have what I call the 'Killer Diller Scale' : Does a piece of music measure up to this recording ? Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile' would do for example, most of what I heard on the radio this morning wouldn't even register... "

Lonnie Lester - You Can't Go

"A banging and very raw Northern Soul stomper. I couldn't be stranded on a Deserted Island without any Northern and this is a favourite of my soulie friends... dancing the night away long after we were old enough to know better."

Mulatu Astatke - Yegelle Tezeta

"Hammond driven Ethiopian funk from the mid-sixties... and a light bulb moment for me as it proved to myself that even in my 40's there was still stuff out there I knew nothing about but would instantly love as much as anything else I'd heard.

I was lucky enough to see him live with the Heliocentrics a couple of years ago in London. One of the best gigs I've ever seen."

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Part II : Resolution

"If I actually were stranded on a desert Island with one LP, I'd take 'A Love Supreme' because I hear something different in it every time I put it on. 

A light bulb moment in my understanding of music was when a jazz musician friend said all notes harmonise but some combinations make different sounds to others. I listened to Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' first and took it from there."

Prince Buster - Islam

"Ska is what I DJ and, in some ways, my first love. 

This particular track is so compelling and uncompromising, and for me underlines the Jamaican feeling of being exiled from from their African roots. 

Still looking for a copy if anyone has one to sell to me....... "

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Mark and Paul's Ska-Beat-Soul Radio Show is broadcast every Thursday on ChiSoul Radio, playing the best in 60's Ska, Rocksteady & Skinhead Reggae, all on 100% heavyweight vinyl !

You can keep up-to-date on all of the Ska-Beat-Soul activities, including their live gigs, by checking out the facebook page :

click on the link below

You can also catch up on all past episode of the show via the Mixcloud site :

Click on the link below

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